The Los Angeles River


Book Description

Winner of the J. B. Jackson Prize from the Association of American Geographers Three centuries ago, the Los Angeles River meandered through marshes and forests of willow and sycamore. Trout spawned in its waters and grizzly bears roamed its shores. The bountiful environment the river helped create supported one of the largest concentrations of Indians in North America. Today, the river is made almost entirely of concrete. Chain-link fence and barbed wire line its course. Shopping carts and trash litter its channel. Little water flows in the river most of the year, and nearly all that does is treated sewage and oily street runoff. On much of its course, the river looks more like a deserted freeway than a river. The river's contemporary image belies its former character and its importance to the development of Southern California. Los Angeles would not exist were it not for the river, and the river was crucial to its growth. Recognizing its past and future potential, a potent movement has developed to revitalize its course. The Los Angeles River offers the first comprehensive account of a river that helped give birth to one of the world's great cities, significantly shaped its history, and promises to play a key role in its future.










Islanders and Mainlanders


Book Description

The southern California coast has been a favored place to live for nearly 12,000 years. Dotted with marshes, estuaries, cliffs, and open beaches, with islands and mountains lying nearby, the area is rich in resources. How humans have fit into this ecological diverse and ever-changing landscape is a constant theme in the prehistory of the region. Using comparative studies of island and coastal cultures from the Pacific, the authors show how the study of southern California's past can enlighten us about coastal adaptations worldwide. Drawing on sources from anthropology, ethnohistory, geoscience, and archaeology, their findings are presented in a readable fashion that will make Islanders and Mainlanders of interest not only to a wide range of scholars but to the general public as well. Jeffrey H. Altschul is President and Donn R. Grenda is Director of the California Office of Statistical Research, Inc., a cultural resource management consulting firm. Both have been extremely active in southern California archaeology, working on sites on the mainland and the Channel Islands.










Erosion and Sedimentation Manual


Book Description

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT--OVERSTOCK SALE --Significantly reduced list price while supplies last The Erosion and Sedimentation Manual provides a comprehensive coverage of subjects in nine chapters (i.e., introduction, erosion and reservoir sedimentation, noncohesive sediment transport, cohesive sediment transport, sediment modeling for rivers and reservoirs, sustainable development and use of reservoirs, river process and restoration, dam decommissioning and sediment management, and reservoir surveys and data analysis). Each chapter is self-contained, with cross references of subjects that are discussed in different chapters of this manual. The manual also includes a list of commonly used notations used in the erosion and sedimentation literature, conversion factors between the Imperial and metric units, physical properties of water, and author and subject indexes for easy reference. Each chapter has a list of reference for readers who would like to seek out more detailed information on specific subjects. Audience The manual would be useful for researchers, university professors, graduate students, geologists, hydrographic survey analysts, municipal and state water research specialists, and engineers in solving erosion and sedimentation problems. Related products: Earth Science resources collection can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/science-technology/earth-science