195109-DesertMagazin.. - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

hontan dam. Though we'd seen parts
of it from the highway before, the size
of the lake as seen from the dam was
surprising. Broad, blue, rippled by a
breeze, it filled the valley to the burned,
volcanic desert hills. A sort of haze
against those hills, possibly moisture
evaporating from the lake under the
summer sun, gave them a mirage-like
effect. But the lake should have been
the mirage. What was it doing in the
middle of a sagebrush desert?
These big irrigation projects are so
much a part of the desert landscape
we are used to that we take them for
granted. But in reality they are very
recent developments in our national
scene. This Lake Lahontan, Newlands
or Truckee-Carson Irrigation project,
as it is variously known, is credited
with being the first large-scale federal
irrigation development in the west.
The Reclamation Act of 1902 provided
that "all money received from
sale and disposal of public lands in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Mexico, North Wyoming, beginning
with the fiscal year ending June
30, 1901," with certain reservations,
should be set aside as a special fund
to be used in examination and survey
and for the construction and maintenance
of irrigation works for storage,
diversion and development of water
for the reclamation of arid and semiarid
lands in those states.
Under this act the Truckee-Carson
project was inaugurated in 1903, and
the Reclamation Bureau claimed all
the surplus water of Lake Tahoe and
the Truckee river for it. The great
dam across the Carson river was built
of earth and rock, 129 feet high and
1400 feet long, with a concrete dam
and spillway in the actual bed of the
river. Water from the Truckee was
taken by canal from that river, about
20 miles east of Reno, and carried by
31 miles of canal to the Lahontan
reservoir.
Most of the actual construction was
carried on by a force of between 250
and 300 men, and a great many teams,
aided by electrical and other machinery.
A modern camp was constructed
for these workers about seven miles
south of Hazen on the Goldfield branch
of the Southern Pacific railroad. The
camp and railroad station there were
known as Lahontan.
The main dam structures were completed
about 1915, making a reservoir
that holds 290,000 acre-feet of water
when full. These waters are released
when needed and carried to the Carson
diversion dam, five miles below,
where they are distributed through 600
miles of canals and laterals. Power
is generated below the dam and carried
to Fallon and from there to Fernley,
Wadsworth, Stillwater and most
of the rural sections of the project.
With this water and power, what was
once the dreaded Carson desert is producing
Heart of Gold cantaloupes,
turkeys and a multitude of agricultural
products known throughout the west.
The district's population, in 1947, was
estimated at 8000 with 1250 farms
under cultivation.
Following the loop road from the
dam back to the paving, which we
reached about a tenth of a mile from
the point we had left it, we continued
directly across the highway to what
was left of the old construction camp.
It lay between the pavement and the
railroad track. Two tall rock and concrete
chimneys and a ruined concrete
Above — Stone ruins along the
pioneer road, not far from Lake
Lahontan and Highway 50. Local
residents say these buildings once
were part of the Pony Express
system and were known as Fort
Finley. Quite possibly they were
one of the "swing" stations on the
Overland Stage line.
Below—Lahontan dam and lake,
near Fallon, Nevada. Started in
1903, this is credited with being
the first large-scale irrigation project
undertaken by the federal government
in the western desert
area. Its waters have converted
parts of formerly desolate Carson
sink into the heart of Nevada's
farming and ranching country.
16 DESERT MAGAZINE