Zanja Madre

A group of the pueblo’s first residents complete the original zanja—an open, earthen ditch that delivers water to the pueblo. A brush dam, or toma, pools water, which then runs along an elevated slope down to the pueblo. The flow splits into multiple ditches, carrying water to various portions of lowland. Placed close to present-day Broadway at the foot of the Elysian Hills by the LA River, the Zanja Madre feeds eight branch line zanjas.

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