Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles' Water Supply in the Owens Valley - Hardcover

Kahrl, William L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520044312 ISBN 13: 9780520044319

Publisher: Univ of California Pr, 1982

Synopsis

At the beginning of the 20th century, the banker and businessmen of los angeles determined to reach out 250 miles to the northeast and seize the waters of the Owens Valley, then emerging as one of the most promising agricultural regions in California. That action laid the basis for the modern metropolis of Los Angeles and set off the most enduring and influential water was in American history. WATER and POWER is the definitive account of this conflict, from its earliest origins to the modern day destruction of Mono Lake. It is a story of ambition and violence, of faith and betrayal, of money and politics. But above all, it is a story of California and how it became what it is today. Water is the key to the history of Ca. in this century.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"'Water and Power' is not only the most detailed book on the subject but the first one to attempt to be balanced and fair, and, more important, to succeed. . . . A class on how to write history clearly, convincingly, with an eye on the bigger picture, and most of all, with deep common sense."--New York Times Book Review "A crackling piece of history, politics, and economics, full of information, controversy and drama . . . a course in reality, loaded with enough detail, characters, incidents, and richness to make plenty of fiction look pale. Definitive, enlightening, entertaining." --Newsday "Kahrl has done more than simply illuminate an issue of riveting public importance in California; he has set an example for journalists, commentators, and power brokers in California to follow."--Los Angeles Daily Journal "Ambitious, comprehensive, and grounded in those long-neglected sources historians could have used all along . . . . The Owens Valley - Los Angeles water controversy will never be the same again."--American Historical Review

About the Author:

William Kahrl is the editor of The California Water Atlas and the author of Water and Power, a history of the conflict over Los Angeles' water system.

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of California Pr
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0520044312
• ISBN 13: 9780520044319
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 608