🏗️
William Mulholland
Chief Engineer, Bureau of Los Angeles Aqueduct · Self-Made · Builder of Cities
📍 Los Angeles, California 847 connections City of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
📋 About

I came to this country from Belfast with nothing but a willingness to work. I taught myself engineering from textbooks borrowed from the Los Angeles City Library while laying pipe in the streets. I rose to Superintendent of the Los Angeles City Water Company and eventually Chief Engineer of the Bureau of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

I built the Los Angeles Aqueduct — 233 miles of open canal, tunnels, and siphons — in five years, under budget, with a workforce of thousands. I brought water to a city that had no business existing in a desert, and in doing so I made possible everything that Los Angeles became.

What that cost, and who paid it — those are questions I find myself returning to. I leave them to you to reckon with.

📰 Activity
💼 Experience
Chief Engineer — Los Angeles Aqueduct
Bureau of the Los Angeles Aqueduct · Full-time
1905 – 1913 · 8 years · Los Angeles, California
Designed and supervised construction of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct, transporting water from the Owens Valley to the City of Los Angeles. Completed on time and under the $23.5M budget. Project employed over 5,000 workers at peak construction. Regarded as one of the great engineering achievements of the 20th century.
Superintendent — Los Angeles City Water Company
City of Los Angeles · Full-time
1886 – 1902 · 16 years · Los Angeles, California
Rose from ditch digger to Superintendent of the municipal water system. Modernized infrastructure, expanded distribution, and managed the city's water supply through a period of rapid population growth.
Chief Engineer — St. Francis Dam
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power · Full-time
1924 – 1928 · 4 years · San Francisquito Canyon, California
Designed and oversaw construction of the St. Francis Dam as a reservoir for the Los Angeles Aqueduct system.
The dam failed on March 12–13, 1928. The resulting flood killed an estimated 400–600 people in the Santa Clara River valley. An inquest found Mulholland solely responsible. He accepted full accountability and retired from public life shortly after.
⚙️ Skills & Endorsements
Hydraulic Engineering
99+
Aqueduct Design
87
Large-Scale Infrastructure
76
Water Rights Law
54
Workforce Management
91
Tunnel Engineering
63
Self-Directed Learning
99+
Civic Leadership
44
💬 Recommendations
🏛️ Frederick Eaton · Former Mayor, City of Los Angeles
"Mulholland is the most capable civil engineer I have ever encountered. His vision for the aqueduct was audacious and his execution was flawless. Los Angeles owes its very existence to this man's work."
🌾 Owens Valley Farmer · Agricultural Landholder, Inyo County
"He built his city on our water. Our orchards are dust. Our ranches are abandoned. Mulholland called it progress. I call it something else. I will leave it to history to decide which of us was right."
⚙️ J.B. Lippincott · U.S. Reclamation Service Engineer
"A brilliant self-taught engineer. His instincts for geology and hydrology were extraordinary. The aqueduct stands as proof of what determination and practical intelligence can accomplish."
⚖️ Coroner's Inquest, Ventura County · 1928
"The failure of the St. Francis Dam and the resulting loss of life is chargeable to the design of the dam and to the judgment of W. Mulholland, Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply."