Happy Birthday to the L.A. Aqueduct

by Gary Toebben

Today we celebrate the birthday of the L.A. Aqueduct. Even before the water began flowing a century ago, the aqueduct was a longheld vision of the founding members of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The road was not easy, but the visionaries stayed on course, knowing that with the birth of the aqueduct, a modern Los Angeles was born.

It all began in 1902 when former L.A. Chamber Board Member and L.A. Mayor Fred Eaton went camping in the Sierras and came back with an idea — build an aqueduct to bring the Owens River water to L.A. and assure the growth of the City, and a few bucks for himself.

Two years later, the Chamber formed a committee to investigate the City's water supply and in December of that year, Engineer William Mulholland announced that L.A.’s existing water supply could only support 250,000 people. The next year, the Chamber promoted a $1.5 million bond measure to purchase land and water rights in the Owens Valley.

In 1906, the Chamber began lobbying for the right-of-way that an aqueduct would need to cross public land. Following the lead of Mulholland and City Attorney William Mathews, they succeeded in striking a deal with President Theodore Roosevelt.

The following year, the Chamber was the major proponent of a $23 million dollar bond to build the aqueduct — worth almost 10 percent of the City's assessed value at the time. The bond passed 10 to 1 and in 1908 Mulholland was at the Chamber’s Annual Dinner with a report on the status of the project.

In 1910, William D. Stephens, the 1907 Chamber chair and future congressman and governor, was appointed to the City Water Board to help guide the aqueduct to completion.

One hundred years ago today, the Chamber and the community celebrated the first water to arrive via the L.A. Aqueduct and Mulholland made his short and now infamous speech, “There it is. Take it.”

In 1914, thinking further ahead, the Chamber began lobbying for a bill to protect the Colorado River — the start of another giant water project and the creation of the Metropolitan Water District.

Today, I encourage all members of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and residents of our region to raise your water glasses to William Mulholland and our predecessors at the Chamber who changed the course of L.A. history — and laid the foundation for our status as the second largest city and the largest county in America. 

And that's The Business Perspective.