From the time it was founded as a small settlement in the late 18th century, Los Angeles depended on its own river for water, building a system of reservoirs and open ditches as well as canals to irrigate nearby fields. As the city grew, however, it became clear that this supply of water would be insufficient if Los Angeles were to become a major American metropolis, as city boosters wanted. In the early 20th century, efforts to channel water from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the city and the surrounding region culminated in the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913.Because a Drought hit the Los Angeles region in the first years of the 20th century, highlighting an urgent need to find a better, more consistent water supply if city leaders were to transform the city into a major West Coast metropolis. Through the end of the 19th century, a private corporation called the Los Angeles City Water Company had maintained control over and responsibility for the city’s water supply system. In 1902, the municipal government bought the franchise, retaining the City Water Company’s superintendent, William Mulholland, as head of the new Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Mulholland, a self-trained engineer born in Ireland, had begun his career as a ditch-cleaner for the water company and risen to become its superintendent at the age of 31.