I live in Southern California. People here may be more aware of the need for conserving water that in other "wetter" places. Overall, water conservation is vital. I’m not talking about doomsday prophecies about not having any water to drink, but I’m talking about how much the need for water has effected everything else around us. Even things that are seemingly unconnected.

The following article I wrote is proof of this phenomenon. One of the hot topics in this years election is the immigration issue. What do we do? Close our borders? Deport illegals? Grant amnesty? Who knows. Let this article show you that the immigration problem today has a lot to do with water, and how we get it, use it, waste it and forget about it.

A River Ran Through It……..

Imagine a lush green valley. Hillsides covered with trees and shrubs….all green and alive. There is river and a delta that runs right on through the valley. The river provides. The delta is spawning ground for many fish and of course, as in all delta areas, it makes the soil perfect for sustaining vegetation. The river provides. It provides food in the form of fish, and in the form of crops. It provides jobs for the valley residents thus creating an economy all its own. The river provides.

The river provided. This valley is not some fictional place created by Rawls or Baum. It existed much like I described for many, many years and although the valley is still there geographically; the river that once provided is not. This is the story of the Mexicali Valley. The valley rests between the US Mexico Border and the sea of Cortez. The river of course is the Colorado. In years long since past the Colorado River ran from its source in the Rocky Mountains all the way south to the sea of Cortez. This created an ideal spot for the local Meso-Indian population. They were a self sustaining people. They fished in the river, planted crops of wheat and corn and beans in the fertile soil it provided. The people that lived there, worked there. Because of the river, there was money, jobs, food, and safety. The Mexicali Valley was a more suitable place to live then the areas north in the US. The deserts of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and southern California were arid to say the least. However, the smell of money proved too powerful to keep people away. Spurred by a growth that began with the gold rush, the American southwest was being settled at an alarming rate.

Even back then in the early 1900’s people were keen to the fact that LA was a hit. People began buying up massive tracts of land in the San Fernando Valley. Sensing correctly at the immense value of the land. The truth is, the land was at the time worthless, being mostly dry and unfarmable. They knew something that many others didn’t. That William Mulholland, rich, white man that he was…..had a plan. A plan to ensure that the land would rise in value, quite possibly forever. The advantages of living in a desert climate are many days of sunshine and warm weather year round. The disadvantages? Water. There was no water within 200 miles of the San Fernando Valley. It didn’t rain more than 30 days out of the year in the San Fernando Valley. So how was this area going to grow? How were his wealthy financial backers going to profit from their land? By literally stealing water from the residents of Owens Valley and building the now infamous LA River aqua ducts.

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