Dog, I think it was about 20 or 30 years? of litigation (no mention of "trial") before LADWP did anything to mitigate the dust problem. Kind of like the marathon legal battle over Mono Lake water levels. I actually started a
thread with a link about the latest lawsuit against their regulators, which was thrown out of court.
As I read the media summary of the settlement, it looks like LADWP is getting some flexibility in how they solve the problem. Before the settlement, it appears they were required to divert a specific amount of water regardless of the outcome. Spreading gravel and flooding are just two ways (expensive ways) to address it. They are also planting salt grasses and using underground watering systems to reduce evaporation. The settlement seems to allow the possibility of other means as well. Perhaps they now have better data about the minimum thickness of gravel needed. The main point is that they are continuing to address the problem in the field rather than in court.
