why are the canals in Los Angeles always looking dry?

Question

i see these canals in the movies terminator 2 and others.they always seem to be dry.why is it so?

Answer 1

The canals you tend to see in movies and on TV are really just drainage for rain, etc. Normally, water is not running through them.

Answer 2

Believe it or not, that's the Los Angeles River. It has been lined with concrete for many decades now, thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers. Since LA usually averages about 8 inches of rain per year, the river is dry most of the time except for a small trickle. However, when it rains hard, the river becomes full and VERY dangerous. But it rains only 10-20 days per year on average.



The LA River channel is used in a lot of movies, such as The Terminator, Grease, and many others. And since it looks the same, year after year, it doesn't matter what year the film is set.

Answer 3

Los Angeles Storm Drain

Answer 4

Southern California is interesting. there are dry years and VERY VERY VERY wet years. During the dry years everyone looks at the flood control channel and think they are just a stupid joke. They look absurd to have all that concrete with a little tiny trickle of water running down it. During these periods some knuckle brained politician will propose turning these channels into a freeway.

Then we will have a very wet year. Usually it is record breaking. Those channels becomes filled to the top with rushing floods waters. Because we are not use to this kind of rain a child or two plays in the water and then gets killed when they are washed away.

Although they look stupid this year. Remember that when it rains it pours and floods. So respect the flood channels.

Answer 5

Hey, haven't you ever seen a river before---LOL jk

That's the Los Angeles River...It runs from somewhere around Encino all the way to San Pedro Bay....(with a side canal from Marina Del Rey to San Pedro Bay. It's not always empty, sometimes it rains in L.A. The river used to empty into the Pacific at Marina Del Rey but a terrible flood in like 1825 made it jump its banks in the downtown L.A. area, it cut a new water course and thereafter it ran to San Pedro...It was decided not to mess with Mother Nature, but they put her in a concrete cage...

Edited Comment:---Believe it or not more people have been killed in L.A. from floods than from the terrible earthquakes, you see all over the news...

Answer 6

what lucky said. we've had no rain this year (but there's no global warming. yeah, right.)



don't confuse the canals of Venice with the storm drains or the LA river.



the storm drains you saw in the movie are pretty much dry except when it rains, which is little enough in the winter and never in the summer.

Answer 7

Lack of precipitation. So for, LA has amassed a whopping 2.71 inches of rain this season.

Answer 8

Yes, especially when you are using the 405 freeway.

Answer 9

they are flood control channels and are designed to funnel water to the ocean as quickly as possible. As such, when it does not rain they have little if any water.

Answer 10

Because L.A. is a desert dependent on unnatural resources for its water supply.