Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br /> <br />Los Angeles Department <br />of Water and Power <br />System Map <br /> <br />Los Angeles <br /> <br />340 Miles <br />500 cfs <br /> <br />State Water <br />Project <br />444 Miles <br />(715 Km) " <br />2750 cIs <br /> <br />Colorado River Aqueduct <br />242 Miles <br />1650 cfs <br /> <br />The Metropolitan Water District <br />The need for the Colorado River Aqueduct was described in the <br />following terms- <br /> <br />Tbe extreme aridity of the Southern California climate is not imme- <br />diately evident to the recently arrived resident or tourist, with only <br />the luxuriant subtropical vegetation of the cultivated areas as a <br />basis for judgment. The sharp contrast with the Sahara-like deserts <br />that must be crossed by everyone approaching Los Angeles over- <br />land increases the impressions of abundant rainfall, until the fact is <br />finally realized that all this vegetation is continuously dependent <br />upon frequent irrigation. The region constitutes in reality a great <br />oasis, sharply bounded in every landward direction by deserts of <br />utter sterility. It derives a limited and extremely variable water <br />supply from the 1,000 square miles of rocky, steeply sloping <br />mountain watersheds which drain into the basin from the north <br />and east. On these mountain slopes the rainfall averages about 30 <br /> <br />Chapter 1 A Brief History 13 <br />