The engineer who broke the rocks and brought water to the thirsty

Countries & Cities · Published 14 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Los Angeles was a semiarid town of 9,000 people until William Mulholland arrived. A self-taught engineer with a vision for expansion, he orchestrated one of history's most ambitious—and controversial—infrastructure projects: a 233-mile aqueduct that fueled a metropolis but left a desert in its wake.

William Mulholland’s rise is a study in self-made ambition. Born in Ireland and educated in Dublin, he fled to sea at 15 after being beaten for poor school marks. After years as a merchant seaman and a logger in the American West, he arrived in Los Angeles in 1877. He quickly pivoted from prospecting gold to managing water, eventually becoming the superintendent of the Los Angeles Water Department. His core belief stated that a lack of water would eliminate any requirement for it.

To achieve his vision, Mulholland and Mayor Frederick Eaton employed deceptive tactics between 1902 and 1905 to secure water rights in Owens Valley. While Eaton handled political maneuvers, Mulholland misled the public by understating how much water was available for Los Angeles' growth. He also deceived Owens Valley residents, claiming Los Angeles would only use unused flows while secretly planning to divert the full water rights to fill the San Fernando Valley aquifer. This project required 3,900 workers at its peak and the digging of 164 tunnels.

The success of the Los Angeles Aqueduct came with a heavy environmental and social cost. By diverting inflows from Owens Lake, the area transformed from "the Switzerland of California" into a desert by 1924. This sparked violent rebellions; in one instance, armed ranchers dynamited sections of the aqueduct to return water to the river. Tragedy concluded Mulholland's professional life during March 1928, following the collapse of the St. The St. Francis Dam collapsed slightly more than 12 hours after his own safety check.

Despite his controversial legacy, Mulholland was a pioneer of engineering. While constructing a dam, he pioneered hydraulic sluicing as an American civil engineer; later, state workers utilised this technique for the Panama Canal. His influence on the region's growth was so profound that by 1926, Los Angeles had doubled its land area and become the largest city in the United States by size.

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