William Mulholland and Fred Eaton were the masterminds behind the idea that was driven by personal gain. They set their eyes on the Owens River, and portrayed its acquisition as an extremely urgent matter for Los Angeles. In reality, however, the majority of the water was to be used for irrigating the San Fernando Valley, where a syndicate of investors had been actively purchasing land with the assurance that the value would increase substantially.
             The people of the Owens Valley community had plans for the water as well. Most of the residents were farmers and ranchers who were anticipating an economic outbreak of their own as soon as the newly found Reclamation Service completed its irrigation project in the Owens Valley. The United States Reclamation Act of 1902 gave the United Stat
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