PROSPERITY, DEPRESSION, REFORM 187At the time it was built, the aqueduct was the
longest in the western hemisphere. Through tunnels,
conduits, and reservoirs, it carried water by gravity
across 223 miles to Los Angeles. Upon opening in
1913 it delivered eight times the amount of water the
city consumed, which inadvertently created pressure
for Los Angeles to expand. From 1913 to 1927, the city
swiftly annexed surrounding communities to become
the nation’s largest urban territory governed by a
single entity. The annexation of the San Fernando
Valley alone doubled the size of Los Angeles, and
enriched those who had bought land knowing that
the aqueduct would ensure its agricultural future.
By the 1920s, farmers in the San Fernando Valley
used three times the amount of water that was going
to the 1.2 million residents of Los Angeles. This
diversion of water for large-scale agriculture enraged
farmers in the Owens Valley who had lost their water
rights. Some took matters into their own hands and
dynamited the aqueduct in May 1924. Ultimately,
however, they could do little but watch Los Angeles
expand while their own fortunes stagnated. The
absence of water in the Owens Valley not only ended
farming, but made the region far more prone to
dust storms.
The Los Angeles aqueduct also helped to generate
electricity for the city. Here the Bureau of Power and
Light used the back of its electric bill to explain rate
increases to its customers. Perhaps Californians
had already begun to take water and electricity for
granted, though both were the work of enormous
engineering feats. Within a few years, the continued
expansion of Los Angeles had led the city to secure
even more water, this time from the Colorado River.
Through a combination of political will, legal
maneuvering, and engineering, water was drained
from the Owens Valley, making it possible for Los
Angeles to become home to millions of people
over the next few decades. In this sense, Eaton and
Mulholland transformed not just that city, but the
dynamics of twentieth-century migration. The maps
of Hollywood and Disneyland on pages 194 and 226
attest to the growth of Southern California and its
abiding influence over American life.