0:00:04 > 0:00:08Whoo-hoo!
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Oh, it doesn't get any better than this!
0:00:10 > 0:00:14Top-down, sun out, driving up Mulholland Drive.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17One of the most iconic roads in the whole of America.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21It overlooks Los Angeles,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25arguably one of the most iconic cities in the world.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27This road is named after William Mulholland.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31I don't know that much about William, but I do know two things -
0:00:31 > 0:00:34one, he's from Belfast.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35And two,
0:00:35 > 0:00:40without him, none of all of that would exist.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41I first came here when I was 18,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45and I fell totally in love with the place.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47But it's only recently
0:00:47 > 0:00:50that I discovered its connection with Belfast.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53If William Mulholland hadn't come along when he did,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57there could not have been a Los Angeles as we know it today.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01He was the architect and builder of the Los Angeles Aqueduct,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04one of the greatest engineering projects in the world.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06He was a genius.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10It was remarkable what was accomplished over 100 years ago.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14He's an Irishman who changed the lives of millions of people.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And yet, up to a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of him.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19How did they do that? How did people not...?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- Mulholland, you've got to read that book.- About Mulholland?- Yeah.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26What I discover is that the story of how LA got its water
0:01:26 > 0:01:30is one of money, greed and power.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33And it's still impacting people today.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37- So many people in this town that have Lyme Disease.- Really?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Think it has a lot to do with the stuff they're breathing off that lake.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Surprisingly, it remains an open wound that, even today,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47people are reluctant to talk about.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49AMERICAN ACCENT: Don't you ever call this number again!
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I have a dog and a gun and I will use it!
0:01:52 > 0:01:57This is my journey to discover the truth about William Mulholland.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00COCKNEY ACCENT: This is where they shot Terminator, this is where they shot Grease.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04And this is where they shoot Patrick Kielty's Mulholland Drive.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16CAR HORN
0:02:18 > 0:02:22My journey with William starts here, though, in Northern Ireland.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Because there's a couple of things that you need to know about me.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28This is where I'm from, this is where my family's from.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32This is the Mourne Mountains. It's beautiful.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I feel like I'm on Billy Connelly's World Tour Of Scotland.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39"Take a look at it! Isn't it gorgeous?
0:02:39 > 0:02:42"And people don't know about it!"
0:02:42 > 0:02:43And German tourists now come,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46and they take their tea and they look at this, and they say,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48"Isn't it lovely they've stopped fighting?"
0:02:48 > 0:02:52But I'm not here for this, and the Kieltys didn't come to the Mourne Mountains because of this.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55The Kieltys came to the Mourne Mountains for sexy stuff,
0:02:55 > 0:02:56like this.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00It's a wall.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04It might just be a wall to you, but behind that wall
0:03:04 > 0:03:07is hundreds and thousands of gallons of water.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11You see, my great-grandad was one of the men who helped build
0:03:11 > 0:03:14dams like this. And my dad worked for the water service.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17He looked after all the leaks in County Down,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and made sure everything was cushty.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23And for you, that might not look sexy.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26But for a Kielty, water runs through the veins.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Along with Guinness and whiskey,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and, on a Sunday night, gin.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38And this is the reason why I need to find out about William Mulholland.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Because he came from here, he went to LA, and he did stuff like this.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48The engineering equivalent of Elle Macpherson in her bra and knickers.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51Sexy.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Almost as sexy as this place - LA.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Which I now call my second home.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01And every time I come here, I marvel at just how, well,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03lush this place is.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14But despite all the greenery, on average,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18this town only gets 15 inches of rain a year.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Some deserts get more.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22So how do they do it? Where does all the water come from?
0:04:25 > 0:04:28ENGINE REVS
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Why, this car is automatic...
0:04:30 > 0:04:32ENGINE REVS
0:04:32 > 0:04:33..it's systematic...
0:04:33 > 0:04:34ENGINE REVS
0:04:34 > 0:04:38..it's hyyyyyydromatic.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Hang on, Nick.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Why, it's greased lightning!
0:04:52 > 0:04:56So, LA, like every other major city has a major river.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59And this is it, the LA River.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02There's only one tiny problem with the LA River -
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I'm able to drive in it.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07Ah.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10LA is susceptible to flooding, which is
0:05:10 > 0:05:14why this huge concrete channel was built in the 1930s.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17But most of the time, the river is just
0:05:17 > 0:05:19a tiny trickle of water down the middle.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22When I first came out to LA in 1989,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26I used to drive across one of these bridges and I used to look down,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and I knew that they'd shot Grease there. And I thought to myself,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32one day, you will shoot your own movie down in that river.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's not the toughest of gigs this, really, is it?
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Just driving up and down. VERY DISTANT BANG Was that a gunshot there?
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Was that a firework or a gunshot?
0:05:40 > 0:05:44This is the problem about filming in downtown LA on the 4th of July -
0:05:44 > 0:05:45you're just not quite sure...
0:05:47 > 0:05:49..if it's a firework or a gunshot?
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Obviously...
0:05:52 > 0:05:54You know...
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I grew up in Belfast, that type of stuff doesn't scare me.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00We should go.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02- Let's go!- Let's go, let's go.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Originally, the river was the city's primary source of water.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09But by the turn of the 19th century,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13LA's population had grown to around 100,000 people.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16A lack of water meant that it could grow no more.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21To find out how they solved the problem, I've come here, to the
0:06:21 > 0:06:24headquarters of the Los Angeles Department Of Power And Water.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Where they have a modest museum in the foyer,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29dedicated to William Mulholland.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35So this is it, this is the Mulholland Museum.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Which I didn't even know existed.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40You guys won't even know it existed.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45I'm looking at an Irishman comes to America, which is just brilliant.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49He was a bit of a rogue, I think.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53He obviously left home, not really getting on with the aul' fella,
0:06:53 > 0:06:54as they say.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Then him and his brother decided to jump on a boat.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00They ended up in Acapulco, as you do.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02And then, from San Francisco,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07they decided to ride horses all the way down to LA.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08Just for the craic.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It's only a small museum,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14but the more I look around it, the more I'm impressed with William.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18From that horseback arrival in LA, he educated himself at home.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20He read books, he studied,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24and he became a self-made superintendent of the water company.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27With a reputation as a can-do kind of guy.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33He used this. This is the Thatcher's calculating instrument.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37It looks like one of those tombolas that you pick a ticket out at Christmas in a bazaar.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38And say, it's a buff-coloured ticket.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42It's essentially a 30-foot engineer's slide rule.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43And he learned to use that.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47I could actually look at that for the length of career that
0:07:47 > 0:07:50William Mulholland had, and I still wouldn't know what that's about.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56So there's one reason, really, why this museum is here.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00It's the turn of the century, LA is pretty small,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02and it's running out of water already.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06And after years of surveys, they chose a water source north of LA.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08How far north?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Well, in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15This is 233 miles from LA.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19So how were they going to get the water?
0:08:19 > 0:08:20Who did they call?
0:08:21 > 0:08:23William Mulholland.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25And he built the Los Angeles Aqueduct,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29from here right the way back to LA.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33And just even seeing this model, it's amazing.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37And that's where I want to go next.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47William's vision, determination and guts to think that he could build
0:08:47 > 0:08:51an aqueduct is only matched by his skill in completing it.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Today, it is still a triumph of engineering.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Crossing valleys, mountains, deserts, right into the heart of California.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05And to see it for myself, I head north to Owens Valley.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10It is here, 100 years ago, that they discovered the Owens River.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Fed year-round by the melting snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I've arranged to meet the current chief engineer, Jim,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21at the start of William's aqueduct.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28This is the spot where the Owens River was diverted to bring
0:09:28 > 0:09:34water into the human-made ditch that flows south and eventually goes
0:09:34 > 0:09:38into it a concrete-lined section, it goes into the pipes that
0:09:38 > 0:09:44brings water, strictly by gravity, to Los Angeles, 233 miles south.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46That wouldn't have happened without William Mulholland.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50It was his genius to bring water from this wonderful area
0:09:50 > 0:09:53that has snowpack, to Los Angeles.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58- And over 100 years later, this is still bringing the water to LA?- Yes.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01This provides, on a typical year,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04a third of the city of Los Angeles' water.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06A third.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09To do this today would be pretty impressive.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12To do it back then, with what Mulholland had...
0:10:12 > 0:10:13What was he actually working with?
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Well, back then we didn't have aeroplanes.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18We didn't have computers.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22We did not understand geology like we do today.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26So back then, they were doing just simple civil engineering
0:10:26 > 0:10:29calculations for hydraulics.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32But the physical labour to bring this in was basically mules
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and horses to actually bring the materials up.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38They had 4,000 people labour.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43And then, they had to build labour camps to feed all these people.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45And the weather here is extreme.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49It gets extremely cold and extremely hot.
0:10:49 > 0:10:50So that was quite a challenge.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53But they were able to do it within that five-year period.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55A remarkable feat of engineering,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58and a remarkable feat of human beings.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59Pretty incredible.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03The aqueduct starts as an open ditch.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06But to get it over hills further south,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08a pipeline had to be constructed.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Jim directs me to a section of the aqueduct that passes right
0:11:12 > 0:11:14through the heart of the Mojave Desert.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18Phew!
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This is Jawbone Canyon.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26It's pleasantly warm, folks.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Just in around your 40 degrees Celsius.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34There's no real place on the aqueduct that shows you better what
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Mulholland had to do to get the water to LA.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40On this side, we've got 1000 feet, on this side,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42we've got 500 feet on this side.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45So rather than go around it, Mulholland said, right,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47we're going to take a pipe,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49we're going to run it down,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51across the bottom and straight back up.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54And you look at it now and you think to yourself, well, that's not
0:11:54 > 0:11:57very impressive, Paddy, he can pump it down and pump it up...
0:11:57 > 0:11:59But he didn't pump it.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01It was all done with gravity.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04And it's an amazing feat of engineering.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09And the miracle today is that a third of LA's water, today,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12still comes down that pipe,
0:12:12 > 0:12:13along the bottom,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and straight back up that hill.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18It's pretty impressive.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26This place is round the corner from Death Valley.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29So that means summer highs of 40 degrees Celsius,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31plus nightly lows of -10.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37But despite all this, the aqueduct was constructed on time,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and, believe it or not, on budget.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42To understand what a miracle this was,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45I've come to the nearby Eastern California Museum.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53This is the stuff that built the aqueduct.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56These huge, huge pipes that they used. They went on this.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00And teams of men pulled it through in the heat of the day.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It's half one in the afternoon,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and I can't put my hand on that because of the heat.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And yet the lads were pulling this stuff through.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14And so, the sheer effort that they had to go through to make
0:13:14 > 0:13:17this thing happen in the middle of the desert.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19You know, "Kielty, come on!
0:13:19 > 0:13:21"Shift this! You're behind on your shift!"
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I can barely lift that, it's not even full of concrete.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28And it's all just lying here. It's just rotten.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32This is the graveyard to the whole thing.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Some of this stuff should probably be in LA.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41And some of this stuff should probably be in Belfast.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44You know, there's enough stuff lying here that nobody really cares about,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48that they should bring some of this stuff home.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Let people know what Mulholland did.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00The day the water arrived in LA,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04tens of thousands of people turned up to see it.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Mulholland was hailed as the conquering hero,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and given an honorary degree.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13So this is where the water comes into LA, the LA Cascades.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Which, as you can see by the pipe running down the side,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18is completely unnecessary.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20But then again, this is LA.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22So I can imagine the chat.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25"All right so, I've build the world's longest aqueduct,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27"I'm just going to bring it in and just pipe it under the city."
0:14:27 > 0:14:30"No, whaddaya mean, you're going to pipe it under the city?"
0:14:30 > 0:14:32"I'll just bring it in, bring the water."
0:14:32 > 0:14:34"Come on, Willie - we need the people to see something.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37"This is showbiz, this is LA, Willie. Come on, whaddaya got for us?"
0:14:37 > 0:14:42"Erm... I don't know. I could maybe throw a couple of blocks in."
0:14:42 > 0:14:44"OK, we like blocks. Now what do the blocks do?"
0:14:44 > 0:14:47"Erm... The blocks make the water sort of bubble a bit."
0:14:47 > 0:14:51"I like that! Will the light glisten off it?" "The light'll glisten off it."
0:14:51 > 0:14:54"Will the people of LA be impressed by this, Willie?"
0:14:54 > 0:14:56"I think it'll be OK." "They better be impressed, Willie,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59"or this will be the last job you'll ever have in this town!"
0:14:59 > 0:15:01"OK. Here's the Cascades."
0:15:01 > 0:15:04With the water came massive expansion.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09And because of the aqueduct, the population of Los Angeles exploded.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14In the 20 years from construction starting, LA grew seven times over.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18William though he'd given the city water for years to come.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22But within a few years of opening those floodgates, guess what?
0:15:22 > 0:15:24The city needed more.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Because the city had effectively bought up the entire Owens Valley,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32originally to protect the supply and the quality, they now had full
0:15:32 > 0:15:36water rights, and so could start pumping water out of the water table.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Which is exactly what they did.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49So, as LA became the fastest-growing city in the whole of America,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52what were the effects on the Owens Valley?
0:15:52 > 0:15:57And I can't imagine that William Mulholland was exactly popular.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59We're now driving into the Owens Valley.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04Into one of these towns that has basically been pumped dry of water.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And I have absolutely no idea what type of reception
0:16:07 > 0:16:12we're going to get when we mention my man.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I'm a bit nervous, if I'm being very honest.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24We actually tried to call someone up here to talk to.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27And we thought, you know, we're doing a documentary
0:16:27 > 0:16:29about something that happened years and years ago,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and someone will say, ah, yes, I remember that.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34And the conversation basically went like this:
0:16:34 > 0:16:36"Hello, we're from the BBC,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39"we would like to talk to you about William Mulholland."
0:16:39 > 0:16:41"How did you get this number? What are you doing?
0:16:41 > 0:16:44"Don't you ever call this number again!
0:16:44 > 0:16:47"I have a dog and a gun, and I will use it!"
0:16:47 > 0:16:48Click.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52This is really the only contact that we've actually had with
0:16:52 > 0:16:54people just up the road here.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55So, erm...
0:16:55 > 0:16:57This could be, could be fun.
0:16:57 > 0:16:58Could be fun.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01Or not fun.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Probably more "not fun" than "fun", I'd imagine.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15En route, I pull off the main highway towards the Owens Lake,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17fed by the Owens River.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Which, according to Google Maps, has plenty of water.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24This is what the Owens Lake is.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29And it's huge, it looks like it's ten miles long, six miles wide,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33and we've come up to take a look at what this looks like.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Oh-ho!
0:17:39 > 0:17:40There's nothing here.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44There's basically no lake.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49But there's a lovely lakeside village there.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52And I should probably go and maybe have a chat with them,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57and see what they make of their lakeside properties.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00This is going to be messy.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Keeler, population 50.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14We come in peace.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16People of Keeler, we come in peace.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40So, this would have been the local pool,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45where people would have hung out and had fun, had a few margaritas.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49When there was...water.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Um...I find this very, very sad.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59You see, I thought I was going to come up here
0:18:59 > 0:19:05and I was going to feel, oh, isn't this terrible, what they did to here?
0:19:05 > 0:19:10And now, I kind of feel really, really guilty. I feel...
0:19:11 > 0:19:18I feel the place that I live in LA is the reason why this is like this.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22And I know this is in the middle of nowhere,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24and I know there's only a few houses,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28and I know that LA needed the water and it was a huge, big city,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32but it doesn't really make this any less tragic, really.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Keeler seems deserted,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41apart from some weird sprinklers out on the lake.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46I need to find answers. But first, I need to find people.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00There doesn't seem to be anybody. I mean actually anybody living here.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06There's a sign on the wall there which says, "We don't dial 911."
0:20:06 > 0:20:09And there's two guns beside that.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11With an American flag.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Hang on, so we've been here a little while
0:20:20 > 0:20:25and this is the only person so far that appears to be alive.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30So I'm going to chance my arm and go and say howdy-doody
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and hopefully she doesn't have a gun.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40She's smiling.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42It's a good sign.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45How you guys doing? Hot and muggy here today.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- It's all that rain. - Hey, how are you doing?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50- OK.- I'm Patrick.- I'm Suzanne.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52- Suzanne, very nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55You are the only person I've seen in the entire place.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- Are you serious?- Yeah.- Oh, my gosh.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00- It's, um...- Well, there's a few of 'em.- Yeah?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03There's supposed to be 50 population,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05but I've never seen all of them at once.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09- Probably 30.- At any one time?- Yeah.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Suzanne Seymour Heckerthorn lives in an abandoned petrol station
0:21:13 > 0:21:15that used to belong to her parents.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19AMERICAN ACCENT: But no-one seems to be stoppin' here no more.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24- You know, we've just driven in. - Right.- And we were coming...
0:21:24 > 0:21:26I looked at the map and there was a big lake
0:21:26 > 0:21:30and I thought I'd come and have a look at the lake.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32What's happened to the...?
0:21:32 > 0:21:35- Oh, Los Angeles has the water.- Yeah?
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Were hoping they'll give it back someday so that we have,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40you know, lakefront property.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44So that's why you've got the Los Angeles T-shirt on, is it?
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Yeah. Give us back our water!
0:21:45 > 0:21:47So, what happened here?
0:21:47 > 0:21:50There were, like, more than 3,000 people lived here at one time.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54- Really?- They had a Sears. A Sears, yeah!
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- There was a Sears here? - Yes.- A department store?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Yeah, there were all kinds of stores and everything,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02there were a couple of hotels, probably 40 years ago.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08They started draining the lake and so what we ended up with was
0:22:08 > 0:22:14a dry lake bed, and when the wind blows, we get the soda ash.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It's like a white dust.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18So, when it's blowing like that,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22I just close all the windows in the house and just stay in there
0:22:22 > 0:22:25until, you know, I can come out again.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- So that's why they...?- So many people in this town have lung disease.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- Really?- Yeah.- And it's all because you think the...?
0:22:33 > 0:22:35I think it has a lot to do
0:22:35 > 0:22:38with the stuff they're breathing off that lake.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42So what happens out on the lake bed now?
0:22:42 > 0:22:45They have a project going where they're putting down straw,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48they're putting straw out, big bales of straw,
0:22:48 > 0:22:53and they're putting three plants to each bale
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and it's a certain plant, I guess, that grows pretty fast
0:22:56 > 0:23:00and will spread, and they're hoping that it will make it
0:23:00 > 0:23:04cover over that soda ash so that it doesn't blow any more.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09- Ah, OK.- Yeah, and they have water systems that are watering it,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14so we're really curious to find out if it's going to work or not.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I hope it does.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I really admire Suzanne's spirit.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27She's a survivor in a town that's clearly struggling.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Further north, on the main truck route,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36I hit Lone Pine, which seems like it's caught in a time warp.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Even though they're not next to a dried-up lake bed,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51there's only one topic that they're touchy about -
0:23:51 > 0:23:53water.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57I really want to find out more answers
0:23:57 > 0:24:01about what people up here think about William Mulholland.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06So, wanting to blend in, I stop at Lloyd's of Lone Pine Western Wear.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09AMERICAN ACCENT: Established in 1838, son.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13So, we think that, or is there another one you'd maybe recommend?
0:24:13 > 0:24:17- What do you think?- It looks good, but how does it feel?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20You want to be able to snug it down. You snug it down like this.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22- OK.- Yeah, right here, front and back.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- You put your hands like this.- Yeah?
0:24:25 > 0:24:28No, like this, son. There you go.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30And snug it down in a windstorm.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33You see, this bit here is hitting the top of my head now.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35- Is that what it should be doing? - Yeah.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38It's got a sweat in it so it conforms,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40you know, in a floating band, you know.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42The good thing about it is that, you know,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46my genetic make-up means that I am sweating in this.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- Just as we stand here, this is good. - Are you? Are you nervous?
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- I'm sweating like a priest in a playground here.- Are you?- Yeah.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- On the boys' choir?- Yeah.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56LAUGHTER
0:24:56 > 0:24:58OK, let's go and have a wee look at this.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59'After a bit of hat chat,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03'I feel confident that I can ask some more searching questions.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07'And Rod Ayers soon tells me about how this city of LA
0:25:07 > 0:25:10'got hold of the water in the Owens Valley.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12'They started by buying up the land.'
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Can you answer me just a couple of wee things about the town?
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Because, you know, I was told
0:25:17 > 0:25:21that this is the town that's most affected by the water going to LA.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24And yet it seems to be, you know,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27a really nice, little picture-postcard town.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30No. You go looking around the country, we're dry.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Yeah?
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Go film some of the creeks, they ain't even going across the road.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Did this town do anything when the water was sent down,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40- or could anyone do anything?- No.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43It bought ranches in blocks.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45The city of Los Angeles owns the land.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49They were supposed to give the ranches irrigation water
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and everything, but they're sticking all the water out here
0:25:53 > 0:25:55on the lake for environmental reasons - dust control.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59They said that's the nastiest lake in the state of California.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03And because the city of Los Angeles owns the land for its water,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08very little development has taken place here for the past 100 years.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Thankfully, though, they still have a saloon,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26where I'd arranged to meet some of the old-timers to find out more.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Please, sir?
0:26:32 > 0:26:33- Can I get a beer, please?- Yeah.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37'The problem is, everyone gets a little camera shy.'
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Seven, eight, nine, ten, and ten is 20.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49'After a frosty reception,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52'things start to thaw out a little bit with the barman Gary.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56'And, when I discover he's from Irish descent, he starts opening up.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59'He tells me about the story of Mark Berry.'
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Mark Berry was one of the locals back in the day
0:27:02 > 0:27:05that was disgruntled about the aqueduct
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and there was a lot being said about him and the aqueduct, him and some friends.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12They were trying to block the aqueduct, type of thing.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- I don't know the whole history of it.- Oh, really, yeah?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17But, um...Mark was one of those guys.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20But he works for DWP now, so I'd be surprised if you can talk to him.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Hang on, so he was one of the guys who tried to block it,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- and now he's working for them? - They tried to blow it up.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Oh, they tried to blow it up?
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Come on, you know. You don't need to be shy about that.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35- I'm from Belfast, you know, that's like...- OK, then you know.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37- Yeah, you know...- But they...
0:27:37 > 0:27:41They, er... I mean, there'll be a lot if you're just looking for
0:27:41 > 0:27:43"history" history, kind of,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46- but if you're talking about how people felt...- Yeah.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50I don't know, off camera, on camera, could be two different things,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54- you know what I mean?- Yeah, it's the way of the world, you know.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Know this - it's a very interesting, rich history about how it all went down.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03I decide to stay for a while
0:28:03 > 0:28:06and see if anybody else will talk about the bombings.
0:28:10 > 0:28:11Spots.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19That was a nice, strange chat there.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25We were meant to be coming in here and... We were meant to be, er...
0:28:28 > 0:28:32..talking to a couple of the old guys about what went on.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Um...and nobody would talk, nobody would talk,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39they all got a bit camera shy.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43And it all was a little bit weird, and then Gary the, er...
0:28:44 > 0:28:48..Gary the barman, er...
0:28:48 > 0:28:50said nobody wants to talk.
0:28:52 > 0:28:58But then Gary the barman decided to talk, which was very interesting.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01So Gary the barman has, er...
0:29:02 > 0:29:08..has let the dirty secret of the Lone Pine...out of the bag.
0:29:10 > 0:29:11Hm...
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Things are not what they seem.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Off camera in the bar, I learned that it was kids
0:29:20 > 0:29:25who blew up the aqueduct in 1976 with some stolen dynamite.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28But it wasn't just an isolated incident.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31The aqueduct has been regularly attacked
0:29:31 > 0:29:33since the very day it was completed.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40Next morning, and I'm at the Alabama Hills diverting station,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43which is a gate that allows the aqueduct water
0:29:43 > 0:29:45to be sent back into the Owens River.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48And this was the scene of the crime.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51No-one was proud enough to go on camera
0:29:51 > 0:29:56and talk to me about it in a bar. And it weirdly felt like being back home,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01in that Northern Ireland, oh, we did stuff in the '70s we're proud of,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04but we don't want to tell you what we did.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10But yet, if it gets to a point where the only way...
0:30:10 > 0:30:13And remember, this was 63 years later.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16..that they had to blow this up to get the water back into their valley,
0:30:16 > 0:30:18well, that was desperation.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23And so, what Mulholland did to these people...
0:30:24 > 0:30:26..it's not right.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29I don't think.
0:30:30 > 0:30:31But, um...
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Oh, I'm doing my great or good thing now.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Oh, I don't know.
0:30:42 > 0:30:48So, Lone Pine's population - 2,000. LA - population 4 million.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51It's easy to see who needs the water more.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53It was all done for the greater good.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56The Owens Valley had to lose its water so that LA could grow
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and the people of LA could use the water wisely.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Or maybe not.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03I've come back to LA
0:31:03 > 0:31:07to see how the Owens Valley water is being used today.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10You see, that's kind of what it should be.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Right, without irrigation, that's basically LA.
0:31:14 > 0:31:15There.
0:31:18 > 0:31:19And then...
0:31:23 > 0:31:25But you don't want that.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30You want this. Look at the lovely lawn.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38There we go. Just going to put some greenery over the walls.
0:31:38 > 0:31:39Oh, yeah.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44And a space rocket. Every home should have one.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48With some reindeers...in July.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Now I can't decide
0:31:56 > 0:32:00whether William did something brilliant or something monstrous.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Was it for the greater good, or was it for the greater bad?
0:32:03 > 0:32:06So I've agreed to meet up with his great-granddaughter
0:32:06 > 0:32:10and the current family historian, Christine Mulholland.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I don't know much about him. What type of man was he?
0:32:16 > 0:32:21He was a family man, he had five children...who lived.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24A couple who didn't. Loved his wife dearly.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28He loved his adopted city, he just wanted to work and serve the people.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33He taught himself hydrology, geology...
0:32:34 > 0:32:35..mathematics.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40He was a self-taught engineer, he read and taught himself.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Which makes the building of the aqueduct even more remarkable.
0:32:44 > 0:32:50More fantastic, isn't it? He really just knew how to figure things out.
0:32:50 > 0:32:56Mm. Where do you think William stood on the purchase of the land
0:32:56 > 0:32:57up in Owens Valley?
0:32:57 > 0:33:00From my understanding, and what I've been able to find out,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03he wasn't involved in the land purchases themselves.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08But that had to happen in order to get enough water rights
0:33:08 > 0:33:10to make the project work.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13They had to keep it kind of on the down-low
0:33:13 > 0:33:15because if the people in Owens Valley,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17the farmers and landowners up there,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21knew that Los Angeles - deep pockets -
0:33:21 > 0:33:25- wanted to buy the land, that the prices would have gone sky-high. - Yes.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28You know, do it surreptitiously, on the sly, on the quiet.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31But people sold their property willingly.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35You see, there was no arm twisting, and this is one of the things
0:33:35 > 0:33:39that some people are still pissed off in Owens Valley about -
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Los Angeles taking the water. But people willingly sold their land.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45And the land had water rights to it.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51Do you think people looking back now, in a different era,
0:33:51 > 0:33:56- with a different set of values, judge him slightly harsher?- Absolutely.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Because 100 years ago,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01we didn't really know a whole lot about the environment.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03We didn't have the kind of water laws California has now.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06You cannot take water out of one basin
0:34:06 > 0:34:08and put it in another in California any more.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10We have come beyond that.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12But in that day and age,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16it was really looking at the greater good for the greatest number.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21And that water up there wasn't serving very many people.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25But it could serve a lot of people if it was moved.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29So, yeah, people judge in hindsight, which is 20-20.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32"Oh, man, we wouldn't..." Well, we couldn't do that today.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34We wouldn't and we shouldn't do that today.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't honour the people
0:34:38 > 0:34:43who were great visionaries of their time, to create something like this.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47I think that the vast majority of people in Los Angeles
0:34:47 > 0:34:49don't really give a shit where their water comes from.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51They don't know where it comes from.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Like every place else in the United States or developed countries,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57"Oh, we just turn on the faucet, that's where the water comes from."
0:34:57 > 0:35:02- It's taken for granted.- "Put the sprinklers out there and let them run all day." They don't know.
0:35:02 > 0:35:03'I liked meeting Christine.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07'I felt that it was like kind of meeting William."
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Her stature, her attitude, her directness,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13and I'm beginning to get a feel of who HE actually was.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17She suggests that I visit the memorial fountain,
0:35:17 > 0:35:18paid for by public donation.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24It looks impressive from a distance, and then you get up close
0:35:24 > 0:35:26and it's a little bit shabby.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31I kind of think he should have more, he's the father of LA water.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And this is what was built to him five years after he died.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40And I'm not sure how happy he would have been about this.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42Mulholland, the man who didn't like fuss
0:35:42 > 0:35:44and was all about getting the job done.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Over here, we have the fussy fountain in his honour.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51And over here, LA in its fourth year of drought.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53No water.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55He wouldn't have liked that.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01William Mulholland devoted his life
0:36:01 > 0:36:04to making sure LA had a constant water supply.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06But having completed the aqueduct,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09he continued building water infrastructure.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16By 1926, William was a star. He was a hero, he was a proper LA celebrity.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18He was even asked to run for mayor.
0:36:18 > 0:36:24Wisely, he said, "I'd rather give birth to a porcupine backwards."
0:36:24 > 0:36:25Smart man.
0:36:27 > 0:36:28As LA continued to grow.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32They needed capacity to store water all year round.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36So William's next challenge was to build two huge concrete dams
0:36:36 > 0:36:39and create massive reservoirs just north of the city,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43the like of which America had never seen before.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48Sister dams, they were called the Mulholland and the St Francis.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51These were to be his legacy.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54But the St Francis dam made him more famous.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58This time, for the wrong reasons.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02Just before midnight, on 12 March 1928.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07The ground on the east side of the dam gave way.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The foundations were lost and water started to pour through.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13The west side quickly followed.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17An entire valley of water started to move towards
0:37:17 > 0:37:20thousands of people sleeping in their beds.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26It took just over an hour
0:37:26 > 0:37:29for the water to pour from behind the St Francis dam.
0:37:29 > 0:37:3512½ billion gallons of water rolled down the hill into the valley.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Here in Santa Paula, 40 miles away from the dam,
0:37:38 > 0:37:43the water was two miles wide and 30 feet high,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45engulfing Main Street.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47It only travelled at 10 miles an hour,
0:37:47 > 0:37:52but in it, farms, forests,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54animals and bodies.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Hundreds died. Hundreds were never found.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02To this day, it is the biggest man-made disaster
0:38:02 > 0:38:04in the history of California.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06And William Mulholland's name was on it.
0:38:17 > 0:38:23The St Francis dam ruins were left abandoned in a remote canyon.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29All that remains today - a pile of concrete and twisted metal.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46You just look back here
0:38:46 > 0:38:49and you see the shadow up the canyon,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53and all of that was water, and it was right the way back.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56You know, the vastness of this is...
0:38:57 > 0:39:00That's where the terrible things happened,
0:39:00 > 0:39:02but the amount of water in here...
0:39:02 > 0:39:05I see why he built it just here, and here's the two shortest points,
0:39:05 > 0:39:09we'll pop this in, we'll have all this water, this'll be great, but...
0:39:09 > 0:39:11It is vast.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16And just this small section was all that was holding it.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19It's hard to believe.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22You know, it's all grown back, the birds are singing,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24you look at this, it doesn't...
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It doesn't really feel real.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33And yet, round that corner, down that hill...
0:39:35 > 0:39:36..hundreds of people died.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46This place looks beautiful, and it feels...
0:39:47 > 0:39:49It doesn't feel like a disaster site.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55And, to be honest, standing here now,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59knowing what happened down there to those people, I...
0:40:00 > 0:40:02..I couldn't give a shit about Mulholland...
0:40:03 > 0:40:05..or his legacy, really.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12You know, that dam broke and those people died, and...
0:40:13 > 0:40:17..if it's on his record, or his legacy, well...
0:40:18 > 0:40:21..it's not really going to bring anybody back, is it?
0:40:33 > 0:40:36The sister to the St Francis dam still stands today,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40looming over the city. It's called the Mulholland Dam,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44and the water it contains is the Hollywood Reservoir,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46just under the famous sign.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49It's where I've agreed to meet Power and Water's
0:40:49 > 0:40:52retired engineer and historian, Fred Barker.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55He studied the disaster at St Francis in detail.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Los Angeles County coroner empanelled a jury to decide
0:40:59 > 0:41:02whether criminal charges should be filed against anyone.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07And this was a jury of engineers and geologists, it was learned people.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10They decided that the dam was built in a bad location.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12A damn should not have been built there.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15It wasn't dug into the sides of the canyon very far,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18it was only shallowly anchored into the walls.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21The foundations on both sides were poor.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Another thing that is true of that dam,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29it was designed to be 175 feet high
0:41:29 > 0:41:32and store 30,000 acre-feet of water.
0:41:32 > 0:41:38As it was being built, they added 10 feet of height to the dam twice.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43So it ended up about 195 feet high and 30,000 acre-feet of water.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48They did not make the dam bigger. They just made it taller.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52And if you think about it, a dam that's not very thick
0:41:52 > 0:41:55doesn't have as much dead weight to keep the water behind it.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58So there was a lot of things that were wrong with that dam.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02So, all of the things that were wrong with that dam,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05were they essentially Mulholland's fault?
0:42:05 > 0:42:07They were...
0:42:07 > 0:42:08They were his fault.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10And the jury found that he was at fault
0:42:10 > 0:42:13and that the city and the department were at fault
0:42:13 > 0:42:17for putting so much authority in the hands of one man.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Granted, he was a smart guy, with a lot of experience.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Had he ever designed a concrete dam before?
0:42:23 > 0:42:25No, he didn't design either of these concrete dams,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29they had a book that they got the dam designs from.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32If you look at the transcript, they say, "Who designed the dam?"
0:42:32 > 0:42:34No-one says, "I did."
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Because no-one really designed it, they just took it out of a book.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Whoa, whoa, hang on. They just said,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42"Let's see, here's one, let's copy this"?
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Yeah, and maybe we need to make it a bit longer
0:42:45 > 0:42:48or a little bit different radius or something,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51but they essentially got the design of the two dams from a book.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55So he was responsible, he took the blame.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Some people think maybe he shouldn't have,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01but I think he should have, and he did himself. He was in charge.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04The things that were done were done under his direction,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06he was the man in charge.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09Having hailed him a superhero, after the disaster
0:43:09 > 0:43:13the people of Hollywood became nervous about the Mulholland dam.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Their faith in William had crumbled and they insisted
0:43:16 > 0:43:20that half the water was drained from the reservoir above their city.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23You know, this town that Mulholland helped to build
0:43:23 > 0:43:28loves a Hollywood ending. They love that happy end to the story.
0:43:28 > 0:43:34And, for me, the Mulholland story, it hasn't got that ending.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36No, it doesn't, unfortunately.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40It's a sad story with a sad ending that he had this great career,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43all these wonderful accomplishments - the aqueduct,
0:43:43 > 0:43:45the water supply, the public service.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48And then, he just...
0:43:48 > 0:43:51It was something beyond him.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53The building of the dam that failed,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56it was beyond his knowledge and his ability.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59It was within his ability and decision-making
0:43:59 > 0:44:00to have it turn out differently.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04And maybe a dam should never have been built there, of any kind.
0:44:04 > 0:44:05But he was the man in charge
0:44:05 > 0:44:08when that dam was built and when it failed,
0:44:08 > 0:44:13so that's the end of his career, that large, large failure.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15What they learned from the collapse
0:44:15 > 0:44:18had a profound effect on dam building around the world.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22And many dams were redesigned, including the great Hoover Dam.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26William was broken-hearted
0:44:26 > 0:44:31and stated publicly that he wished he'd been killed on that day also.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35The events impacted on his health,
0:44:35 > 0:44:38and he retired the year after the disaster.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41He died seven years later.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45My Aunt Katy was 12 when he died.
0:44:45 > 0:44:50And she remembers going to the Rotunda in the Los Angeles City Hall
0:44:50 > 0:44:53where William Mulholland lay in state,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56and thousands of people walked by to view him.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00And she told me that there were these old, grizzled,
0:45:00 > 0:45:05hard-working men who filed by.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10And she said, before that day, she'd never seen a grown man cry.
0:45:10 > 0:45:17These...hard-working labourers respected him so much,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21they called him the Chief, and they cried as they walked by.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27I knew I wasn't going to get a happy ending,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30I knew it wasn't going to be straightforward, but...
0:45:32 > 0:45:36..I thought I was going to get to a point in my own head
0:45:36 > 0:45:39where I was going to be able to say,
0:45:39 > 0:45:44"A-ha, I've found it out, and so now, with my big brain
0:45:44 > 0:45:48"and all this information, ladies and gentlemen, he is this."
0:45:50 > 0:45:52And he is all of it.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57And you can't separate the good, and you can't separate the bad.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01And you can't for a second turn around and say,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05"I'm going to trade off these people's lives
0:46:05 > 0:46:08"that died in a dam that he ordered up out of a book."
0:46:10 > 0:46:14And...this city is still here and...
0:46:17 > 0:46:18It, um...
0:46:19 > 0:46:22..it's almost like it's life, isn't it?
0:46:22 > 0:46:25It's almost like that's the way things are,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27it's never black and white.
0:46:33 > 0:46:34But, um...
0:46:37 > 0:46:44I'm glad I did it, you know. I'm glad I actually went and found it all out.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47And if someone says to me...
0:46:48 > 0:46:52.."Mulholland was the man that stole the water,"
0:46:52 > 0:46:55I'll probably fight them in a bar over that.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57If they, um...
0:46:59 > 0:47:02If they say he was the man that killed those people in the dam,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04I'd probably have to agree.
0:47:05 > 0:47:06And yet...
0:47:09 > 0:47:11And yet I'm proud of him.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26You know, this city wasn't meant to be here, and he...
0:47:26 > 0:47:28he made that happen.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34And I think back, I think back to growing up in Dundrum
0:47:34 > 0:47:37and my dad fixing burst water mains.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42And I think about my grandad in the Mourne Mountains,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44bringing water to people.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48And he did it better than anybody - William Mulholland.