Conflict Over Water

Conflict Over Water. . , Controlling the flow of water through Lake Tahoe's Truckee River outlet, The Donner Lumber and Boom Company built the first dam across the Truckee River outlet in Tahoe City in 1872. Water released through the dam controlled the flow of logs to lumber mills downstream., Afterwards, conflicts over the rights to regulate the flow of water released into the Truckee River regularly occurred between competing interests., In the early 1900s the federal government attempted to resolve the long-standing disputes. Congress authorized the U.S. Reclamation Service as part of the Newland Reclamation Project to take control of the land surrounding the outlet, construct a new concrete dam and regulate water flow., Annual variations in rainfall and water levels hampered the agency's efforts. For example, heavy snowfall in the mountains surrounding the Tahoe basin in the winter of 1915-1916 caused the lake's water level to rise the following summer, resulting in flooding. Angry property owners fired off a mass of lawsuits in response. Then in 1934 drought gripped the area and desperate farmers climbed the outlet dam with earthmoving equipment intent on cutting the rim to save their crops.