Terrorist Anglers

Citing terrorist threats to Los Angeles’ water supply, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) has permanently closed the Eastern Sierra’s Haiwee Reservoirs to fishing. Los Angeles aqueduct manager Gene Coufal was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, "If contamination occurred at Haiwee, it would be a matter of hours before it got to L.A.”

Apparently, this means we can soon expect water officials to announce plans to close Lakes Powell, Mead and Havasu. The San Diego City lakes can’t be too far behind. And God forbid if terrorists hit the many dozens of miles of the L.A. Aqueduct above Haiwee that are still accessible. (Of course, DWP thinks it has that problem figured out: they covered up all the signs along Highway 395 that used to read "Los Angeles Aqueduct" because, hey, terrorists apparently can't read maps.)

Seriously, does the DWP truly believe the city’s water supply is in danger of attack by terrorists disguised as anglers? Will the closure of two reservoirs to fishing really make our lives any safer? Or is there perhaps some ulterior motive at work here?

First, a little background. The twin Haiwee Reservoirs, twenty miles south of the town of Lone Pine and part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct system, were closed to fishing from 1950 until April of 1994. During those years DWP personnel, backed by posted “No Trespassing” signs, routinely drove surreptitious anglers from the lakes under threat of arrest.

In 1991, members of a group called the Owens Valley Warm Water Fishing Association (OVWWFA) began openly flaunting the closure. Citing the California State Constitution, they refused to leave when told they were trespassing. (I'm proud to admit that, although I was never a member of OVWWFA, I, too, made a habit of sneaking in to Haiwee before it was "legal.") Local law enforcement officials, apparently on to something, refused to cite the anglers despite pleas from DWP personnel.

Article 1, Section 25 of the California State Constitution reads: “The people shall have the right to fish upon and from the public lands of the State and in the waters thereof . . . and no land owned by the State shall ever be sold or transferred without reserving in the people the absolute right to fish thereupon . . .” In effect, anglers had been illegally excluded from a legal fishing destination for nearly fifty years.

The right to fish at Haiwee was also a condition made by Inyo County when an agreement transferred land from the Bureau of Land Management to the DWP in 1983.

Still, the DWP dragged its feet for four years, ostensibly because of concerns over water quality, despite the fact they allow cattle to graze at the reservoirs, right to the water’s edge. Apparently cows are cleaner than people. They also cited nesting bald eagles as a reason for concern, though anglers and eagles coexist at dozens of lakes in the state. Many people felt (and continue to feel) the DWP’s real motive was preserving their own private fishing hole.

Finally, in 1994 the DWP relented to pressure from fishing organizations. Parking lots were constructed, toilets installed, trash cans provided and gates opened. Strict guidelines restricting body contact with water were established, and catch and release fishing was encouraged.

Now, just thirteen years later, the DWP has closed Haiwee to protect the city from terrorists, as if the exclusion of anglers will magically make any plausible threat of terrorism disappear. Yet no such announcement seems to be forthcoming regarding Lake Crowley, which the DWP also owns and is a popular fishing destination upstream from Haiwee. Are the Haiwee Reservoirs truly the one weak spot in the city’s water system? Or is the DWP only trying to get people out of a place they never wanted them to be in the first place?

In any case, time to sell those personal watercraft, skiing sleds and fishing boats while you still can. Diamond Valley Reservoir is sure to be next on the list, followed by Silverwood, Puddingstone, and Skinner. Those reservoirs in the Sierra foothills and the California Aqueduct surely must be at risk -- we've got to close them too. And if you’re out there, be sure to report any suspicious looking anglers.