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 Grant.

Water Is Thicker Than Blood