There are two Los Angeles Aqueducts--the original Los Angeles Aqueduct was designed by William Mulholland (an Irish immigrant who became a self-taught engineer and head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) and completed in 1913 to deliver water from the Owens River to the city of Los Angeles, California. The first aqueduct project began in 1905 with a budget of 24.5 million dollars. With 100,000 workers employed in its construction, the Los Angeles Aqueduct was finished in 1913. It consisted of 223 miles of 12-foot steel pipe, 120 miles of railroad track, 2 hydroelectric plants, 170 miles of power lines, 240 miles of telephone line, a cement plant, and 500 miles of roads. The aqueduct used gravity to carry the water, so it was relatively autonomous and cost-efficient. Apart from the catastrophic failure of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 that flooded the Santa Clarita Valley and most of Ventura County (resulting in disgrace and financial ruin for Mulholland), and an incident of sabotage by displaced Owens Valley farmers a few years previously, the aqueduct system has worked quite well throughout its history. It was built so well, in fact, that to this day the city still uses it to transport water. The second Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed in 1970. It carries water 137 miles. Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC, it is one of Frances top tourist attractions at over 1. ... Jump to: navigation, search William Mulholland (1855–1935) was a prominent and influential water-services engineer in Southern California. ... Jump to: navigation, search Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving 3. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Owens Valley The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 120 mi (193 km) long. ... Jump to: navigation, search The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish; Los Ángeles, ) (full form: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, English: The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciuncula River), also known as... The St. ... The Santa Clarita Valley is part of the Santa Clara River valley in California, squeezed between the San Gabriel and Santa Susana Mountains to the South and the Sierra Pelona/Liebre Mountains/Topatopa Mountains to the North. ... Ventura County is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area, located on Californias Pacific coast. ... Owens Valley is the arid ranching valley of the Owens River in southeastern California in the United States. ...

The construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct effectively ended the development of the Owens Valley as a farming community and devastated the ecosystem of Owens Lake. Mulholland and his associates, including Los Angeles Times publisher, Harrison Gray Otis have often been denounced for having used deceptive tactics to obtain the Bureau of Reclamation rights to the Owens River's flow. However, the aqueduct's water was crucial in the development of what is now one of the world's most important cities, and a historical rehabilitation of Mulholland's reputation has taken place in recent years. The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the western United States. ... This article is about the publisher. ... The United States Bureau of Reclamation (Formerly the United States Reclamation Service) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior which oversees water development projects in the western United States. ...

External links

• Department of Water and Power LA Aqueduct Site
• Los Angeles Aqueduct Landscape Atlas