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 (1921-1928) that highlights significant historical events in the history of the municipal water system in Los Angeles.  Featured are early reports related to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, Owens Valley and the St. Francis Dam disaster.

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).

1925 - 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).^

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The twenty-fifth annual report reviews the activities of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and its divisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926. For the Bureau of Water Works and Supply, it includes reports of the chief engineer (William Mulholland), Construction and Distribution Division (assistant superintendent), Pumping Plants and Supply Division (chief mechanical engineer), Meter and Service Division, Engineering Division (office engineer), distribution system, Engineering Division, and Sanitation Division (biologist). For the Bureau of Power and Light, it includes reports of the chief electrical engineer and general manager (E. F. Scattergood), and the Operating, Construction, Distribution, and Business Agent's Divisions. It also includes reports of the right of way and land agent, and the controller. Photographs include a color print of the view looking east from Shaver's Summit, along the route of the proposed Colorado River aqueduct; St. Francis Dam and Reservoir; Soledad Siphon, Los Angeles Aqueduct; Franklin Pumping Station; Sawtelle Pressure Break Reservoir; Commonwealth Distributing Station, Sawtelle Distributing Station number 28; and several Bureau of Water Works and Supply and Bureau of Power and Light facilities in Los Angeles. Click HERE to see report.

The twenty-sixth annual report reviews the activities of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and its divisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1927. For the Bureau of Water Works and Supply, it includes reports of the chief engineer (William Mulholland), the assistant superintendent (Construction and Distribution Division), the chief mechanical engineer (Pumping Plants and Supply Division), the superintendent of the Meter and Service Division, the office engineer, and the biologist. For the Bureau of Power and 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 St. Francis Dam and Reservoir; Ascot Reservoir; overhead waterways for diversion of cloudburst water, Alabama Hills and Olancha Divisions, Los Angeles Aqueduct; San Fernando Chlorination Plant; the Bureau of Power and Light's old and new distribution stations; Haiwee Power Plant, and Receiving Station "B". Click HERE to see report.

The twenty-seventh annual report reviews the activities of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and its divisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1928. For the Bureau of Water Works and Supply, it includes reports of the chief engineer (William Mulholland), the assistant superintendent (Construction and Distribution Division), the chief mechanical engineer (Pumping Plants and Supply Division), the superintendent of the Meter and Service Division, the office engineer, and Sanitation Division (biologist). For the Bureau of Power and 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 Ascot Reservoir; Tinnemaha Dam and Reservoir, Inyo County; Owens Valley headquarters office and warehouse building, Independence, Calif.; Eagle Rock tank; 99th Street and San Pedro Pump Stations; the Bureau of Power and Light general warehouse; and various machinery for generating and transmitting electrical power. Click HERE to see report.