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Richard, who declined to state his last name, monitors the Owens River intake for Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. Built in 1913, the intake diverted the Owens River to provide drinking water for the rapidly growing metropolis. Ten years later the lake had completely evaporated, forever altering the Owens Valley. Now DWP is entering the tenth year of a dust mitigation project on the lake. The project is part of a lawsuit settlement between the utility and the residents of the valley, whose health had been damaged by particles blown off the lake by the constant winds.