Lahontan Dam
Churchill County, Churchill County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Lahontan Dam. Lahontan Dam, completed in 1915, is the key feature of the Newlands irrigation project that turned Lahontan Valley into one of Nevada’s most productive farming and ranching areas. With the completion of the dam’s powerhouse, the electrical energy needs of Churchill County and the surrounding area were met.The Project was one of the first authorized under the Federal Reclamation Act of 1902 and the 1903 construction contract for Derby Dam and the Truckee Canal was the first entered into by the U.S. Reclamation Service, later the Bureau of Reclamation.This undertaking, originally named the Truckee-Carson Project, was renamed the Newlands Project in 1919, in honor of U.S. Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, an ardent supporter of federal reclamation projects and legislation that made them possible. Operations were transferred to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District in 1926.
Erected by Division Of Historic Preservation And Archaeologydivision Of State Parks
The Story
Completed in 1915, Lahontan Dam is the centerpiece of the Newlands Project, which transformed the Lahontan Valley into one of Nevada's most productive farming and ranching regions and supplied electricity to Churchill County. The project was among the first authorized under the federal Reclamation Act of 1902, and its 1903 contract for Derby Dam and the Truckee Canal was the U.S. Reclamation Service's very first. Originally the Truckee-Carson Project, it was renamed in 1919 for Senator Francis G. Newlands, a champion of federal reclamation.
Why it matters
Lahontan Dam marks the dawn of federal reclamation, the ambitious national effort to engineer water across the arid West and make the desert bloom.
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Related people
- · Francis G. Newlands
Related events
- · Newlands Reclamation Act
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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