In 1904, the newly created Los Angeles Department of Water and Power issued its first public report. ‘The time has come,’ it said, ‘when we shall have to supplement the supply from another source.’ With that simple statement, William Mulholland was about to become a modern Moses. But instead of leading his people to the promised land, he would cleave the desert and lead the promised waters to them.

In 1904, the newly created Los Angeles Department of Water and Power issued its first public report. ‘The time has come,’ it said, ‘when we shall have to supplement the supply from another source.’ With that simple statement, William Mulholland was about to become a modern Moses. But instead of leading his people to the promised land, he would cleave the desert and lead the promised waters to them.

– Marc Reisner –

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water

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