Los Angeles: A Case Study

 

Los Angeles provides an excellent example of how a firm grasp of the technological principles of aqueducts and irrigation can enable humankind to literally transform a desert into a land of verdure and lushness that some have likened to Eden. It is also a prime example of the conflict that can develop over water rights.

The original source of water for the city of Los Angeles was the Los Angeles River. However, in just 30 years, between 1870 and 1900, the population of L. A. exploded from 5,728 to 102,479. The Los Angeles River was sucked dry, but more water was needed.

In 1886, William Mulholland, a self-educated engineer, became the superintendent of L. A.'s water system. Desperate for a source of water, Mulholland visited the Owens River Valley, 200 miles northeast of L. A., in 1904. The Owens River Valley had originally been inhabited by Paiutes, who used the Owens River for irrigation. However, by 1904, American settlers had moved into the valley and pushed the Paiutes off their land. The Americans used the river for irrigation as well. However, Mulholland realized that the Owens River would make an excellent source of water for the city of L. A.

Claiming to be building a new irrigation system for the Owens Valley, the L. A. Water Department bought all the land along the Owens River. After L. A. had secured its rights to the land, it revealed its true intention: to build an aqueduct to carry the water to L. A. Construction of the aqueduct began in 1905, and it was not completed until 1913. At the dedication of the aqueduct on November 5, 1913, Mulholland unfurled an American flag, turned to the flowing water, and said, "There it is. Take it."

The Owens River Aqueduct provided L. A. with four times more water than it needed at the time, so the excess water was used to irrigate the environs of L. A. Most of these areas, such as the San Fernando Valley, were just as arid as Los Angeles had been. However, by 1920, as a result of the enormous quantities of irrigation water, Los Angeles County had become the most productive farm county in the entire country.

Due largely to the plentiful water supply, L. A. grew three times faster than Superintendent Mulholland had initially predicted. Therefore, only ten years after the completion of the Owens River Aqueduct, L. A. was running out of water again. Mulholland began to increase the flow of the aqueduct, drawing more water from Owens Valley, which in turn crippled the water supply for communities and farmers in the valley. Resistance began to develop in Owens Valley, and just before Thanksgiving in 1924, about 100 citizens of the valley seized control of the aqueduct. They opened the floodgates, thereby diverting the entire flow from L. A. and allowing it instead to run into the original river channel. After a week of negotiations, the insurgents returned home celebrating, having been convinced that L. A. would offer a fair price for the remaining water rights and would even consider sharing the water. However, they soon realized that they had been duped. During the negotiations, L. A. had been busily buying up water rights elsewhere in the Owens Valley with the intention of redirecting the river farther upstream.

Realizing they had been beaten, several citizens of the Owens Valley began to attack the aqueduct with dynamite. In response, Mulholland sent 600 fully armed police and trainloads of machine guns and floodlights to monitor the aqueduct 24 hours a day. The bombing ceased. L. A. had finally achieved an absolute victory; before long, city bulldozers were knocking down Owens Valley farmhouses and filling in irrigation ditches.

Despite having won complete control of the Owens River, L. A. was still in need of more water. Therefore, Mulholland decided to construct a reservoir along the Owens River Aqueduct. He wanted to construct the reservoir in the Owens Valley, but a former mayor of L. A. owned the only acceptable location for the reservoir, and he was demanding $1 million for it, so Mulholland instead chose to construct his reservoir in the foothills 40 miles from downtown L. A.

The reservoir was completed by the spring of 1928, but it failed shortly thereafter, annihilating entire communities in the process. Mulholland's reputation was severely injured, and he resigned in disgrace.

L. A. was still in need of more water. Marc Reisner, author of Cadillac Desert, notes that "after the 1920s, Los Angeles' history is almost defined by an obsessive, constant search for more and more water." In 1934, using plans that had been developed by Mulholland years earlier, L. A. built a new aqueduct that stretched all the way to the Colorado River on the Arizona state line. In an effort to prevent L. A. from taking water from the Colorado, Arizona's governor deployed the state militia along the banks of the river. However, it was to no avail. Although a final resolution was not reached until after a 30-year court case (one of the longest in American history), L. A. triumphed again.

In 1936, L. A. built an aqueduct to draw water from Mono Lake, which is 100 miles north of the Owens Valley. In 1966, L. A. acquired its third river, the Feather River, which lies 600 miles to the north of the city, amidst the Sierra Nevadas. In 1970, another aqueduct drawing from Mono Lake was completed. After the completion of this second aqueduct, Mono Lake begin falling at a rate of two feet per year. By 1976, Mono Lake had fallen 40 feet below its original level. However, a group of researchers led by David Gaines began investigating the detrimental effect lowering the lake was having on the environment. These researchers joined forces with committees of concerned citizens at Owens Valley and Mono Lake as well as the Audubon Society and went to court against the L. A. Water Department. The courts ruled that draining Owens Valley and Mono Lake was not in the public's interest, and in 1988, the state of California forced L. A. to begin returning water to Mono Lake. The city of Los Angeles has since begun to participate in water conservation practices on a large scale.