LA History Archive Home

The Los Angeles Water Works Project
about
Special thanks to John Arroyo and Jenny Price for compiling this list of resources.
Documentaries Books Blogs
Media Projects Footage Hollywood/Film
Music Videos Tours Websites
 
 
   
Documentaries    
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature. 1997. Four part documentary based on the book of the same name by Marc Reisner.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDD2CEE98D9DB860
 
 
 
Future Cities: Los Angeles River. CNN. 2010. (6:04 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMzRa0dxbxA
 
The River Under the City of Angels. Fred Kaplan. 2010. (27:14 min)
http://www.fredkaplan.net/LARiver.html
 
 
The Los Angeles River. Sarah Lorenzen. 2011. (24:45).
http://www.plasmatic-concepts.com/?p=257
 
The Pulse of Los Angeles: Celebrating a Watershed Initiative.
http://youtu.be/cH5Y8XvIcVc
 
 
Rock the Boat. George Wolfe & LA River Expeditions. 2012. Trailer.
http://youtu.be/MqJKQnMhT28
 
 
LA River Ramble with the Urban Rangers at MOCA. 2012. (08:16).
http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/landofsunshine/production-notes/la-river-ramble.html
http://vimeo.com/27874006
 
 
Riverly. John Palacio. 2011. (7:49).
http://vimeo.com/30817545
 
 
return to top  
 
Footage    
1938 - 39   Aerial shot of Hollywood, probably Paramount Studios, and Los Angeles/Long Beach floods of 1938-39
 
     
return to top  
 
Hollywood/Film    
River Madness. Dana Plays. 2002. (2:00).
http://www.fandor.com/films/river_madness

Flash 10.2 or above Required

To view films, please download Flash.
If you have an iPad or iPhone Download Fandor from the App Store.

 
 
LA Times. Richard Verrier. 2011. (2:10).
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/09/hollywood-a-river-runs-through-it.html?track=icymi
  
 
The Blue Hour. Eric Nazarian. 2007. Trailer.
 
 
return to top  
 
Music Videos    
"Melissa." Artichoke. From the album Bees. 2011.
http://youtu.be/T8pY_QwSkOA
 
 
No Age plays in Atwater. 2007.
http://youtu.be/a9EbN6B5zLg
 
http://youtu.be/87hk12Fcpqo
 
http://youtu.be/jYI4w1sv6r8
 
 
return to top  
 
Media Projects    
The Fifth Ecology. An Urban Planning Proposal. 2009.
http://issuu.com/resources_08/docs/the_fifth_ecology
     
KCET Departures: Story Share (December 4, 2010)
http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/community/events/storyshare-dec4th-2010.html
  Interview with Leo Limon
  Part 1: http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/lariver/los-feliz/leo-limon-1.html
  Part 2: http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/highland-park/leo-limon-2.html
    Leo Limon Website: http://leolimon.com/
 
Radio Sonideros
http://www.radiosonideros.org/
 
Lewis MacAdams. "A Poem from the LA River Book."
http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/by-lewis-mcadams.html
 
Inyo County Water Department. "Chronology of Key Events." January 2008.
http://www.inyowater.org/Water_Resources/Chronology_1900_2008.pdf
 
Jenny Price. "Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A." Believermag. 2006.
Part One: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200604/?read=article_price
Part Two: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200605/?read=article_price
 
Jenny Price’s LA Weekly field guide and cover article (2002, divided by the main areas of the River: Valley, Glendale Narrows, Downtown, South):

In the Beginning

The Valley

The Glendale Narrows

Downtown

The South

Like Water for Concrete

 
Lisa Sigal's Riverbed Exhibit.
http://www.laxart.org/exhibitions/view/lisa-sigal-riverbed/#images
Review of Riverbed by Jenny Gill on Creative Capital: http://blog.creative-capital.org/2013/02/in-focus-lisa-sigals-riverbed-laxart/
 
return to top  
 
Books    
C.P. Dorland."The Los Angeles River: Its History and Ownership."Historical Society of Southern California. (1890).
 
     
John Arroyo. Culture in Concrete: Art and the Re-imagination of the Los Angeles River as Civic Space. MIT Master's Thesis. 2010.
 
William Deverell. Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past. 2005. See chapter on the River.
 
Blake Gumprecht. The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth (Creating the American Landscape. 2001.
 
Greg Hise (editor) & William Deverell (editor). Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles. 2006. See chapters by Jared Orsi and Blake Gumprechts.
 
Images of America. Los Angeles River. 2008.
 
Joe Linton. Down by the Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles River Guide. 2005.
 
Lewis MacAdams. Founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River.
A Poem for the Dawn of the Terror Years. 2004.
The Poetry Room. 1970.
The River Books One, Two and Three. 2005.
 
Patt Morrison. Rio L.A.: Tales from the Los Angeles River. 2001.
 
Jared Orsi. Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and Urban Ecology in Los Angeles. 2004.
 
Luis Rodriguez. The Concrete River. 1990.
 
UGLAR. The Ulysses Guide to the Los Angeles River. 2008.
 
return to top
 
Tours    
LA River Expeditions
 
LA River Tours
 
KCET LA River Field Guides
 
Paddle the LA River
 
Jenny Price Tour of the LA River conducted for the Studio for Southern California History.
 
 
return to top  
 
Blogs    
The City Project - LA River.
 
Joe Linton's LA Creekfreak.
 
KCET Departures Confluence, River Notes.
 
River Musings (LA River Revitalization Corporation.
 
SaberOne Graffiti Art.
 
return to top  
 
Other Sources
US Department of the Interior 5/21/2012 Press Release
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Highlights-11-River-Projects-in-Southeast-and-Mid-Atlantic-States-under-Americas-Great-Outdoors-Rivers-Initiative.cfm
 
Rivers Initiative, Department of the Interior
http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/whatwedo/upload/Rivers-Initiative-2.pdf
 
Erica E. Phillips. "Los Angeles Reimagines Its Waterway. Wallstreet Journal. January 11, 2013.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323530404578207642711599814.html
 
Cecile Page Vargo. "The Legend of Owens Lake Bessie." Explore Historic California. April 2007.
http://www.explorehistoricalif.com/april07.html
 
return to top  
 
Websites    
Arroyo Seco Foundation
http://www.arroyoseco.org/
 
Council on Watershed Health
http://www.watershedhealth.org/Default2.aspx
 
LA Urban Rangers.
http://laurbanrangers.org/site/
 
City of Los Angeles Ad Hoc River Committee for the City Department Taskforce on the LA River.
http://lariver.org/
 
County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works.
http://ladpw.org/wmd/watershed/LA/
 
Alan Loomis' Delirious LA.
http://deliriousla.wordpress.com/2003/12/01/down-by-the-river/
 
Friends of the Los Angeles River.
http://folar.org/
 
LA Conservation Corps.
http://www.lacorps.org/clean-and-green.php
 
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
http://la-bike.org/
 
LA River Revitalization Corps.
http://larivercorp.org/
 
Los Angeles Water Keepers.
http://www.lawaterkeeper.org/
 
Mountains, Recreation and Conservation Authority
http://www.mrca.ca.gov/
 
The Northeast LA River Collaborative
http://www.mylariver.org/images/about-nela.pdf
 
The Northeast Los Angeles River Study Area
http://www.crala.org/internet-site/Projects/East_Hollywood/NELA.cfm
 
Northeast Trees
http://www.northeasttrees.org/
 
The Owens Valley Committee
http://www.ovcweb.org/index.asp
 
The River Project
http://www.theriverproject.org/
 
The Rivers and Mountains Conservancy
http://www.rmc.ca.gov/
 
Save LA River Open Space
http://savelariveropenspace.org/
 
Tree People
http://www.treepeople.org/
 
Urban Semillas
http://www.urbansemillas.com/urbansemillas.com/Welcome_to_Urban_Semillas.html
 
Urban Waters Federal Partnership
http://urbanwaters.gov/
 
 
return to top