Properties of Thirst

As Americans settled west of the Missouri River, access to abundant water proved a defining feature of an area’s habitability. Miners and other citizens laying claim to land asserted a kind of “first come, first serve” authority to any water access on their newly acquired property. Rivers proved a valuable commodity: Texas and New Mexico both laid claim to the Rio Grande; Colorado and Arkansas vied for the Arkansas River; and Colorado entered into another battle with Wyoming for control of the Platte River (Nadeau, Remi. “The Water War.” American Heritage, 1961). In California, however, the Los Angeles/Owens Valley conflict proved the most violent.

Between 1892 and 1904, California had a period of drought. Simultaneously, the city of Los Angeles experienced a population boom, and it became apparent that further growth wouldn’t be sustainable without a reliable water source. An Irish immigrant named William Mulholland was superintendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (and by 1911, he became its chief engineer). In 1904, Mulholland took a camping trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he discovered that the snow runoff from the mountains filled Owens River below, making the Owens Valley lush and fertile. Mullholland laid out plans to build an aqueduct that would transport water from the Owens Valley to the city of Los Angeles (Butler, Kirstin. “When California’s Water Wars Turned Violent.” American Experience, 2022). Before the plans were announced, Mullholland’s partner—former Los Angeles Mayor Fred Eaton—began quietly buying up land in and around Owens Valley. Locals initially believed that Eaton planned to use the land for ranching, but as the water was diverted to Los Angeles, the water tables of Owens Valley residents lowered, and the backlash began. Residents attempted to legally negotiate with the city’s water corporation, but these battles were long and protracted. Angered and frustrated, several residents of the Owens Valley bombed a portion of the aqueduct near Lone Pine on May 21, 1924 (Butler). In the novel, Wiggins reimagines this event by making Rocky Rhodes—one of the main characters—the perpetrator of a bombing.

Los Angeles city officials regarded the aqueduct bombing an act of domestic terror, but many locals of Owens Valley supported the bombers, praising them as vigilantes. Attacks on the aqueduct eventually reached 11 total, but in time they ceased as the economy and viability of the Owens Valley dwindled. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s further harmed the fertility of the land throughout the desert area.

Not until the 1990s did progress on redress occur. A 2001 court order ordered the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to rewater the Owens Valley in order to repair the damage to its ecosystem and restore some of the area’s native flora and fauna. This was considered an environmental success as bacteria, insects, and birds began to return (Sahagun, Louis. “Owens Lake: Former Toxic Dust Bowl Transformed into Environmental Success.” Los Angeles Times, 2018).