WATERSHED MOMENT

摘要

Every great city has its defining mythology and its pantheon of local gods. In Los Angeles, no figure looms larger than William Mulholland. One hundred years ago, Mulholland, a self-taught Irish immigrant and former ditch cleaner who rose to head the Los Angeles water department through unstinting work and sheer force of personality, stood at the bottom of the brand new Los Angeles aqueduct. The aqueduct, a marvel of both engineering and political manipulation, had been built to bring the young city a plentiful supply of water from the Owens Valley, set against the Sierra Nevada Mountains 220 miles to the north. More than anyone else, Mulholland had made this happen. On Nov. 5,1913, a crowd had gathered to celebrate the aqueduct's opening. It had already been a long day full of speeches when Mulholland rose to address them. All he did was gesture to the water flowing from the aqueduct. "There it is,"he said. "Take it."