How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Chinatown.
Quote #7
CROSS: Hollis was always fascinated by tide pools. You know what he used to say?...That's where life begins. Sloughs, tide pools. When he first come out here, he figured if you dumped water into the desert sand and let it percolate down to the bedrock, it would stay there instead of evaporate the way it does in most reservoirs. You only lose 20% instead of 70 or 80. He made this city.
GITTES: That's what you were going to do in the valley.
CROSS: That's what I am doing. If the bond issue passes Tuesday, there'll be eight million dollars to build an aqueduct and reservoir. I'm doing it.
Noah wants to control the very source of life itself—water. This will grant him absolute power, making him more important than any local politician.