Chinatown – A Review

A review

Carol Schaye

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We have made the land wet where it was dry and dry where it was wet disturbing the natural order of things.

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Why and how did we do these things?

Moving out West from the East Coast, I was late in learning about water wars, manifest destiny, and the displacement of indigenous folks from their homes. My education was a revisionist version of my country’s history. A friend, an engineer, suggested the book “Cadillac Desert”. This same engineer had assisted in building dams and now says he regrets it.

Manifest Destiny

‘Manifest Destiny’, in U.S. history, is the supposed inevitability of the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond.’ ⁽¹⁾ We had the right to take land, water, and possessions to expand our republic. Some considered it as the first example of colonialism in the USA.

Cadillac Desert

Marc Reisner documented meticulously in his book, “Cadillac Desert” the history of and some of the results of this belief.

Cadillac Desert (1986) is an American history book by Marc Reisner about land development and water policy in the western United States. Subtitled The American West and Its Disappearing Water, it explores the history of the federal agencies, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and their struggles to remake the American West in ways to satisfy national settlement goals. The book concludes that the development-driven policies, formed when settling the West was the country’s main concern, have had serious long-term negative effects on the environment and water quantity. The book was revised and updated in 1993. ⁽²⁾

Investors and Real Estate Developers needed water to expand the desert that was Los Angeles

Los Angeles had been a backwater for a long time. It was considered to have neither water, natural minerals nor other necessary elements for a thriving city. This all changed with the arrival of an elementary school dropout from Ireland, William Mulholland.

No attention was paid to the lack of water in the barren desert that was Los Angeles (southern California). By 1903, inspired by brilliant public relations, the population had grown and Los Angeles had sucked dry their only source of water, the Los Angeles River.

Not enough water, let’s take it from others

For centuries Paiute Indians had lived along the Owens River, two hundred miles north, of what was then the boundaries of Los Angeles. When the first white immigrants came to the Owen’s Valley, they wanted that water for cattle and crops, pushing the Native Americans further north. Building fences, the first white settlers expected the native people to pay to use the very same water they had used for centuries. When Mulholland arrived he wanted that same water for his dream city in the desert, Los Angeles. He began planning to divert the Owens River from 200 miles north of Los Angeles to the city, with no regard for the ranchers and farmers, who had shown no regard for the native people who lived there before them. Mulholland’s problem was the ranchers and farmers had developed a system of water rights (something native people never thought possible to own water and rivers) and now owned all the water rights. But the climate in Los Angeles at the time was,” Getting what you want any way you could.” Marc Reisner

At the same time Mulholland was buying water rights in the Owen’s Valley a syndicate was buying up worthless desert land in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. Why?  The aqueduct deferring the Owens River to Los Angeles, which Mulholland was planning, had to go through worthless land in that valley (San Fernando Valley). As was said in the film “Chinatown” ‘If the water won’t come to Los Angeles (the San Fernando Valley) we will move Los Angeles to the water.” Thus the borders of Los Angeles were expanded to include the San Fernando Valley. Citizens of Los Angeles willingly paid taxes for the aqueduct to be built to pass through the San Fernando Valley. That tax money subsidized the syndicate’s purchases of the worthless desert land, making it livable, with Owens Valley water. With the water from the diverted Owens River, the worthless desert became expensive land for growing crops and building homes.

The Water Vampire, Los Angeles was the world’s largest garden hose.

Palm trees, not native to southern California, were being planted by the thousands, lawns were being grown in desert soil, grand estates were proud of the showy succulent plants, and everyone needed a swimming pool.

 “Some of these places are using about three times as much water per capita than we are in the Northeast, and I would argue that a lot of that is for nonessential uses. The biggest culprit, in my opinion, is lawn irrigation, turf irrigation.” (Scott Horsley, an instructor in water resources policy and watershed management in the Sustainability Graduate Program at the Harvard Extension School.)

Then came the movies

 In 1913, filmmakers realized the consistently warm climate with the lovely homes and nearby ranches was perfect for shooting films. Hollywood was born. People came from everywhere, drawn by the public relations of the cities governing folk. The population growth in the desert city had outgrown its Owen River diverted water. Looking toward the rivers and waters of the entire country, the folks from Los Angeles began considering diverting rivers from as far as Alaska to keep watering their lawns and filling their swimming pools.

Mono Lake one hundred miles north of the Owen’s River was next on the list of water diverted from its natural environment, to feed the thirst of palm trees and gardens in Los Angeles. Consideration was not given to the wildlife that had thrived on this lake for centuries or the people who lived nearby.

The diversion of water continued, leading to storing the excess for times of drought. In 1928 the St. Francis dam, one of two dams Mulholland had designed, broke, flooding entire areas, killing 400 people who had worked or lived in the pathway of the diverted water. The dam keeper, noticed a leak the day before the flood and contacted Mulholland. Mulholland visited the site and declared the dam secure. No criminal charges were brought. The failure of the dam was as much a social failure as an engineering failure. Had the folks of Los Angeles gone wrong as a society? But the consumption, hunger, and misuse of water continued.

  The diversion and containment of the great Colorado River, which begins in the Rocky Mountains and traverses the USA was high on the list of the water vampires. The excess water was stored in a man-made lake, Lake Mead contained by Hoover Dam built in 1935. An extensive system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts divert almost its entire flow for agricultural irrigation and urban water supply. Its large flow and steep gradient are used to generate hydroelectricity, meeting peaking power demands in much of the Inter-mountain West.

  Amongst the crops grown with the Colorado River water is cotton, a major consumer of water, now growing in the deserts of Arizona.

  Large-scale river management began in the early 1900s, with major guidelines established in a series of international and US interstate treaties known as the “Law of the River“. The US federal government constructed most of the major dams and aqueducts between 1910 and 1970. Numerous water projects have also involved state and local governments. With all of their waters fully allocated, both the Colorado and the neighboring Rio Grande are now considered among the most controlled and litigated river systems in the world. Since 2000, extended drought has conflicted with increasing demands for Colorado River water, and the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. (3)

“Nearly every year, people use more Colorado River water than snow and rain can replenish. In 16 of the 21 years from 2000 to 2020, humans used more Colorado River water than was produced by the spring runoff. The overuse drained water from the two major reservoirs on the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are now only one-third full.” (The Denver Post)

In 1960, The Feather River was diverted to Los Angeles.

The quest to divert water continues as we speak. The building of houses for more people in Los Angeles and Las Vegas continues with no regard for the lack of water.

Cotton and other crops need enormous amounts of water to support the artificial economy created by diverting water from other parts of the country.

Entire agricultural economies now are relying on water which comes from somewhere else.

Animals need water as well

Ecological systems have been disrupted, leaving wildlife dying where they once thrived. If they do make it the growing populations of these once water-poor cities complain that the coyotes, wolves, and bobcats are ruining their tapered lawns. In Los Angeles, a friend who recklessly let her cat stay outside decided she wanted to shoot the coyote that had carried her cat off. That friend likes to say, “I’m a California girl.” Yikes. A decrease in water supply affects animals’ health but can also cause behavioral changes that could put them in harm’s way. If animals need to move outside their normal range in search of declining food or water, it could lead to more interactions with predators or more human-wildlife conflicts, especially if animals look for resources in more urbanized areas. The Grizzly bear, an emblem on the California state flag, no longer survives in California. Diverting of rivers and draining of underground water has led to a reduction in salmon as well as other fish spawning in rivers and streams, leaving the state’s bear without a major food source.

Grizzly bears function as ecosystem engineers, capturing salmon and carrying them into adjacent dry land to eat the fish. There they deposit nutrient-rich urine and feces and partially eaten carcasses. Bears preparing for hibernation tend to preferentially consume the more nutrient- and energy-rich salmon roes and brain over the actual flesh, and are estimated to discard up to half the salmon they’ve harvested

“Another big factor is over-allocation of the resource. A hundred years ago, they didn’t know as much as we know now, but they made estimates of the flow of the river. As time went on, it should have been fairly clear that they were getting close to over-allocating the water in the river. Another thing with the allocation is they are missing some important stakeholders. One is the fish, the ecosystem that depends on the river. Another is Native Americans, who were there before we were. It’s common in these types of agreements that the original stakeholders aren’t listed, though Native Americans are part of the Arizona allocation. There’s a lot of discussion about older rights versus newer rights in deciding who gets water, but I would argue that there were at least a couple of parties before the Californians.” Scott Horsley (Scott Horsley, an instructor in water resources policy and watershed management in the Sustainability Graduate Program at the Harvard Extension School.)

“Cadillac Desert” the PBS  documentary, based on the book is available on YouTube in sections. Marc Reisner, Mulholland’s Granddaughter, Barry Goldwater, and others speak about the water wars and diverting water. I recommend the documentary originally produced by PBS as the book is detailed and lengthy.

https://youtu.be/hkbebOhnCjA?si=kOiadNPBaNXKaQmT (This link will take you to the documentary “Cadillac Desert”)

  “Chinatown”

Screenwriter Robert Towne had originally named his “Water and Power” film. “Chinatown” the movie might be confusing for some as it was for me initially. Weaved into the story of a murder motivated to hide the deferring of water, is a romance, as well as an incestuous relationship. Director Roman Polanski created a film in 1974 which remains timely today.  Jack Nicholson as a private detective, initially hired to investigate a cheating husband, and Faye Dunaway as the wife, both give stellar performances, which remain as does the story, as interesting fifty years later as it did when released. Visually shot in neo-noir fashion, with layers of stories, dark lighting, and troubled heroes, it is considered one of the best films ever made. Based on the real water wars in the western USA, it is again like “Oppenheimer” an example of how important films are in our culture.  Having the ability to entertain, educate, and perhaps inspire viewers toward action.

(1),(2),(3) Wikipedia

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