{"id":{"repo_id":"unlv","oai_identifier":"oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2643"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unlv/oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2643","repository":{"repo_id":"unlv","name":"University of Nevada - Las Vegas","base_url":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"GIS analysis of the pre and post-diversion water balances in Owens Valley, California","abstract":"Owens Valley, California is located at the western border of both the Basin and Range and Great Basin Provinces. The valley is hydrologically closed; the only outflow for ground and surface waters is evaporation to the atmosphere. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has steadily increased the amount of water removed from the valley since then; LADWP has always assumed that the hydrologic system as it existed in 1913 was in equilibrium with modern climate. This study develops a geographical information systems (GIS) based model of Owens Valley to (1) estimate post-diversion mountain block recharge for southern Owens Valley to test the assumption of equilibrium between recharge and observed playa discharge, and (2) estimate equilibrium extent of pre-diversion Owens Lake based on modern climate. Results demonstrate that water managers may be overestimating mountain block recharge to the modern playa by 50% and that pre-diversion Owens Lake was not in hydrologic equilibrium with modern climate and was likely still shrinking due to late Holocene warming.","abstract_html":"Owens Valley, California is located at the western border of both the Basin and Range and Great Basin Provinces. The valley is hydrologically closed; the only outflow for ground and surface waters is evaporation to the atmosphere. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has steadily increased the amount of water removed from the valley since then; LADWP has always assumed that the hydrologic system as it existed in 1913 was in equilibrium with modern climate. This study develops a geographical information systems (GIS) based model of Owens Valley to (1) estimate post-diversion mountain block recharge for southern Owens Valley to test the assumption of equilibrium between recharge and observed playa discharge, and (2) estimate equilibrium extent of pre-diversion Owens Lake based on modern climate. Results demonstrate that water managers may be overestimating mountain block recharge to the modern playa by 50% and that pre-diversion Owens Lake was not in hydrologic equilibrium with modern climate and was likely still shrinking due to late Holocene warming.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Draa, Anna Corinne"],"institution":"University of Nevada, Las Vegas","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Geoscience","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Richard L. Orndorff"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:47Z","subjects":[],"languages":["English"],"rights":["IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1644"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1644","href":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1644","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25669/8i6i-1hl0","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Richard L. 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For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.25669/8i6i-1hl0","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1644","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/context/rtds/article/2643/viewcontent/uc.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Owens Valley, California is located at the western border of both the Basin and Range and Great Basin Provinces. The valley is hydrologically closed; the only outflow for ground and surface waters is evaporation to the atmosphere. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has steadily increased the amount of water removed from the valley since then; LADWP has always assumed that the hydrologic system as it existed in 1913 was in equilibrium with modern climate. This study develops a geographical information systems (GIS) based model of Owens Valley to (1) estimate post-diversion mountain block recharge for southern Owens Valley to test the assumption of equilibrium between recharge and observed playa discharge, and (2) estimate equilibrium extent of pre-diversion Owens Lake based on modern climate. Results demonstrate that water managers may be overestimating mountain block recharge to the modern playa by 50% and that pre-diversion Owens Lake was not in hydrologic equilibrium with modern climate and was likely still shrinking due to late Holocene warming."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["GIS analysis of the pre and post-diversion water balances in Owens Valley, California"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Richard L. Orndorff"],"dc:creator":["Draa, Anna Corinne"],"dc:description.abstract":["Owens Valley, California is located at the western border of both the Basin and Range and Great Basin Provinces. The valley is hydrologically closed; the only outflow for ground and surface waters is evaporation to the atmosphere. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has steadily increased the amount of water removed from the valley since then; LADWP has always assumed that the hydrologic system as it existed in 1913 was in equilibrium with modern climate. This study develops a geographical information systems (GIS) based model of Owens Valley to (1) estimate post-diversion mountain block recharge for southern Owens Valley to test the assumption of equilibrium between recharge and observed playa discharge, and (2) estimate equilibrium extent of pre-diversion Owens Lake based on modern climate. Results demonstrate that water managers may be overestimating mountain block recharge to the modern playa by 50% and that pre-diversion Owens Lake was not in hydrologic equilibrium with modern climate and was likely still shrinking due to late Holocene warming."],"dc:format":["pdf"],"dc:identifier":["10.25669/8i6i-1hl0","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1644","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/context/rtds/article/2643/viewcontent/uc.pdf"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["University of Nevada, Las Vegas"],"dc:rights":["IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["GIS analysis of the pre and post-diversion water balances in Owens Valley, California"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geoscience"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:47Z"}