Day 4AQUEDUCT CONSTRUCTION 

So, 1908 and construction of the LA Aqueduct was well under way.   

Heavy equipment was used to excavate soil. The first “Caterpillars” were utilized, and named as such by Mulholland because of the way they inched along. Canyons were dug and lined with concrete. Mule teams hauled pipes through the desert and over the Grapevine (before there was an Interstate 5). After five years of toil on the part of man and beast, work was complete.  William Mulholland was hailed for his monumental achievement of transporting water a full 230 miles from the source. People came from near and far to witness the historic first release of water from the aqueduct. As millions of gallons of water came rushing down the cascade, William Mulholland victoriously proclaimed, “There it is!  Take it!”  And for the last 100 years, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.  (see LA Aqueduct)

EFFECTS

Naturally, new water enabled southern California’s population to grow. The success of the aqueduct was undeniable. That is, unless you lived in the Owens Valley. Residents of the once lush valley who did not live in the path of the aqueduct were not approached with purchase offers way back when the Superintendent of the Metropolitan Water District came to town.  And, by 1924, they found themselves in a dustbowl of useless, undesirable land; no where to grow crops, no where to graze cattle. They  railed against the Metropolitan Water District to no avail. Taking matters into their own hands, they blew up a portion of the aqueduct with dynamite, temporarily returning water to their land- until the aqueduct was repaired a short time later. But it was too late for the Owens Valley Paiute tribes. They were already utterly devastated.