St. Francis Dam ruins, San Francisquito Canyon, 2021. The Names of the 411 Victims of the 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster.

St. Francis Dam Ruins, San Francisquito Canyon, 2021. St. Francis Dam Before Its Collapse, 1928.

Nine Mile Canyon, 2022. Headline, Los Angeles Times, 1907. Trench Digging Machine, 1909.

Abandoned Grain Silos, Poleta, CA, 2022. Produce From the Owens River Valley, n.d.

Los Angeles, CA, 2022. Brochure, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, 1905. Map of the First Los Angeles Aqueduct, Los Angeles Herald, 1906.

Big Pine, CA, 2022. Sam Meredith Farm, Abandoned, 1939.

Bishop, CA, 2022. Flock in Owens Valley, 1941.

Jawbone Canyon, 2022. Jawbone Siphon Under Construction, 1913.

Approximate Location of a Paiute Irrigation Ditch along Baker Creek, Big Pine, CA, 2022. A Group of Young Paiute Women, Bishop, CA, Circa 1910.

Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence, CA, 2022. Subtitle, Los Angeles Times, 1942. Incarcerated Japanese Attending Memorial Day Services at Manzanar, 1942.

Keeler Beach Club, Keeler, CA, 2022. Swimmers at Keeler Swimming Pool, n.d.

Alabama Spillway & Gates, Lone Pine, CA, 2022. Headline, Los Angeles Times, 1976. Occupation of the Alabama Gates, 1924.

Noname Canyon, 2022. Headline, The Gridiron, 1927. Blast-Damaged Los Angeles Aqueduct Siphon in No-Name Canyon, 1927.

Mono Lake, 2022. Headline, Mono Lake Committee, circa. 1978.

Mono Lake, 2022. Rehydration Ceremony, 1982.

Lone Pine, CA, 2022. William Mulholland Looking Toward the Snow-Covered Eastern Sierras, 1904.

The Cascades, Sylmar, CA, 2022. William Mulholland Speaking at the Opening Ceremonies of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, 1913.

Merritt Park, Manzanar National Historic Site, 2024

St. Francis Dam Disaster Site, San Francisquito Canyon, 2021

Carrillo Family Headstone, Bardsdale Cemetery, Fillmore, CA, 2021

Bardsdale United Methodist Church (Makeshift Morgue for the Flood Victims, 1928), 2023

Owens Lake from the Horseshoe Meadows Road, 2024

Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, Sylmar, CA, 2024

Paiute Irrigation Systems, Bishop, CA, 2024

Block 28, Manzanar National Historic Site, 2024

Camp Independence Parade Ground, Independence, CA, 2024

20241013_3180_Paiute Irrigation Systems, Bishop, CA, 2024

In Water Is Thicker Than Blood, I attempt to illuminate the ignored and forgotten history of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the California Water Wars, a story of greed, violence, oppression, and disastrous environmental consequences.

Prior to the arrival of white settlers and the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the Owens Valley Paiute had lived in harmony with nature since time immemorial. The LA Aqueduct project began in 1905 and opened in 1913. By the mid-1920s, Owens Lake was drained by Los Angeles, and toxic dust storms swept across the dry lakebed; the Owens Valley was financially and ecologically destroyed, farms and ranches abandoned; furious Owens Valley residents repeatedly attacked infrastructure and dynamited the Aqueduct. In 1928, the collapse of the St. Francis Dam killed more than 400 people. In 1940s, the LAWDP extended the Los Angeles Aqueduct system farther northward into the Mono Basin; 40 years later, the water level of Mono Lake had dropped more than 40 feet. Even today, people living in the Owens Valley still have to deal with the environmental consequences of the Aqueduct.

In addition to my photographs and archive-based art, I used an outdoor projector to project newspaper headlines, texts, and historical images onto the surfaces of ruins, monuments, and engineering features along the Aqueduct.

This project was made possible, in part, through funding from the Lucie Foundation, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Alumni Microgrant Program, and The Aftermath Project’s 1492/1619 American Aftermaths Grant.