Wrestle with the earth forever
Botanists, satellites, and politicians
Dig, dry, destroy
A butterfly effect
Uncanny playspace
Turbine testing and wind on demand
Fluid dynamic domestication
So, is it beautiful?
Monitoring, monitoring, monitoring...
Moving the [atmospheric] river
Exhibition
Curatorial Conversation
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About
During the spring of 2023 LADWP faced an unanticipated deluge of Sierra snowpack runoff entering the lake through the Owens River Valley. Over the winter months crews had worked hard to fortify the berm roads of polygons T-36 and T-29, anticipating a stronger flow than usual off the mouth of the Owens river tributary, however, the crews did not anticipate that the rivers regulating levy located at the mouth of the river would fail causing a strong torrent off water to pour into the owens lake tributary. This increased flow would cause the river's flow to jump its channel and forge a new path directly into the flanks of T-30 and T-29. As the weather warmed and the river's flow increased, the new channel of the river eroded away the long standing berms and began to flood the north eastern polygons causing a destruction of major and minor equipment in the process.
As the summer months approached and the snow runoff began to subside into a more predictable flow, the true extent of the damage was revealed. In the end, polygons T-32, T-29,T-30 and even down to polygons T-23 sustained major damage and subsequently would need to be completely redesigned for mitigation.
In an effort to get ahead of the public pressure, LADWP announced a new “Modernization Plan” intended to monitor every square meter of the playa through an advanced sensor monitoring network. The new plan proposed an array of roughly 40,000 sensors which would track weather systems, particulate data which could preemptively mitigate localized dust plume flare ups. The plan also integrated testing areas where new control methods could be tested and monitored within a semi-controlled environment.
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