Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Electricity on the Aqueduct

 

 

Once the Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed in 1913, it became possible to harness the water and convert it to electricity.

 

Power Plant #1 - San Francisquito Canyon

Interior of Power Plant #1 - (1928)*

 

 

Power Plant #1 (1926)*

 

Power Plant #1 was part of the St. Francis Dam Project near Saugus. Completed in 1926 and failed in 1928. It was part of the Owens Valley Aqueduct System (Los Aneles Aqueduct). The pre-failure photograph shows a man standing by two hydorelectric generators in the dam.

 

Power Plant #2 - San Francisquito Canyon

Power Plant #2 (1928)

 

Power Plant #2 in San Francisquito Canyon, shown January 1928, as the ill-fated St. Francis Dam was filling with water. The plant had a generating capacity of 41,800 horsepower. It is located 6 miles below Power Plant #1.

 

 

 

Power Plant #2 (1937)*

 

 

 

 

* Photo Source: DWP/L.A. Public Library Image Archive