How Los Angeles Gets Its Water: A Complete History of The Los Angeles Aqueduct

Completed on November 5, 1913, the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct stretches all the way from California’s Owens Valley to the city of Los Angeles – delivering somewhere in the neighborhood of 260-millions gallons of water per day to a thirsty city. The aqueduct stands as a testament to early 20th-century engineering might, however, the project set off a decades-long civil war between Owens Valley farmers and Los Angeles. Built to meet the increasing demands of a rapidly growing city, the Los Angeles Aqueduct has a history plagued with deception, corruption, and death.

Quick Links:
0:00 - A story of greed, corruption & hubris
1:45 - A brief history of Los Angeles
2:55 - William Mulholland & Fred Eaton
4:31 - Owens Lake today
5:15 - Owens River is the answer...
5:54 - The law gets in the way
7:19 - Los Angeles buys up water rights
7:57 - Crooked Politics 101
9:10 - Annexing the San Fernando Valley
10:10 - Construction begins
10:50 - "There it is, take it"
12:32 - St. Francis Dam
13:37 - The worst American civil engineering disaster
15:00 - Long Valley Dam creates Lake Crowley
16:31 - LADWP compelled by a court order
17:27 - What now?

In this video, I break down the entire history of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and take a look at the three main people who made it happen: William Mulholland, Frederick Eaton, and Joseph “J.B.” Lippincott. The motivations and decisions of these three men from over 100 years ago allowed Los Angeles to support its exponential population growth, but not without deadly consequences. The St. Francis Dam, completed in 1926, was one of the crown jewels of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. However, just 2 years later in 1928, the dam catastrophically failed, killing at least 431 people. To this day, the St. Francis Dam disaster is considered the worst American civil engineering disasters of the 20th century.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct allowed the city of Los Angeles to become the sprawling metropolis we know today, but the lingering sociopolitical and environmental impacts are hard to overlook.

Explore Always is produced by Kyle Frager.

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