Today, it sits behind a tall, black chain-link fence. It was a node in a complex machine and an urban pleasure ground.Īs water quality regulations increased, however, the reservoir complex became less and less accessible. For the first 30 years of its life, the water body was accessible to the public. Following construction, thousands of eucalyptus trees were planted along the reservoir’s banks, and it was eventually ringed by a wide promenade. The reservoir, along with its smaller neighbor, Ivanhoe Reservoir, was built in 1907 by the city engineer William Mulholland, the architect of the city’s sprawling water system, as a backup for the city’s drinking water supply. Silver Lake Reservoir, 100 acres of glistening water five miles north of downtown Los Angeles, is a prime example. Much of its aboveground hydrologic infrastructure defines the urban character and has become an iconic part of the cultural landscape. The mechanics of Los Angeles’s hydro-engineered reality are ever present in the city. may not be a desert, but it has created them. For a century, the city has siphoned the majority of its drinking water from far-flung rivers and lakes, in some cases draining those bodies of water dry. And yet myths originate from apparent truths, and when it comes to water, the city of Los Angeles has long behaved like a desert. The Los Angeles River basin, where a good portion of the city sits, was once a major wetland ecosystem, with miles of streams, marshes, vernal pools, wet prairies, and willow thickets. Photo courtesy Hargreaves Jones.Īmong the popular myths about Los Angeles is that prior to European settlement the city was a desert. Schuler Residents take a rare stroll inside the fence at the decommissioned reservoir as a part of a master planning workshop led by Hargreaves Jones. After decades of being off-limits to the public, Los Angeles’s Silver Lake Reservoir could return to the people.
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