Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-27
PLENTY Of WATER
HELD IN RESERVE
MulhoIIand Has More Up His
Sleeve Than Is Carried
in Owens River
CITY OWNS MINERAL SPRING
Profits from Sale of the Product
Would Pay Bonded Indebt-
edness of City
CITY OWNS MINERAL SPRING


and you will always find water" has
come to be an axiom in Los Angeles.
And Mulholland's sleeve must be pretty
wet for he is carryisg creeks, rivers
and mighty reservoirs up there that
the public generally does not know
about.
Mulholland says he can deliver TO-
900 miners inches of water through
the aqueduct into the distributing sys-
tenn of Los Angeles from the Owens
river, and this appears easily possible,
for there are now $4,000 miners inches
in the Owens river at the intake and
this is the dryest time Of the year in
the valley.
But the aoueduct can be filled from
the water up Mulholland's Sleeve alone
without taking q drop from the river,
If 1t is found necessary to do so. The
public In general knows something
about Division creek, which Is almost
opposite the intake twelve miles north
of Independence, and 1t knows some-
thing about Cottonwood creek, that
runs into Owens lake directly without
the agency Of the river for these two
creeks are now being used for the de-
velopment of power and are assisting
to build the aqueduct. But the public
does not know that down every can
yon and crevice of the high Sierras
creeks as large as Cotton wood and
Division, and some OF them larger, go
plunging into the gravel beds at the
base of the mountains. Shut your eyes
and drive a pipe down anywhere in
this gravel bed that extends for more
than 150 miles and you will get a fow-
ing artesian well of the purest snow
water Mulholland and his men have
done this in a number of places just
to prove that 1t can be done and not
because the water is needed.
CITY OWNS THE RIGHTS
And the city owns the water rights Of
all these creeks.
But little of this water now finds its
way into the Owens river. 1t perco-
lates down the slope, under the soil
and makes Owens valley fertile spot.
It has no well defined channels and
does not show on the surface of the
ground. 1t Is sucked up by the roots
Of the grass and much Of 1t evapo-
rates without doing anyone any good.
This water can all be retained in ca
nails and sent into the Owens river to
swell the supply for Los Angeles. This
water is melted snow of the mountain
tops and it's flow is not regular. In the
summer these streams that bound
down the mountain side in cascades
carry such volumes of water that they
cannot seep under the ground as they
uTc uOHlB HOWt DuI llOW III
over the surface, so deep and turbu-
lent that they can hardly be forded,
but now there is scarcely evidence Of
them except some sluggish little rivu-
lets in the summer channels and the
brilliant green of the grass through
Owens valley.
But there is one spring of water up
Mulholand's sleeve that he intends to
keen there If 1t browns him. If the
81 RI build q ynUniNtnoI
sanitarium or bottle the water and
sell it, this spring alone would soon
pay the interest on the bonded in
debtedness of the city. 1t is unusually
heavy in citrate of magnesia and eX-
pert chemists have pronounced its
medicinal value great. The same kind
of water, favored with a little lemon
Juice, is sold at the soda fountains IN
Los Angeles for 20 cents half pint
bottle. This spring is south of the
intake, but so far away from the
river that practically none of 1t flows
into the water that will be consumed
in Los Angeles.
ONLY ONE MINERAL SPRING
The flow of the spring at it's source
is about in the same ratio to the
Owens river as a meadow brook would
be to the mighty Mississippi, but it is
large enough for medicinal purposes
If the city ever cares to embark on
such a project. This spring was dis
covered while boring one of the ar
tesan wells that have been sunk in
the floor Of the valley in the vicinity
of Independence. 1t Is the only one
of the kind that has been found, for
the rest are the purest of artesian
water.
There is a geological reason for this
spring, and Mulholland knows what it
is Those who look upon Mulholland
as unlettered because in his youth he
had not the advantages of education
that the ordinary American boy has
today will have to look again. By
dint of most persistent study he has
acquired a good practical education
that makes him one of the best water
engineers in the country, and because
geology is an essential feature of wa
ter supply Mulholland has learned
geology thoroughly.
To the student of geology Owens
valley, with it's faults that have pro-
duced the high Sierra and the folded
Inyo range, the prehistoric torrents of
black lava that has given a name to
Black Rock springs and the extinct
volcano craters that start from the
sides of the mountains, is one of the
most easily read and interesting of
geological subjects.
RIVER WATER is PURE
The intake of the aqueduct, the point
where the Owens river is diverted
from its natural crooked channel into
the canal of the aqueduct is twelve
miles north of independence. at the
base of mountain called Charley's
Butte. Charleys Butte Is solitary
spur of the Inyo range on the east side
of the valley. From this point to
the Division Creek power house across
the Owens valley is a pleasant ride of
about fifteen minutes in desert-going
automobiles.
At the intake the Owens river is
pure, soft water. The mineral con-
tained IS less than half that in the
water now used in Los Angeles and 1t
will be even purer when turned into
the city's distributing system than 1t
is at the intake, for it settles in the
IIaiwee reservoir. The river carries
some silt, especially in the summer
months, when it Is being fed by
freshets from the mountains. but be-
fore 1t reaches the mouths Of Angelenos
the water must go through a series OF
reservoirs, the first of which is the
monster at Haiwee, sixty-seven miles
south of the intake. The water will
settle itself in this reservoir in wonder
fully quick time, as is shown by its
action~ in Owens lake Though the
Owens river be ever so muddy in the
spring it becomes clear and limpid as
a mountain stream before it has passed
into the lake half a mile.
The water flows through uncemented