Ep 12 SCANDAL: Water for Los Angeles: A History of Lies & Tragedy | Los Angeles, CA

Dark City

How does a city surrounded mostly by desert secure enough water to sustain millions of people? With lies and deception. Through a combination of aggressive strategies, including lobbying and manipulation, several of LA’s leaders acquired the access and infrastructure to bring water from over 200 miles away to the city back in the early 1900s. It’s not quite like the 1974 movie Chinatown, but it’s close. LA’s quest to secure enough water for its ever-growing population is filled with tragedy, including the collapse of the St. Francis Dam, one of the greatest American civil engineering failures of the 20th century. In this episode, we will delve into the history, covering names you may have heard of before, like William Mulholland of the famed Mulholland Drive, and the history you might not have heard of, like that of the Paiute people, who originally lived in and flourished in the Owens Valley, where LA sourced its water before it dried up and became the largest source of dust pollution in the US.
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Top sources for this episode include:
Krist, Gary. The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles. Crown. Kindle Edition.
PBS SoCal. (n.d.). Paiute and the LA Aqueduct in Owens Valley. Lost LA. Retrieved June 12, 2024, from https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/paiute-la-aqueduct-owens-valley
Standiford, Les. Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles (p. 263). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
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