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 Los Angeles Cd-unty 
 Flood Control District 
 
 Report of J. W. Reagan 
 
 Engineer Los Angeles County 
 Flood Control District 
 
 Upon 
 
 The control of flood waters in 
 t"his District by correction of riv- 
 ers, diversion and care of washes, 
 building of dikes and dams, pro- 
 tecting public highways, private 
 in-operty and Los Angeles and 
 Long Beach harbors. 
 
 ''M, 
 
 SOUTHERN BRANCH, 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 LIBRARY, 
 
 cos ANGEUES, CALJF. 
 
 Filed with the Board of Supervisors of the 
 
 Los Angeles County Flood Control District 
 
 and Adopted January 2, 1917 
 
 In Accordance with Section 4 
 Of Los Angeles County Flood Control Act n 
 
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 57178
 
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 •s Angeles 
 1917. 
 
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 control
 
 FLOOD REGULATION 
 
 to accompany reporr 
 
 of 
 
 J.W. Reacan 
 
 Engineer of Los Angeles Counly 
 
 Flood Control District 
 
 JANDABY 2, 1917 
 
 Contour Interval tscn 
 
 Datum la mean s«« Level 
 
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 4-0-3. "« 
 
 'j 
 
 Los Angeles County Flood Control District 
 
 REPORT OF ENGINEER, J. W. REAGAN 
 
 \^ " - Office of the Engineer of the Los Angeles 
 
 ■^ County Flood Control District, 
 
 w Room 348 Court House 
 
 Los Angeles, California. 
 Hon. Board of Supervisors, January 2, 1917. 
 
 Los Angeles County Flood Control District, 
 Los Angeles, California. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 Pursuant to Section 4 of the Act of the Legislature of the State of California, known as 
 the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act, by Resolution of your Honorable Body adopted 
 on the 30tli day of August, 1915, and amended on the 20tli day of September, 1915, I was 
 employed as Engineer to investigate carefully the best plan to control the flood and storm 
 waters of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and to conserve such waters for bene- 
 ficial and useful purposes by spreading, storing, retaining or causing to percolate into the soil 
 within said District, or to save or conserve in any manner, any or all of such waters, and 
 to protect the harbors', waterways, public highways and property in said District from 
 damage from such waters ; and to obtain such other information in regard thereto as might 
 be deemed necessary or useful for carrying out the purposes of said Los Angeles County 
 Flood Control Act. 
 
 Said Resolution of your Honorable Body also directed me to make and file a Report 
 with j'our Honorable Body, which should show : 
 
 1. A general description of the work to b done. 
 
 2. General plans, profiles, cross sections and general specifications of the work to be 
 done. 
 
 3. A general description of the lands, rights-of-way, easements and property proposed 
 to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying out said work. 
 
 4. A map which should show the location of the proposed work and improvements, 
 and lands, rights-of-way, easements and property to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying 
 out said work, and any other information in regard to the same that might be deemed neces- 
 sary or useful. 
 
 5. An estimate of the cost of such Avork, including an estimate of the cost of the lands, 
 rights-of-way, easements and property proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in carry- 
 ing out said work and also of all incidental expenses likely to be incurred in connection 
 therewith, including legal, clerical, engineering, superintendence, inspection, printing and 
 advertising, and stating the total amount of bonds necessary to be issued to pay for the 
 same. 
 
 Pursuant to said resolution of employment, investigations have been continuously car- 
 ried on by me and my force of assistants ever since the same was adopted. In response to 
 a special request made by your Honorable Body on the 26th day of September, 1916, I filed on 
 the 2nd day of October, 1916, a report covering a plan for protecting the Los Angeles and Long 
 Beach Harbors in said district, and the waterways, public highways and property in said 
 district lying adjacent to the said harbors, from damage from the flood and storm waters 
 of said district drained through the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and the Rio Hondo, 
 which said report showed with respect to said particular matter all of the things required 
 by the statute and your resolution of employment to be shown. Upon consideration of such 
 report your Honoralde Body did, however, on the 2nd day of October, 1916, order the same 
 referred back to me to be modified so as to present a comprehensive plan for flood control 
 work for the district.
 
 In response to said request I modified and changed said I'eport in the particulars re- 
 quested, and filed the same as so modified and changed on the 20th day of December, 1916. 
 Upon consideration of said Report so filed your Honorable Body did, however, again refer 
 it back to me for further change and modification, requesting that work be provided for 
 therein for the control of the storm waters of the Tujungas, the Los Angeles River above 
 its junction with the Arroyo Seeo, the Santa Clara River, and the Big Rock Creek and Little 
 Rock Creek, and authorizing me to make such other changes as I might deem advisable. 
 
 By further order made by your Honorable Body on the 27th day of December, 1916, you 
 requested me to make a further change and modification of said report with regard to the pro- 
 vision for the protection of Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors so as to substitute for the plan 
 presented in said report the plan indicated in my supplemental communication of Dec. 20, 1916. 
 
 In accordance with said last order of reference and said order of December 27th, 1916, 1 
 further modified and changed the report, and on December 29th, 1916, again filed it as so modi- 
 fied and changed. Upon consideration of said report as so filed however, your Honorable Body, 
 on December 30th, 1916, did again refer it back to me for further change and modifica- 
 tion, requesting that additional protection work be provided in the report for the control 
 of the storm waters of the Tujungas, and authorizing me to make such other changes as I 
 might deem advisable. 
 
 In accordance with said last order of reference I have further modified and changed the 
 report, and do again herewith submit it for your consideration as a comprehensive plan for flood 
 control work for the district. The report has been prepared and is filed pursuant to the pro- 
 visions of Sections 4 and 5 of the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act, the resolution under 
 which I was employed, and the several orders made by your Honorable Body hereinabove 
 referred to. 
 
 While the report covers all of the points required by Section 4 of the Los Angeles County 
 Flood Control Act to be shown therein, it has not seemed advisable, nor been convenient 
 to folloAv the order in which said points appear in the statute. My plan has been to present, 
 first, a general description of the Avork to be done, accompanied by a general map showing 
 the location of the proposed work and improvements, and lands, rights-of-way, easements and 
 property to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying out the work, with other information 
 deemed useful, and to follow that with a particular treatment of the several parts of the 
 work, presenting as to each, general plans, profiles, cross-sections and general specifications 
 of the work to be done, a general description of the lands, rights-of-way, easements and prop- 
 erty proposed to be taken, acquired, or injured in carrying out the work; and an estimate 
 of the cost of the work and of the necessary rights-of-way, easements and property proposed 
 to be taken, acquired or injured. In conclusion, I have summarized the estimates of costs 
 for the various parts of the work and have added thereto estimates of incidental expenses 
 likely to be incurred in connection therewith, and have given a statement of the total amount 
 of bonds necessary to be issued to pay for all the work and expenses. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE DONE 
 
 I may say at the outset that it has seemed advisable to follow in a general way the 
 plans for flood control which were outlined by the Board of Engineers of Flood Control, in 
 their report presented to the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County on July 27, 1915, 
 and now on file in the office of said Board. 
 
 The work to be done resolves itself into four parts : First, the construction of both large 
 and small dams in the mountainous areas ; second, the protection of the banks of the smaller 
 streams together with spreading and storing of waters of these streams for beneficial use; 
 third, the straightening and rectification through river training and bank protection of the 
 major streams; and fourth, protection to the harbors and shipping interests. 
 
 On the Paeoima Wash, about four miles aliove tlie mouth of the canyon, there will be 
 built a concrete masonry dam 145 feet high. It will impound 3200 acre feet of water. 
 
 At a point where La Canada-Verdugo Road crosses the Arroyo Seco, locally known as
 
 — 5— 
 
 "Devil's Gate," there is to be constructed a concrete masonry dam 130 feet high, which 
 will impound 6600 acre feet of water. 
 
 Two miles above the mouth of San Dimas Canyon the San Dimas Dam, a structure 145 
 feet above bed rock is to be built which will impound and conserve for beneficial use 2500 
 acre feet of water. 
 
 On the headwaters of tlie San Jose Creek in the old cienega just south of Lordsburg, 
 the Pomona Dams and Eeservoir will be located. The impounding dams will be of earth, with 
 a maximum height of 40 feet, a top width of 16 feet, and a maximum bottom width of 221 
 feet. These two dams will provide a storage capacity of 2250 acre feet. 
 
 Check dams will be built in the small canyons at the headwaters of nearly all the creeks 
 from which flood waters now empty onto the citrus belt between the East County line and 
 the mouth of the San Gabriel River above Azusa. 
 
 Check dams will also be placed in the headwaters of the small canyons which devastate the 
 foothill country between the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon and north of Pasadena. The 
 headwaters of Wilson Creek, Newhall Creek and Big and Little Rock Creeks will also have 
 their flood waters controlled by the plentiful and judicious use of check dams. 
 
 The small canyons above Hollywood will have their menacing floods also controlled by 
 small and numerous check dams. 
 
 Work is also to be done on the Sycamore Canyon AVash between the Verdugo Wash 
 through Glendale and Tropico. 
 
 Spreading grounds will be provided at the mouth of Haines Canyon to take care of the 
 runoff from this area. 
 
 The channel of the Ballona Creek will be enlarged, straightened and diked to care for 
 the runoff coming into it. 
 
 In the Gardena Valley provision has been made to care for the increasing volume of 
 flood waters originating southerly of Inglewood and north of Watson's Crossing. 
 
 Compton Creek will be widened, deepened and straightened from Vermont Avenue 
 southerly. 
 
 The type of bank protection in general will consist of either a boulder levee thrown 
 up by steam shovel, or a single row of fencing or double row of fencing filled in between, 
 with orchard cuttings or brush and weighted down Avith rock. 
 
 In handling the Los Angeles River, the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River, it is realized 
 that the water has a combined power for good or evil. We shall build training works so 
 that this power of the river, for good, may be utilized in governing and straightening the pres- 
 ent tortuous channel. These training works will consist of a double row of piling about five 
 feet apart, on the stream face of which will be placed wire fencing, and the space between 
 the piling filled with brush and rocks. At the especially dangerous points up and down the 
 streams, bank protection will be used in order to confine these waters \vithin the single chan- 
 nel, and to prevent the disastrous wanderings of these streams across the fertile valleys be- 
 tween the mountains and the sea. In general, this bank protection will consist of a double 
 row of piling, or possibly a single row of piling, faced with barbed-wire or hog wire, and 
 the space between the two rows of piling, or where the bank is steep, between the single row 
 of piling and the cut bank, filled with brush and weighted down with stones. In all instances 
 the growth of willows and all trees with a good, deep, firm root system will be encouraged 
 along the banks and behind and in and among this bank protection. On the detritus cone of 
 the San Gabriel River above El Monte there will bp excavated a channel 300 or 400 feet wide 
 and about four feet deep. The material from this excavation will be placed in levees on either 
 side of the stream at distances varying from 600 feet to a quarter of a mile, the area between 
 the minor chanuel and the levees to act as a spreading ground for the waters, that they may 
 be absorbed into underground storage for beneficial use. 
 
 For the protection of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors, a dike will be built from
 
 — 6— 
 
 the highlands at Dominguez Hill parallel to and northerly of the Pacific Electric Railway 
 tracks, effectively causing all waters of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and the 
 Rio Hondo to flow to the location of the present bridge of the Pacific Electric Railway 
 Tracks over the Los Angeles River, and known locally as the Cerritos Trestle, and thence 
 almost due south through the low ground lying to the east of Long Beach Harbor to the 
 Pacific Ocean at a point between Parker Avenue and Wabash Avenue, in the City of Long 
 Beach or, generally speaking, between the Long Beach Harbor and the residential portion 
 of the City of Long Beach. The waters in their course southward from Cerritos Trestle will 
 be confined between levees, and sufficient highway bridges will be provided across the 
 channel. 
 
 Before proposing protective works of any kind upon any stream course, it seemed 
 advisable that the first step was to secure rights-of-way for official channels. I have not 
 only been securing this right-of-way for you, but have secured it without a cent of cost to 
 the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. 
 
 At a meeting held by the Flood Control Association in the Hall of Technology on Jan- 
 uary 15, 1916, it was tentatively agreed that data and an estimate for protective improve- 
 ments to the amount of $3,600,000 should be prepared for submission to the voters of the 
 District for a bond issue. However, within the past few months many laud owners, bankers, 
 civic and commercial organizations have represented that realty values and securities have 
 been so depreciated on account of damage by flood waters, that necessary steps should be 
 taken to correct the same even though it takes a larger amount. 
 
 With the text of this report I submit a complete set of maps, general plans, profiles and 
 cross sections, all of which are contained in the plate book filed with and made a part 
 of this report. 
 
 The accompanying map (Plate I) shows the location of all of the work and improve- 
 ments proposed in this report, and lands, rights-of-way, easements and property to be taken, 
 acquired or injured in carrying out said work, and other information deemed useful in 
 regard thereto. The general location of the channels and the Avork to be done is shown 
 in red. The areas shaded green along the various channels represent the free rights-of- 
 way for official channels now secured for you, and areas shaded brown along these streams 
 show where we have determined upon official channels, but where free easements have not 
 yet been secured. I would state parenthetically that this omission is only because of lack of 
 time. The laud owners have been very fair and generous with us in the granting of ease- 
 ments. 
 
 GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS OP WORK TO BE DONE, WITH GENERAL DESCRIP- 
 TION OF LANDS, RIGHTS-OF-WAY, EASEMENTS AND PROPERTY PRO- 
 POSED TO BE TAKEN. ACQUIRED OR INJURED IN CARRY- 
 ING OUT THE WORK, AND ESTIMATES OP COST 
 The protective works which I shall recommend to you are proposed upon a base broad 
 enough and in proper position, that they may either be the foundation for any further 
 enlargement, or on the other hand, be complete within themselves as far as they go. 
 
 DEVIL'S GATE DAM AND RESERVOIR 
 
 The map of this reservoir is shown on Plate III. The profile, cross section and general 
 outline of the dam are shown on Plate IV, and the emptying and filling curves shown on 
 Plate V. 
 
 The dam will be made of plain concrete or Cyclopean masonry containing large stones. 
 The top of the dam will be 130 feet above the solid bed rock. For stability the dam will 
 depend entirely upon the force of gravity ; however, for added strength it will be arched up- 
 stream in plan to a radius of 400 feet. 
 
 In addition to the duty of this structure as a dam it is so designed that it Avill carry 
 over its top the La Canada- Verdugo Boulevard. The top of the dam is of sufficient width
 
 — 7— 
 
 to provide for a 20-foot roadway, with sidewalks on either side. This roadway is strong 
 enough to carry a street railway should the necessity arise. 
 
 The storage capacity of the reservoir created by this structure will be about 6600 acre 
 feet. The principle of the structure is for joint conservation and flood control. Its dis- 
 charging apertures will be controlled by hydraulically operated gates which are large 
 enough to release 7000 cubic feet of water per second. This volume is considered the max- 
 imum safe carrying capacity of the natural channel of the Arroyo Seco below the dam. 
 
 The surplus of any storm greater than 7000 second feet will be retained in the reser- 
 voir; the capacity of the reservoir, when worked upon this principle is large enough to 
 reduce to 7000 second feet the flood of a storm 50% greater than the storm of February, 
 1914. The dam and reservoir not only give flood protection to the City of Los Angeles, 
 and a material reduction to the flow of the Los Angeles Kiver in flood times, but conserve 
 the stored flood waters of the Arroyo Seco for the beneficial use of the City of Pasadena 
 and other cities of the southeast. 
 
 The following is a general description of the land, rights-of-way, easements and prop- 
 erty proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in the carrying out of this part of the work. 
 A dam will be built across the Arroyo Seco approximately 200 feet below where the La 
 Canada- Verdugo Road crosses the Arroyo Seco. The exact location of this structure cannot 
 be determined until bed rock has been located by core drills. The top of the dam will be 
 built to elevation 1069 feet above mean sea level, and the reservoir site will cover all that 
 part of the Arroyo Seco Valley or Canyon, lying above the dam and within and below said 
 1069 foot contour, all as more particularly shown on Plate III. 
 
 The cost of these completed works is estimated at $290,000. This amount is for con- 
 struction purposes alone, as free easements of the entire reservoir site from liotli the City 
 of Pasadena and other owners are already in your possession. 
 
 The Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir have been approved as follows: 
 
 The general project and plan of the proposed dam at Devil's Gate were heartily 
 endorsed November 29, 1916, by the Pasadena City Commission of the City of 
 Pasadena. Per A. L. HAMILTON, Chairman. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Pasadena Board of Trade on November 4, 1916, 
 approved the plan of the proposed Devil's Gate Dam and offer their hearty co-opera- 
 tion in the work. J. H. PEAR:\IAN, Secretary. 
 
 HUTCHIN'S DAM IN PACOIMA CANYON 
 This dam will be built at a point about four miles above the mouth of the Pacoima 
 Canyon, for both flood control and conservation, but primarily for the protection of that 
 part of the San Fernando Valley and the City of Los Angeles about the Town of Van 
 Nuys. 
 
 Its height will be 145 feet and it will be 478 feet long on top. The dam will be made 
 of plain concrete or of Cyclopean Masonry containing large stones. In type it will be of 
 gravity section arched up-stream to a radius of 400 feet. 
 
 The map, profile and cross section are shown on Plate VI and the filling and dis- 
 charging curves on Plate VII. The storage capacity of the reservoir is 3200 acre feet, which 
 should reduce a flood as great as that of 1914, when the peak was estimated at 5400 sec- 
 ond feet, to a flow of 2600 second feet, or a reduction of 52%. This will very materially 
 lessen the menace and injury to property in the vicinity of Van Nuys. 
 
 The following is a general description of the land, rights-of-way, easements and prop- 
 erty proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying out this part of the work. 
 
 This dam will be built as above stated. The top of the dam will be at an elevation of 
 2265 feet above mean sea level . The reservoir site will include all that part of the Pacoima 
 Canyon, lying above the dam and below the 2265-foot contour, all as more particulnrly shown 
 upon Plate VI. 
 
 The cost of the works complete is $359,460
 
 — 8— 
 
 The Hutehin's Dam and Reservoir project have been approved by the following city 
 organizations of the San Fernando Valley and the City of Los Angeles: 
 
 "The San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, on December 7, 1916. passed a unanimous 
 resolution endorsing and heartily approving the plan of the proposed Hutehin's Dam in Pa- 
 eoima Canyon, and the general plan for flood control purposes in Los Angeles County." 
 
 FRED W. PRINCE, President. 
 H. C. CALDWELL, Secretary. 
 
 Plans for the Hutehin's Dam in Pacoima Canyon were endorsed by Resolution by the 
 Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce, Van Nuys, California, November 16, 1916. 
 
 FRANK M. KEEFER, Secretary. 
 
 The San Fernando Board of Trade by Resolution on December 6, 1916, did heartily en- 
 dorse and approve the general plan of the proposed Hutehin's Dam at Pacoima Canyon. 
 
 JOHN T. WILSON, President. 
 H. C. HUBBARD, Secretary. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the San i'ernando Fruit Growers' Association on Novem- 
 ber 28, 1916, passed a Resolution unanimously endorsing the plan of a properly constructed 
 concrete dam in Pacoima Canyon for the purpose of impounding and storing storm waters. 
 
 VOLNEY H. CRAIG, Secretary. 
 
 SAN DIMAS CANYON DAM AND RESERVOIR 
 
 This structure is located in the San Dimas Canyon about two miles above its mouth, 
 in Angeles National Forest, upon the East 1/2 of Sec. 24, T. 1 N., R. 9 W., S. B. B. & M., and 
 upon land o^vned by the San Dimas Water Company, from which Company you have now 
 a free easement, for construction of a dam and reservoir. The object to be accomplished 
 by this structure will be flood protection for the intensely cultivated stretch of the San 
 Dimas Wash above the City of Covina and the conservation and underground storage of 
 flood waters. 
 
 Plate VIII shows the cross section and profile of the dam, and map of the reservoir 
 site. Plate IX shows emptying and filling curves. The dam is to be constructed of plain 
 concrete or Cyclopean masonry containing large stones up to IV2 cubic yards. The dam 
 will be 145 feet in height above bed rock and will have a crest length of 265 feet. In section, the 
 dam will be of gravity type arched up-stream to a radius of 400 feet. 
 
 The impounding capacity is shown upon Plate IX, and is 2500 acre feet. This reservoir, 
 like the Devil's Gate Reservoir, is intended as a retention reservoir, i. e., for both flood con- 
 trol and conservation. It will reduce a flood of 2800 second feet such as occurred in 1914 
 down to 1500 second feet, and these works like those of Devil's Gate will be supplied with 
 discharging appliances large enough, that should the reservoir be full, or nearly so, when an 
 on-coming storm is apparent, its contents may be released before the new storm reaches the 
 dam. Like Devil's Gate, it is also provided with ample spill-way gates. The cost of this 
 structure complete, including discharge pipes and cushion dams, will be $278,000. 
 
 Lands, easements and rights-of-way necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows : 
 
 The land necessary for the dam as located above, together with the area of the San 
 Dimas Canyon above the dam, lying within and below the 1470-foot contour, mean sea level 
 datum; all as shown on Plate VIII. 
 
 The San Dimas Dam and Reservoir project have been approved by the following Civic 
 Organizations of the San Gabriel Valley: 
 
 Plans of San Dimas Canyon Dam unanimously approved by the Covina Chamber of 
 Commerce, Covina, California, November 17, 1916. 
 
 H. A. MILLER, President. 
 JEROME REYNOLDS, Secretary.
 
 — 9— 
 
 Maps and plans for the control of the storm waters of the San Dimas Canyon have been 
 endorsed at a special called meeting by the San Dimas Commercial Club of San Dimas, No- 
 vember 24, 1916 . 0. W. HOKE, President. 
 
 C. C. CORWIN, Secretary. 
 
 By Resolution at a regular meeting, November 21, 1916, the Board of Trustees of the 
 City of Covina, do resolve as follows: 
 
 That we hereby heartily endorse and recommend the flood control plans for Walnut 
 Wash and for San Dimas Dam. J. N. WILSON, 
 
 President of the Board of Trustees of the 
 City of Covina. 
 
 POMONA DAM AND RESERVOIR 
 Live Oak, Thompson, Williams and San Antonio Creeks 
 
 The flood waters of Williams Creek which are from a mountainous drainage of less than 
 400 acres, are a source of great danger and injury and are now flooding the new orchards 
 on the San Antonio cone, thence passing down into the City of Claremont, either directly 
 through the City of Claremont, or westward by the Foothill Boulevard to San Antonio Street 
 and thence down San Antonio Street to the heart of the City of Pomona. 
 
 It has been desired by the property owners who are subject to this menace and injury 
 that the storm waters of Williams Creek might be diverted either eastward to San Antonio 
 Wash or westward to Thompson Creek. 
 
 As the San Antonio Wash is not within this district it would be unwise to attempt the 
 diversion of Williams Creek into it. Its diversion westward into Thompson Creek may be 
 safely undertaken, provided a final disposition of the water is provided for. 
 
 The flood waters from Thompson Creek are the result of a watershed of nearly 3000 acres, 
 and furnish a flood peak of considerable volume, which now passes do^vn across the Foot- 
 hill Boulevard near its intersection with Williams Avenue on to the south, to and across the 
 Kuns Tract, thence down Fulton Street where it divides part of it going southwesterly to the 
 headwaters of San Jose Creek, and part down the County Boulevard to Garey Avenue, 
 thence southerly to the heart of Pomona like the flood-waters of AVilliams Creek coming down 
 San Antonio Avenue. 
 
 Live Oak Creek with a mountainous drainage area of approximately 1600 acres has a 
 flood peak when its waters reach the Foothill Boulevard of about 700 cubic feet per second. 
 From this point it begins to drop its detritus upon the orchard lands of the Evergreen Ranch 
 and Tract No. 380. 
 
 Plate X shows the map, cross section and profiles of the Pomona Dam and Reservoir, lo- 
 cated upon the old cienega partially within the city limits of Pomona on the headwaters of 
 San Jose Creek south of Lordsburg. By the construction of this reservoir a place is provided 
 for the final disposition of the waters of these three creeks. 
 
 Williams Creek will be diverted into Thompson Creek near where they both emerge from 
 the mountains as shown on Plate XI and their combined waters carried down Thompson 
 Creek channel to the Foothill Boulevard where these combined waters will be joined with 
 the waters from Live Oak Creek, which are to be diverted down that portion of Williams 
 Street which is north of the Foothill Boulevard. From the Foothill Boulevard southward the 
 combined flood waters of the three streams, Williams Creek, Thompson Creek and Live Oak 
 Creek will be conveyed down in a cement conduit or roadway to the Pomona reservoir, all 
 as shown on Plate XI and XII. 
 
 Where Williams Creek crosses the center line of Section 27, Township 1, North, Range 8 
 West, there will be constructed a low earth dam for diverting the waters of Williams Creek 
 to the Southwest, through a channel which is to be dug. This channel will be approximately 
 twenty feet wide and two feet deep.
 
 —10— 
 
 The material excavated from this channel will l)e thrown up on the lower side, forming a 
 small levee. 
 
 The profile and cross section of Williams Creek will be found on Plate XII. The com- 
 bined waters of Thompson and Williams Creeks will flow in the present natural channel of 
 Thompson Creek as far south as Base Line Way, no work being done on the channel from Base 
 Line "Way to the Foothill Boulevard. The waters will continue to flow in the natural chan- 
 nel. The bank of the stream will be protected by a double row of wire fencing filled with 
 brush. The plan of this creek is shown on Plate No. XI, the profile and cross section on 
 Plate No. XII. 
 
 The diversion of Live Oak Wash southerly along Williams Avenue will be accomplished 
 by placing a dike across the present Live Oak Wash, near the intersection of Williams Avenue 
 and Bowdoin Street the waters from this diversion being carried southerly along Williams 
 Avenue in a concrete channel. The profile and cross section of this diversion is shown upon Plate 
 XII, the location is shown upon Plate XL The profile and cross section of the conduit which 
 is to convey the comliined waters of the three streams, Williams, Thompson and Live Oak 
 Creeks, from the Foothill Boulevard to the Pomona Reservoir is shown on Plate XII. The 
 rights of way necessary for all of this work are shown lietween the red lines on Plate XI. 
 
 The Pomona reservoir Avill provide storage for 2320 acre feet of water M^hen the water 
 surface is at the 1000 foot contour. The area of the watershed of the three streams draining 
 into this reservoir is approximately 4800 acres and inasmuch as it has a fairly good brush 
 cover, it is estimated that the maximum flood peak from tliis territory will not exceed 1500 sec- 
 ond feet. It is also estimated that the amount of water that would be delivered to the reser- 
 voir during a storm similar to that of 1914 or 1916, would not exceed 1500 acre feet, which 
 is 75% of the storage capacity up to the 1000 foot contour. 
 
 This still permits of 6 feet free board. In case of an emergency the reservoir may be safe- 
 ly filled three feet more, allowing storage of nearly 3000 acre feet, or furnishing provision for 
 flood waters of a storm twice as great as that of 1916. Filling to this height may be allowed 
 only at will as tlie discharge valves provide for 500 cubic feet per second to San Jose Creek, 
 and 500 cubic feet per second to Walnut Creek. 
 
 This reservoir plan will not only entirely eliminate the l)aneful effect of the flood waters 
 from the canyons as discussed by the Citizens' Committee of Pomona in their report of May 
 15, 1916, but also save them the necessity of a large part of the cost of the street paving and 
 high curbing which they advised in this report, but it should be plain from the contour map 
 that not only will it remove the menace of the Williams and Thompson Creek flood waters from 
 these cities, but that the flood waters of all the territory between the Base Line Road and Cuca- 
 monga Street in Pomona and Claremont may be carried by those locallj^ interested, directly 
 westward and delivered into this reservoir, instead of going southward through the city of 
 Claremont. This possibility of the proposed plan is one of almost inestimable value to these 
 two cities. Again, it is also of very great value to the city of Lordsburg to have the flood 
 waters of Live Oak Creek entirely removed from their city to the reservoir. 
 
 Tlie above outlined benefits arising from this plan of flood control are undoubtedly 
 enough, but the selection of such a reservoir site in this locality has some other peculiarly 
 valuable characteristics. The contour map shows that it would be possible to divert a portion 
 of the San Antonio Canyon flood waters to it and these M-aters might again be passed from 
 the Pomona reservoir tlirough the divide upon the west with a A'ery slight cutting into the 
 Pudding Stone or Jlount reservoir site, located b_y the Board of Engineers Flood Control, 
 at the head waters of Walnut Creek Wash, in their report to the Board of Supervisors of Los 
 Angeles County, filed July 27th, 1915. Another possibility of this reservoir is that any sur- 
 plus waters of San Dimas Canyon which can be conveyed to the Pudding Stone reservoir can 
 also be conveyed to this reservoir. The aggregate assessed values of the cities of Pomona, 
 Claremont and Lordsburg is approximately $9,000,000, showing a combined property value of 
 nearly .'t;30,000,000, and I h ave no hesitancy in saying that this reservoir, if built and
 
 —11— 
 
 properly controlled will remove the menace of the mountain flood waters from all of this 
 property. 
 
 The dam is shown upon Plate X. It is a massive earth dam 3300 feet long with a maxi- 
 mum height of but 41 feet, 16 feet wide on top and 46 feet wide at the surface when the 
 reservoir is full to the 1000 foot contour, and a maximum base width of 221 feet. When full 
 it represents a surface area of 210 acres. 
 
 It is intended to construct a sunken concrete roadway from the Foothill Boulevard to 
 the North City limits of Pomona to carry the combined flood waters of Thompson's, Wil- 
 liams' and Live Oak Creeks. At the North City limits of Pomona these flood waters will be 
 received by a concrete conduit and conducted to the Pomona reservoir. Both the roadway 
 and conduit are designed to carry from 2500 second feet to 2700 second feet, or double the 
 volume of the 1916 flood. 
 
 Profile and cross section of protection dikes or walls to be built upon the west side of 
 San Antonio Wash are shown on Plate XXII. The location of these dikes are shown on Plate 
 XI. These dikes will be made of large boulders cemented together and enclosed in fence 
 wire. 
 
 On the 350 acres at the head-waters of Williams Creek, it is intended to spend $1100 in 
 the construction of about 35 check dams. On the 2880 acres, at the head-waters of Thomp- 
 son's Creek $8900 is to be spent in constructing about 270 check dams. On the head-waters 
 of Live Oak Creek, consisting of 1650 acres, $5000 will be required to construct about 160 
 check dams. 
 
 The following is a general description of the land, rights of way, easements and property 
 necessary to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying out the work on these four creeks, or 
 washes, and the proposed Pomona Dam : 
 
 Williams Creek : A 50-foot strip of land extending from the intersection of Williams 
 Creek, with the southerly boundary of the northeast 1/4 of Section 27, Township 1 North, 
 Range 8 West, thence southwesterly to a point in Thompson Creek about 700 feet north 
 of the south line of said Section 27, as particularly shown on Plate XI. 
 
 Thompson Creek : The present wash channel of Thompson Creek from its beginning 
 down to Base Line Road. 
 
 A strip of land extending from the intersection of the present wash channel with Base 
 Line Road, southwesterly following the present course of the westerly part of Thompson 
 Creek to the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Williams Avenue. Said strip of land vary- 
 ing from 100 feet to 200 feet in width. 
 
 A strip of land extending from the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Williams 
 Street, southwesterly to a point in the northerly boundary of the City of Pomona about 400 
 feet east of the easterly line of the City of Lordsburg. Said strip being 60 feet wide and 
 being occupied by a highway known as Williams Avenue from Foothill Boulevard to Grove 
 Street, and below Grove Street partly by a narrow channel with low cement walls. 
 
 A strip of land about 50 feet in width extending from the intersection of Williams 
 Avenue with the northerly boundary line of the City of Pomona, southwesterly, to the inter- 
 section of the westerly boundary line of the City of Pomona with the Santa Fe Railroad, 
 thence on a curve to the right, with a radius of 2084 feet, from the Pacific Electric Rail- 
 way to the Southern Pacific Railroad track near the 1005 foot contour, all as shown on Plate 
 XL 
 
 Live Oak Creek: A strip of land extending from the intersection of Bowdoin Street 
 and Williams Avenue due south to Foothill Boulevard, 60 feet wide now occupied by the 
 public highway known as Williams Avenue, as particularly shown on Plate XI. 
 
 Pomona Dam and Reservoir: A parcel of land bounded as follows: 
 
 Beginning at a point where the 1005-foot contour intersects the westerly boundary line of 
 the City of Pomona near the Southern Pacific Railroad track ; thence in a general westerly 
 direction following said contour to a point 300 feet southerly of the southerly corner of the
 
 —12— 
 
 lands common to Edwin T. Keiser and John S. Long; thence in a general southwesterly di- 
 rection across the valley to the 1005-foot contour, being about 600 feet southeasterly from 
 the northeast corner of the land of John T. Lawrence, thence in a general easterly direction 
 to a point 400 feet easterly of the west boundary line of the City of Pomona; thence in a 
 general northeasterly direction a distance of about 600 feet to an isolated hill in the lands of 
 Theresa P .de Vejar; thence in a general northeasterly direction to the right of way of the 
 Southern Pacific Railroad; thence along the right of way of said railroad, a distance of ap- 
 proximately 700 feet to the 1005-foot contour; thence in a general westerly direction along 
 said 1005-foot contour to the place of beginning ; all as shown on Plates X and XL 
 
 San Antonio Creek: A strip of land as shown on Plate XI, suificient in width for a 
 location for the protective dikes above referred to. 
 
 Said strip being all located upon, or near to the present westerly boundary of the San 
 Antonio Creek channel, and near the boundary line between Los Angeles and San Bernar- 
 dino Counties. 
 
 The total amount necessary for all the foregoing works in the Pomona Reservoir, Wil- 
 liams Creek, Thompson Creek, Live Oak Creek and the San Antonio Creek is $272,400.00, of 
 which amount $69,455 is for right of way. 
 
 The Pomona Reservoir project has been approved as follows : 
 
 Maps and plans shoM' they were approved by resolution by the City Council of Pomona, 
 December 12, 1916. 
 
 T. R. TROTTER, City Clerk. 
 
 ]\Iap and plans were approved by the Chamber of Commerce of the City of Pomona, De- 
 cember 11, 1916. 
 
 W. H. SCHUREMAN, Secretary. 
 
 Maps and plans were approved by the City Council of Claremont, December 13, 1916. 
 
 FRED A. BACON, 
 FOREST WENECKE, 
 EDWIN F. GOPF. 
 JAMES ROBINSON, 
 T. A. HICKCOX. 
 Maps and plans were approved by the City Council of Lordsburg on December 12, 1916. 
 
 C. C. HUFF, President, 
 T. J. STEVES, Clerk pro tern. 
 
 CHECK DAMS AND IMPOUNDING RESERVOIRS 
 
 The term "Check Dams" has been applied to any artificial obstruction of stone or logs, 
 or any combination of stone, logs and brush wliich obstructs a stream bed completely from 
 one side to the other. In this way the plane of the water is made to rise 6 feet to 8 feet 
 above the stream bed at the dam. 
 
 The basic idea of the check dam is the flattening at will of the grade of a channel which 
 in its natural state is so steep as to cause a rapid and destructive storm runoif. 
 
 Inasmuch as large numbers of check dams are needed per channel they must be con- 
 structed in such a manner and of such material as will reduce their unit cost to a minimum. 
 For this reason they are usually made of boulders and loose rock found within a short radius 
 of the dam. 
 
 The heights of check dams vary from 4 feet to 8 feet, depending upon the conditions of 
 side rock and bed rock, and upon the grade of the canyon. 
 
 There is no cement used in the construction, but the boulders and flat stones are rough- 
 ly fitted and "shingled" one on top of another. The courses are pitched backward and 
 downward and being somewhat locked together, the whole forming a stable dam. At its base 
 the dam is approximately as thick as it is high. The sides of the dam. should be built some-
 
 —13— 
 
 what higher than the central part, so as to direct the overfall away from the sides or banks. 
 
 The channels where they can be used to the best advantage are those which have a more 
 
 or less V shaped section or a bottom width of not more than 15 feet with side slopes of 1:1. 
 
 This will locate them in a zone constituting approximately the upper 2/3 of a watershed. 
 
 This is also where the grades are steepest and the precipitation is the heaviest. 
 
 These check dams can best be located as they are being built, for the location depends 
 largely upon the availability of material, and in estimating with the eye the amount of ma- 
 terial in a stretch of 300 feet or 400 feet of channel, it is impossible to say whether it would 
 be sufficient for 4 or 5 or 6 check dams. Generally speaking the dams will be located at 
 narrow places Avhcre there is something of a basin above them, and at fairly uniform dis- 
 tances apart. 
 
 Check dams similar to those recommended by the majority report of the Board of 
 Engineers Flood Control, and as hereinabove described will be built in the mountainous areas 
 of the district. The location of the canyons in the following list will be found upon Plate I. 
 The list below shows the names of the canyons in which work is to be done, the acreage )n the 
 mountainous watershed and the amount of money to be spent hi each canyon. 
 
 Name of Canyon Acreage Cost 
 
 Laurel 1212 $2,420 
 
 Nichols 619 1,857 
 
 Brush (Hollywood) 712 1,425 
 
 (Small canyon west of Brush Canyon) 420 840 
 
 Eaton 4260 8,500 
 
 Rubio 910 1.815 
 
 Los Flores 300 600 
 
 (Small canyon bet. Eaton and Rubio) 314 628 
 
 Sawpit 4160 21,300 
 
 Hook 433 866 
 
 Small canyon east of Hook Canyon 137 290 
 
 San Dimas 1600 3,200 
 
 Little Dalton 2164 4,325 
 
 Small canyon above Duarte 892 1,785 
 
 Bailey ' - 392 784 . 
 
 Small canyons above Sierra Madre 1685 ^, 3,365 
 
 Wilson Creek 1150 ' 6,000 
 
 $60,000 
 
 In addition to the above amount of $60,000 appearing under the item of checkdams, 
 other items appear under various subheads, making a total to be expended in checkdam con- 
 struction of $103,000. Impounding reservoirs aggregating $1,045,910, are provided for at 
 Devil's Gate, Pacoima Canyon, San Dimas Canyon and Pomona, making a grand total of 
 $1,148,910 for the construction of checkdams and impounding reservoirs. 
 
 BALLONA CREEK 
 
 The plan for the flood waters of Ballona Creek is shown upon Plate XIII. The lands 
 required for rights of way are bordered by red. That portion of which the County has already 
 received free easements is shovm between the dotted red lines, and the portion of 
 which we have not received free easements is enclosed within the heavy red lines. But 
 a very small area now remains over which we have not secured free easements, and this area 
 is in localities where improvement to the stream is not altogether necessary. 
 
 Plate XIII also shows profile, cross section and carrying capacity of the channel. The 
 work extends from the western limits of the City of Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, out- 
 side the tide gates of Playa del Rey, a distance of about eight miles.
 
 —14— 
 
 The side levees are to be built of earth, and from the material excavated from the chan- 
 nel. The plan and estimate also includes the removal of the large stones lying in the ocean en- 
 trance near Playa Del Eey, connecting the lagoon with the ocean, and making the necessary ad- 
 justments with local property owners for changing the position and insuring the proper opera- 
 tion of the tide gates. 
 
 The land, rights of way and easements necessary to be taken or acquired for this work 
 may be generally described as follows : 
 
 A strip of land 50 feet in width extending from a point on the right of way of the Pacific 
 Electric Railway Venice short line division, about 250 feet east of the point of intersection 
 of said railway right of way with the southwesterly boundary line of the lands of the 
 heirs of Louis Sentous, Sr., thence southerly to a point in said last named line about 400 feet, 
 thence southeasterly along said line to Washington Boulevard. 
 
 A strip of land about 50 feet in width extending from a point in the boundary line be- 
 tween the lands of the heirs of Louis Sentous, Sr., and the Southwestern Packing Company, 
 about 400 feet northeast along said line from Washington Boulevard; thence southwesterly 
 to the junction of Washington Boulevard and the strip above described. 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet in width extending southerly from the junction of the two strips 
 last above described, crossing Washington Boulevard and following the general meandering of 
 the channel to its junction with the main channel of Ballona Creek, a distance of about 900 feet. 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet wide commencing at a point in the present Ballona Creek Wash 
 about 700 feet east of Moynier Lane and following the general meanderings of said channel 
 to a point therein about 400 feet east of the public highway known as First Street, Palms, 
 thence gradually increasing to a width of 200 feet at said street. A strip of land 200 feet 
 in width extending from said First Street, Palms, following the general meanderings of said 
 Ballona Creek channel to the boundary line between the lands of S. M. Bernard Company 
 and William T. McLaughlin. 
 
 A strip of land 250 feet wide extending from the end of the last described strip in a general 
 westerly direction to the concrete tide gate near the boundary line of the City of Venice, thence 
 on a curve to the left, following the general line of the Lagoon at Playa del Rey, a distance of 
 approximately 2000 feet to the Pacific Ocean. As more particularly shown upon Plate XIIL 
 
 The total cost for the correction of Ballona Creek is $80,875. 
 
 The Ballona Creek project has been approved as follows: 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the City of Venice, assembled this 15th day of December, 1916, 
 at 11 o'clock, A. M., do endorse the plan recommended by the County Engineer, J. W. Reagan, 
 for the care of the ilood waters, in Ballona Creek and Valley. 
 
 C. Y. BURNS, City Clerk, 
 E. A. GERETY, President of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 Resolved, that the general plan of the Los Angeles County Flood Control Board to take 
 care of the flood water of Ballona Creek as presented to the Venice Chamber of Commerce, on 
 December 9th, Avith a complete delivery of the flood water into the ocean provided for, is ac- 
 cepted and approved. ALTA D. MARSHALL, Secretary. 
 
 Culver City, December 14, 1916. 
 Plans for control of the floods of the Ballona were approved by the Business Men's 
 League of Culver City and the Culver Investment Company. HARRY H. CULVER. 
 
 GARDENA VALLEY AND NIGGER SLOUGH 
 
 The storm water problem of this Valley ij becoming one of serious moment. During the 
 past year three important County Boulevards were rendered impassable over periods varying 
 from a few weeks to a few months — referring to Western Avenue, Wilmington-Redondo and 
 Harbor Boulevards. 
 
 The troubles and problems of this valley resolve themselves into two sections ; the upper
 
 —15— 
 
 one containing in round numbers 36 square miles, or more than 20,000 acres, originally drained 
 into a sink shown upon Plate XIV, locally known as Johnson's Lake. The present channel 
 from Johnson's Lake is not adequate to permit the waters of the great storms to escape 
 fast enough, consequently this lake is created and often reaches a surface area of nearly 1000 
 acres, and generally remains weeks before subsiding. 
 
 Plate XIV and Plate XV are maps of the channel, and Plate XVI shows the profile, cross 
 section and carrying capacity of the channel at different points. 
 
 Free easements over six and one-half miles of the lower end of this channel have been 
 secured, and I might add, actual construction work in harmony with the plans and specifica- 
 tions of tliis office are already under way by the Dominguez interests. 
 
 Tlie estimated cost of this rectification work throughout its entire length of thirteen and 
 one-half miles, from Pine Street in Inglewood to tide water near Watson Station, less any al- 
 lowance for cost of right of way, is $56,590. 
 
 The rectification and enlargement of this channel will have a beneficial effect over a ter- 
 ritory of about seventy square miles in area, or more than 40,000 acres. This is now assessed 
 at approximately .1^13,000,000. 
 
 The lands, right of way and easements necessary for this work is generally described as 
 follows : 
 
 A strip of land 50 feet in width extending from Pine Street, Tract No. 2464, about 
 100 feet east of Lock Haven Street, thence soutli to Garden Avenue in said tract; thence 
 southeasterly to a point in Lincoln Avenue, in Tract No. 1631, about midway between Orange 
 Avenue and Walnut Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet in width extending from said point in Lincoln Avenue south- 
 easterly in a straight line to a point in Arlington Street, about 600 feet north of Southern 
 Avenue; thence south following the line of Arlington Street to Southern Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide and about 1200 feet long extending northeasterly from the 
 intersection of Arlington Street and Southern Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet in width extending from the intersection of Arlington Street 
 and Southern Avenue, southwesterly to a point in the south line of the northeast quarter of 
 Section 22, about 550 feet east of the center of said Section 22. 
 
 A strip of land 125 feet in width extending from said south line of the northeast quar- 
 ter of Section 22, following in general the meanderings of the creek, emptying into the head- 
 waters of Nigger Slough and passing through Bridgedale, and southerly of the Town of Gar- 
 dena, to the intersection of said channel with Victoria Street. 
 
 A strip of laud extending from said last mentioned point in Victoria Street in a general 
 southeasterly direction across Nigger Slough, to the intersection of Wilmington Avenue and 
 Wilmington Street and varying in width from 100 feet at the point of commencement to 225 feet, 
 about 3000 feet northwesterly of the intersection of Wilmington Avenue and Wilmington 
 Street. A strip of land 225 feet wide and extending from said last mentioned point in a gee 
 eral southeasterly and southerly direction to the right of way of the Pacific Electric Rail- 
 way just northerly from the Long Beach and Redondo Road at Watson crossing. 
 
 All as more particularly shown on Plates XIV and XV. 
 
 The Gardena Valley Channel project has been approved by the following federated so- 
 cieties of the Gardena Valley: 
 
 "Location of channel and plans approved by the Federated Societies of the southwest oF 
 Gardena, August 10. 1916. C. L. TILLEY, Secretary." 
 
 "The Southwest Federation of Civic Associations of Los Angeles County at Lenox, August 
 21, 1916. H. J. ANDERSON, Secretary." 
 
 VERDUGO WASH 
 Plate XVII shows map, plan, profile and cross section of the improvement to be made on 
 Verdugo Wa.sh. This improvement consists of piling and wire enclosing a channel behind
 
 —16— 
 
 which on either side of the channel, trees are tc be planted for permanent bank 
 protection. The right of way has already been secured by the City of Glendale from Ninth 
 Street to above Verdugo Road. The easements and deeds for this right of way are now in 
 the possession of the City of Glendale. Between Pacific Street and the Los Angeles River 
 free easements have been secured, and are in the possession of this office. No easements have 
 as yet been secured between Brand Boulevard and Pacific Street, but it is understood that 
 lh(ise easements will be granted free. 
 
 The lands, rights of way and easements for this work consist of a strip of land 90 feet wide, 
 oxtending from the northerly boundary line of the City of Glendale in a general southerly and 
 southwesterly direction, following generally the meanderings of the present storm channel 
 of the Verdugo Wash to its point of discharge into the Los Angeles River, all as more particu- 
 larly shown on Plate XVII. The cost of this work is $99,800. The Verdugo Wash project has 
 been approved as follows : 
 
 "Maps and plans approved by the Board of Trustees of the City of Glendale, October 26, 
 1916. , T. W. WATSON, City Manager." 
 
 SYCAMORE CANYON 
 
 Plate XVIII shows the work to be done for protection against the flood waters of Syca- 
 more Canyon as it passes through the Cities of Glendale and Tropico. This plate shows map, 
 profile and cross section. 
 
 In Tropico, only the cleaning out the brush and slight rectification of the channel as 
 shown upon the plan, are to be done. The City of Glendale offers to provide the right of 
 way between Verdugo Road and the City Limits of Tropico. 
 
 The following is a general description of the lands, easements and rights of way to be 
 taken, acquired or injured in executing the work on the Sycamore Canyon Wash : 
 
 For the sand-trap the following bounded parcel of land; beginning at the intersection 
 of Sycamore Canyon Road with the easterly line of the land owned by Dodge, Harwood and 
 Sinclair Water & Development Company; thence southerly about 175 feet to a point in the 
 fence line ; thence southeasterly across the valley for a distance of about 120 feet to the 654 foot 
 contour ; thence in a general northeasterly direction along the 654 foot contour and around this 
 contour on the other side of the Valley, going in a northwesterly direction to the northerly 
 line of the present bank ; thence in a northerly direction to the south line of the Sycamore 
 Canyon Road, thence southwesterly along the Sycamore Canyon Road to the place of begin- 
 ning. From the last above described point the channel will follow Sycamore Avenue south- 
 westerly and southerly to a pump house on the property of the Tupper Robinson Company, 
 Incorporated, near the southerly boundary of the City of Glendale ; from this point a strip of 
 land 40 feet wide will be required running southwesterly and southerly to a point about 100 feet 
 easterly from the intersection of the southerly boundary of the City of Tropico with the Salt Lake 
 Railroad. 
 
 Also a strip 40 feet wide commencing at a point about 200 feet northerly from the 
 intersection of Treadwell Street with the San Fernando Road; thence southeasterly to the 
 easterly side of tlie Salt Lake Railroad; thence following the Salt Lake Railroad to Margue- 
 rite Street ; thence westerly to the west side of the Salt Lake Railway ; thence southerly along said 
 Railway to a point near the intersection of the San Fernando Road and Edward Avenue, all 
 as more particularly shown on Plate XVIII. 
 
 The cost of making the rectification of Sycamore Wash, as shown on Plate XVIII is $28,- 
 925. Of this amoimt $5000 is for right of way for the construction of a sand-trap, Plate 
 XVIII, 2. This sand-trap will protect the streets and property of Glendale and Tropico 
 from being covered with large deposits of sand. 
 
 The Sycamore Canyon Wash project has been approved by the Board of Trustees of 
 Tropico.
 
 —17— - 
 
 Maps and plans approved by the Board of Trustees of the City of Tropico, November 1, 
 ■j^gjg FRANK E. PETERS, Chairman, 
 
 W. C. WATTLES, City Engineer. 
 
 SAN JOSE CREEK 
 
 Plate XIX shows map, profile and cross section for the care of flood waters in this creek. 
 A free easement for an official channel 75 feet in width for the entire length and area shown 
 upon this map has already been received from the owners. 
 
 The work necessary to be done upon San Jose Creek consists of cleaning and clearing the 
 present channel and of cutting off sharp bends as shown upon the map. The amount of money 
 required for the correction Avork is $8000. 
 
 The land, easements, rights of ways necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide commencing at the intersection of Pomona Boulevard and 
 the westerly line of the property of Michael J. Scanlon ; thence in an easterly direction, fol- 
 lowing approximately the line of the old channel to a point in a westerly line of Pomona City 
 Park about 150 feet from the Pacific Electric Railway on Huntington Boulevard ; all as more 
 particularly shown on Plate XIX. 
 
 Approval of plans for the correction of this creek is evidenced by the complete co-oper- 
 ation of adjacent land owners in their donation of the rights of way. 
 
 PASADENA AND ALTADENA 
 
 Plate XX shows the map and profile and cross section of the work to be done in this 
 vicinity. This work extends from a point just east of Pair Oaks Avenue to the Arroyo Seco. 
 The right of way necessary for these works will be 50 feet wide. The channel will be lined with 
 concrete where the velocities are great. Use has been made of existing canyon beds to a large ex- 
 tent, and it is thought that the beds of these canyons are so stable that no serious erosion 
 will take place. This stream channel will act as an intercepting channel to take the flood 
 waters which now flow southerly through Altadena and on to the north part of the City of 
 Pasadena, and conduct them in a generally westerly direction harmlessly to the Arroyo Seco, 
 where they may be spread on the gravel cone to percolate into the soil for beneficial use. 
 
 The lands, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows : 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at a point in Lot 1, Section 4, Township 1 North, Range 12 West, approxi- 
 mately 650 feet west of the east line of said Lot 1 ; thence in a general westerly direction a 
 distance of approximately 1000 feet. 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide described as follows: Beginning at the end of the strip 
 last described and extending in a general westerly direction to the northeast corner of Tract 
 No. 348 ; thence west along the north line of said Tract No. 348, in a westerly and a general 
 southwesterly direction to a point in Lincoln Avenue about 500 feet northerly of Piedmont 
 Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide extending from the last above mentioned point in a gen- 
 eral westerly direction to the intersection of the right of way of the Salt Lake Railroad 
 and the northerly line of the Rancho San Pasqual in the Arroyo Seco. All as shown upon 
 Plate XX. 
 
 The estimated cost of this work is $30,320. 
 
 The proposed Flood Control Channel for the District north of Altadena project has been 
 approved as follows : 
 
 The West Aitadena Improvement Association on December 5, 1916, passed a resolution 
 endorsing the plan as proposed for their protection against storm and flood water. 
 
 C. H. WOODS, President. 
 A. H. PERKINS, Secretary.
 
 - —18— 
 
 HAINES CANYON 
 
 The work to be done in Haines Canyon Wash, which embraces the settlement of Little- 
 lands, now renamed Tujunga, and Sunlaud, is shown on plan, map, profile and cross section, 
 on Plate XXI. 
 
 This plate shows the plan of work for the control of storm waters from Haines Canyon 
 which for the upper part of the valley, is a wide, spreading and absorption ground for drop- 
 ping the load of detritus which yet comes in considerable volume from the canyon. 
 
 The principle adopted here, in these works of building a large enclosure for the spread- 
 ing of water and dropping its detritus is very common in Europe, but is quite the opposite of 
 the storm drain method tried in this section two years ago. 
 
 The levees in the detrital cone will be thrown up with a steam shovel, raising the 
 levees to a height of eight feet, and enclosing an area of 35 acres of practically worth- 
 less land. This land should be donated to the district through easements, as it is of no 
 value for residential or agricultural purposes, its position and character being shown in 
 the picture (photograph) following Plate XXI. 
 
 The land, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken, and acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land varying in width from 100 feet to 800 feet, more or less, beginning at the 
 mouth of Haines Canyon approximately 1100 feet north of Los Angeles Avenue and 200 feet east 
 of the Kings Highway ; thence in a general southwesterly direction crossing El Centro Avenue 
 at a point approximately 500 feet west of Haines Canyon Road and continuing in a southwester- 
 ly direction to a point in Michigan Avenue approximately 1800 feet west of Marshall Street. A 
 strip of land 75 feet wide extending from said last mentioned point in a general northwesterly 
 direction following the present bed of the Haines Canyon Wash to its .junction with the Tu- 
 junga Wash just northerly of North Street and westerly of First Street; all as more fully 
 shown upon Plate XXI. 
 
 The cost of this construction work will be $33,500, exclusive of right of way. 
 
 WALNUT CREEK 
 
 Plate XXIII is a map of the Walnut Creek from the Rio Hondo to just above Citrus Ave- 
 nue. The right of way necessary for this project is shown between the red lines on this jilate. 
 The channel will follow the present stream to a point approximately 400 feet east of Puente 
 Avenue. From there to Vineland Avenue the wash has cut a new channel deeper and wider 
 than its old one, lying to the north of the old channel. This new channel will be used and the 
 old one abandoned. E''rom Vineland Avenue to Rio Hondo the present stream bed will be fol- 
 lowed. The right of way has been largely secured over this entire wash, and it is anticipated 
 that all of it will be secured for the district, free of charge. The work to be done above Sun- 
 set Avenue is comparatively slight, as the water flows in a deep, well-defined channel. At 
 certain of the worst places where erosion is now taking place, or is threatened, a fence will 
 be built along the bank and filled with brush and orchard cuttings to prevent any further 
 damage. 
 
 It is anticipated that the work being done on Walnut Creek by the local ranchers this 
 winter will result in lowering the stream bed just above Puente Avenue from 1 to 2 feet. This 
 will have a beneficial effect upon the stream for a long distance above Puente Avenue. It will 
 be necessary to deepen and widen this channel to 30 feet on the bottom, and to protect the 
 banks from erosion by constructing a single row of fence, and filling between it and the bank 
 with orchard cuttings. A profile of this wash is shown on Plate XXIV. 
 
 The land, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken and acquired for these 
 works may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide, beginning at a point in the present bed of the Walnut Creek 
 approximately 1000 feet north of Service Avenue and 400 feet east of Citrus Avenue; 
 thence in a general westerly direction following the meanderings of the Walnut Creek Wash
 
 —19— 
 
 to a point approximately 300 feet west of Puente Avenue, and 900 feet northerly of Franeis- 
 quito Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land not less than 100 feet wide and varying in width extending from 
 last above mentioned point in a general westerly direction to the present crossing of 
 Covina Boulevard over the Walnut Wash and in general following the course of the cut 
 or wash made new in the storms of 1915-16; thence a strip of laud of varying width 
 extending in a general southerly and westerly direction to the East San Gabriel River; 
 all as more fully shown on Plate XXIII. 
 
 The cost of this work will be $29,920. 
 
 SAN DIMAS WASH 
 
 Plate XXV shows the plan of work to be done on San Dimas Wash. Plate XXVI 
 shows profile and cross section of this wash. The right of way necessary for stream chan- 
 nel is shown between the red lines on Plate XXV. This wash will be carried in a channel 
 as wide as it occupied in the storm of January, 1916, from the mountairis to where the 
 wash now crosses the center line of Section Jl, Township 1 South, Range 10 West, just east 
 of Azusa Avenue. From this point on, a channel will be opened westward along the cen- 
 ter line of Sections 10 and 11 to the Big Dalton Wash. 
 
 The policy to be pursued upon the San Dimas Wash is to reduce as much as is consistent 
 the velocity of the waters and to cause them to percolate into the soil for beneficial use. In 
 general the present banks will be followed from the mountains to the center line of Section 
 11. From the center line of Section 11 to the Big Dalton Wash a new channel will be dug 
 witli a steam shovel and a very substantial levee will be placed on the south side of the channel. 
 In addition the banks will be protected from erosion. This cut-off of the San Dimas will re- 
 move the threatened menace to that large body of land lying south and west of Covina. As it 
 is necessary to construct and maintain a channel for the combined flow of the Big and Little 
 Daltons, it is deemed to be for the best interests of the entire district to place the waters 
 of the San Dimas Wash in this channel, thereby necessitating the maintenance of but one 
 channel from the center line of Section 10 to Waluut Creek. 
 
 The type of construction to be used will vary. On the upper reaches of the San Dimas 
 Wash a steam shovel will be used to throw up large boulder dikes ; lower down where the 
 boulders become too. small for this use a double wire fence filled with brush will be built, 
 and possibly below this a single wire fence with brush between the fence and the bank will 
 be built where feasible. 
 
 The land, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows : 
 
 A strip of land of variable width beginning at a point where the San Dimas Wash issues 
 from the mouth of the canyon near the northeast corner of Section 36, Township 1 North, 
 Range 9 West; thence following the general meanderings of the present bed of the San 
 Dimas Wash in a general southwesterly direction crossing Gladstone Avenue near the in- 
 tersection of Sunset Avenue and crossing Glendora Avenue about 500 feet north of Walnut 
 Street, crossing Citrus Avenue approximately 1200 feet north of Covina Boulevard to the cen- 
 ter line of Section 10, Township 1 South, Range 10 West; thence leaving the present bed of 
 the San Dimas Wash and continuing westerly along the i/i section line to the junction of the 
 Big Dalton Wash, all as more particularly shown upon Plate XXV. 
 
 The estimated cost of the right of way is $6320 and for construction work $31,510, mak- 
 ing a total for the San Dimas Wash $37,830. 
 
 The scheme of putting the waters of the San Dimas Wash and the Big and Little 
 Dalton Washes into one channel as outlined before was approved by the interested local 
 parties. 
 
 "By the West Covina Improvement Association on June 12. 1916. 
 
 RALPH T. LANG, Secretary." 
 
 "The Baldwin Park Flood Committee on June 29, 1916. 
 
 W. P. MOORE, Secretary."
 
 —20— 
 
 BIG DALTON WASH 
 
 The plan of the work to be done on the Big Dalton is shown on Plate XXVII, which work 
 extends from the mountains to its continence with tlie Walnut AVash. The profile is shown 
 on Plate XXVIII. The work which was done during the last summer by the ranchers along 
 this stream has practically determined the policy of control. Along the greater part of its length 
 the Big Dalton has been confined within a narrow channel having well defined banks, with the 
 result that the water will flow more freely and faster to its mouth. The type of construction 
 to be used on this wash is the same as that recommended for the San Dimas, namely, on the 
 upper reaches, by throwing up boulders with a steam shovel to form dikes on either side, and 
 lower down constructing a double row of wire fence filled with brush, or where the banks 
 will permit, of a single row of fencing with brush behind. 
 
 From the mountains to the north line of the property owned by Ella P. Hubbard near the 
 center of Section 9, Township 1 North, Range 10 West, the wash will be confined to its pres- 
 ent channel. Near this point the water of the wash now flows south on Vincent Avenue and 
 west on Cypress Avenue to the .iunction with the Little Dalton Wash. This water is to be taken 
 out of the public highway and carried along the center line of Section 9 to the junction of the 
 Little Dalton, thence down the channel of the Little Dalton to Cypress Avenue, where at pres- 
 ent the two streams come together. From the junction of the Big Dalton and Little Dalton it 
 is proposed to carry the stream in its present channel to a point just above the Pacific Elec- 
 tric Railway, Covina Branch. From this point to Walnut Wash the Big Dalton is a compara- 
 tively narrow stream, through a flat, fertile country. 
 
 Prom a point above the Southern Pacific to Central Avenue below Baldwin Park it will 
 be advantageous to straighten this channel as shown on Plate XXVII. From Central Ave- 
 nue to Walnut AVash the Big Dalton follows a well-defined channel until just above Merced Ave- 
 nue, where it begins to wander, and the channel finally ends by running down the highway. 
 
 From Central Avenue to Walnut Wash the stream channel in its upper end is approxi- 
 mately 450 feet from, and parallel to Vineland Avenue. As this line is the dividing line be- 
 tween the end of the properties it is thought this will be the best location for the stream chan- 
 nel. It is proposed to carry this straight down this line 450 feet back from Vineland Avenue 
 to a junction with Walnut Wash. 
 
 The land, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land of varying width, beginning at a point about 500 feet from the center of 
 Section 21, Township 1 North, Range 9 West, S. B. B. and M., where the Big Dalton emerges 
 from the canyon, and extending thence in a general southwesterly direction to a point ap- 
 proximately 300 feet southerly from Sierra Madre AA'enue ; thence a strip of land 100 feet 
 wide beginning at said last mentioned point, and following in a general direction the meander- 
 ings of the present Big Dalton Wash in a southerly direction to the southerly line of Alosta 
 Avenue; said point being approximately 650 feet east of Loraine Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land of varying width extending from said last mentioned point in a southwest- 
 erly direction and in general following the present meanderings of the Big Dalton Wash to a 
 line between lands owned by Orrin A. Elliott and Charles F. Koendorfer. 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet wide running in a southwesterly direction from said last men- 
 tioned point, and in general following the meanderings of the Big Dalton Wash to a point 
 in Citrus Avenue approximately 1200 feet south of Gladstone Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 80 feet wide extending rom said last mentioned point in a general 
 southwesterly and westerly direction to a point in Cerritos Avenue, approximately 600 feet 
 north of Walnut Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land GO feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and extending in a 
 general southwesterly direction following the general meanderings of the Big Dalton Wash 
 to the southerly line of the land owned by the Iowa Land Investment Company.
 
 —21— 
 
 A strip of laud 100 feet wide extending from said last mentioned point in a general west- 
 erly direction to the present bed of the Little Dalton Wash ; thence following the bed of the 
 Little Dalton Wash in a southwesterly direction to its junction with the Big Dalton, at the 
 corner of Azusa Canyon Road and Puente and Azusa Bridge Road ; thenee in a general south- 
 westerly direction following in general the meauderings of the present bed of the Big Dal- 
 ton Wash to a point in Merced Avenue, approximately 450 feet southeasterly of Vineland 
 Avenue; thence in a direct line parallel to Vineland Avenue to the junction with Walnut 
 Creek. All as more particularly shown upon Plate XXVII. 
 
 The cost of the work will be $99,060.00. 
 
 LITTLE DALTON WASH 
 
 The work proposed to be done on the Little Dalton Wash is shown on Plate XXIX. 
 The profile is shown on Plate XXX. It is proposed to carry this wash from the mountains 
 largely within the confines of the present stream bed, except for some minor changes where 
 the channel is very crooked and should be straightened. 
 
 The land, easements and rights of way necessary to be taken or acquired for these works 
 may be generally described as follows; 
 
 A strip of land of varying width beginning at a point where the Little Dalton Wash 
 emerges from its mountainous canyon in the southeast i^ of Section 20, Township 1 North, 
 Range 9 West, S. B. B. & M.; thence in a general southwesterly direction in general follow- 
 ing the course of the present Little Dalton Wash to a point in Lorraine Avenue approx- 
 imately 950 feet north of Sierra Madre Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and in general fol- 
 lowing in a southwesterly direction the present course of the Little Dalton Wash to 
 the intersection of Minnesota and Electric Streets in the City of Glendora. 
 
 A strip of land 50 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and extending in a 
 general southwesterly direction, thence following the course of the present bed of the 
 Little Dalton Wash to a point near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Foothill Boule- 
 vard. 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and extending in a 
 general southwest direction along the present course of the Little Dalton Wash, passing 
 near the intersection of First Street and Soldano Avenue; continuing thence in a general 
 southwesterly direction and following the course of the present Little Dalton Wash to its 
 junction with the Big Dalton Wash near the southerly line of the land owned by William 
 H. Parks at Vincent Avenue; all as more fully shown upon Plate XXIX. 
 
 The cost of the work will be $26,920.00. 
 
 SAW PIT WASH 
 
 Plate XXXI is a map of Sawpit Wash ; Plate XXXII is a profile of Sawpit Wash. The 
 waters of this wash are to be spread broadly over the wide gravelly bed above the Foothill 
 Boulevard, and all the water possible allowed to percolate mto the ground for beneficial use. 
 Below Foothill Boulevard it is to be confine witliin a comparatively narrow channel as far 
 as one now exists. With this wash treated in this way below the mouth of the canyon, 
 coupled with the check dams which are to be built in the headwaters, it is expected that 
 all of this water will percolate into the ground and none of it reach the Rio Hondo as a surface 
 flow. The right of way necessary for this is shown in red on the accompanying map. The 
 improved channel will occupy all of the present wash and side cutting will be prevented by 
 the construction of a single or double row of fencing filled with brush and rock. 
 
 A general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property proposed to be 
 taken, acquired or injured is as follows: 
 
 A strip of land of varying width described as follows: Beginning at the approximate 
 mouth of the Sawpit Canyon where the present wash crosses the east boundary line of the City 
 of Monrovia; thence in a general southerly direction following the present course of the
 
 —22— 
 
 Sawpit Wash to the intersection of JMountain Avenue and Duarte Avenue, thence continuing 
 in a general southerly direction along the present bed of Sawpit Wash as far as the stream 
 now flows in a definite channel; all as more fully shown upon Plate XXXI. 
 The estimated cost of this work is $4,835. 
 
 SANTA ANITA WASHES 
 
 The general plan of the Santa Anita Wash is shown upon Plate XXXIII. The profile and 
 cross section are shown upon Plate XXXIV. The rights of way necessary for the carrying 
 out of this plan are included within the red lines shown upon Plate XXXIII. The wash 
 will be confined to its present channel all the way. It is proposed to protect the banks of 
 this wash from erosion by brush and wire fences, either in single or double rows, as the 
 necessity of the case may determine. 
 
 A general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property proposed to be 
 taken, acquired or injured is as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at a point where the little Santa Anita Wash crosses Live Oak Avenue ; thence 
 in a general southeasterly direction to the junction with the big Santa Anita Wash. 
 
 A strip of land 200 feet wide described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at a point on Live Oak Avenue approximately 1400 feet east of the intersection 
 of Live Oak Avenue and Santa Anita Avenue ; thence in a general southerly direction follow- 
 ing the present course of the Big Santa Anita Wash to Foothill Boulevard. 
 
 A strip of land 300 feet wide described as follows: 
 
 Beginning at said last mentioned point and following the general course of the big Santa 
 Anita Wash in a general southerly direction to a point on Valnett Avenue approximately 
 400 feet west of Tenth Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet wide extending from said last mentioned point in a southerly di- 
 rection following the general course of the present Big Santa Anita Wash to its junction with 
 Lexington AVash ; all as more fully shown upon Plate XXXIII. 
 
 The estimated cost of this work is $27,350. 
 
 EATON WASH 
 
 The work to be done on Eaton Wash is shown on Plate XXXV. 
 
 The right of way necessary for the work is shown between the red lines on this plate. 
 The profile and cross sections of the wash are shown on Plate XXXVI. On the upper reaches 
 of the wash it is proposed to spread the waters entirely over the present stream bed, caus- 
 ing them to percolate as much as possible into the soil and to be conserved for the beneficial 
 use of all those using underground water within this basin. On the lower end of Eaton Can- 
 yon Wash it will be necessary to contract the channel and cause scouring, and to this end the 
 flow is to be confined if possible between earth dikes. The stream will follow the present 
 channel. 
 
 A general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property proposed to 
 be taken, acquired or injured is as follows : 
 
 A strip of land of varying width described as follows: 
 
 Beginning at a point in the present bed of the Eaton Wash approximately 3600 feet 
 northerly of the east end of North Avenue ; thence in a general southerly direction follow- 
 ing the present course of the Eaton Wash crossing Broadway in the City of San Gabriel 
 approximately 650 feet westerly of Kosemead Avenue and continuing thence in a general 
 southeasterly direction following the meanderings of the present bed of the stream of the 
 Eaton Wash to a point approximately 800 feet east of Ellis Lane and northerly of the South- 
 ern Pacific Railroad, then following the general meandering of Eaton Wash in a southerly 
 direction to its present junction M'ith Lexington Wash, all as more fully shown on Plate 
 XXXV. 
 
 The estimated cost of this work is $27,650.00.
 
 —23— 
 
 RUBIO CANYON WASH 
 
 The work to be done ou Rubio Canyon Wash is shown upon Plate XXXVII. The right 
 of way necessary for this is shown in red on this plate. The brown lines show the right 
 of way belonging to the San Gabriel Protection District. Tlie profile and cross sections are 
 shown on Plate XXXVIII. The upper Rubio Wash waters are carried in a concrete 
 conduit to a point just below the Pacific Electric Railway tracks. From this point it Avill 
 be necessary to do bank protection practically the entire distance. Immediately below the 
 mouth of the concrete conduit it will be necessary not only to put in bank protection but 
 check dams across the channel in order to prevent scouring and deepening of the channel. 
 This work has been undertaken and carried out by private parties. It will only be neces- 
 sary to maintain these works. Lower down it will be necessary to put in bank protection 
 consisting of brush and wire fences, and on the lower end of the wash to build dikes to cause 
 erosion. 
 
 A general description of the land, rights of way, easements and property proposed to be 
 taken, acquired or injured is as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 100 feet wide described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at a point in Maple Avenue approximately 400 feet west of Pine Street; thence 
 in a general southerly direction following the present course of Rubio Wash to a point on 
 the San Gabriel and El Monte Road approximately 200 feet west of Fourth Street. 
 
 A strip of land 60 feet wide described as follows: 
 
 Begninmg at said last mentioned point and extending in a general southerly direction 
 along the right of way now owned by the San Gabriel Protection District, the lower end 
 of which is approximately 1000 feet east of the intersection of Rosemead and Garvey Ave- 
 nues; all as more fully shown on Plate XXXVII. 
 
 The work herein described will cost $10,090.00. 
 
 ALHAMBRA WASH 
 Plate XXXIX shows the general plan of AlJiambra Wash. The profile and cross sec-- 
 tions are shown upon Plate XL. In general the present stream bed will be followed. The 
 rights of way necessary for this work are shown between the red lines on Plate XXXIX. 
 At this time it is thought that the work need not go above Pomona Boulevard. The 
 work will consist of the construction of brush and wire fences to prevent bank erosion 
 to a point below Garvey Avenue, where the banks of the stream become low, and from this 
 point on in clearing the willows from the channel and putting up earth dikes necessary to 
 prevent the water from spreading broadly over the fertile lands between there and the Rio 
 Hondo. 
 
 A general de.scription of the lands, rights of way, easements and property proposed to 
 be taken, acquired or injured, is as follows: 
 
 A strip of land of varying width described as follows: 
 
 Beginning at a point in the line between the property owned by J. D. Gilliland and 
 Herman Stephenson, said point being 400 feet west of the west line of lands of Ira 0. Gardiner, 
 Trustee; thence in a general southeasterly direction following the course of the pres- 
 ent bed of the Alhambra Wash crossing Pomona Boulevard at a point 550 feet west of Del 
 Mar Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 75 feet wide described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at said last mentioned point and following tlie general course of the 
 present bed of the Alhambra Wash in a "Southeasterly direction crossing Garvey Avenue at a 
 point 150 feet west of San Gabriel Boulevard and continuing in a general southeasterly di- 
 rection along the present channel of the Alhambra Wash to its junction with the Rio Hondo 
 or the Lexington Wash at a point on Nieto Avenue approximately 100 feet north of the
 
 —24— 
 
 northeast corner of the lands of Mary F. Lieber; all as more fully shown on Plate XXXIX. 
 The work to be done will cost $9,835.00. 
 
 WEST WHITTIER FLOOD CONTROL 
 
 Plate XLI shows plan, profile and cross sections of the work to be done to control and 
 adjust the flood conditions in the vicinity of the Whittier Boulevard and the Workman Mill 
 Road. The concrete channel will be built from Magnolia Avenue to a point 400 feet east of 
 the San Gabriel River, as shown upon Plate XLI. 
 
 This ditch will take care of the water now coming down the Workman ]Mill Road, 
 which causes such an annoyance around the pumping plant of the City of Whittier. 
 
 A general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property proposed to 
 be taken acquired or injured is as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 30 feet wide described as follows: 
 
 Beginning at a point 1600 feet southerly of the intersection of Magnolia Avenue 
 and Lemon Street at the center line of an unnamed street; thence in a general westerly 
 direction to the right of way of the Salt Lake Railroad; thence north-westerly along the 
 northerly side of said right of way to the Workman Mill Road near the northerly corner 
 of the lands of Harriet W. R. Strong; thence southwesterly along the Workman Mill Road, 
 to a point approximately 500 feet distant. 
 
 A strip of land 40 feet wide described as follows: 
 
 Beginning at said last mentioned point and running thence north-westerly along a lot 
 line to the north-west corner of the lands of Laura E. Brodrick ; thence continuing in a gen- 
 eral northwesterly line along the southerly line of the lands of the Citrus Grove Heights 
 Company to the channel of the San Gabriel River all as more fully shown upon Plate No. 
 XLI. The estimated cost of this work is $20,940. 
 
 COMPTON CREEK 
 
 Plate LV is a map, of the territory traversed by Compton Creek. Plate LVI is a profile 
 and cross section of this stream from Vermont Avenue to the southerly line of the City of 
 Compton. Compton Creek will be widened, deepened and straightened to provide for the 
 flood water of this territory locally. 
 
 This construction Avork will take care of the waters now causing so much damage, not 
 only to the city of Compton, but above. 
 
 The lands, easements and rights of way, necessary to be taken, acquired or injured for these 
 works may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 50 feet wide beginning at a point at the intersection of Vermont Avenue 
 and 98th Street; extending in a general southeasterly direction following in general the 
 present bed of Compton Creek, to the northwest corner of the City of Compton; thence 
 continuing in a general southeasterly direction following the course of Compton Creek 
 to near tlie intersection of the Long Beach branch of the Pacific Electric Railway with the 
 southerly line of the City of Compton; thence continuing in a general south-easterly direction 
 to the bridge of the Southern Pacific Railroad over Compton Creek; thence continuing in a 
 general south-easterly direction practically parallel to the Long Beach branch of the Pacific 
 Electric Railway to the Los Angeles River, all as more fully shown on Plate LV. 
 
 The cost of the work will be $20,000. 
 
 SANTA CLARA RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 
 
 The work to be done on the Santa Clara River and its tributaries is sho\vn upon 
 Plate LIX, which is a map of this territory. Plate No. LX shows a profile and cross sections 
 of the work to be done. On the Santa Clara River in Sections 20 and 21, Township 4 North, 
 Range 15 West, S. B. B. and M., the work will consist of either a single or double row of 
 posts with brush and trash either against or between them.
 
 —25— 
 
 For the north bank of the Santa Clara River beginning at a point about 1000 feet west 
 of the mouth of Bouquet Canyon and running thence in a westerly direction for a distance 
 of 4000 feet, there will be used a row of 20-foot piling spaced 8 or 10 feet apart and 
 driven about 15 or 16 feet into the ground with wire placed upon them. 
 
 Similar protection will be used on the west bank of Newhall Creek for a distance of 
 approximately 8100 feet, south of the Southern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 The protection work for Castaic Creek will be a 500-foot extension down-stream of the 
 present protection Avoi'k at this place, and will be of the same type as that used upon the 
 Santa Clara River, namely : 20-foot piling faced with wire. 
 
 In the small canyons situated in the headwaters of Newhall Creek there will be expend- 
 ed the sum of .^2740 for the construction of check dams to aid in the retardation of the 
 flood waters and to further preserve the same for beneficial use. The entire cost of the 
 work on the Santa Clara River and its tributaries including check dams is $40,000.00. 
 
 Following is a general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property 
 proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in carrying out the above described work : 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide beginning at a point on the south line of Block 54, St. 
 Johns Subdivision, and about 250 feet west of the southeasterly corner of said Block 54 ; 
 running thence in a northerly direction nearly parallel to the Southern Pacific Railroad and 
 the County Boulevard a distance of approximately 8100 feet to the bridge on the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad ; this said strip of laud being the present bed or channel of Newhall Creek. 
 
 A strip of land 300 feet wide beginning at a point 1000 feet west of the mouth of Bou- 
 quet Canyon and extending nearly due west a distance of 4000 feet and being the present ■ 
 bed of the Santa Clara River. 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide extending through Sections 20 and 21, Township 4 North, 
 Range 15 West, S. B. B. and M., and being the present bed of the Santa Clara River through 
 these Sections. 
 
 A strip of land 150 feet wide beginning at a point at the east end of the present protec- 
 tion work done by Los Angeles County, and extending Avesterly and southerly to where 
 the Saugus and Ventura Highway crosses said stream a distance of about 4000 feet, said 
 strip of land being the present bed or channel of the Castiac Creek ; all as shown on Plate LIX. 
 
 Already the general plan of the protection work in this district has been endorsed in 
 the following terms by the Board of Trade of Saugus and the Newhall Improvement Club : 
 
 "We heartily approve of your plan for flood control for the Santa Clara and tributaries, 
 and we promise to support the measure to our fullest extent. 
 
 "We appreciate the consideration shown this district and when the matter comes up for 
 election, we will do our share towards carrying the proposition. 
 
 "(Signed) SAUGUS BOARD OF TRADE, 
 Willis M. Baum, Secretary and Treasurer." 
 
 "AVe, the Newhall Improvement Club, of Newhall, California, heartily endorse your at- 
 tention and appropriation for the Santa Clara and its tributaries which are very destructive 
 to our valley. (Signed) NEWHALL IMPROVEMENT CLUB, 
 
 A. C. Swall." 
 
 LITTLE ROCK CREEK AND BIG ROCK CREEK 
 
 These water sheds lie upon the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains, and discharge 
 their flood waters into that portion of Los Angeles County lying north of Los Angeles County 
 Flood Control District. Check dams to the cost of $10,000 will be constructed in the small 
 canyons which make up the headwaters of Big Rock Creek, and to the cost of $10,000 in 
 the small canyons which make up the headwaters of Little Rock Creek. These works will 
 add to the conservation of water for beneficial use of the settlements of Little Rock and
 
 —26— 
 
 Llano. The cost of the work in these two water sheds will consist almost entirely of the 
 outlay for labor, which can be furnished locally. The total amount to be expended on these 
 two streams is $20,000. 
 
 LOS ANGELES EIVER AND THE TWO TUJUNGAS 
 
 The waters from the Big and Little Tujunga water sheds debouch into the San Fer- 
 nando Valley at a common point, for a short distance mingling as one stream, then divid- 
 ing, a portion flowing to the left and toward Burbank, while the larger portion con- 
 tinues southwesterly toward the Southern Pacific Railroad line known as the Valley Line, 
 where it passes under this railroad in two places, forming Avhat is known locally as the West 
 Channel, then continuing on southward a distance of about three miles toward the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad line Inown as the Coast Line; but before this second line of railroad is 
 reached the waters again divide, the smaller portion again going to the left or to the east- 
 wai'd, forming what is known locally as the Middle Channel. After the main channel passes 
 the Coast Line the depression through which it flows presents the characteristic features of 
 a small valley approximately 1500 feet in width, and 12 to 15 feet lower than the side 
 benches. The ground or physical features here indicate that at no remote period the waters 
 of the Pacoima Canyon also entered this little valley at about the intersection of Twenty- 
 second Avenue and Twelfth Street. In fact some of the remaining early settlers of Los 
 Angeles County still call the water course below this railroad the Pacoima Wash. 
 
 The work to be done in protecting against these Tujunga waters is the effectual repair 
 of the present rock dike or levee which now extends from the Valley Line branch of the 
 Southern Pacific Railroad to the mouth of the Tujunga Canyons. The rock dike above the 
 ■opening to the east will be repaired l)y the continuing of the present standard gauge track 
 to the spur of the mountain on the east side. Large derrick stone of one to two tons 
 weight will be placed upon the inner or water side of the levee. This class of construc- 
 tion will also be continued southward from the Valley Line branch of the Southern Pacific 
 Railroad to the Coast Line branch and upon the east side of the present flood zone, a dis- 
 tance of three miles. L'pon the west or right-hand bank, and beginning at the Valley Line 
 branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, about a mile of this class of construction will be 
 extended northward. A low earth embankment, averaging 3 to 4 feet in height, will first 
 be built upon which to place a standard gauge railroad track for the hauling in and placing 
 of the heavy stones upon the inner or water side. From the Coast Line branch of the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad southward toward the Los Angeles River, the same class of construction will 
 be used on either or both sides of the Tujunga Wash. On the dangerous bends the wash will be 
 straightened by river training, using a double row of piling with wire on the stream face, and 
 filled in lietween with brush and rock. Plate LVII is a plan of the work to be done. 
 
 A general description of the right of way or easement required for this work is: A 
 strii) of land which is the present course or channel of the flood waters of these canyons, 
 beginning at a point on Foothill Avenue about 700 feet northerly of the intersection of 
 Garfield Avenue and Foothill Avenue, and running thence in a southwesterly direction about 
 1400 feet to a point on Hayes Avenue about 300 feet southwesterly of the intersection 
 of Hayes Avenue and Eleventh Street ; thence in a southwesterly direction 650 feet ; thence in a 
 southwest ei'ly direction a distance of about 2 miles to a point on the Southern Pacific Rail- 
 road a distance of 500 feet easterly from Hayes Avenue; thence continuing in a south- 
 westerly direction about 2 miles to a point on Twentieth Street about 260 feet westerly from 
 Cleveland Avenue; continuing thence in a southwesterly direction a distance of about l^/i 
 miles to the Coast Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad a distance of about 800 feet west- 
 erly from Cortez Avenue ; continuing thence in a southeasterly direction a distance of 
 about 3 miles to a point on Sherman Way about 200 feet east of Diaz Avenue; 
 continuing thence in the same southeasterly direction l^ mile to a point on Fourth 
 Street aliout 500 feet east of Diaz Avenue; thence in a southerly direction 2000 feet to a
 
 —27— 
 
 point about 700 feet east and 600 feet north of the intersection of Diaz Avenue and Third 
 Street; thence iu an easterly direction a distance of 2300 feet to a point on Third Street 
 350 feet east of Encino Avenue; thence in a southeasterly direction a distance of about 3800 
 feet to a point on Second Street 460 feet east of Paeoima Avenue ; thence in a southeasterly 
 direction a distance of 1600 feet to a point about 680 feet south and 730 feet west of the in- 
 tersection of Second Street and Eucalyptus Avenue ; thence in a south-easterly direction to 
 the center of the Los Angeles Kiver, as shown by Plate LVII. Profile and cross ,6ections are 
 shown on Plate LVIII. 
 
 BetAveen the two side lines of the proposed protection, the width varies from 2,000 to 
 3,000 feet. The amount of money required to do this work is $270,000. 
 
 The work to be done upon the Los Angeles River between the mouth of the Big Tujunga 
 Wash and the mouth of the Arroyo Seco, will consist of the removal of brush and other vege- 
 table growth from the present channel along its present natural meanderings. The cost of 
 this work will be $10,000.00. 
 
 The lands, rights of way and easements necessary to be taken, acquii'ed or injured in 
 the prosecution of the above work are described as follows : 
 
 The right of way for the Los Angeles River with a varying width of from 400 to 1000 feet 
 begins at a point aboiit 900 feet north of the Los Angeles and Ventura County Road near 
 Paeoima Avenue about two miles southwesterly of Lankershim. continues in a general easterly 
 direction and north of the Los Angeles and Venture County Road through the City of Burbank 
 following the general meanderings of the stream through Sections 22, 23, 24 and 27 to Griffith 
 Park near Crescent Street and Sonoma Avenue, thence southeasterly and north and east of 
 Griffith Park and Reservation to a point about 600 feet west of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
 road and about 1000 feet north from where Verdugo Wash reaches the river, thence south- 
 erly along Griffith Reservation to the Pacific Electric Railway Trestle just east of Woodstock 
 Avenue and Los Feliz Road Crossing, thence easterly about % of a mile through the Le Brun 
 tract to the rock levee west of the Southern Pacific Railroad, thence south-easterly a dis- 
 tance of about one mile to a point about 1000 feet south of the old city boundary of Los 
 Angeles, thence easterly about one-third of a mile to the Scdalia Villa tract, thence south- 
 easterly about three-fourths of a mile to the Southern Pacific bridge across Los Angeles River 
 just north of Baxter Street at Elysian Park, near the point where Arroyo Seco reaches the 
 Los Angeles River, and as more particularly shown upon Plate LXI. Profile and cross sec- 
 tion are shown on Plate LXII. 
 
 The total cost of the work on the Los Angeles River and the two Tujungas will be 
 $280,000.00. ^ 
 
 SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 
 
 Many people have come into my office and stated that the amount of water flowing in 
 the various channels of the County is continuousl.v on the increase, and asked me to give 
 them an explanation of the fact. The majority of them are of the opinion that the increased 
 runoff in their particular locality is caused by the diversion of waters by their neighbors 
 higher up. Unfortunately in some instances this is the case, but in the great majority of 
 cases the increased runoff is due to perfectly natural causes. The main one of which is the 
 increase of impervious surface due to the construction of roads and buildings, and the in- 
 creased runoff due to the cultivation of the fields. I have shown on Plate LI the outline of 
 a square mile of virgin territory of this County when it is covered by grass or shrubbery, 
 later by grain and alfalfa, and still later by highly improved fanns. 
 
 When the first graded road was placed around the section 1.88% of the total area of 
 the section was thrown into the road, which necessarily was a hard, graded, rather imper- 
 vious surface, causing a quickened runoff. When the section was quartered, nearly 4% of 
 its area went into roads which as a rule were tven more impervious. When the section 
 reached the 10 acre size 15% of such area went into such surface. When it reached the 
 21/^ acre size, 28% of the original area becomes streets and roads. These streets are usually
 
 —28^ 
 
 oiled macadam and absolutely impervious, with the result that from 28% of the land we get 
 immediate, precipitous runoff. 
 
 This is not the only cause of accelerating flood waters. The former native vegetation, 
 which was a retarding or mulching agent has been removed and in most eases the land care- 
 fully graded down, either for high class tillage, orchard cultivation, or beautiful homes, 
 while barns and sheds have been built until there is practically no retention of the rain 
 water upon the area within the streets and boulevards. These are the reasons for the hurried 
 runoff and the appearance in almost every locality each year of more flood waters than ever 
 before. I have letters from many old settlers of the San Gabriel Valley who say that one 
 inch of rain at the present time produces more nmoff than three inches did thirty years ago, 
 and I am quite convinced that their statement is not only conservative now, but that the 
 storm runoff has not yet reached its maximum. 
 
 The inconvenience of having the roadside ditches and other smaller water courses filled 
 with detritus after every storm is brought about in some degree by the improper cultivation 
 of the foothill slopes. These slopes, where the cultivation runs up and down, or normal, with 
 the slope, and which are not given a winter cover crop to hold the soil, continue to denude 
 themselves of their fertility, and deposit it in the stream courses and gutters below, to the 
 injury of the property owners lower down. These slopes which annually lose their fertility 
 by denudation but a few years ago were covered with vegetation and grass which held these 
 soils, which the land owner now is losing with every rain storm. 
 
 Both the Harbor Engineers and the United States Engineers assure me that the greater 
 part of the silt which is deposited in the Harbor comes from only a few miles inland, and 
 is of the finer quality which makes up the rich loam of the lower valley. 
 
 A careful analysis has been made of some of the silt removed from the Harbor, and it 
 has been found to consist very largely of silt similar to that found from five to ten miles back 
 from the ocean front and not to be made up of the silts that are washed down from mountain 
 slopes. 
 
 Plates LII, Lin and LIV are presented to you to illustrate another form of study. 
 These three plates which are taken at random from our maps, show the overflow or denuded 
 area along washes in this valley. The heavy parallel black lines show narrow conduits and 
 protection walls which the owners have desired the storm waters to pass through, the sanded 
 areas, with the figures enclosed in circles along their edges, show something of the size that 
 Nature demonstrates she must have for storms during flood times. In other words, it shows 
 the f utilit.y of man trying to resist Nature. These great devastating floods do not come annually ; 
 sometimes they are many years apart, but Avhen they do come they are no respecters of 
 man's idea of small channels. 
 
 It has been the effort of this department in securing easements for official channels to 
 prevail upon the property owners and to show them the necessity and propriety of giving 
 to the County at once for improvement as much area as that stream itself demands it must 
 have for a channel. The small figures placed in the circles at the margin of these sanded 
 areas, show the depths of the channels or the heights of the new banks made by the very 
 last storm, February 18, 1916. I have given these reasons to the adjacent land owners why 
 they should give us easements for wide areas ; first : that sufficient area might be provided 
 where the stream in flood may have an opportunity to drop its detrital load upon such slopes and 
 in a manner which it knows better than man and insists upon following; secondly that a 
 large area may ))e supplied for absorbtion and percolation of the flood waters for the replen- 
 ishment of the underground water supply; and third that the owner may be protected 
 against going again into these washes and improving them to again lose the fruits of his labor, 
 or that an innocent buyer in the future may not be persuaded to purchase property during 
 dry years in these dangerous localities 
 
 The discussion of tlie three foregoing phases should not be taken as a criticism, but
 
 —29— 
 
 as an appeal for a better understanding of some misunderstood conditions, and for pulling 
 together and helping to bear each others' burdens. 
 
 SAN GABRIEL CONE 
 
 That portion of the San Gabriel Eiver where it emerges from the mountains down to a 
 point near the center of Section 6, T. 1 S, R. II W., a distance of over 5 miles, is shown on 
 Plate XLII. Plate XLIII shows cross section and profile of this section of the river. The 
 work required is the excavation of a channel 400 feet wide and 4 feet deep to form a minor or 
 interior channel. The material from this excavated channel is to be placed in levees upon either 
 side of the channel, and at a distance varying from 600 feet to% of a mile, as shown upon the 
 Plate. This boulder material is to form levees which will be 12 feet wide on top, the slope 
 on the water side will be 3 horizontal to 1 vertical, and upon the back or land side will be II/2 
 horizontal to 1 vertical ; the elevation of the tops of these levees to be 18 feet above the bottom 
 of the minor or interior channel. This minor channel will provide for the carrying of ordinary 
 floods, say up to 20,000 second feet, while when the great floods of 40,000 or 50,000 cubic feet 
 per second come, the entire area between levees amounting to 2,500 acres will be flooded, there- 
 by providing a large spreading ground. This design of a minor and major channel will have a 
 tendency to hold the principal thread of the main current near the center of the minor or deeper 
 channel, and thereby reduce the velocities near the levees, on the whole having a tendency to 
 arrest velocity and precipitate the detritus, and to cause as much of the flow as possible to 
 percolate and reach the artesian water through the coarse materials at the head of the valley. 
 Plate XLII shows where the waters are to be equally divided, one-half of the water flowing 
 down the East Sau Galiriel River channel o Alamitos Bay. and one half down the West 
 San Gabriel River or Rio Hondo channel to the ocean via Dominguez. To make the mat- 
 ter plain and distinct, the division is to be 50-50 : 50% to the eastward and 50% to the west- 
 ward ; and from this point of division down to the end of the two branch channels, the same 
 manner of treatment in the way of channels and embankments or side levees is to be built as 
 is shown above the point of division. 
 
 The distances at which the side levees or embankments are to be placed from the interior 
 channel are shown upon the map. It should now be distinctly understood that the plan of the 
 channel here outlined, and for that matter, any other channel in a detrital country, will re- 
 quire examination and correction after every flood. Great floods coming out of the San Gabriel 
 Canyon always, when at peak, bring great loads of detrital matter which are dropped by a 
 very sensitive natural law as the velocity or carrying power of the stream weakens with every 
 slight reduction of the gradient, and a heavy part may be dropped by one storm a short 
 distance down this very large channel, while the next flood wave being larger or smaller, may 
 drop its load farther down, or higher up. This condition must be watched with a vigilant eye 
 and removed so thoroughly after each storm as to bring both the minor or interior channel, 
 and the larger or major channel to a carrying capacity. If this maintenance is neglected disas- 
 ter will follow. 
 
 Following is a general description of the land, easements and rights of way and property to 
 be acquired or injured on the work of the San Gabriel Cone. 
 
 A strip of land varying in width from 1600 feet to more than a mile, beginning at a point 
 where the San Gabriel River emerges from its canyon northerly of the City of Azusa, thence in 
 a general southerly direction to a point approximately 1000 feet north and 500 feet east of the 
 intersection of Monroe Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago Park, at which point the San 
 Gabriel divides into two streams, one of whose branches (Lexington Wash) may be described as 
 a channel varying in width from 2720 feet to 760 feet at the Peck Road and Clark Street in 
 said Chicago Park. The other branch of which may be described as a channel varying in width 
 from 3360 feet at the bifurcation of said streams to a width of 1680 feet at the crossing of the 
 Pacific Electric track just northeasterly of the Cogswell tract, all of which is more fully shown 
 upon Plate XLII. 
 
 The amount of money required for the work on this section is $350,000.00.
 
 —SO- 
 EAST SAN GABRIEL RIVER BELOW BASSETT BRIDGE 
 
 The right of way necessary for the San Gabriel River is sho\\Ti between the red lines upon 
 Plate XLIV. The profile is shown on Plate XLV. The river will follow its present course in 
 general, except where as is shown on the map, the large bends will cut. From the Bassett Bridge 
 approximately to the crossing of the Salt Lake Railway the treatment of this river will con- 
 sist of training works, utilizing a double row of piling faced with wire with brush between. 
 From the crossing of the Salt Lake Railway to the Pacific Electric bridge just east of Rivera 
 tlie channel is in fair shape. It is recognized by this office that the trees growing along the sides 
 of River channels are of inestimable benefit in keeping the water within bounds. For a quarter 
 of a mile south of the Pacific Electric bridge just east of Rivera the river is in bad shape, 
 threatening to leave its old channel and depart across country to the eastward. Here it will be 
 necessary to drive a double row of piling behind which a strip of willows and brush will be 
 grown. From this point, with a slight amount of work the river will be placed in good condi- 
 tion to a point approximately half a mile above the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge at Stude- 
 baker. At this point, a training dike will be built causing the river to cut the east bank and 
 straighten itself, passing down through the span at the east end of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
 road bridge at Studebaker, and thence into the channel owned by the New San Gabriel Levee 
 Protection District. From this point to tide water it will be necessary to widen the present chan- 
 nel and to raise the levees along the sides of the bank in order to keep the water within its pres- 
 ent confines. 
 
 The following is a general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property 
 proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in the construction of the San Gabriel River channel 
 below the Bassett Bridge : 
 
 A strip of land 500 feet wide described as follows : Beginning at a point on the Pomona 
 Boulevard approximately 1700 feet west of Covina Boulevard at Bassett; thence in a general 
 southerly direction following the meanderings of the East San Gabriel River crossing the Whit- 
 tier Road approximately 2000 feet east of the Lexington and Gallatin Road, and continuing in 
 a general southerly direction to a point api^roximately 2200 feet east of said Lexington and 
 Gallatin Road on the Rivera and Los Nietos Road; continuing thence in a general southerly 
 direction following the meanderings of the San Gabriel River, and crossing the Norwalk and 
 Orange County Line Road approximately 1900 feet easterly of the intersection of the New 
 River School House Road and the Washburn Crossing Road; and continuing thence in a gen- 
 eral southerly direction along the right of way of the New San Gabriel River Protection Dis- 
 trict to the sea at Alamitos Bay, all as more fully shown upon Plate No. XLIV. 
 
 The cost of this work is estimated at :|<1 50.000.00. 
 
 RIO HONDO OR WEST SAN GABRIEL 
 
 The Rio Hondo, which is a bifurcation of the San Gabriel River just above El Monte, pre- 
 sents a good opportunity for river training. Plate XLVI is a map and Plate XLVII a profile 
 of the Kio Hondo from El ^Monte to the Los Angeles River. 
 
 The channel of this stream should be straightened as much as possible, confining it within 
 its present banks, and in certain places making small cuts across points. 
 
 The methods of handling this wash will be to construct training dikes to hold the water 
 within the right of way shown between the two red lines on Plate XLVI. It is thought that 
 tlic l)est way to handle this wash is to utilize the power of the flowing stream and cause it to 
 make the necessary cuts, depositing the material in the bends below. By this method of treat- 
 ment it is hoped that in a comparatively few years much of the devastated area can be re- 
 rlaiiiicd and put to beneficial use. From a point just above the Mission Bridge to the Foster 
 Bridge the Rio Hondo flows along a high, hard mesa lying to the west, and it will be necessary 
 along this stretch of the river to take care of the east bank only. 
 
 From the Foster Bridge to just above the Southern Pacific Railroad (Santa Ana Branch) 
 till' Rio Hondo is within the limits of the San Antcnio Protection District. The piling and the 
 I'ank protection work done l)y this District over this stretch of the river are adequate for present
 
 o± 
 
 needs. From where the Rio Hondo breaks out of the right of way of the San Antonio Protec- 
 tion District to the Los Angeles River, bank protection is to be placed adequate to preclude a 
 break similar to that of 1914. This river training is to be accomplished by the construction 
 of a double row of piling faced with wire and filled with brush. 
 
 The following is a general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and property 
 proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in the construction of the East San Gabriel River 
 channel below the Bassett Bridge: 
 
 A strip of land 500 feet wide beginning at a point in the Peck Road approximately 3250 
 feet southerly of the intersection of Peck Road and the Dalton County Road ; thence following 
 the general meanderings of the Lexington Wash (Rio Hondo or West San Gabriel River) in a 
 southerly direction to a point approximately 1000 feet northerly of the north line of the King 
 Tract, in the City of El Monte. 
 
 A strip of land of varying width extending from said last mentioned point in a general 
 southerly and southwesterly direction following in a general manner the course of the Lexing- 
 ton Wash to the southerly line of land now owned by tlie Huntington Land & Development 
 Company. 
 
 A strip of land 500 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and going in a general 
 southeasterly and southerly direction following the general course of the Lexington AVash 
 passing under the Valley Road at the westerly end of the Mission Bridge, and continuing thence 
 in a general southwesterly direction and passing under the Whittier Road approximately 1000 
 feet easterly of First Street, in the town of Newmark (Montebello) ; thence continuing in a gen- 
 eral southwesterly direction under the high bluff on the west and crossing under the Anaheim 
 Telegraph Road at a point 1500 feet northwesterly of the Telegraph and Jaboneria Road ; con- 
 tinuing thence in a southwesterly direction to the southerly corner of the Gage Home Place and 
 passing under Foster Bridge ; thence continuing in a general southwesterly direction along the 
 right of way of the San Antonio Protection District to the first curve above the Southern Pa- 
 cific Railroad ; thence leaving the right of way of the San Antonio Protection District approx- 
 imately at the northeasterly corner of the land now owned by the Grant Brothers Construction 
 Company, and continuing in a southwesterly direction to junction with the Los Angeles River 
 just northerly of the Alexander Gunn Tract No. 2, all as more fully sliown upon Plate No. 
 XL VI. 
 
 The estimated cost of the work is $125,000.00. 
 
 LOS ANGELES RIVER, SOUTH CITY LIMITS TO DOMINGUEZ 
 
 The green coloring upon Plate XL VIII shows the channel followed by the last flood to 
 have a course generally within this right of way, which is suggestive in itself that the posi- 
 tion of the official channel to be acquired is in the lowest part of the Los Angeles Valley. 
 The river may not only be trained to remain within the limits of this right of way, but its 
 own force may be used to straighten the channel. 
 
 It is a well kno^vn observation that the Los Angeles River in the lower valley never has 
 cut a channel for itself deeper than a few feet and a study of the cause of the river's refusal 
 to go down or deepen its channel was made during the flood season of the past two years. 
 It was discovered that the bottom of the water in the channel was always coincident or 
 level with the plane of the ground water in the valley, which in the rainy season, ranges 
 about four feet below the surface. The material, both above and below the water plane, 
 being silt, the river cannot scour itself below this great plane of ground water, the silt 
 material refusing to stand above it. 
 
 Should ample means be provided in the future for the straightening of the river chan- 
 nel, by placing a railroad track on each bank for the depositing of heavy riprap to hold the 
 banks, I have no hesitancy in saying that the river then would deepen its channel much 
 below the surface of the plane of the present ground water, and instead of having a mean- 
 dering delta stream, a deepened stream channel would result. 
 
 Plate XLVIII is a map, and Plate XLIX a profile of the proposed channel of the Los
 
 —32— 
 
 Angeles River from the Los Angeles City limits southward to the ocean. The right of way 
 necessary is shown between two red lines, and varies in width from 300 feet where it leaves 
 the city to 800 feet further down. Free easements for about three and one-half miles of 
 this right of way are now in my hands. In general, the work to be done on the Los Angeles 
 River will consist of driving a double row of piles faced with hog Avire, with brush between. 
 The method to be pursued in handling this river is river training, which will consist of 
 building dikes in the above described manner at the various bad bends, causing the river to 
 straighten its present tortuous channel, and confining it within a definite and fixed channel, 
 protecting the land on either side. 
 
 The following is a general description of the lands, rights of way, easements and prop- 
 erty proposed to be taken, acquired or injured in the construction of the Los Angeles River 
 channel. 
 
 A strip of land varying in width described as follows : 
 
 Beginning at the intersection of the present bed of the Los Angeles River with the south- 
 erly boundary of the City of Los Angeles, thence following the present course of the Los An- 
 geles River in a general southerly and easterly direction to a point approximately 1400 feet 
 east of the intersection of Downey Road and Vernon Avenue. 
 
 A strip of land 500 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point, and following the 
 present course of the Los Angeles River in a general easterly and southerly direction and 
 crossing the Laguna Road approximately 1000 feet easterly of Baker Street, and continu- 
 ing from thence in a general southerly direction to the junction of the Los Angeles River and 
 the Rio Hondo near the northwest corner of the Alexander Gunn Tract No. 2. 
 
 A strip of land 800 feet wide beginning at said last mentioned point and extending in 
 a general southerly direction, following in a general way the course of the Los Angeles 
 River, crossing Washington Street about 900 feet easterly of Gibson Street and continuing 
 southerly along the present channel of the Los Angeles River to the Cerritos trestle on the 
 Pacific Electric Railway track near the easterly end of Carson Street; all as shown on Plate 
 XLVIII. 
 
 The total cost of this work is $350,000.00. 
 
 LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH HARBOR PROTECTION 
 
 For the protection of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors from the storm and 
 flood waters of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and the Rio Hondo, said waters are 
 to be brought to the sea between Long Beach Harbor and the residential portion of the 
 City of Long Beach. This is to be accomplished by the construction of a dike parallel to 
 and northerly of the Pacific Electric Railway tracks, and extending south-easterly from the 
 high land of Dominguez Hill, causing all the waters, of said streams to flow to the location 
 of the present Pacific Electric bridge over the Los Angeles River, locally known as Cerritos 
 Trestle, and by the construction of parallel levees confining the said waters in their course 
 from said bridge in a straight channel extending almost due south to the Pacific Ocean at 
 a point between Parker and Wabash Avenues in the City of Long Beach. The plan of 
 this work is shown on Plate XLVIII; a profile and cross section of the proposed channel is 
 shown upon Plate XLIX. 
 
 The lands, easements, rights of way and properties to be acquired or injured in carrying 
 out this portion of the work may be generally described as follows: 
 
 A strip of land 200 feet wide, beginning at the crossing of the Pacific Electric Railway 
 Long Beach Branch and the Southern Pacific Railroad, on the lands of R. G. S. 
 Dominguez; thence in a general south-easterly direction along the north-easterly side of the 
 right of way of said Pacific Electric Railway to the Cerritos trestle crossing the Los An- 
 geles River. 
 
 A strip of land varying in width from 720 to 1000 feet from said last mentioned point 
 to Wilmington Street Extension, said point being westerly of the Pacific Electric Railway, 
 approximately 1700 feet.
 
 —33— 
 
 A strip of land 720 feet wide, beginning at said last mentioned point and following in 
 a general soutlierly direction the present course of the Los Angeles River to the intersection 
 of Ayres Avenue and Anaheim Street. 
 
 A strip of land 600 feet wide extending from said last mentioned point southerly 
 along the present course of the Los Angeles River to approximately Crescent Street, thence 
 continuing in a general southerly direction to the Pacific Ocean, approximately at the foot 
 of Morgan Avenue in the City of Long Beach ; all of which said right of way is more fully 
 shown upon Plate XL VIII. 
 
 The right of way above described for the Los Angeles River channel from Cerritos 
 trestle to the Pacific Ocean and from the proposed dike is to be acquired by the District. 
 The District is also to construct the necessary roads and bridges, to adjust all damage 
 claims and to maintain the works after construction. The construction work itself is not 
 provided for in this report, for the reason that it will undoubtedly be undertaken by the 
 United States Government. The sum of $1,080,000 has been provided by the Federal Govern- 
 ment and of this amount $500,000 has already been made available by Congress to be ex- 
 pended for the protection of the two harbors concerned. This item was included in the River 
 and Harbor Bill adopted by the U. S. Congress and approved July 27, 1916. By such Act, 
 however, the work is to be done in accordance with the report of the U. S. Army Engineers, 
 printed in House Document No. 462, 64th Congress, 1st Session, approving the so-called 
 plan "D" for the diversion of the waters approaching the harbors by constructing a dam 
 from Dominguez Hill to the high land at Los Cerritos, and a channel thence to the sea at 
 Alamitos Bay hereinafter referred to as the tentative route. The modified route proposed 
 in this report has the personal recommendation of the U. S. District Engineer in charge 
 of Government work at the Los Angeles Harbor, and will undoubtedly be approved by the 
 Federal Government. The city officials of Los Angeles and Long Beach have concurred in 
 this change of route. 
 
 The points in favor of the modified route I have proposed are as follows : 
 
 1. Its diversion dike will be only about 50% of the length of the dike necessary 
 upon the tentative route. 
 
 2. Its channel to the ocean will be but 60% as long as the channel by the tentative 
 route. 
 
 3. Its slope or gradient will be nearly 8 feet per mile, which is almost double that of 
 the tentative route. 
 
 4. It is almost free from curves. 
 
 5. It will permit the keeping of the waters of the Los Angeles and West San Gabriel 
 Rivers entirely within their own valleys, and thereby avoid litigation by owners of the lands 
 upon the east side, who say they will resist legally the turning of these waters out of their 
 own valleys. 
 
 6. There will be no arresting of the flood waters, or the tendency for the formation of a 
 lake upon its oblique dike, as in the case of the dike upon the tentative route. 
 
 7. In the matter of the construction of either route the construction would necessarily 
 begin at the ocean and the efficiency of the diversion by the way of the tentative route would 
 not be complete until the whole ten miles of the channel and dikes were consti'uctcd, 
 while upon the modified route after the woi'k begun at the ocean would have advanced but 
 four miles inland, it would even then be in a position to carry a large flood from the harbor. 
 
 8. The cost of the right of way will be less than by the tentative route. 
 
 9. The cost of the bridges will be less. 
 
 10. The possibility of litigation with the Palos Verdes Syndicate about the riparian 
 rights, with which they allege the Dominguez Dike will interfere, will be entirely elim- 
 inated by the modified route. 
 
 11. It should be plain from paragi'aphs 3 and 4 that the shorter and straighter channel, 
 and one with double the fall, would be a less expensive one to maintain.
 
 —34— 
 
 12. The two parallel wide levees from the Cerritos trestle to Long Beach industrial 
 district will have valuable rental or sale values from the District to the railroads entering 
 the industrial district of both Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. 
 
 It is expected that the same conditions will again be exacted by the United States with 
 regard to co-operation of the district namely, that the necessary rights of way be provided, 
 costs of necessary roads and bridges be met, all damage claims be adjusted and improvements 
 be maintained after completion, by the District. 
 
 It is confidently expected that the U. S. Government will undertake the construction 
 work via modified route for the protection of the harbor, and no money is provided for 
 construction in this section of the work. 
 
 The specifications for the highway bridges shall conform to the standard practice of 
 Los Angeles County. 
 
 The cost of bridges is $308,900, and for rights of way aiid damages and maintenance 
 $864,100. A total cost for harbor protection of $1,173,000.00. 
 
 This Keport also contains electrotypic reproduction of extracted maps from the latest 
 reports relative to the control of floods in Switzerland, Austria and France, showing the 
 Swiss methods of confining and leveeing tlieir detrital streams at their deltas, along with their 
 use of heavy riprap. Photographs are also taken from Swiss reports showing scenes of recent 
 canyon devastation in those countries. These scenes appear almost identical with those which 
 may be found in many places along the foothills in this district. Numerous photographs 
 showing common flood conditions in this district are also inserted.
 
 r 
 
 '^^ -35- 
 
 SUMMARY OF ESTIMATES 
 
 tfCSE IIBRARY 
 
 Harl)or Protection for Los Angeles and Long Rftaeh Harbors (Including Work at 
 
 Dominguez) $1,173,000.0(, 
 
 Los Angeles River (South City Limits to Domnguez) 350,000.00 
 
 Los Angeles River and the Two Tujunga Ri\ers 280,000.00 
 
 Devil's Gate Dam and Arroyo Seco Work _.. 290,000.00 
 
 Pacoima River (including Hutchin's Flood Control Reservoir) 359,460.00 
 
 Verdugo Wash, Glendale and Vicinity 99,800.00 
 
 Sycamore Canyon, Glendale and Tropico Work 28,925.00 
 
 Gardena Valley and Nigger Slough 56,590.00 
 
 Ballona Creek (West Los Angeles and Venice) 80,875.00 
 
 Compton Creek 20,000.00 
 
 Pa.sadena and Altadena 30,320.00 
 
 Rio Hondo (West San Gabriel River) via Dominguez 125 000.00 
 
 Pomona Flood Control Reservoir and Work on San Antonio, Live Oak, Thomp- 
 
 .son and Williams Creeks 272,400.00 
 
 Sail Gabriel River Control on Cone Adjacent to Mountains 350,000.00 
 
 East San Gal)riel River from Cone via Artesia to Ocean Outlet 150,000.00 
 
 San Dimas Flood Control Reservoir, Covina and Baldwin Park Protection Work 278,000.00 
 
 San Dimas Wash 37 830.00 
 
 Big Dalton and Glendora Protection Work 99,060.00 
 
 Little Dalton Work 26,920.00 
 
 Alhambra Wash 9,835.00 
 
 Eaton Wash 27,650.00 
 
 San Jose Creek Work 8,000.00 
 
 Sawpit Wash 4,835.00 
 
 Walnut Creek Work 29,920.00 
 
 West Whittier Work 20 940.00 
 
 Santa Clara River and Tributaries 40 000.00 
 
 Santa Anita Work 27 350.00 
 
 Little Rock and Big Rock Creeks 20 000.00 
 
 Rubio Wash 10,090.00 
 
 Haines Canyon _ 33,500.00 
 
 Cheek Dams Not Included in Other Items Herein 60,000.00 
 
 Incidental Expenses, Including Legal, Clerical, Engineering, Superintendence, In- 
 spection, Printing and Advertising 49 700.00 
 
 Total Estimate of Cost $4,450,000.00 
 
 The total amount of bonds necessary to be issued to pay for the foregoing mentioned 
 work is $4,450,000.00. 
 
 I believe that the foregoing plan hereby submitted will control and conserve the flood 
 and storm waters of this District for beneficial use and protect the Los Angeles and Long 
 Beach har))ors, waterways, public highways, and property in said District from damage from 
 such flood and storm waters. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 J. W. REAGAN, 
 
 Engineer of Los Angeles County 
 Flood Control District. 
 
 citizen Print Shop 203 New High St. 
 
 57178
 
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