1912 L.A. begins acquiring land and water rights in the Mono Basin Planning for the possibility of an extension of the aqueduct to the Mono Basin, L.A. begins acquiring land and water rights. 1920 Mono Basin public land withdrawn Reclamation Service head Arthur Davis withdraws Mono Basin public land from private settlement or claims. Los Angeles applies for Mono Basin water rights Los Angeles applies to the State Water Commission to appropriate the entire flow of the Mono Basin streams for domestic use and power generation. This bond is to fund the Mono Basin extension of the L.A. Aqueduct. In 1930 DWP begins condemnation procedures against 78 defendants for land, littoral, and riparian rights in the Mono Basin.
Some landowners go to court to contest the awards given in condemnation proceedings.
This becomes known as the Aitken Case. Under the court's ruling in Aitken, the award for various littoral and riparian rights is increased. When the lake is destroyed, the surrounding country will be converted into a desert and their properties will become valueless. Then it begins to drop, and at a much greater rate after 1970 when the second barrel of the aqueduct is completed. These relicted lands belong to the public.