Hinds Pumping Plant

The Hinds Pumping Plant is the pump on the Colorado River Aqueduct that you can easily see from I-10 east of Coachella Valley. Most people call it Hayfield, since that's the name on the exit. But in 1967 it was renamed for Julian Hinds.

This is the last pump on the aqueduct and raises the water up above 1,700 feet so it can cruise the rest of the way into the L.A. area. Here's the Google satellite view of the pumping plant.

All my photos of the Hinds plant can be found here or if you want to see these plus all my photos from the Eagle Mountain Pumping Plant, go here. Here are some samples:

You can see where the reservoir used to be. They used the reservoir only for the first few years, but it was unlined and too much water was lost into the ground.

This used to be the intake from the reservoir.

Gardner looking over the sand trap.

If all nine pumps are turned on the water overshoots the tunnel and carves away at the rocks above. This is the point where the water enters the tunnel under the Little San Bernardinos. It's all downhill from here as the water travels around Desert Hot Springs, under White Water Canyon, under I-10 and then under Mt. San Jacinto.

After passing through the sand trap.

In 1967 it was renamed from "Hayfield Pumping Plant" to "Julian Hinds Pumping Plant."

Before R2D2 and C3PO...

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