MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (AP) - The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is battling a ski town in the Eastern Sierra for control of a crucial water supply.

The Los Angeles Times says the DWP sued earlier this year in Mono County to gain control of Mammoth Creek, the main water supply for the town of Mammoth Lakes.

Local water officials say the town of 7,700 would have to buy its water from the DWP and rates could double - and many residents
couldn't afford it. Officials say they've had state permission to
use the water for decades. The DWP says it's owned the water since
1905.

The battle is fueling old resentments in the Eastern Sierra that date to 1913, when LA diverted water south and turned local farmland into desert.

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