User:Emilyboyd3/sandbox

Article Evaluation

The "Environmental Issues" section of the Lake Tahoe Wikipedia page is fairly limited, with 3 small sections covering water quality, ecosystem changes, and environmental protection. Each section jumps around somewhat without going into much detail. There is no mention of the ecosystem within and around Lake Tahoe.

Besides this, one of the links leads to a nonexistent article, but most of the sources seem reliable and neutral.

This is a B class article, and is of high importance to Wiki Projects, including Nevada, California, and Lakes. There is not much happening on the Talk page, other than a few requests to add more pictures and an explanation of why this is not considered a Good Article.

Possible Topics

1. Truckee River (considered a stub article of some importance)
2. Lake Tahoe (a B class article, but I believe that the environmental issues section could use some work)
3. Lake Tahoe Dam (this is definitely a stub article, but I am not sure how much information I could really add to it, as it is not a major dam like Folsom)

COMMENT: Great topics, what are the gaps that you'll contribute? E.g. what sections of Truckee River would you work on? My sense is Lake Tahoe is pretty well covered. What environmental issues would you add to? Lake Tahoe Dam could be very interesting since it has very little on the history and operation of that dam. Try to figure this out and then identify which sources will get you started on that work. Julianfulton (talk) 04:53, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

Lake Tahoe Dam

The Tahoe Dam regulates the top six feet of Lake Tahoe, and distributes the water into Tahoe's primary outflow, the Truckee River.

Tahoe Dam is situated 400 feet downstream from the lake's natural shore. This is meant to help hydraulic control during a dry season with low water levels.

History

Early Controversy

In the early 1860's, Russian born and San Francisco based engineer Alexis Waldemar Von Schmidt bought a large amount of land in the Tahoe-Truckee area with the hope of sending water westward to San Francisco via an aqueduct. He created the Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Water Works Company in 1865 in order to see his plan come to life. However, Von Schmidt was shut down by California Legislature in 1870. Instead of allowing an aqueduct to be built from Tahoe to San Francisco, the California Legislature granted the Donner Lumber and Boom Company, which was then owned by Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford, the right to build a dam on Tahoe's outlet. A small dam was then built from lumber and rocks. However, this did not discourage Von Schmidt, who, in the following year, continued to push for the ability to divert water to San Francisco. He eventually proposed his idea to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which was to channel the water from the Truckee River to Squaw Valley, which would lead to the North Fork of the American River, and then finally through an aqueduct towards San Francisco. This project, in total would have cost $10 million at the time (today roughly $200 million) and had been approved by the San Francisco city supervisors, but was ultimately shut down by the mayor of San Francisco, who was wary of the possible lawsuits over water rights which could come his way.

Newlands Reclamation Act

In 1892, newly-elected House of Representatives member from Nevada, Francis G. Newlands, began advocating for more irrigation in the western United States in order to further the United States' agricultural growth. His advocacy had begun when he first moved to Nevada in 1888 and began to dream up a new irrigation system for the west. Newlands called his project the Truckee Irrigation Project, which ultimately was unsuccessful as a private venture. However, although Newlands did not find success in his short career as an entrepreneur, his quest for more irrigation became part of the reason why Newlands was voted into office. It was not until 1901, however, when Theodore Roosevelt became President, that there was any real progress made towards implementing the irrigation systems. With President Roosevelt's support, Representative Newlands was finally able to successfully push his bill through.

Francis G. Newlands

On June 17, 1902, Congress passed the Newlands Reclamation Act, thus creating what is now known as the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). The first of five projects created from the Reclamation Act was the Truckee-Carson Project, later renamed the Newlands Project, as Representative Newlands had been the bills main figurehead. Construction for the Newlands Project began in 1903 and they quickly made progress on building the Derby Dam and the Truckee Canal.

Newlands Project

In 1909, the Newlands Project set out to obtain the rights to the Tahoe Dam, which at that point had been owned by Truckee River General Electric Company. Although the agreement was not fully reached until June 4, 1915, rights of ownership for Tahoe Dam were given to the US government. Rights to control Tahoe Dam and some 14 acres surrounding the outlet was purchased for a total of $139,500 by the federal government. Prior to this change of ownership, both the Truckee River General Electric and the USBR contributed to the replacement of the small original rock-filled wooden dam with a more sustainable concrete slab and buttress structure dam. Tahoe Dam was slightly modernized in 1987 by the Safety of Dams Program, and it is this version of the dam which still in operation today.

In total, the Newlands Project led to the creation of many irrigation systems within Nevada and California including:

• Lake Tahoe Dam
• Lahontan Dam, Reservoir, and Power Plant
• Truckee Canal
• Carson River Diversion Dam
• Derby Diversion Dam

Paiute Tribe Lawsuit

As the USBR stated intent to repair the Tahoe Dam in 1987 in order to enhance its seismic resistance, the Paiute Tribe took advantage of this occasion to file a lawsuit against the federal government. In what became the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Indians v. Secretary of the Interior Hodel, the Paiute Tribe fought against how specific operations of the dam negatively impacted Pyramid Lake's endangered cui-iu fish species. The main problem which the Paiute Tribe had identified was that part of the Truckee River naturally flows into Pyramid Lake within the Paiute Reservation. However, with irrigation interference from the U.S. Government, Pyramid Lake received less water than it needed for its ecosystem to thrive. It was found that the endangerment of the cui-ui was directly related to the amount of water within Pyramid Lake. The court decided on August 9, 1989 that water would be stored in the Stampede Reservoir for the purpose of releasing it into Pyramid Lake as needed to partially make up for what water was being lost within the irrigation systems created and sustained by the Newlands Project.

Local Landmark

Tahoe Dam from the local landmark, Fanny Bridge

After having been built in the early 1900's, Tahoe Dam has become a beloved local landmark for Tahoe City and the greater Tahoe-Truckee area. It was recognized on a national level and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 1981. (this is a part of the existing article, therefore existing citation, explain why it was moved and changed).

Another landmark associated with Tahoe Dam would be the famed Fanny Bridge, a small two-lane bridge connecting North Shore and West Shore of Lake Tahoe, located in Tahoe City and directly across from Tahoe Dam.