This Water’s for You

Owens Valley residents are paying special attention these days when the TV announcer declares, “This Bud’s for you!” Anheuser-Busch Inc., the brewer of Budweiser and other beers, wants to join the City of Los Angeles as an exporter of water from the Owens Valley.

Anheuser-Busch has bought a controlling interest in the Cabin Bar Ranch, near Olancha in southern Inyo County, and plans to go into the water ranching business. The firm hopes to drill wells and use the water as a backup to its regular 6-million-gallon-a-day supply at its Van Nuys brewery in times of drought. Thomas Aldrich, an Anheuser-Busch vice president, outlined the proposal for Olancha residents and Inyo County officials recently.

Inyo County and the City of Los Angeles have warred for years over environmental damage done by Department of Water and Power pumping for export south via the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Similar concerns were expressed at the session with Aldrich. He said that it would take a year to drill and analyze test wells. The firm then would have to compile an acceptable environmental-impact report, win county approval and obtain the use of the aqueduct for shipping the water south.

In the meantime, Anheuser-Busch is exploring ways to win local support by showing that it wants to be a good neighbor. Ideas include purchase of an ambulance or fire truck for Olancha and help for the fiscally strapped Southern Inyo Hospital. Los Angeles has sought to make itself more popular in the valley through such neighborly acts, but would have difficulty topping the most appealing suggestion from Anheuser-Busch. That was to make the Cabin Bar Ranch a “retirement home” for the firm’s popular Clydesdale show horses. A county official said that the idea was “very well received” and might help boost the area’s tourism economy.

Touche, L.A.