Los Angeles city officials, led by William Mulholland, purchased land and water rights in Owens Valley under false pretenses of local use, and instead constructed an aqueduct to transport the water to LA. The aqueduct opened in 1913, fueling rapid population growth and development in LA. As the Owens Valley dried up due to water diversion, local resentment grew and bombings of the aqueduct occurred. Mulholland later oversaw construction of the St. Francis Dam, which catastrophically failed in 1928, killing over 450 people.