Later Owens Valley history - The Water Wars (early 1900's)

[pinto]

Posted as a companion thread to petronius' re: Owens Valley ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403580 )

William Mulholland
(1855-1935)

A man obsessed with an engineering challenge of epic proportions, William Mulholland brought the Owens River to Los Angeles through a combination of determination and deceit.

In 1878, Mulholland began what was to be a lengthy engineering career with an inauspicious beginning -- as a ditch-cleaner for Los Angeles' private water company. Eight years later, the self-educated engineer had become superintendent. When the city took over the water system, Mulholland was retained as head of the Department of Water and Power, a position he would occupy until 1928.

As Los Angeles boomed and its business leaders began to envision endless prosperity, Mulholland and his former boss, Fred Eaton -- a one-time Los Angeles mayor -- warned that the city would need more water to sustain its growth. They began to look longingly at the Owens River, more than 200 miles away, but the residents of Owens Valley had plans for that water as well. Most of them raised crops and ranched, and they were anticipating an economic bonanza once the newly-founded Reclamation Service completed its Owens Valley irrigation project. Mulholland and Eaton realized that to acquire the Owens River for Los Angeles, they would have to put an end to this irrigation project -- a task for which Eaton was well qualified.

The local agent of the Reclamation Service was a political crony of Eaton's, and he allowed his friend to examine critical land and water rights documents on the pretense that it was necessary for the orderly advancement of the Owens Valley project. Eaton, in turn, hired his friend -- at a generous salary -- to develop the city's plan to take the Owens River. In this way, by the end of 1905, through a combination of normal land purchases and near bribery, the city had acquired enough land and water rights to block the Owens Valley project.

But the residents of the Owens Valley were not the only ones out-maneuvered by Mulholland and Eaton. Mulholland in particular had portrayed the acquisition of the Owens River as a life or death matter for Los Angeles. In reality, however, much of the water was to be used for irrigating the nearby San Fernando Valley, where a syndicate of private investors, many the personal friends of Mulholland and Eaton, had been furiously buying up land with the assurance that its value would skyrocket. This same group of investors was critical in securing passage of the 1905 bond issue that would pay for the Owens River diversion.

With millions to spend, Mulholland could at last begin the task that would call forth the deepest resources of his character: organization, vision and dogged determination. Over the next eight years, he would direct an army of thousands across more than two-hundred miles of desert and mountain as they blasted out tunnels, carved out sluiceways, cleared roads, laid railroad track and ran power lines. When machines broke down, he used mules. When men perished, he hired more. He was creating one of the engineering marvels of the age, and nothing would get in his way.

the rest of the story at -

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/mulholland.htm

[NYC_SKP]

1. Frightening: That people can have a plan to "take the Owens River".

Rivers should not be things that can be "taken".

Of course, at that time (and still today) all resources were seen as having been placed there by the creator for our exclusive benefit and exploitation.

It's a fascinating story. One day, however, mother nature will take back what is hers, she'll take back the Owens River and all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley!

[pinto]

2. It was the basis for the great Polanski film 'Chinatown'

Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir film, directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne, and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston. The film was inspired by the California Water Wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley. The Robert Evans production, a Paramount Pictures release, was the director's last film in the United States, and features many elements of film noir, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_(1974_film)

[NYC_SKP]

3. I remember that! And I remember seeing it with my bestest friend Brad, in LA!

I didn't at the time have a clue how important it was.

I should watch it again....

BTW, last Monday we launched the first fast charge ZNE bus in Northern California. Made by Proterra, it can recharge in just minutes...

http://www.proterra.com/index.php/mediacenter/companynews/proterra_adds_stockton_california_to_list_of_cities_operating_its_zero1/

[pinto]

4. Congrats on the zero emission buses. And the CA Assembly for the funding.