When the transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869, the country was connected from east to west. Many small towns and cities grew up along the railroad route. In the 1880s, the price to travel between the Midwest and Los Angeles was lowered to just $1. Thousands of Midwesterners took the opportunity move to the West.

Rather than settling in the towns and cities in the central and eastern parts of the West, people went to coastal cities like Los Angeles. The cities in the West had a lot to offer in terms of business opportunities and had mild climates. Los Angeles was originally a cattle town. The ranchers provided beef for the gold miners in San Francisco during the gold rush. However, by the 1920s both the aircraft industry and the motion picture industries were attracting new residents.

By 1973, the California Aqueduct was completed. This is a system of large pipes to carry water from the Sacramento Valley to the growing population of Los Angeles. The large city is located in an area that often sees droughts. Water is scarce in the area and so the aqueduct project was one way to meet the needs of the growing population. Since that first project, California has added several other water transport systems to get water to its people. Take a look at the map below to see where water in California comes from.