Discovery To Catastrophe PDF Download

Water. Vital for all forms of known life. And for the life of a city. From the earliest days of El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Ángeles to today's modern metropolis, Los Angeles owes its life to this essential resource.From the pueblo days of Zanja Madre to Mulholland's aqueduct, to Abbot Kinney's canals, the history of Los Angeles and water is one of remarkable achievement. It is in the spirit of celebration of the river's discovery by the Spanish, that this photo book seeks to share the quest for and deliverance of water to a city of semi-arid climate with an unreliable rainfall, to share and commemorate our city's monuments to this achievement from the fountains in our public squares to the most classic of symbols of southern California living, the swimming pool. Some of these monuments have been lost, paved over, or simply turned off and left to run dry. Others, like the Los Angeles River, are experiencing a rebirth, a new sense of purpose and pride. In a more hostile environment of climate change, drought and wildfires, it is vital that we understand our past, and decide whether we write the next chapter of our city's history by confronting the challenges, as our city's forebears did, or surrendering to the elements.