Myles Dungan tells the story of two ambitious and controversial water projects, led by two determined Irish engineers - Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy and William Mulholland - which changed the history of the state of California.

The Waterboys

This is a programme on two Irishmen and the politics of water in California. The connection between the 1974 movie Chinatown and an Irish water engineer is tenuous, but only because Hollywood, as it does, thoroughly fictionalised the murky tale of how Dubliner William Mulholland brought a fresh supply of water to Los Angeles in the early 20th century – water that allowed the city to grow at a phenomenal rate, but which also lined the pockets of a group of wealthy and unscrupulous Angelenos.

Meanwhile another Irishman, Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy from Limerick, was enabling the growth of the city of San Francisco in like manner.

Two ambitious and controversial water projects led by two determined Irish engineers changed the history of the state of California and helped it on its way to becoming the sixth biggest economy in the world.

In this programme we hear from the following guests:

Mark Brilliant is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley and an expert in the history of California and the American West.

Glen Gendzel is Professor of History at San Jose State University and an expert in the history of California

Anthony Bucher is the President of the San Francisco Irish Literary and Historical Society.