UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Government and Water: A Study of the Influence of Water upon Governmental Institutions and Practices in the Development of Los Angeles A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Vincent A. Ostrom June, 1950 ii In Memory of CLARENCE A. DYKSTRA who gave so freely of time and effort during the last months of his life to guide this study to its completion. iii Control of water to secure maximum supply at costs determined by the economic situation is the engineering problem, and that problem is solvable. Ahead of the engineering accomplishment is the engineering of men. The decision of the community at large must be made. For accomplishment, its public body, its semipublic water organizations, and its individuals must unite in team work to pool, rearrange and compromise existing interests, to legislate and to create a competent organization to carry out the engineering solution. California, Department of Public Works, Division of Engineering and Irrigation, Santa Ana Investigation, p. 32. iv PREFACE The motivation for this study is rooted in personal experience. During my first stay of several years in the Los Angeles area, I had been relatively oblivious to the existence of a water problem. An unlimited quantity of water was always available at the water tap and seemingly no critical problem of water shortage existed for any of the water consumers of the area. After leaving the Los Angeles area, I became a resident of a small city in Wyoming where the problem of an adequate water supply was a daily concern to the community. The normal water consumption of the householder was subject to detailed regulation by municipal ordinance. The irrigation of lawns and gardens was limited to certain days of the week for even- and odd-numbered street addresses. Then, watering was permitted only for specific hours in the day. Nozzles and sprinklers were required to prevent the waste of water. All of these regulations were enforced subject to penalties for a misdemeanor if violated. The contrast between the two communities was so marked as to demand an explanation. How had Los Angeles, under comparable conditions of aridity been able to secure an adequate water supply and manage its water resources to be able to meet the needs for all local requirements? Obviously the development of an adequate water supply and the administration of the available water resources were of the first order of importance to human life in the arid west. Preliminary investigations of the water problem and other related aspects of natural resources administration revealed that these problems presented unique demands upon political institutions and practices to facilitate human adjustment to requirements of the physical environment of the arid west. The works of John H. Powell, Elwood Moad, Frederick Jackson Turner, and John M. Caus stimulated further interest to consider the adaptations of political v action in approaching these problems and the impact of these problems upon social and political organization in the west. This study has been conceived essentially as a case study of the impact of water as one of the critical factors in the human ecology of the Los Angeles area upon development of governmental institutions and practices in the growth of the Los Angeles metropolitan community. The development of one of the largest American cities in an arid region intensified the importance of the problem. By using the water problem as a focus of attention to consider the various facets of political action, which arise from efforts to deal with the problem, certain values may be derived which obviate weaknesses implicit within the conventional academic divisions of political science. The usual dichotomy between politics and administration is avoided so that the political process can be observed in its inherent unity. The division of responsibility between federal, state and local government loses its arbitrary characteristics when the role of the various units of a federal government are viewed in terms of a force which transcends political jurisdictions. In this study, it has been necessary to use some terms and measures of a technical nature. The accompanying table provides the equivalents of hydrologic measures which may be useful to the reader. Many persons to numerous to mention within these pages gave generously of their time and energy to make material and information available for research and to give me the benefit of their years of experience and insights regarding the human aspects of the water problem in Los Angeles. Countless other persons who have woven the story of Los Angeles’ struggle with this problem have provided both the substance and the record to make this study possible. vi TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS UNITS OF MEASURE EQUIVALENT 1. 1 cubic foot of water 1. 7.48 gallons 2. 1 cubic foot of water 2. 62.5 pounds 3. 32 cubic feet of water 3. 1 ton 4. 1 cubic foot per second flow (a) 4. 7.48 gallons per second 448.8 gallons per minute 646,317 gallons per day 5. 1 cubic foot per second flow 5. 1,983 acre feet per day or approximately one acre-inch per hour 723,795 acre-feet per hour 6. 1 acre-foot of water (b) 6. 43,560 cubic feet 325,850 gallons 7. 1 cubic foot per second flow 7. 40 miner’s inches (c) (Calif. and Aris.) 38.4 miner’s inches (Colo.) 50 miner’s inches (So. Calif.) 8. 1 million gallons 8. 3.07 acre feet 9. 1 horse-power 9. 1 cubic foot of water falling 8.80 feet 10. 1 horse power 10. .746 kilowatts (a) 1 cubic flow per second flow is a measure of the rate of flow required for one cubic foot of water to pass a given point each second in time. (b) 1 acre-foot is a measure of the volume of water required to cover an acre one foot in depth. (c) 1 miner’s inch is a measure of the rate of flow of water with varying values depending upon statutory provision or customary usage. While California has established the minor’s inch as the equivalent of 1/40th of a cubic foot per second flow, Southern California hydrographers customarily use the miner’s inch as the equivalent of 1/50th of a cubic foot per second flow. i I am deeply indebted to Dr. Clarence A. Dykstra who took time from his heavy administrative responsibilities as Provost to serve as the chairman of my doctoral committee and to direct the research on the dissertation. Dr. Dykstra’s intimate knowledge of Los Angeles water administration, as a result of his service on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and as Director of Personnel and Efficiency for the Department of Water and Power, greatly facilitated my orientation to the subject matter and my acquaintance with persons involved in the Los Angeles water problem. The other members of my doctoral committee, Dr. Winston W. Crouch, Dr. Malbone W. Graham, Dr. Thomas P. Jenkin, Dr. Charles H. Titus, Dr. Ruth E. Baugh and Dr. Craig L. Taylor, were very helpful in general guidance of my research program and in providing counsel for the many problems arising in a graduate study program in addition to making many helpful criticisms of this dissertation. Dr. Crouch was especially helpful in anticipating and meeting a number of problems that might otherwise have caused delay and inconvenience. Dr. Baugh offered many invaluable suggestions and comments on the portions of the study concerned with geographic data in addition to many other constructive criticisms of the paper as a whole. To Dr. Dean E. McHenry, Dean of the Division of the Social Sciences and Chairman, Department of Political Science, I am greatly indebted for many years of friendly advice and counsel which led me on advanced studies and an academic career. On many problems relating more immediately to the preparation of this dissertation, Dr. McHenry gave freely of his time and effort in valued advice and assistance. At the department of Water and Power, I received the friendliest cooperation from numerous persons throughout the organization. I am especially indebted to Samuel B. Morris, General Manager and Chief Engineer pf the Department of Water and Power, for his friendly ii cooperation and his efforts to assure my success to all types of information and data available in the department. Walter K. Boyd was most helpful in giving me access to the department’s elaborate collection of newspaper clippings extending from 1905 to the present, in providing me with copies of several maps used in the study and in reading the first draft of the manuscript. Most of the research for this study was done in the library of the Department of Water and Power. Mrs. Frances S. Davis and her staff were exceptionally cooperative in providing information and assistance at each stage of the research. The sense of helpfulness and cheerfulness pervading the library provided a thoroughly delightful environment for endless hours of grueling research. Many officials and employees of other public agencies including various departments of municipally government in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Colorado River Board of California, the Division of Water Rights of the California Department of Public Works as well as numerous private individuals, and several private associations including the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado River Association, gave extensive information and assistance valuable to the final completion of this study. Finally, I wish to express my deep appreciation to my wife, Isabell B. Ostrom, for the invaluable assistance to which she has given by reading and helping to prepare the manuscript.