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acknowledgments This project began with the World War II and California Conference at the Huntington Library organized by Roger Lotchin in 1995, in which I was honored to participate. It was nurtured by the Los Angeles History Group; I cannot imagine a more welcoming and intellectually engaging group of people assembled anywhere. Clark Davis did much to set that tone and is sorely missed. Special thanks to Peter Blodgett, Dan Lewis, and all the readers’ services staff at the Huntington; Dace Taube and the Regional History Center at the University of Southern California; Paul Wormser and the regrettably relocated Laguna Niguel branch of the National Archives; Charles Basham, who so kindly allowed me access to Southern California Edison’s archives; the Los Angeles City Archives staff; and the Special Collections department of the Claremont Colleges Libraries. Also special thanks to Christopher P. Konrad for his insights into flood control and hydrology and to Brit Storey and Larry Nuss at the Bureau of Reclamation for their thoughts on Hoover Dam. My research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation , the Huntington Library, and San Diego State University. Clay McShane and his colleagues in the History Department at Northeastern University and Rachel Brant and the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University kindly provided me with quiet places to work. I am indebted to David Nye, to Chuck Grench at the University of North Carolina Press, and to William Becker and the other readers for the press; this work is much stronger for their suggestions and critique. Martin Melosi continues to be a mentor and friend. Thanks also to Bruce Seely, Jeffrey Stine, and Marty Reuss for their support and sug- xii acknowledgments gestions. Jared Orsi has been a wonderful flood control coconspirator. Jennifer Martinez generously helped me with countless research questions . Joel Tarr, Harold Platt, Kathy Kolnick, Cheryl Koos, Tom Sitton, Laura Watt, Art Verge, Mark Wild, William Myers, Matt Kuefler, and the students in my political history and Los Angeles history seminars all helped with this project, providing assistance, encouragement, friendship , or all three. My spouse, Beth Holmberg, prepared the index, sacrificed much so I could finish this project and pursue my career, and has shared my delight in figuring out how things work. And, finally, I would like to thank my parents for nurturing that delight in the first place. ...

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