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... there is nothing wrong with planting trees not natural to an area like Newsboy suggested ...
By point was that those towering palms that line the streets of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, etc and which people so easily associate with California and which the tourist agencies so eagerly use to promote the state (and which I think actually appear on some license plates) are NOT native to the Los Angeles Basin. They are cultivated, just like the everything else in the region. And none of it would exist if Los Angeles hadn't hijacked and stolen the water out of the Owens Valley nearly 100 years ago, turning a once lush agriculture region into an arid desert.
By point was that those towering palms that line the streets of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, etc and which people so easily associate with California and which the tourist agencies so eagerly use to promote the state (and which I think actually appear on some license plates) are NOT native to the Los Angeles Basin. They are cultivated, just like the everything else in the region. And none of it would exist if Los Angeles hadn't hijacked and stolen the water out of the Owens Valley nearly 100 years ago, turning a once lush agriculture region into an arid desert.
This was done so L.A. could have PALM TREES:
You seem to be writing about 2 different issues. Water from the Owens Valley was not solely to water palm trees! By the early 1900's the entire LA Basin & adjacent valleys were dependent on another source of water beside local rivers due to the huge increase in population. Also whole areas were cultivated for agriculture, primarily citrus groves in the early 20th century. Palm trees generally don't require a whole lot of water, especially the native California palm. The import of water was the main reason for Los Angeles' significant growth. But aqueducts are not a new thing to civilization since the Romans built some of the first water systems known to mankind and some still exist. Nearly every major city has aqueducts since local sources of water are often inadequate. In California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are the primary source of the state's water and why reservoirs were built. The reason California is the most prosperous state for agriculture is due to these reservoirs and aqueducts. California produces the bulk of fresh vegetable and fruits for the entire nation; this would never have been possible without aqueducts.
The Owens Valley situation was litigated nearly 20 years ago and the amount of water LA gets from Mono Lake has deceased considerably. In-fact the Lake has risen to levels not seen in many decades since the water is no longer being exported as it was. The Owens Valley is still feeling the effects of the loss of water but the state of California reversed this situation and the recovery of the valley is now occurring.
All the states in the Southwest depend on sources of water beyond what is available locally and why the Colorado river water is divided up between Nevada, Arizona and California. Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, LA, etc could not exist without the Colorado River.
But this topic is on palm trees and to suggest that LA shouldn't have all the palms it does because of imported water is silly.
Last edited by californio sur; 09-22-2010 at 11:39 AM..
LA wouldnt have ANY palms if not for imported water. At least here in the SE coast our palms are native. Palms look just as stupid and out of place under a glass airport atrium in Chicago as they do in LA in my opinion. At least the palms in Miami were there before the people were.
LA wouldnt have ANY palms if not for imported water. At least here in the SE coast our palms are native. Palms look just as stupid and out of place under a glass airport atrium in Chicago as they do in LA in my opinion. At least the palms in Miami were there before the people were.
You are wrong. You think those coconut palms along the beach in Miami are native? Miami was basically a wetlands with native scrub trees and some native Florida palms like you see in the Everglades. Anywhere along the Gulf Coast the native palms were scattered here and there and not in any large numbers. The palms in New Orleans, Houston, Galveston, Tampa, Savannah were not there along the streets when these cities were developed. They were planted. Same thing in Los Angeles and southern California. The native habitat for California fan palms are the oases in the desert where maybe a few hundred palm trees are found along artisan springs. LA has more palm trees than any city outside southern Florida because they grow so well and don't require a lot of care. Some species of palms don't do well in California just like some don't grow that well in Florida depending on the variety and if their native growing conditions are desert or subtropical wetlands.
This whole discussion about palm trees not being native to Los Angeles is ridiculous if one doesn't understand how trees are planted in any American city.
Palm trees look good mostly anywhere they can survive.
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By the early 1900's the entire LA Basin & adjacent valleys were dependent on another source of water beside local rivers due to the huge increase in population. Also whole areas were cultivated for agriculture, primarily citrus groves in the early 20th century. Palm trees generally don't require a whole lot of water, especially the native California palm. The import of water was the main reason for Los Angeles' significant growth. But aqueducts are not a new thing to civilization since the Romans built some of the first water systems known to mankind and some still exist. Nearly every major city has aqueducts since local sources of water are often inadequate. In California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are the primary source of the state's water and why reservoirs were built. The reason California is the most prosperous state for agriculture is due to these reservoirs and aqueducts. California produces the bulk of fresh vegetable and fruits for the entire nation; this would never have been possible without aqueducts.
