Drinking Water Supply
This 85-mile long canal brings water from the Colorado River to the citizens and agricultural industry of the Imperial Valley. The canal was completed in 1940, to replace a previous canal which served the same function, but traveled partly through Mexico (hence the name of the All American). The...
The California Aqueduct is one of three major aqueducts running through the desert of California. It is part of the State Water Project, which brings water to the south from the Sacramento River in the north. The aqueduct primarily serves the agricultural industry of the Central Valley, but is a...
The point of origin of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) is where the Granite Reef Aqueduct draws water from the Colorado River. CAP is a water supply system for the farms and cities of central Arizona, consisting of a 337-mile aqueduct that brings water from this point on Lake Havasu to Phoenix...
One of the three major aqueduct systems that make Los Angeles possible. The aqueduct carries water 242 miles, from Lake Havasu, on the Colorado River, to Lake Matthews in western Riverside County, at the edge of the Great City. Built by the Metropolitan District Water Commission (MWD), the aqueduct...
Part of the water-supply system for New York City, the 13.5 foot diameter Delaware tunnel was completed in 1944 after seven years of construction. It connects the Rondout Reservoir, near Ellenville, to the Hillview Reservoir, in Yonkers. At 85 miles, it is said to be the longest tunnel in the world...
The historic Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, a pipeline from a reservoir in the Sierras that carries much of San Francisco's water supply, plunges into the Bay briefly next to the old Dumbarton Cut-off railroad bridge. It emerges in an octagonal structure on the end of a pier, and continues towards the city...
Hinds is the last of five major pumping plants along the Colorado River Aqueduct, which is one of the three major aqueducts that bring water to Los Angeles. The aqueduct was completed in 1941, and carries water 242 miles from Lake Havasu, on the Colorado River, to Lake Matthews in western Riverside...
The Carroll Water Treatment Plant is a new site in the chain of water facilities for Boston’s water supply. It is connected to the new Metro West Tunnel, and the Hultman Aqueduct. For more than 17 miles, and more than 50 years, the Hultman Aqueduct carried nearly all of metropolitan Boston's water...
This is the largest of the pressurized tubes dipping into and out of the canyons along the Los Angeles Aqueduct (8,095 feet, with a 850 foot drop), and is notable also for having burst in freezing weather in 1988. A few of these "siphon points" are visible along the course of the original Los...
The Cascades is the point where the Los Angeles Aqueduct symbolically enters the city, bringing in 70 percent of the drinking water for the community, from the Owens Valley, about 300 miles away. Three parallel water courses can be seen on the hill here: a long pipe is the main pipe of the 1970...
The Quabbin Reservoir is the state's largest body of water, and the primary source of water for the Boston area. It began to fill in 1939, after the completion of the Winsor Dam, and by the time it was full in 1946, it was the world's largest artificial drinking water reservoir (and it remains the...