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

Background

Beginning in 2017, students from The Claremont Colleges, California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), have been digitizing reports, maps, blueprints, photographs, and other materials found in water-related archival collections.  Subjects covered by the collections include floods and flood plains, irrigation, legal cases, the Colorado River Aqueduct, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, reservoirs and dams, the Salton Sea, water companies and municipal water suppliers, water engineering, water rights, and land ownership.  The materials come from a variety of sources such as federal, state, and local governments, water companies, local agencies, engineers, and other individuals involved in water development in the Southern California region from the 19th through the 20th centuries.

This collaborative preservation and dissemination project (titled: Digitizing Southern California Water Resources) is supported by a Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Board of Public Service Commissioners Annual Reports

The following is a collection of Board Reports (1919-1925) that highlights significant events in the history of Los Angeles' municipal water and power systems.  Featured are early reports related to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, Owens Valley, the St. Francis Dam disaster, new water reservoirs, and the construction of new power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities necessary to meet the needs of the city’s rapidly growing population.

Historical Notes

1911 – The Department of Public Service and the Public Service Commission was created through an approved charter amendment.

1911 - The Bureau of Power and Light was created within the Department of Public Service to oversee and administer the electrical system in the city.

1911 - The Water Department was renamed the Bureau of Water Works and Supply after the creation of a municipal department in charge of electricity (Bureau of Power and Light).

1926 - The Board of Public Service Commissioners was renamed Board of Water and Power Commissioners through an approved charter amendment to more accurately reflect its oversight of both the Bureau of Water Works and Supply and the Bureau of Power and Light.

1937 - The Bureau of Water Works and Supply consolidated with the Bureau of Power and Light and became the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP).^

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1919

The eighteenth annual report reviews the field activities of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919. It includes reports of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply chief engineer, assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, mechanical constructor, superintendent of the meter and service department, the Bureau of Power and Light chief engineer, the right of way land agent and the controller. The report also includes various photographs and diagrams.

Click HERE to view report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1920

The nineteenth annual report reviews the field activities of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920. It includes reports of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply chief engineer, assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, superintendent of irrigation, chief draftsmen, superintendent of the meter and service department, chief electrical engineer, the right of way land agent and the controller. The report also includes various photographs and diagrams of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Click HERE to view report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1921

The twentieth annual report reviews the field activities of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921. It includes reports of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply chief engineer, assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, superintendent of irrigation, superintendent of the meter and service department, office engineer, biologist, chief electrical engineer, and the right of way land agent. The report also includes various photographs and diagrams of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Click HERE to view report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1922

The twenty-first annual report reviews the field activities of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922. It includes reports of the Board of Public Service Commissioners chief engineer, assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, superintendent of irrigation, superintendent of the meter and service department, office engineer, and biologist, as well as, the Bureau of Power and Light chief electrical engineer and the right of way land agent. The report also includes various photographs and diagrams of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Click HERE to see report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1923

The twenty-second annual report reviews the field activities of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923. It includes reports of the Board of Public Service Commissioners chief engineer, assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, superintendent of irrigation, superintendent of the meter and service department, office engineer, and biologist, as well as the Bureau of Power and Light chief electrical engineer and the right of way land agent. The report also includes various photographs and diagrams of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Click HERE to see report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1924

The twenty-third annual report reviews the activities of the Board of Public Service Commissioners and its divisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1924. For the Bureau of Water Works & Supply, it includes reports of the chief engineer (William Mulholland), assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, Aqueduct and Irrigation Division, superintendent of the Meter and Service Department, office engineer, distribution system, and biologist. For the Bureau of Power & Light, it includes reports of the chief electrical engineer, and the Operating, Construction, and Buisiness Agent's Divisions. It also includes reports of the right of way and land agent, and the controller. Photographs include the Mulholland Dam, the Manhattan Pumping Plant, Convict Lake, Stone Canyon Reservoir, the Bureau of Power and Light general warehouse, the central receiving station at 1630 North Main St., and the Francisco St. distribution statio.

Click HERE to see report.

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1925

The twenty-fourth annual report reviews the activities of the Board of Public Service Commissioners and its divisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1925. For the Bureau of Water Works & Supply, it includes reports of the chief engineer (William Mulholland), assistant superintendent, chief mechanical engineer, superintendent of the Meter and Service Department, office engineer, distribution system, and biologist. For the Bureau of Power & Light, it includes reports of the chief electrical engineer and general manager (E. F. Scattergood), and the Operating, Construction, Distribution, and Buisiness Agent's Divisions. It also includes reports of the right of way and land agent, and the controller. Photographs include the Hollywood Reservoir and Mulholland Dam, the St. Francis Dam under construction, Little Morongo Valley along the route of the proposed Colorado River aqueduct, and several generating, power, and pumping plants, and other Bureau of Water Works & Supply and Bureau of Power & Light facilities in Los Angeles and the surrounding area.

Click HERE to see report.