Panama & Los Angelesby Maryia Aliaksandrava

PANAMA CANAL LOS ANGELES AQUEDUCT

Panama canal The history of the Panama Canal goes

back to 16th century. After realizing the riches of Peru, Ecuador, and Asia, and counting the time it took the gold to reach the ports of Spain, it was suggested c.1524 to Charles V, that by cutting out a piece of land somewhere in Panama, the trips would be made shorter and the risk of taking the treasures through the isthmus would justify such an enterprise. A survey of the isthmus was ordered and subsequently a working plan for a canal was drawn up in 1529. The wars in Europe and the thirsts for the control of kingdoms in the Mediterranean Sea simply put the project on permanent hold.

In 1534 a Spanish official suggested a canal route close to that of the now present canal. Later, several other plans for a canal were suggested, but no action was taken. The Spanish government subsequently abandoned its interest in the canal.

Panama canal In 1899 the US Congress created

an Isthmian Canal Commission to examine the possibilities of a Central American canal and to recommend a route. The commission first decided on a route through Nicaragua, but later reversed its decision. The Lesseps company offered its assets to the United States at a price of $40 million. The United States and the new state of Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty, by which the United States guaranteed the independence of Panama and secured a perpetual lease on a 10-mile strip for the canal. Panama was to be compensated by an initial payment of $10 million and an annuity of $250,000, beginning in 1913. This strip is now known as the Canal Zone.

Panama canal The length of the Panama Canal is

approximately 51 miles. A trip along the canal from its Atlantic entrance would take you through a 7 mile dredged channel in Limón Bay. The canal then proceeds for a distance of 11.5 miles to the Gatun Locks. This series of three locks raise ships 26 meters to Gatun Lake. It continues south through a channel in Gatun Lake for 32 miles to Gamboa, where the Culebra Cut begins. This channel through the cut is 8 miles long and 150 meters wide. At the end of this cut are the locks at Pedro Miguel. The Pedro Miguel locks lower ships 9.4 meters to a lake which then takes you to the Miraflores Locks which lower ships 16 meters to sea level at the canals Pacific terminus in the bay of Panama. A pictorial view of the canals route can be seen below.

Panama canal

1. The smallest set of locks along the Panama Canal are at Pedro Miguel and have one flight which raise or lower ships 10 meters. The Miraflores locks have two flights with a combined lift or decent of 16.5 meters.

2. Both the single flight of locks at Pedro Miguel and the twin flights at Miraflores are constructed and operated in a similar method as the Gatun locks, but with differing dimensions.

3. When the Americans started work on the canal, the engineers decided to reuse this soil for the building of the Gatun dam. This dam held back the water from the Chagres river and thus creating the Gatun lake. As time passed, the soil would continue to settle thus, increasing the strength of the dam.

1. The dam itself is 1.5 miles in length and is nearly 0.5 mile wide at its base. The construction of the dam involved constructing 2 walls along its length using the excavated rock from the Culebra cut. The space between these 2 walls was then built up with impervious clay. This clay gradually dried and hardened into a solid mass almost equal to concrete in its water-resistant properties. This dam contains 16.9 million cubic meters of rock and clay, equivalent too about one tenth of the entire excavation of the canal.

The dams at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores are small in comparison to Gatun. Their foundations are on solid rock and are subjected to a head of water of 12 meters, whereas the Gatun dam is subjected to a 24 meter head.

Los Angeles Aqueduct In 1913 the City of Los Angeles

completed construction of the first Los Angeles Aqueduct.  This is the story of how the dream of a few far-sighted people at the turn of the 20th Century became a reality. Follow the links below for details on how the Los Angeles Aqueduct was conceived and built. From the time that Los Angeles was first founded in 1769, the small settlement had depended upon its own river for water. The 11 families that settled in the area dammed up the Los Angeles River and built canals to irrigate fields. But as the city grew, those in charge of supplying the growing population with water knew the small meandering river could not meet future demands.

Los Angeles Aqueduct After securing the land and water

rights, the Board of Water Commissioners needed to obtain the money from Los Angeles residents, and legal rights from the Federal Government, to construct the aqueduct. A bond measure to pay for the construction passed in Los Angeles by a 10 to 1 margin. After much debate in the House of Representatives, President Theodore Roosevelt decided that Los Angeles should have the rights to the Owens River water.

Construction on the Los Angeles Aqueduct began in 1908. Workers from all over the world came to work at high-paying jobs that would last for several years.

Los Angeles Aqueduct At the dedication of the Los

Angeles Aqueduct on November 5, 1913, Mulholland told the thousands of people attending the ceremony that they were there to dedicate the Aqueduct to "you and your children and your children's children for all time.“

Once Los Angeles had a reliable water supply it began to grow dramatically. However, Owens Valley residents began to fight the City's water export. Confrontations escalated to several dynamitings of the Aqueduct. To secure its water rights, the City began to purchase extensive tracts of land in the Owens Valley.

Los Angeles Aqueduct As Los Angeles continued to

grow, Mulholland began to look for a way to bring Colorado River water to meet the City's needs. After World War II, the City began the Mono Basin Project as a way of providing a larger and more dependable flow in the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Four of Mono Lake's seven tributary streams, Lee Vining, Parker, Walker and Rush Creeks, were tapped for export to Los Angeles through an 11-mile tunnel. Crowley Lake and Grant Lake were also built as part of the Mono Basin Project.

Los Angeles Aqueduct The challenge to supply water

to Los Angeles continued to press. Because the capacity of the Los Angeles Aqueduct was limited, the City was unable to take its full entitlement from the Mono Basin. The California State Water Rights Board urged Los Angeles to take steps to develop its full entitlement, or risk that the water might be granted to others. To increase the Aqueduct capacity, a second aqueduct was built from Haiwee Reservoir in Southern Inyo County to Los Angeles.

The completion of the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1970 and the City's plans to augment the Aqueduct flow with Owens Valley groundwater prompted renewed local protests. Inyo County filed suit against Los Angeles under the new California Environmental Quality Act, seeking an Environmental Impact Report on new aqueduct. In 1984, after years of disagreements and court hearings, Inyo County and Los Angeles entered into an Agreement to produce a EIR together.

Los Angeles Aqueduct

Los Angeles Aqueduct With Los Angeles growing at a

rapid pace, not only the availability of water, but also the quality of water became more important at the last part of the 20th century. Los Angeles built a filtration plant in 1986 and continues to monitor and improve water quality from its three sources. Under Mulholland's leadership, Los Angeles began a program of metering all water uses to encourage water conservation. Per capita daily water use dropped to 178 gallons per day by the mid-1980's, about half of what was used in unmetered cities such as Sacramento. The City continues to emphasize and improve its programs through many innovative approaches that have made Los Angeles a water conservation leader in the Nation.

Los Angeles Aqueduct

Reclaimed water is proving to be an excellent method of providing additional water to Los Angeles in an environmentally responsible manner. Mulholland truly had a vision when he looked to the Eastern Sierra and envisioned an aqueduct to bring water to a growing city. Los Angeles has become the nation's second largest city because of his decision to find another reliable water supply.