Hoover Dam ...

is located on the borders of Nevada and Arizona and is a principal source of flood control, irrigation and electrical power in the Southwest. Hoover Dam was for many years the largest dam in the world. It is now also one of the most interesting attractions in the west and a major tourist attraction. When you drive to the Hoover Dam from the Nevada side there is narrow winding road which ta es you down to the dam site. Dar , roc y canyon walls that angle sharply to the bottom of !lac "anyon face you as you ma e hairpin turns along the canyon walls of the Nevada side down to Hoover Dam. #n entirely different approach to Hoover Dam is ta en from the #ri$ona side. #s one winds into !lac "anyon you see the bac of Hoover Dam and its inta e towers. "urrently this is a pretty good time to see them because the water level is way down. In the past, as we see by the photo on the left from %&&&, the water almost completely covered them.

We will try to give you an impression of what it loo s li e around Hoover Dam, a bit of information and a personal perspective. We try to use the photos ta en through the last ' years to show the effects of the current drought. In (ebruary )**) we were invited by Hoover Dam management to ta e the tour and as many photos as we wanted. Taming the Colorado River ... too thic to drin , too thin to plow .... +ong before there was a Hoover Dam, the "olorado ,iver flowed uninterrupted along its %,-'* mile course from the ,oc y .ountains to the /ulf of "alifornia uninterrupted. (or %) million years the "olorado relentlessly carved out the /rand "anyon, .arble "anyon and other places along its path. #s it cut its way through deserts, canyons and mountainous plateaus, the "olorado carried with it tons of silt to the lower "olorado and eventually out to the /ulf of "alifornia. Spanish settlers noted the reddish color of its silt and they gave it the name we now it by today, the "olorado ,iver. In the past the muddy "olorado ,iver was nown by several names. In %'-*, Hernando de #larcon sailed

to the head of the /ulf of "alifornia and later up the "olorado ,iver which he name ,io de !uena /uia, or 0,iver of /ood /uidance0. #n interesting name considering that he did not find what he was loo ing for in the first place.

... a vengeful and unreliable river .... !efore the Hoover Dam was built, every spring the "olorado ,iver flooded low lying areas along its route. 1he volume of water could often be huge as the "olorado basin drains an area of over )-),*** s2uare miles. 1he silt that it carried created the huge delta in the /ulf of "alifornia. In the always hot southwestern summers, the flow of the "olorado ,iver slowed to a tric le. (or millions of years this was the natural cycle of the river. In the nineteenth century, when the area along the lower "olorado began to be settled, the inconsistent nature of the river made it an unreliable source for irrigation. 1he wanton destruction caused when the river flooded in the spring had a deep impact on the farm lands near its ban s. In fact, the damage caused so much attention that by the %&)*0s, it had become necessary and politically e3pedient to control the damage caused by flooding along the path of the lower "olorado, especially in "alifornia. 1rying to control the "olorado was definitely not a new idea. 4arlier attempts ended in disaster. 1he most famous disaster had almost completely and forever changed the geography and history of the entire lower "olorado region. 1o read more about this ama$ing incident The role played by Herbert Hoover in getting the Hoover Dam Built

!ecause of his long involvement in the project, from his days as Secretary of "ommerce to his tenure as the 5%st president, no other politician was more responsible for the successful completion of Hoover Dam than Herbert Hoover. ... political animosities had to be resolved .... 6olitically, there were an incredible number of obstacles for Hoover to overcome. !efore wor on the Hoover Dam could start, he had to help settle a )' year water allocation controversy between the representatives of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and !oming. 7n November )-, %&)), these states signed the "olorado ,iver "ompact, settling this old conflict. 1he !oulder "anyon 6roject #ct, which authori$ed the construction of Hoover Dam, was enacted on December )%, %&)8. #s 6resident, Herbert Hoover continued his involvement settling some of the engineering problems, water and power allocation rights and even securing the revenue contracts re2uired by congress. 9ictimi$ed by the harsh circumstances of his times, no critic can ever deny that Herbert Hoovers0 greatest achievement was the engineering, organi$ational and political s ills which he showed, to bring about the construction of Hoover Dam. The role pla!ed b! the "ureau of Reclamation It was the policy of the !ureau of ,eclamation to insure that every available drop of water from the various streams and rivers in the dry southwest :nited States was made available for either municipal, agricultural or industrial use. 1o this end, Hoover Dam and the dams which followed it, are very successful. "urrently the lower "olorado river provides water to irrigate over %,***,*** acres in the :nited States and '**, *** acres in Mexico. Hoover Dam is the center piece

to a water conservation and delivery system which provides water to over )),***,*** people in #ri$ona, "alifornia and Nevada. Hoover Dam is One of the Most Successful Public Works Projects Ever If judged by the many benefits it provides, Hoover Dam is without doubt one of the most successful projects ever carried out by this or any other nation. 1he electrical power provided by Hoover Dam goes to Southern "alifornia, ';<, #ri$ona, %&<, and Nevada, which gets )'< of the allocation. # by product of Hoover Dam is the #a$e Mead National Recreation Area. +a e .ead provides year round recreational opportunities. (ishing, boating, swimming, hi ing, camping and sight seeing are among the activities which draw = to 8 million visitors a year to +a e .ead. What must be pointed out is how successfully the !ureau of ,eclamation has alleviated the effects of the current drought which is one of the worst in centuries. In spite of all this even +a e .ead is still a great place to go boating and fishing.