Water and Power: The Conflict Over Los Angeles Water Supply in the Owens Valley

By William L. Kahrl

Book Overview

It is not the purpose of this work to propose a specific format for the settlement of the city's current difficulties with the valley, to resolve the environmental questions associated with Los Angeles's proposed groundwater pumping program, or to promote any cause associated with the developing situation in the Owens Valley. But by performing the essential historical task of separating what happened from what did not, and by distinguishing in this way the choices which have been made from those which have yet to be decided, it is my hope that this effort will help to establish that common basis for understanding which is essential for the debate over specific issues to proceed most effectively. This book, then, is scarcely the last word on the Owens Valley conflict: the final chapter, after all, has yet to be written. The story that has emerged here is at once very different and more troubling than the conventional treatments of the conflict as a simplistic political morality play. Any attempt to deal with so controversial a subject, however, is almost certain to spark controversy itself. For that reason, with the exception of a small collection of private letters, this work is constructed entirely from the published documents and other materials available to the general public, anchoring the narrative in sources the reader can consult to trace the line of my argument on any point with which he or she may disagree. In addition, the work as a whole has been reviewed for technical accuracy by officials of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, although the department is in no way responsible for the content of this study or the conclusions drawn from it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520050681
• ISBN13: 9780520050686
• Release Date: November 1983
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 584 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Review of Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles' Water Supply in the Owens Valley

Book came before it was supposed to and was in great condition. WOuld buy again.

One of the best book about politics

I stumbled on this book at a gas station in Death Valley, while looking for something to put me to sleep at the no TV motel I was staying at. It turned out that it was not only the most informative book about California water politics I had ever read but also one of the most insightful books about politics and the human nature. We are all familiar with the premise of the movie "Chinatown." Scheming developers like giant puppeteers, plot to bring water to South California to sell real estate. "Water and Power" goes into so much more fascinating detail. Reality is never that simple. Intricate alliances and wars within and between various federal, state and local agencies, farmers, businessmen, newspapers, labor activists. And the end result of many battles is often the result of chance. In the process of reading all this one learns the history of 20th century California.Unlike Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" which is boring and predictable because all the facts are shoehorned to fit his point of view, "Water and Power" is fascinating because William Kahrl lets the facts tell their own story and reality becomes stranger than fiction. The only other similar book that comes to mind is David Fromkin's "A Peace to end all Peace". Although it deals with the Middle East it's also a history of unintended consequences. But in a way "Water and Power" it's even more fascinating because it exposes the same machinations of politics through the seemingly innocuous subject of local water politics. This book is a must for anyone interested in politics.