While the Los Angeles basin is home to nearly half the residents of California, it contains—according to McWilliams’s statistics—only .06% of the state’s natural water flow. There is not a single Southern California river, natural lake, or creek with a steady year-round supply of water, he writes. In fact, the entire region is no more than a semi-arid desert masquerading as a paradise. Without the water imported from Owens Valley, the Colorado River and other sources, life as it exists in Southern California would be unsustainable.
