| · Klamath Project 1912 - 1962 |
1911 Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge established. Construction begins on the Lost River Diversion Dam and Lost River Diversion Channel.
1912 Reclamation begins experimental farms in drained Tule Lake marshes, but plowing and growing prove difficult.
1913 Russian and Swiss immigrant farmers arrive, but most leave, unable to pay their bills.
1917 175 homesteaders file for 42 tracts of land. Klamath Falls begins to grow rapidly; other towns, including Merrill and Malin and Midland grow more slowly or lose residents. Reclamation signs an agreement with the California-Oregon Power Company (COPCO) to build and operate the Link River Dam.
1920 Construction begins on the Link River Dam July 29 at the mouth of Upper Klamath Lake.
1921 Construction begins on the Lower Lost River Diversion Dam (Anderson-Rose Dam) and the J Canal to serve the Tulelake area.
1922 Homestead entries are opened to World War I veterans. Work begins on the Malone Dam. During winter, workers use steam to heat water to mix the concrete and build fires to keep it warm while it set. During the 1920s, labor shortages are frequent. Laborers earn between $3.60 and $4.50, but surrounding farms are paying $4 to $5 a day.
1923 W.E. McAboy is hired to build portions of the West Canal, but leaves the job in October after apparently using his contract payments to pay old debts. He pays his workers with bogus checks and skips the country.
1924 Construction begins on the Miller Diversion Dam, Gerber Dam and North Canal in Langell Valley.
1925 Potatoes and alfalfa become important Basin crops.
1926 Horsefly, Langell Valley, Sunnyside, Malin and Shasta irrigation districts are formed about this time. Klamath Falls grows to 10,000. Water is being delivered to about 21,000 acres. Depression and war
1928 Tule Lake and Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuges are established.
1935 Two Civilian Conservation Corps work camps are established on the Klamath Project. In the 1920s and 30s, Reclamation widens and lines existing canals, replaces the C Canal wooden flume with a concrete one, and expands and modifies Clear Lake Dam.
1940 Construction begins on the Tule Lake division with the P and P-1 Canals. Workers begin the Sheepy Ridge tunnel, a 6,600-foot east-west culvert that drains Tule Lake into lower Klamath Lake.
1941 Pumping plant D is built to lift water from Tule Lake into the tunnel. With World War II, armed guards are stationed at project facilities and the Army selects the area for an internment camp. Housing for up to 16,000 Japanese-American citizens is constructed. Some German prisoners of war are also located at a site northwest of Tule Lake. They are put to work clearing moss from canals.
1946 Lands for relocation camps are returned to the Project. A second wave of homestead entries attracts World War II veterans.
1956 The Federal Energy Regulatory licenses a series of dams on the Klamath River.
1957 The Klamath River Compact between Oregon and California and the U.S. sets goals and objectives for water management on the Klamath.
1958 The Klamath Forest National Wildlife Refuge is established.
1962 Iron Gate Dam is built on the Klamath River. |
|
Updated Wednesday, February 15, 2006 |
|
