Struggle for Water in 1920s

Thus, the valley's main water supply communicate comes from the runoff of the melting snowpack; this runoff feeds the Owens River and contributes to the groundwater in the valley. The Los Angeles basin, on the separate hand, receives a lesser amount of water from snowpack runoff in the San Gabriel mountains. The growing population of Los Angeles at the end of the 19th atomic number 6 convinced city leaders that new sources of water had to be developed outside of the basin (McClure 1-2, 10-11; Ostrom 10-12).

At the end of the Nineteenth Century, Los Angeles Mayor Fred Eaton believed that water could be diverted from the Owens River to Los Angeles; economic and g overnmental realities, however, prevented the development of such a scheme at that time. In 1904, William Mulholland, superintendent of the Los Angeles City Water Department, accompanied Eaton to the Owens valley to acquit an analysis of the plan. Mulholland then convinced city officials to allocate $25 million for an aqueduct which would divert water from the river to the San Fernando Valley. Eaton began acquiring land and accessory water rights in the Owens Valley, posing as a developer for larger-than-life cattle holdings in the Valley. He turned over this shoes to the city, along with options on water rights in land which was riparian to the river. Citizens of Los Angeles overwhelmingly approved bond issues for the

Sauder, Robert A. "The farming(a) Colonization of a Great Basin marge: Economic Organization and Environmental Alteration in Owens Valley, California, 1860-1925." Agricultural History 64(4) (1990): 78-101.

In response to McClure's report, the state legislature choose a bill which specifically permitted the payment of reparations, undercutting Mulholland's claim that he had no legal authority to compensate the valley residents for their losses. The customary Service Commission was put under further instancy to solve the crisis quickly by the economic expansion of Los Angeles during this said(prenominal) period. Some resolution to the water problem had to be found. In May of 1925, the Commission offered to buy all lands tributary to the Owens River.

Although a few owners took advantage of this offer, it bogged down in resistance and dynamiting of the aqueduct resumed during the summer of 1925. Pressure on the city continued to increase throughout 1926 and 1927, as prices demanded by owners increased, claims for reparations under the state law multiplied, and dynamite attacks continued. The city was also attacked in the state legislature, which began considering changes in water law which would adversely affect the city's use of water from the valley, and in the press, which portrayed Mulholland and the Public Service Commission as mess up and evil. The city sent in armed "guards" to protect the aqueduct in the Summer of 1927 (Karhl 110-11).

Walton, John. "Picnic at Alabama Gates: The Owens Valley Rebellion 1904-1927." California History 65 (1986): 193-206.

The battle over water rights between the residents of the Owens Valley and the city of Los Angeles was important for some(prenominal) reasons. First, the acquisition of property rights in the Owens Valley and the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct established the first experience for the city of funding a big infrastructure project with municipal bonds. Municipal politics play a very important
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