Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility
in the United States, serving over four million residents. It was founded in 1902 to supply water and electricity
to residents and businesses in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. The LADWP receives no tax support, and contributes about $190 million annually to the revenues of the city of Los Angeles.
magnified problems with the city’s water distribution system
. At that time a system of open ditch
es, often polluted
, was reasonably effective at supplying water to agriculture but was not suited to providing water to homes. In 1853, the city council rejected as "excessive" a closed-pipe
system that would serve homes directly. As a solution, the city allowed "water carriers with jugs and horse-drawn wagons…to serve the city’s domestic [water] needs". It took until 1857 for the council to realize that the system needed to be updated, which led them to grant William G. Dryden franchise rights to provide homes with water through a system of underground water mains. The initial system served only a few homes using an unreliable network of wooden pipes. In December 1861, heavy rains destroyed the system and Dryden gave up his franchise. The city attempted contracting out water distribution rights to others, but none of the systems that resulted from these contracts was successful.
The city’s previous unsuccessful attempts to allow others to develop a water system on its behalf prompted the city council to relinquish its rights to the water in the Los Angeles River
in 1868, which benefited John S. Griffen, Solomon Lazard, and Prudent Beaudry
, three already successful businessmen. This change was at the expense of the city of Los Angeles, which could no longer benefit from their municipal water distribution business. The three men created the Los Angeles City Water Company, which violated many of the provisions of its lease on the Los Angeles River, including secretly tunneling under the river to extract 150 times as much water as the lease allowed. As a result, as the end of the lease drew near in the mid-1890s, “popular support began to build for a return to complete municipal control of the local water supply”.
The leader in the fight to end private control of the water supply was Fred Eaton
. Eaton proposed that tax revenues would enable the city of Los Angeles to provide water to its residents without charging them for the use of water directly. Eaton’s views were especially powerful because of “his distinguished record of achievement rendered in both the private and public sector”. During Eaton’s nine-year term as the superintending engineer of the Los Angeles City Water Company, he headed a large expansion of the company’s water system. Eaton left his position in 1886 when he was elected City Engineer. In his new public position, Eaton devoted his time to the updating and expansion of the sewer
system. Eaton felt that the Los Angeles City Water Company was not serving the citizens of Los Angeles in the best way possible because of high rates and the fact the company frequently paid dividends to its stockholders instead of improving the water system. In early 1897, city engineers began creating plans for an updated water system while the city council informed the Los Angeles City Water Company that its lease would not be renewed beyond its expiration date, July 21, 1898. In early 1898, the city began talks with the Los Angeles City Water Company about taking over the company’s current water system.
Throughout the negotiations, it became clear that it was necessary for the current senior employees of the Los Angeles City Water Company to keep their jobs in order to ensure that the water system could continue to operate. It was not guaranteed, however, that William Mulholland
, Eaton’s protégé and the man who took over the job of superintending engineer when Eaton was elected city engineer, would have a position working with the city-owned water system. Mulholland was not popular with city officials because he did not produce records that the city requested during negotiations. Near the end of the talks between the city and the water company, it was discovered that neither the requested records nor a map of the water system existed. Mulholland, who was supposed to be in charge of the non-existent records, was never a fan of paperwork and claimed that he had memorized all of the necessary information, including “the size of every inch of pipe and the age and location of every valve”. Mulholland secured a job with the city when he successfully demonstrated his ability to recall the information. Once Mulholland was assured a job with the city, he “promptly intervened with the company’s principal stockholder, advising him to accept the city’s offer of two million dollars for the system”.
On January 17, 1994, the city of Los Angeles experienced its one and only total system black-out as a result of the Northridge earthquake
. Much of the power was restored within a few hours.
In September 2005, a DWP worker accidentally cut power lines that caused over half of Los Angeles to be without power for one and one-half hours.
The rolling blackouts in the summers of 2006 and 2007 were caused by extreme high temperatures. Because the components were up to 60 years old, the extreme temperatures melted the power transformers and insulators. As a result, LADWP has decided to upgrade the overhead power lines.
, built and operated by the LADWP, collapsed catastrophically. Over four hundred-fifty people died in the immediate vicinity, but the overall death toll was mitigated by prompt warnings sent to downriver communities in the Santa Clara River
Valley, including Fillmore
, Santa Paula
, and San Buenaventura
. Mulholland assumed full responsibility for the disaster and retired. The pall of the disaster hung over him until his death in 1935.
The LADWP has been a leading actor in the struggle over access to water from the Owens Valley
, starting with its initial acquisition of water rights, as well as buying out farms and asserting control over Mono Lake
and Owens Lake
.
The LADWP and William Mulholland played a key role in the development of Hoover Dam
and bringing its energy to Los Angeles. The LADWP continued to operate the Hoover Dam electrical facility until 1987.
, Arizona
, and Nevada
. A further 11% is generated using nuclear power. It receives about 6% of its electricity from hydropower, most coming from Hoover Dam
and the rest coming from the aqueduct system itself as the water descends from its mountain sources.
The LADWP, along with the California Department of Water Resources
, also operates the Castaic Power Plant
as a pumped storage facility
. Water flows from the upper reservoir to the lower during the day, generating power when demand is highest, and is pumped back up at night when excess capacity is available. About 1,600 megawatts, or 22% of the total capacity, is generated at this facility alone . The Los Angeles City Council
voted in 2004 to direct the LADWP to generate 20% of its energy (excluding Hoover Dam) from clean sources by 2010 . Current "green power" sources account for 5% of the LADWP's capacity, but there are plans to add a 120 megawatt wind farm in Tehachapi, California
, and produce electricity from geothermal sources in the Salton Sea
area and photovoltaic sources.
Because Los Angeles is older than most other cities in California, the LADWP is currently faced with several unique issues. Most of the power lines in Los Angeles were built above-ground before it became customary to run power lines below-ground; as a result, the horizon line of the typical Los Angeles boulevard looks much more cluttered than boulevards in most Southern California cities. Starting in 2007, LADWP has a long-term project to upgrade the overhead power lines and convert them to underground. This difficult conversion has been slowed by budget constraints, the impact on traffic, the pursuit of other modernization projects, and the lingering effects of a workforce reduction over the last decade. Budget issues are particularly acute in the department's transmission system, where underground transmission costs about 10 to 14 times the cost of overhead transmission, per unit length, and the technical and environmental challenges which confront such installations. Upgrading the overhead lines is expected to take 10 to 15 years. The upgrading of LADWP's overhead power lines consists of eliminating the V-shape brackets on the power poles that are holding up the crossarm and replacing them with cross-brackets that are put on the crossarm. Some of the wooden power poles are being replaced with metal poles.
The department recently completed two 230 kV underground projects using an innovative cable technology which does not utilize oil as an insulator. The oilless cable mitigates the environmental issues associated with oil-type cable.
. In fiscal year 2004–2005:
The use of water from specific sources can vary greatly from year to year.
The prospect of increased demand coupled with reduced supply from the Mono and Owens basins is causing the LADWP look into a number of new water sources, including a new direct connection to the California Aqueduct
, increased use of recycled water, use of stormwater capture and reuse, and increased conservation. Many of the old pipelines are beginning to wear out, or are at capacity and insufficient to handle future demand. LADWP has undertaken pipeline replacement projects on many L.A. boulevards like Exposition and Olympic.
, LADWP has been mentioned several times in popular culture, both fiction and nonfiction:
Water and Power commissioners
Notable employees
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
in the United States, serving over four million residents. It was founded in 1902 to supply water and electricity
Electrical power industry
The electric power industry provides the production and delivery of electric energy, often known as power, or electricity, in sufficient quantities to areas that need electricity through a grid connection. The grid distributes electrical energy to customers...
to residents and businesses in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. The LADWP receives no tax support, and contributes about $190 million annually to the revenues of the city of Los Angeles.
Private operators
By the middle of the 19th century, Los Angeles's rapid population growthPopulation growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
magnified problems with the city’s water distribution system
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
. At that time a system of open ditch
Ditch
A ditch is usually defined as a small to moderate depression created to channel water.In Anglo-Saxon, the word dïc already existed and was pronounced 'deek' in northern England and 'deetch' in the south. The origins of the word lie in digging a trench and forming the upcast soil into a bank...
es, often polluted
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
, was reasonably effective at supplying water to agriculture but was not suited to providing water to homes. In 1853, the city council rejected as "excessive" a closed-pipe
Water pipe
Water pipes are pipes or tubes, frequently made of polyvinyl chloride , ductile iron, steel, cast iron, polypropylene, polyethylene, or copper, that carry pressurized and treated fresh water to buildings , as well as inside the building.-History:For many centuries, lead was the favoured material...
system that would serve homes directly. As a solution, the city allowed "water carriers with jugs and horse-drawn wagons…to serve the city’s domestic [water] needs". It took until 1857 for the council to realize that the system needed to be updated, which led them to grant William G. Dryden franchise rights to provide homes with water through a system of underground water mains. The initial system served only a few homes using an unreliable network of wooden pipes. In December 1861, heavy rains destroyed the system and Dryden gave up his franchise. The city attempted contracting out water distribution rights to others, but none of the systems that resulted from these contracts was successful.
The city’s previous unsuccessful attempts to allow others to develop a water system on its behalf prompted the city council to relinquish its rights to the water in the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
in 1868, which benefited John S. Griffen, Solomon Lazard, and Prudent Beaudry
Prudent Beaudry
Prudent Beaudry served as the 13th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1874 to 1876. A native of Quebec, he was the second French Canadian, and third French American mayor of Los Angeles.-Early life:...
, three already successful businessmen. This change was at the expense of the city of Los Angeles, which could no longer benefit from their municipal water distribution business. The three men created the Los Angeles City Water Company, which violated many of the provisions of its lease on the Los Angeles River, including secretly tunneling under the river to extract 150 times as much water as the lease allowed. As a result, as the end of the lease drew near in the mid-1890s, “popular support began to build for a return to complete municipal control of the local water supply”.
Public control
Fred Eaton
Frederick Eaton , known as Fred Eaton, was a major individual in the transformation and expansion of Los Angeles in the latter 19th century through early 20th century, in California, United States...
. Eaton proposed that tax revenues would enable the city of Los Angeles to provide water to its residents without charging them for the use of water directly. Eaton’s views were especially powerful because of “his distinguished record of achievement rendered in both the private and public sector”. During Eaton’s nine-year term as the superintending engineer of the Los Angeles City Water Company, he headed a large expansion of the company’s water system. Eaton left his position in 1886 when he was elected City Engineer. In his new public position, Eaton devoted his time to the updating and expansion of the sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
system. Eaton felt that the Los Angeles City Water Company was not serving the citizens of Los Angeles in the best way possible because of high rates and the fact the company frequently paid dividends to its stockholders instead of improving the water system. In early 1897, city engineers began creating plans for an updated water system while the city council informed the Los Angeles City Water Company that its lease would not be renewed beyond its expiration date, July 21, 1898. In early 1898, the city began talks with the Los Angeles City Water Company about taking over the company’s current water system.
Throughout the negotiations, it became clear that it was necessary for the current senior employees of the Los Angeles City Water Company to keep their jobs in order to ensure that the water system could continue to operate. It was not guaranteed, however, that William Mulholland
William Mulholland
William Mulholland was the head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, in Los Angeles. He was responsible for building the water aqueducts and dams that allowed the city to grow into one of the largest in the world. His methods of obtaining water for the city led to disputes collectively...
, Eaton’s protégé and the man who took over the job of superintending engineer when Eaton was elected city engineer, would have a position working with the city-owned water system. Mulholland was not popular with city officials because he did not produce records that the city requested during negotiations. Near the end of the talks between the city and the water company, it was discovered that neither the requested records nor a map of the water system existed. Mulholland, who was supposed to be in charge of the non-existent records, was never a fan of paperwork and claimed that he had memorized all of the necessary information, including “the size of every inch of pipe and the age and location of every valve”. Mulholland secured a job with the city when he successfully demonstrated his ability to recall the information. Once Mulholland was assured a job with the city, he “promptly intervened with the company’s principal stockholder, advising him to accept the city’s offer of two million dollars for the system”.
Power delivery
The LADWP first offered municipal electricity in 1917 when the San Francisquito Power Plant began generating electricity. It ultimately produced 70.5 megawatts and is still in operation in 2004, producing 44.5 megawatts.On January 17, 1994, the city of Los Angeles experienced its one and only total system black-out as a result of the Northridge earthquake
Northridge earthquake
The Northridge earthquake was a massive earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 04:31 Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 10–20 seconds...
. Much of the power was restored within a few hours.
In September 2005, a DWP worker accidentally cut power lines that caused over half of Los Angeles to be without power for one and one-half hours.
The rolling blackouts in the summers of 2006 and 2007 were caused by extreme high temperatures. Because the components were up to 60 years old, the extreme temperatures melted the power transformers and insulators. As a result, LADWP has decided to upgrade the overhead power lines.
Notable events and controversies
In 1928, the St. Francis DamSt. Francis Dam
The St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity-arch dam, designed to create a reservoir as a storage point of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. It was located 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, California, near the present city of Santa Clarita....
, built and operated by the LADWP, collapsed catastrophically. Over four hundred-fifty people died in the immediate vicinity, but the overall death toll was mitigated by prompt warnings sent to downriver communities in the Santa Clara River
Santa Clara River (California)
The Santa Clara River is approximately long, located in southern California in the United States. It drains an area of the coastal mountains north of Los Angeles. The Santa Clara is one of the largest river systems along the coast of Southern California and one of only a few remaining river...
Valley, including Fillmore
Fillmore, California
Fillmore is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 15,002 at the 2010 census, up from 13,643 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, Santa Paula
Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...
, and San Buenaventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
. Mulholland assumed full responsibility for the disaster and retired. The pall of the disaster hung over him until his death in 1935.
The LADWP has been a leading actor in the struggle over access to water from the Owens Valley
Owens Valley
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
, starting with its initial acquisition of water rights, as well as buying out farms and asserting control over Mono Lake
Mono Lake
Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean...
and Owens Lake
Owens Lake
Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is located about south of Lone Pine, California...
.
The LADWP and William Mulholland played a key role in the development of Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
and bringing its energy to Los Angeles. The LADWP continued to operate the Hoover Dam electrical facility until 1987.
Service territory
In addition to the city of Los Angeles, LADWP also provides services to these communities:- Bishop (parts of)
- Culver City (parts of)
- South Pasadena (parts of)
- West Hollywood (parts of)
Power system
The LADWP currently maintains a generating capacity of 7,200 megawatts, in excess of the peak demand of 6,165 megawatts by the city of Los Angeles. It provides this surplus electricity to other utilities, selling 23 million megawatt-hours in 2003. As of 2005, the LADWP operates four natural gas-fired generating stations within city boundaries, which account for 26% of capacity. It receives 52% of its electricity from coal-fired plants in UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. A further 11% is generated using nuclear power. It receives about 6% of its electricity from hydropower, most coming from Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
and the rest coming from the aqueduct system itself as the water descends from its mountain sources.
The LADWP, along with the California Department of Water Resources
California Department of Water Resources
The California Department of Water Resources , is a department within the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Water Resources is responsible for the State of California's management and regulation of water usage...
, also operates the Castaic Power Plant
Castaic Power Plant
Castaic Power Plant is a seven unit pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, operated by LADWP, which provides peak load power from the falling water on the West Branch of the California State Aqueduct...
as a pumped storage facility
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric power generation used by some power plants for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost off-peak electric power is used to run the pumps...
. Water flows from the upper reservoir to the lower during the day, generating power when demand is highest, and is pumped back up at night when excess capacity is available. About 1,600 megawatts, or 22% of the total capacity, is generated at this facility alone . The Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
voted in 2004 to direct the LADWP to generate 20% of its energy (excluding Hoover Dam) from clean sources by 2010 . Current "green power" sources account for 5% of the LADWP's capacity, but there are plans to add a 120 megawatt wind farm in Tehachapi, California
Tehachapi, California
Tehachapi is a city incorporated in 1909 located in the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and Mojave in Kern County, California. Tehachapi is located east-southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of...
, and produce electricity from geothermal sources in the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
area and photovoltaic sources.
Because Los Angeles is older than most other cities in California, the LADWP is currently faced with several unique issues. Most of the power lines in Los Angeles were built above-ground before it became customary to run power lines below-ground; as a result, the horizon line of the typical Los Angeles boulevard looks much more cluttered than boulevards in most Southern California cities. Starting in 2007, LADWP has a long-term project to upgrade the overhead power lines and convert them to underground. This difficult conversion has been slowed by budget constraints, the impact on traffic, the pursuit of other modernization projects, and the lingering effects of a workforce reduction over the last decade. Budget issues are particularly acute in the department's transmission system, where underground transmission costs about 10 to 14 times the cost of overhead transmission, per unit length, and the technical and environmental challenges which confront such installations. Upgrading the overhead lines is expected to take 10 to 15 years. The upgrading of LADWP's overhead power lines consists of eliminating the V-shape brackets on the power poles that are holding up the crossarm and replacing them with cross-brackets that are put on the crossarm. Some of the wooden power poles are being replaced with metal poles.
The department recently completed two 230 kV underground projects using an innovative cable technology which does not utilize oil as an insulator. The oilless cable mitigates the environmental issues associated with oil-type cable.
Water system
The LADWP provided more than 200 billion US gallons (760 billion liters) of water in 2003, pumping it through 7226 miles (11,629 km) of pipePipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
. In fiscal year 2004–2005:
- 48% of the water came from the Sierra Nevada mountains via the Los Angeles AqueductLos Angeles AqueductThe Los Angeles Aqueduct system comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power...
; - 41% came from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaMetropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaThe Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the largest supplier of treated water in the US. The name is usually shortened to the "Metropolitan Water District" or simply "MWD". It is a cooperative of 14 cities and 12 municipal water districts that indirectly provides water to 18...
, which transports water from the California AqueductCalifornia AqueductThe Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the...
and Colorado River AqueductColorado River AqueductThe Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California . The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border west across the Mojave...
; - 11% was from local groundwaterGroundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
, a resource that is actively managed and allocated, but is continually being threatened by chemical pollutants, such as MTBE and perchloratePerchloratePerchlorates are the salts derived from perchloric acid . They occur both naturally and through manufacturing. They have been used as a medicine for more than 50 years to treat thyroid gland disorders. They are used extensively within the pyrotechnics industry, and ammonium perchlorate is also a...
s; - 1% came from recycled water and was used for irrigation, recreation, and industrial purposes.
The use of water from specific sources can vary greatly from year to year.
The prospect of increased demand coupled with reduced supply from the Mono and Owens basins is causing the LADWP look into a number of new water sources, including a new direct connection to the California Aqueduct
California Aqueduct
The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the...
, increased use of recycled water, use of stormwater capture and reuse, and increased conservation. Many of the old pipelines are beginning to wear out, or are at capacity and insufficient to handle future demand. LADWP has undertaken pipeline replacement projects on many L.A. boulevards like Exposition and Olympic.
Media portrayals
Unusual for a municipal public utilityPublic utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
, LADWP has been mentioned several times in popular culture, both fiction and nonfiction:
- The 1974 Roman PolanskiRoman PolanskiRoman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
film Chinatown sets its story around LADWP's efforts to acquire land and water rights. - In 1982 the University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
published William L. Kahrl's book Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles’ Water Supply in the Owens Valley . The book examined the development of water policy in the American WestWestern United States.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, particularly concentrating on the role of William Mulholland and the LADWP. - The 1986 book Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing WaterCadillac DesertCadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner, is a 1986 book published by Viking about land development and water policy in the western United States. Subtitled The American West and its Disappearing Water, it gives the history of the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and their struggle...
by Marc ReisnerMarc ReisnerMarc Reisner was an American environmentalist and writer best known for his book Cadillac Desert, a history of water management in the American West....
is about land development and water policy in the western United States. The subsequent television documentary of the same name devotes an entire episode to Mulholland's Dream to provide plentiful water for Los Angeles. - The 1995 movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a 1995 American superhero action fantasy based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids. It featured the characters and actors from the series itself, and used the zords from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger...
makes reference to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The movie takes place in a fictional city modeled after Los Angeles. In one of the movie's scenes, after finding a mysterious object in the ground on a construction site, one construction worker asks another, "what in the world is this?" The other construction worker replies "well it sure as heck ain't DWP." - The 1996 science fiction movie Independence Day shows the LADWP headquarters building get destroyed by the wave of explosions when the 15 mile wide alien spaceship obliterates Los Angeles in a couple minutes.
- In the 2009 ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series FlashForwardFlashforwardA flashforward is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future...
, the exterior of the LADWP headquarters is used to portray the FBI field office building where several main characters are based. - In the 2009 movie ObsessedObsessed (2009 film)Obsessed is a 2009 American thriller film directed by Steve Shill. The Screen Gems production stars Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles and Ali Larter...
the building was also featured. - The 2010 Christopher NolanChristopher NolanChristopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
film InceptionInceptionInception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
features the LADWP headquarters, though a noticeably taller version. The building was shown in the world created by the protagonist and antagonist during a decades-long shared dream.
See also
- Intermountain Power AgencyIntermountain Power AgencyThe Intermountain Power Agency located in Utah is responsible for running the Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah, a coal fired power plant capable of generating 1800 megawatts...
- Metropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaMetropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaThe Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the largest supplier of treated water in the US. The name is usually shortened to the "Metropolitan Water District" or simply "MWD". It is a cooperative of 14 cities and 12 municipal water districts that indirectly provides water to 18...
Water and Power commissioners
- John W. BaumgartnerJohn W. BaumgartnerJohn Walter Baumgartner was a civil engineer who was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1933 to 1945.-Biography:...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1933–45
Notable employees
- Lloyd G. DaviesLloyd G. DaviesLloyd G. Davies was a Hollywood advertising and public relations man and sometime actor who was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1943 to 1951.-Biography:...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1943–51 - S. David FreemanS. David FreemanS. David Freeman is an American engineer, attorney, and author, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who has had many key roles in energy policy...
External links
- LADWP Home Page
- Mono Lake Committee (won Mono Lake protection from excessive LADWP water diversions)
- Owens Valley Committee (sued LADWP over water)