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The geography of the Antelope Valley

Location

The Antelope Valley is an approximately {{convert|2400|sqmi|sqkm|adj=on|abbr=off|sp=us}}{{cite book |chapter=Executive Summary |title=Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan |url=http://www.ladpw.org/wwd/avirwmp/index.cfm?fuseaction=finalPlan |page=ES-xix |accessdate=January 3, 2012 |publisher=Los Angeles County Department of Public Works }} arid desert region located at {{coord|34.7513712|-118.2522977|source:gnis-1930539_region:US-CA_type:landmark|name=Antelope Valley}} in the northern part of Los Angeles County, the southeastern portion of Kern County, and the far western edge of San Bernadino County, California. It constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert, lying within the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to the southeast, Portal Ridge and the Sierra Pelona Mountains to the southwest, and the Tehachapi Mountain Range to the northwest.Thompson (1929) p. 289 The northern and eastern boundaries are not so easily defined, especially by noticeable geographic features such as mountains, but in 1911 a United States Geological Survey (USGS) Water-Supply Paper placed Rosamond "near the north margin of the valley".Johnson (1911) p. 9 It also noted a region of detrital rock that stretched for about ten miles between Cottonwood Creek in the Tehachapi Mountains and Rosamond Buttes where surface runoff on the northern and eastern sides of this area possibly drained towards the northeast and the town of Mojave.{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Harry Roland |authorlink= |year=1911 |title=Water Resources of Antelope Valley |journal=United States Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 278 |page=10 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k7sPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA167 |accessdate=June 24, 2011 |oclc= }} On the southeastern edge of the AV another area of detritus was found to run along the San Gabriel Mountains and separate the region from Victor Valley in San Bernadino County. On the western side of this rock, the water from Little Rock Creek and Big Rock Creek was found to drain into the Antelope Valley; to the east, it was thought the water drained into the Mojave River.

The USGS thus identified the northern edge of the Antelope Valley as being along the detritus from the Tehachapi Mountains and then following the BNSF railroad which loosely parallels State Route 58 Business to the north of Rogers Dry Lake, and the eastern border of the valley as lying about six miles east of Llano, through Black Butte and towards Haystack Butte along the LA County – San Bernadino County border.Johnson (1911) pp. 11-12 A second USGS WSP published in 1929 included a map that altered the eastern border;{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=David G |authorlink= |year=1929 |title=The Mohave Desert Region |journal=United States Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 578 |at=Plate 19, p. 295 |chapter=Antelope Valley |publisher=United States Government Printing Office }} while most recent surveys show the valley extending as far north as to actually include Mojave, as well as California City and Boron.{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Stephen J. |last2=Milby Dawson |first2=Barbara J. |last3=Belitz |first3=Kenneth |year=2009 |journal=Groundwater-Quality Data in the Antelope Valley Study Unit, 2008: Results from the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program: United States Geological Survey Data Series 479 |page=5 |title=Introduction |publisher=United States Government Printing Office }}

In a straight line, the AV is about {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of Los Angeles.Thompson (1929) p. 290 Bakersfield is {{convert|60|mi|km|abbr=on}} northwest of the Antelope Valley, and Las Vegas, Nevada is {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=on}} east of the valley.{{cite web |url=http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators |title=Great Circle Distance Maps, Airport Routes, & Degrees/Minutes/Seconds Calculator |publisher=GPS Visualiser |accessdate=December 8, 2011 }} The three cities in the Antelope Valley are Lancaster and Palmdale, both in LA County, and California City in Kern County. Three of the five highest populated census-designated places in the valley are also in LA County: Lake Los Angeles, Sun Village and Quartz Hill, California;{{cite web |url=http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/region/antelope-valley/ |title=The Antelope Valley – Mapping L.A. |work=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=7 December 2011 }} Rosamond and Mojave are in Kern County.{{California's Geographic Names|1098}}
   {{California's Geographic Names|1074}}

Topography

The Antelope Valley is a graben, the result of the surrounding mountains uplifting due to fault activity. The San Andreas Rift Zone enters the valley from the western tip at Gorman, and runs parallel to Portal Ridge and the Sierra Pelona range, forming a long, narrow basin in which lie Hughes Lake and Elizabeth Lake. The Fault Line continues through Soledad Canyon and along the foot of the San Gabriels out of the valley into San Bernadino County.http://geohazards.usgs.gov/cfusion/qfault/qf_web_disp.cfm?qfault_or=759&ims_cf_cd=cf&disp_cd=C
   http://geohazards.usgs.gov/cfusion/qfault/qf_web_disp.cfm?qfault_or=1524&ims_cf_cd=cf&disp_cd=C The valley floor decreases gently from an elevation of around {{convert|4000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} on the flanks of the Tehachapi Mountains, to an endorheic depression lying near the northwest corner of the valley where, at an elevation of {{convert|2300|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the Rogers, Buckhorn, Rich and Rosamond Dry Lakes are found. These playas are all bisected by the LA – Kern County boundary lines. Because the valley is a closed basin, all streams and rain water either sink into the ground or collect in the lower corner of the valley and evaporate.Thompson (1929) p. 299 The floor of the Antelope Valley is characterized by a broad plain of undulating alluvial fans,{{cite web |url=http://ca.water.usgs.gov/groundwater/gwatlas/basin/single.html |title=Ground Water Atlas of the United States – Segment 1 California Nevada |publisher=USGS |accessdate=June 23, 2011 }} throughout which scattered mountain peaks or buttes are found.{{cite journal |last=Merriam |first=John C |authorlink= |year=1915 |date=March 1915 |title=Extinct Faunas of the Mojave Desert |journal=The Popular Science Monthly |volume=86 |issue=15 |page=249 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |issn=0161-7370 |accessdate=June 6, 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JSYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA245 }} Examples of these are Fairmont Butte,{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:3262606568831721::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:242145%2CFairmont%20Butte |title=Feature Detail Report for Fairmont Butte |date=January 19, 1981 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=June 24, 2011 }} Antelope Buttes,{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:3262606568831721::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1656423%2CAntelope%20Buttes |title=Feature Detail Report for Antelope Buttes |date=January 19, 1981 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=June 24, 2011 }} Quartz Hill,{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:734950495789884::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:247872%2CQuartz%20Hill |title=Feature Detail Report for Quartz Hill |date=January 19, 1981 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=June 24, 2011 }} Alpine Butte,{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:734950495789884::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:269499%2CAlpine%20Butte |title=Feature Detail Report for Alpine Butte |date=January 19, 1981 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=June 24, 2011 }} and Piute Butte.{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:734950495789884::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1661236%2CPiute%20Butte |title=Feature Detail Report for Piute Butte |date=January 19, 1981 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=June 24, 2011 }}

At 2,300 ft above sea level, the lowest elevation of the Antelope Valley is higher than most of the valleys on the other side of the mountains that surround it.Thompson (1929) p. 300 The highest point of the Fremont Valley is about the same,{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Mojave Quadrangle – California – Kern Co. |year=1992 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-0607-00161-7 }} but its lowest point is Koehn Lake at {{convert|1900|ft|m|abbr=on}};{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Cantil Quadrangle – California – Kern Co. |year=1967 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) }} the south-eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, which lies west of the Tehachapi Mountains, slopes upwards to {{convert|600|ft|m|abbr=on}};{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Arvin Quadrangle – California – Kern Co. |year=1992 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-0607-00588-2 }} and the San Fernando Valley, on the south side of the San Gabriels, reaches a height of {{convert|1400|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{Cite map |publisher=United States Forest Service |title=San Fernando Quadrangle – California – Los Angeles Co. |origyear=1988 |year=1995 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-0607-92125-0 }} Victor Valley and Mojave River Valley, both east of the AV, are the exceptions at {{convert|2900|ft|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|2500|ft|m|abbr=on}} respectively.{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Victorville Quadrangle – California – San Bernadino Co. |year=1956 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-0607-10003-7 }}
   {{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Helendale Quadrangle – California – San Bernadino Co. |origyear=1956 |year=1993 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) }}

Hydrology

The Antelope Valley is a part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Antelope-Fremont Valleys Watershed (Hydrological code 18090206),{{cite web |title=Antelope-Fremont Valleys Watershed – 18090206 |url=http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=18090206 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |accessdate=January 16, 2012 }} a {{convert|3376|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|adj=on}} area that is further divided into 24 subwatersheds.{{cite web |title=My WATERS Mapper |url=http://watersgeo.epa.gov/mwm/?layer=LEGACY_WBD&feature=18090206&extraLayers=null |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |accessdate=January 16, 2012 }} There are a number of waterbodies and watercourses within the Antelope Valley, both natural and artificial, and the Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin has historically been the primary source of water for agricultural, municipal and industrial use in the valley.

=Groundwater=

The Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin consists of two aquifers: the principal aquifer, which is unconfined; and the deep aquifer, which is confined. The two aquifers are separated by a layer of clay between 200 and 300 feet thick.2010 Integrated UWMP for the Antelope Valley (2011) p. 21 The principal aquifer is thickest in the southern area of the valley, and the deep aquifer is thickest in the northern part near the dry lakes.AVIRWM Plan, p. 10 The possibility of the existence of a third, or middle aquifer has being studied by the USGS.AVIRMA Plan (2007), p. 1–4
   Leighton, Phillips (2003), p. 1 The groundwater in the Antelope Valley is known to be contaminated with arsenic and other substances including fluoride, boron, lead and nitrates;AVIRMA Plan (2007), p. 1–4 however, the water quality is well within the Maximum Contaminant Levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.{{cn}}

Most of the extracted groundwater is from the principal aquifer. The volume of water obtained has differed greatly since the time the valley was permanently inhabited. The USGS estimate that in the early 1900s when groundwater pumping began, around {{convert|29000|acre feet|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}} per year was pumped,AVIRWM Plan (2007), p. ES-xx and accounted for more than 90% of the water used in the valley.{{cite journal |first1=David A. |last1=Leighton |first2=Steven P. |last2=Phillips |journal=Simulation of Ground-water Flow and Land Subsidence, Antelope Valley Ground-Water Basin, California. Water–Resources Investigations Report 03-4016 |date=2003 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |location=Sacramento, California |page=2 }} The figure increased to {{convert|400000|acre feet|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}} per year in the 1950s,AVIRWM Plan (2007), p. ES-xx and then decreased as farming in the area declined.Leighton, Phillips (2003), p. Needed The introduction of the State Water Project (SWP) in the 1970s also reduced the need for groundwater pumping,2010 Integrated UWMP for the Antelope Valley (2011) p. 10 although the valley's increasing population and renewed agricultural industry soon increased the demand of water once again.{{cn}}

As such, groundwater is still an important source and continues to be pumped by the local water utility companies.{{cite web |url=http://www.palmdalewater.org/WaterSource.aspx |title=Your Water Supply |publisher=Palmdale Water District |accessdate=January 2, 2012 }}
   {{cite web |url=http://www.rosamondcsd.com/rosamond_water_supply.php |title=Rosamond Community Services District Water Supply |publisher=Rosamond Community Services District |accessdate=January 2, 2012 }}
   {{cite web |url=http://www.palmranchid.com/history.html |title=Palm Ranch Irrigation District History |publisher=Palm Ranch Irrigation District |accessdate=January 2, 2012 }}
   {{cite web |url=http://dpw.lacounty.gov/wwd/web/faq.cfm |title=Waterworks Districts FAQ |publisher=Los Angeles County Department of Public Works |accessdate=January 2, 2012 }}
   {{cite journal |title=2010 Integrated Regional Urban Water Management Plan for the Antelope Valley |url=http://dpw.lacounty.gov/wwd/web/docs/public_hearing_antelopevalley.pdf |page=10 |date=May 31, 2011 |accessdate=January 3, 2012 |publisher=Los Angeles County Department of Public Works }} It now accounts for anywhere between 50% and 90% of annual total water usage in the valley, depending on the yearly demand and availability of surface water.Leighton, Phillips (2003), p. 88 Palmdale Water District states that groundwater accounts for up to 60% of its annual water usage, and it continues to be Littlerock Creek Irrigation District's (LCID) main source of water ahead of that from Littlerock Creek and the California Aqueduct. LCID owns five wells that pump groundwater; one is suitable for irrigation only, the other four wells provide potable water (suitable for drinking).{{cite news |title=Water Rates Up, but Not for Littlerock |last=Semchuck |first=Alisha |work=Antelope Valley Press |date=June 27, 2009 |page=}}

The extended period of the pumping of groundwater has caused long-lasting issues within the Antelope Valley. For most of the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the amount of groundwater being pumped was more than that being recharged through the deep percolation of precipitation and runoff.AVIRWM Plan, p. ES-xx
   2010 Integrated UWMP for the Antelope Valley (2011) p. 10 This overdrafting has resulted in the artesian wells that were present in the late 1800s and early 1900s to stop flowing,AVIRWM Plan (2007), p. 2-10 the aquifers to compact, and the land to subside. Surveys conducted using Global positioning systems have determined that between 1930 and 1992, close to {{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on}} of subsidence occurred in the Antelope Valley, mostly around Lancaster ({{coord|34.74034|-118.11796|region:US-CA_type:event}} and {{coord|34.74556|-117.97256|region:US-CA_type:event}}). The USGS has stated that this sinking has resulted in "a loss of aquifer storage, increased flooding, cracks and fissures at land surface, and damage to man-made structures".Leighton, Phillips (2003), pp. 22–23

=Reservoirs=

The two main waterbodies in the Antelope Valley are reservoirs. The largest is Lake Palmdale, located about two miles south of Palmdale sandwiched between State Route 14 and the Union Pacific Railroad. It has previously been identified in literature and old USGS maps as Lake Yuna, Alpine Lake, Harold Lake, Harold Reservoir, Shoulder Lake, Palmdale Lake and Palmdale Reservoir.{{cite book |last1=Gurba |first1=Norma H. |last2=West |first2=Nicholas J. |title=Images of America: Palmdale |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2010 |location=Mount Pleasant, South Carolina |isbn=978-0-7385-8122-4 |oclc= }}
   {{cite book |publisher=United States Board on Geographic Names. United States Government Printing Office |title=Decisions on names in the United States and Puerto Rico, Decisions rendered in May, June, July, and August, 1959 |volume=Decision list no. 5903 |year=1960 |issue=a |location=Washington D.C. |page=16 }} The area of Lake Palmdale was originally the location of a natural depression along the San Andreas Rift Zone that often filled with water. It formed as either a sag pond or rift lake due to fault activity that caused the uplift of the land to close off drainage into the depression.Johnson (1910) p. 33 The development and operation of Lake Palmdale is intrinsically linked with that of Little Rock Reservoir ({{coord|34.4790947|-118.0227466|source:gnis-272114_region:US-CA_type:waterbody|name=Little Rock Reservoir}}) and its primary tributary, Little Rock Creek, {{convert|7.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} away in the San Gabriel Mountains of the Angeles National Forest,{{cn}}

In the late 1880s, Nathan Cole Jr. purchased {{convert|1960|acres|sqkm|abbr=on}} of land east of where Little Rock Creek enters the Antelope Valley, and with his two brothers Charles and Zack, and Charles's son Burt, developed the area for agriculture and housing. Originally called Alpine Springs, they changed its name in 1892 to the Tierra Bonita Colony and then Little Rock the following year. The Coles persuaded the land owners in the area to petition the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to form an irrigation district under the Wright Act of 1887. The Little Rock Creek Irrigation District (LCID) was thus formed on March 28, 1892 to cover an area of {{convert|1300|acres|km2|abbr=on}} and use the water from Little Rock Creek.{{cite book |last=Gidney |first=Ray M. |title=The Wright Irrigation Act in California |date=1912 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |pages=210–212 }}
   {{cite book |last=Adams |title=Irrigation districts in California, 1887–1915 |series=Fifth Biennial Report |chapter=Appendix B |page=8 |publisher=California Department of Engineering |date=1917 }}

At around the same time as the LCID was formed, so too was the private – i.e., not a Wright Irrigation district – Palmdale Irrigation Company.Thompson (1929) p. 293
   {{cite journal |author=RMC Water and Environment |journal=Palmdale Water District 2010 Urban Water Management Plan |date=June 2011 |url=http://www.palmdalewater.org/PDF/Reports_Studies/Planning/Final_2010_UWMP.pdf |publisher=Palmdale Water District |accessdate=January 15, 2012 |title=Section 2: System Description |page=2-1 }} The Palmdale Irrigation Company, under the control of Nathan Cole Jr.,Gidney (1912) p. 244 dug an {{convert|8.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} earthen ditch between Little Rock Creek and Palmdale, and installed a headgate on the Creek to divert water via the ditch.Thompson (1929) p. 293
   {{cite journal |last=Newell |first=F.H. |journal=Report on the Agriculture by Irrigation in the Western Part of the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890 |date=1895 |page=61 |publisher=U.S. Census Office. Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. }} A few years later the South Antelope Valley Irrigation District constructed a dam at Harold Lake to form a reservoir and dug a second unlined ditch, called the Palmdale Ditch, parallel to the first between the creek and the reservoir; however, the reservoir had a capacity of only {{convert|lk=in|3000|acre ft|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}}, and in the winter when the surface runoff was at its greatest, the reservoir would overflow and a lose a large amount of water.Thompson (1929) p. 293

At the turn of the century following a period of drought in the late 1890s, it became clear that a dam needed to be installed on Little Rock Creek. The Palmdale Irrigation District – now Palmdale Water District (PWD) – was formed as a public district in 1918 and purchased the rights of the existing private districts, and began working with the LCID to construct a concrete dam on the creek. The Little Rock Dam was completed in June 1924{{Cite book |title=Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West |last=Jackson |first=Donald Conrad |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2005 |page=205 |isbn=0-8061-3733-9 }}
   {{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Donald Conrad |title=Great American Bridges and Dams |date=June 1, 1988 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |page=75 |isbn=0-471-14385-5 }} and can hold a maximum volume of {{convert|3500|acre ft|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}}.{{cite book |chapter=Section 3: Issues & Needs |title=Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan |url=http://www.ladpw.org/wwd/avirwmp/index.cfm?fuseaction=finalPlan |page=3-4 |accessdate=January 3, 2012 |publisher=Los Angeles County Department of Public Works }} In the 1960s following Palmdale Irrigation District's contract with the State Water Project (SWP), Lake Palmdale was upgraded to hold a larger volume of water.{{cite journal |author=RMC Water and Environment |journal=Palmdale Water District 2010 Urban Water Management Plan |date=June 2011 |url=http://www.palmdalewater.org/PDF/Reports_Studies/Planning/Final_2010_UWMP.pdf |publisher=Palmdale Water District |accessdate=January 15, 2012 |title=Section 2: System Description |page=2-1 }} Following the expansion, Lake Palmdale's storage capacity increased to {{convert|4129|acre ft|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}}.

Over a hundred years after it was built, the Palmdale Ditch is still used to transport water from Littlerock Reservoir to Lake Palmdale. It runs alongside the California Aqueduct but travels in the opposite direction. It was built with such accuracy that it runs downhill the entire route; gravity alone directs the flow, and pumps are not used at all.{{cite news |title=Dumping Continues Along Water Channel |last=Bostwick |first=Charles F. |work=Los Angeles Daily News |publisher=MediaNews Group |date=February 29, 1999 }}

=Aqueducts=

The California Aqueduct runs through the southern border of the region and is a third water supply source for the AV. It enters the valley at its westernmost edge at the mouth of Los Alamos Creek ({{coord|34.8335883|-118.7114797|source:gnis-272213_region:US-CA_type:river|name=Los Alamos Creek}}) after tunneling through the Tehachapi Mountains.{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=La Liebre Ranch Quadrangle – California |year=1995 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-06079-1345-3 }} It then bifurcates at the Tehachapi Afterbay ({{coord|34.8288664|-118.7087017|source:gnis-1654754_region:US-CA_type:waterbody|name=Tehachapi Afterbay}}), and from here the West Branch and East Branch split. The West Branch heads southwest towards Oso Pumping Plant ({{coord|34.8102562|-118.7195351|source:gnis-274052_region:US-CA_type:landmark|name=Oso Pumping Plant}}) and into Quail Lake, before being piped through the Sierra Pelonas into Pyramid Lake and out towards its terminus at Castaic Lake.{{cite journal |url=http://www.water.ca.gov/recreation/brochures/pdf/swp.pdf |title=California's State Water Project |date=Feburary 2008 |page=2 |accessdate=December 14, 2011 |publisher=California Department of Water Resources }}

The East Branch navigates along the entire southern edge of the valley in a concrete ditch.{{cite news |title=Biking Along California Aqueduct |date=April 20, 1986 |work=Los Angeles Times |first1=Anne Z. |last1=Cooke |first2=Steve |last2=Haggerty |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1986-04-20/travel/tr-876_1_california-aqueduct |accessdate=December 15, 2011 }} From Alamo Powerplant ({{coord|34.82113|-118.69251|region:US-CA_type:landmark|name=Alamo Powerplant}}) it travels southeast along the foothills of Portal Ridge and the Sierra Pelonas before turning south into the San Andreas Rift Zone at Anaverde Valley ({{coord|34.57457|-118.18130|source:gnis-1733553_region:US-CA_type:landmark|name=Anaverde Valley}}), where it passes underneath State Route 14 and runs alongside Lake Palmdale, which is fed water from the Aqueduct.{{cite web |url=http://www.palmdalewater.org/WaterSource.aspx |title=Your Water Supply |publisher=Palmdale Water District |accessdate=December 17, 2011}}
   {{cite journal |title=2010 Consumer Confidence Report |url=http://www.palmdalewater.org/PDF/Reports_Studies/Water_Quality/CCR_2010.pdf |publisher=Palmdale Water District |accessdate=December 17, 2011 }} The canal continues to head east along the southern border of Palmdale towards Littlerock and Pearblossom, where the Pearblossom Pumping Plant lifts the water {{convert|540|ft|m|abbr=on}} to the top of Ward Butte, before it descends out of the valley to Silverwood Lake near Hesperia, San Bernadino County, and its terminus at Lake Perris in Riverside County.{{cite web |url=http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/swptoday.cfm |title=California State Water Project Today |accessdate=December 16, 2011 |publisher=California Department of Water Resources }}
   {{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=1:100,000-scale metric topographic map of Lancaster, California |year=1981 |scale=1:100,000 |series=30×60-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-06071-0393-9 }}
   {{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=1:100,000-scale metric topographic map of Victorville, California |year=1982 |scale=1:100,000 |series=30×60-Minute Series (Topographic) |isbn=978-06071-0002-0 }}
   {{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=1:100,000-scale metric topographic map of San Bernadino, California |year=1982 |scale=1:100,000 |series=30×60-Minute Series (Topographic) }}

Three water companies in the AV have contracted to receive potable and irrigation water from the SWP until 2035:{{cite web |url=http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/contractor_intro.cfm |title=California State Water Project Water Contractors |accessdate=December 18, 2011 |publisher=California Department of Water Resources }} LCID, PWD and the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency (AVEK).{{cite web |url=http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/docs/contractors.pdf |title=Water Contractors |accessdate=December 18, 2011 |publisher=California Department of Water Resources }} Other water districts in the area that have not contracted with the SWP purchase water from AVEK instead, such as Quartz Hill Water District, Rosamond Community Services District, and Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 40.{{cite news |title=A dozen protestors outside Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency |first=Alisha |last=Semchuck |date=October 30, 2008 |work=Antelope Valley Press }} The Antelope Valley's maximum entitlement of SWP water is about {{convert|160000|acre feet|e9USgal e6m3|sigfig=3|abbr=off}} per year.{{cite book |chapter=Section 1: Introduction |title=Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan |url=http://www.ladpw.org/wwd/avirwmp/index.cfm?fuseaction=finalPlan |page=1-2 |accessdate=January 3, 2012 |publisher=Los Angeles County Department of Public Works }}

The Los Angeles Aqueduct also passes through the Antelope Valley and serves to convey water to the City of Los Angeles from the Owens River in Inyo County.

=Streams=

Many of the creeks and streams that enter the valley are ephemeral. About 10 miles{{cn}} east of Little Rock Creek is Big Rock Creek. Amargosa Creek enters the valley from Leona Valley, and Cottonwood Creek begins in the Tehachapi Mountains.

=Wetlands=

Una Lake, Piute Ponds, Barrel Springs

Geology

Climate

Human development

{{main|History of the Antelope Valley}}

Settlements, farming and roads

(Use Lede from above History article)

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the Antelope Valley is limited to desert-type flora, and is in marked contrast to that found on the western side of the Tehachapis or the mountains in Los Angeles National Forest which are prevalent with oak, sycamore and willow trees, and grass-covered floor. Entering the valley from these ranges, the change in vegetation is sudden. The valley floor is covered in desert brush, while Eschscholzia californica (California poppy), Larrea tridentata (creosote bushes), Quercus berberidifolia (scrub oak), and Yucca brevifolia (Joshua trees) are the only other native flora fround in large quantities. Except for junipers, true native arboreals are rare (the Joshua tree is not really a tree as it is not woody, does not produce annual growth rings, and is closely related to agaves and lillies). The only other trees are those imported into the region by man, such as fruit trees during the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s and palm trees.

=Birds=

{{cite book |last=Feiner |first=Aaron K. |title=Birds of Apollo Park and Associated Areas of the Antelope Valley |publisher= |year=2001 |location=Lancaster, California |isbn= |oclc= }}:

{{cite book |last=Feiner |first=Aaron K. |title=Antelope Valley Birds |publisher= |year=1998 |location=Lancaster, California |isbn= |oclc= }}:

=Insects and arthropods=

=Mollusks=

=Lizards=

=Snakes=

=Mammals=

References

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