Ch. 9 L4: A Thirsty State

Water is an important resource in California. People, animals, and crops need water.

California gets much of its water from the northern Sierra Nevada.

Southern California uses most of the state's water.

In 1901, engineer George Chaffey built a 70-mile canal from the Colorado River to bring water to the Colorado Desert in southeastern California. A canal is a waterway.

He renamed the area "Imperial Valley" and sold the newly irrigated land to farmers.

The climate in the Imperial Valley was so good that crops could grow there all year long.

Before 1900, the Los Angeles River gave Los Angeles all the water it needed. However, it could not meet the growing city's needs as the city grew.

In 1890s, an Irish immigrant, William Mulholland, became head of the Los Angeles water department.

He built an aqueduct to solve the issue. Its source was the Owens River. An aqueduct is a large pipe or other channel that carries water over a long distance.

San Francisco also needed water. City's engineers drew up a plan to build a dam. A dam is a wall build across a river to create a reservoir. A reservoir is a natural or man-made lake used to store water.

However, building a dam would flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley inside the Yosemite National park. Many people were upset.

James Phelan, mayor of San Francisco, thought having a water supply was more important than the beautiful scenery.

In 1913, the US Congress approved the flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley.

After the Los Angeles and Hetch Hetchy aqueducts were built, a system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts was planned for California.

In California, water often makes a long journey from its source to where it is used.

Some aqueducts are as long as 300 miles.

Dams were also used to make hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power is electricity made by falling water.

Some believed that the creation of California's water system has also harmed plants and animals.

When water is taken away from a place where it has always been, the plants and animals that depend on it can no longer survive.

Ever since California became a state, industries, cities, and individuals have argued over water rights. Water rights are the rights to use a source of water.