reading guide

GESM 130, Spring 2022

Reading Guide Questions #9

Due: Before class on Wednesday 2/16

Gumprecht Ch. 4

     p. 203 (paragraph starting “Minutes after midnight…”)-207

1.     Describe the events of New Year’s Day 1934. What recent natural disaster made the damage more severe?

2.     Why do you think LA voters were enthusiastic to pass the bond issues required to fund the construction of the LA Aqueduct, while they hesitated to pass bond issues to raise money for flood control measures?

3.     What federal government actions allowed for comprehensive flood control efforts in LA? What federal agency would oversee the project?

p. 215 (The Flood of March 1938) – 226

4.     Not long after the feds took over flood protection, SoCal was hit by another destructive flood. Describe the damage. What areas of LA County were hit hardest?

5.     Though devastating, how had flood protections already put in place lessen the potential damage of the 1938 flood?

6.     How did the flood of 1938 change plans for federally-led flood control efforts? What were the major components of the Los Angeles County Drainage Area Project?

7.     How did the threat of WWII bolster support for spending on flood control in LA?

Guprecht Ch. 3

       p. 123-125

8.     What are some of the sources and types of pollution that begin contamination the LA River around 1930-1940?

9.     What agency was created to contend with pervasive pollution problems and what strategies did it use? Were pollution problems resolved?