William Mulholland

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Mulholland&GS...

Building the water system of Los Angeles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mulholland

William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was the head of a predecessor department to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was responsible for building the city water infrastructure and providing a water supply that allowed the city to grow into one of the largest in the world. Mulholland designed and supervised the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a 233-mile (375 km)-long system to move water from Owens Valley to the San Fernando Valley. The creation and operation of the aqueduct led to the disputes known as the California Water Wars. In March 1928, his career ended when the St. Francis Dam failed just over 12 hours after he and his assistant gave it a safety inspection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Dam