Water Supply Sites

An early Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in Fremont, Nebraska was described as follows: Water extension from Broad street to Nye avenue on Twenty-third street. This included the laying of 1,294 feet of 6 inch water main and the placing of two fire hydrants to improve the fire protection in this section of town. The project provided two weeks' employment for 18 persons.

In 1934 the Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funds to build a million-gallon water storage tank in Newport News, Virginia to replace the old water tank. The caption for the photo above reads "A million-gallon water-storage tank erected at Newport News, Virginia, to replace an old tank which had been condemned." The name listed for the project on the PWA docket records is "Newport News 60th Street Elevated Tank." Researcher Frank da Cruz has found that this water tank as well as others constructed by the PWA in the area at the same time, were "...financed by 25% to 45%...

"The Civilian Conservation Corps, Roosevelt’s first New Deal recovery program, built the original parts of Abilene State Park, including picnic areas and swimming pool complex. In 1934, the 507 acres were dedicated as a state park. According to the Taylor County Historical Commission, another CCC company, all black veterans, returned a year later to finish the effort, repairing roads and building a stone water tower." (Abilene Reporter-News)

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) installed a 16-inch water main along Alabama Avenue SE in 1933-4. This was at the beginning of an extensive program of building new water mains and sewers all across the District of Columbia by New Deal agencies.

"The Alcova Dam is designed for storage and diversion of the river flow into an irrigation canal which irrigates the land around Caspar, Wyoming. The dam is earth fill with a rock surface on the reservoir side. Its height above the foundation is 265 feet, its base thickness 1,250 feet, its crest thickness 40 feet, and the crest length 763 feet. The reservoir formed by the dam has an area of 2,200 acres. The gate structure contains three gates, each 26 by 40 feetm and electrically operated, The project was completed in July 1938 at a construction cost of $2,754,698...

Completed in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, what is now known as Amsden Lake was developed as a reservoir during the Great Depression. The dam "was built at a cost of $207,000 of clay faced with stone. The Federal Government supplied $150,000, the county $45,000 and the city of Aberdeen $12,000." (NYT) South Dakota Magazine: "Amsden Dam near Andover is a pretty little lake with humble roots. The 235 acre lake sits behind a Works Progress Administration dam. The dam was started in 1934, while South Dakota was in the grip of the Dust Bowl and the nation was mired...

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of funds for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to construct a major water main from 18th Street and Minnesota Avenue to Firth Sterling Avenue and Stevens Road, to serve the Fairlawn, Anacostia and Barry Farm neighborhoods of the district's southeast quadrant. This project was part of a much larger program of water, sewer and road projects in the District in the early 1940s.

Construction of two 500,000 gallon square reservoir concrete slab bottom and sides with corrugated iron roofs, also 1,000 feet of 6 galvanized iron pipe to connect with existing water distribution lines. All necessary excavation, backfill and drainage installation.--Mooser, p. 94.

The following water main was laid as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project: "Arborway, from Pond and Prince streets, to Forest Hills street ..."

The WPA was extensively involved in flood control construction in Arroyo Seco during the 1930s. Excerpts of WPA involvement in that history follow: 1934-35: Trapezoidal channel is constructed in the Central Arroyo from Devils Gate Dam through the Rose Bowl area to Holly Street with a soft bottom as part of a CWA, SERA, WPA project. 1935: The Works Progress Administration takes over the gravel operation in LA, designating it as a flood control project sponsored by the city of Los Angeles. Trapezoidal cross-section construction chosen since it minimized steel and lumber and maximized hand labor, satisfying requirements of relief funding. 1935-40: The...

In 1933-34, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made improvements at the Aspen Grove Family Camp owned by Brigham Young University. The Aspen Grove camp was established after land was donated to Brigham Young University in 1921 and BYU started an Alpine Summer Camp there in 1922. (https://aspen.byu.edu) Working with BYU, the CCC enrollees planted lawns and installed 5,000 feet of pipe for a new sprinkling system, plus adding parking spaces, stoves, campsites and a new trail (Baldridge, p. 309). The CCC enrollees worked out of Camp F-5 at Granite Flat (Baldridge, p. 309).  The exact location and survival of these improvements is unknown...

"Some of the early projects implemented included ... construction of an athletic field on city property near the public slaughter pen. The ... project included a football field and clay baseball diamond with lights."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Atlantic City Reservoir in Absecon, New Jersey. At one point 1,200 WPA employees were working on the project.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the water pumping station at 84 Avenue V, which is still in use today.

The PWA allocated $778,000 toward the construction of two reservoirs in Meagher County: the Bair Reservoir on the North Fork of the Musselshell River and the Martinsdale Reservoir on the river's South Fork. 45% of the money for the project was a PWA grant. The reservoirs were built to store 23,000 acre-feet of water toward the irrigation of at least 20,000 acres.

In 1927, the Metropolitan District Commission, which is the water works agency for the city of Hartford, Connecticut, purchased land on the Farmington River, northwest of the city, to construct a dam and reservoir. In order to build the dam, many people had to be moved off of the land around the area where the dam was being built and surrounding areas that were to be flooded. This was a difficult and controversial process, but the dam was seen as more important to the greater good of the region. As it turned out, when the Great Depression hit, many families...

Landscaped embankment along Bay Street. Built small recreation building.--Healy, p. 67.

The federal Works Progress Administration worked to conduct repairs and alterations to several civic facilities in Queens as part of a $300,464 project begun in 1935. Facilities improved included the Bayside Pumping Station, located roughly at Northern Blvd. and the creek in Alley Pond Park that leads to Little Neck Bay. The original pumping station has been replaced and no longer stands.

The bulk of present day Bensonhurst Park was first established in 1895. Two further parcels were added later. In 1942, the WPA completed major work on the park: "The Department of Parks announces the completion of work in connection with the reconstruction of Bensonhurst Park and the addition of a new playground, baseball fields and other recreation facilities… The old park area has been increased in size. Fifteen acres were added at the time that the Belt Parkway was constructed. This was done by pumping sand beyond the seawall which was erected at the outshore end of the property… The two previously undeveloped...

This reservoir was built just south of Cordonices Park in Berkeley by Henry Berryman in 1877. It was still open to the air when the WPA worked on it in the 1930s, but was later enlarged and covered over with cement. It is currently being replaced because of fears that it might rupture in an earthquake.

A water intake dam along Big Goose Creek, about 13 miles southwest of Sheridan, Wyoming, was part of a large waterworks project enabled by the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936-7. The intake, which was located a few hundred feet west of "Section C"—which included filtration structures and a caretaker's house—appears today much as it did during the Great Depression.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was responsible for construction of the Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan. "The Dye Conditioning Plant at 148 South Cedar Street was designed by Lansing architects Lee and Kenneth Black and constructed in 1938-39 by the WPA in a severe, geometric style. It is decorated by WPA/FAP artworks in various media. Appropriate to the building's function, the theme of all of these works is water. This is the best local ensemble of government-sponsored art planned as a unity of architecture, sculpture and painting."

The Bureau of Reclamation built the Boca Dam in Nevada County CA in the late 1930s.  It is an earth fill dam and part of the Truckee Storage Project, and it is located one mile north of the confluence of the Little Truckee River and the Truckee River.   Also pictured is the original bridge crossing the Truckee River.  All men and materials had to pass over this bridge for work on the dam. The Boca dam is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"The present construction features of this project are the raising of Arrowrock Dam and spillway for additional storage, and the building of the canal system for the Payette Division. Work has been in progress on Arrowrock Dam during 1936 and is scheduled for completion the latter part of 1937. Contracts have been awarded for eight tunnels on the Black Canyon canal of the Payette Division, four of which are practically complete. Bids have been received and contract will soon be awarded for canal excavation from Station 0 to Station 157. Specifications will soon be issued for canal excavation from...

In 1934 E.R.A. labor drained and cleaned Barre's Bolster Reservoir.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted drastic improvement work at the South Boston Army Base in Boston, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: At the Army Base, South Boston, WPA employed more than 1000 men repairing and altering buildings, warehouses, wharves, roads, grounds and water and electric systems. The site of the old army base is now part of Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Per the DoD Heritage Assessment cited below: W.P.A. project information: "Boston Army Base" "Improve U.S. Maritime Commission buildings" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐155 Total project cost: $163,750.00 Sponsor: War Department "Improve and rehabilitate buildings and utilities" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐177 Total project cost: $96,755.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Boston Army Base, U.S....

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the construction of a pumping plant at the Boysen Reservoir in the vicinity of Shoshoni, Fremont County. The facility provided water supply. The exact location and condition of the pumping plant is unknown to the Living New Deal. The Boysen Dam & Power Plant was rebuilt in 1946-1948 through a joint program of the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Army Corps of Engineers, and is still in service today.    

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers worked at Breeds Pond in Lynn, Mass. WPA Bulletin: Bacterial dangers are eliminated by the WPA construction of several thousand yards of large-stone, rip-rap work, along the vertical banks of Breed's Pond, one of Lynn's main water storage units. This wall prevents road embankment dirt and clay-bearing silt from being washed into the pond.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed water pipes and sewers along Bridge Street in Groton, Connecticut.

The following water main was laid as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project: "Brookline avenue, from Brookline-Boston boundary line to Kenmore square, approximately 4,600 linear feet 48-inch pipe."

"The Buchanan Dam is a large flood-control, water-conservation, and power project. It was originally a power project of a utility company but was taken over by the Lower Colorado River Authority in 1936 after the utility company had abandoned it. The total length of the dam is 8,400 feet and its height is 143 feet from bed to parapet. It develops a reservoir of 23,500 acres. The power plant has a capacity of 22,000 kilowatts. The project was completed in November 1938 at an estimated construction cost of $7,093,098 and project cost of $8,298,957. Included in this cost...

Researcher Frank da Cruz has found that construction of the Buckroe Elevated Water Tank in the 1930s was made possible by a 45% Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. The water tank is located in the Fox Hill section of Hampton, Virginia, near Old Buckroe Road and Manilla Lane. As of 2017, the water tank is still in use, though it is evidently slated for demolition.

The structure at Buckland Spring, between Colebrook and Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania along Rt. 117, was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1938. ""From the back wall of this structure, there were two separate pipes from which flowed cold, pure spring water. People from a wide area would come to this site in large numbers with their glass gallon jugs and other containers to collect and take home this spring water," said Bowman of Mt. Gretna." (ldnews.com)

"Riverton Project, Wyoming - Bull Lake Dam, an 800,000 cubic yard earth and rock fill structure is under contract and is scheduled for completion in January 1938. Some canal and lateral work will probably be done in 1937. H. D. Comstock is superintendent." "The earthen dam was constructed between 1936 and 1938 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation with a height of 81 feet. It impounds Bull Lake Creek for irrigation storage and flood control, as part of the Riverton Unit of the extensive, multi-state Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Program. The dam is owned by the Bureau and is operated by...

In 1933, the Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the State of Oregon, investigated the possibility of developing a storage structure on Burnt River to provide a late summer water supply. The project was constructed following the plan developed from this investigation. Authorization The project was found feasible by the Secretary of the Interior on September 25, 1935 pursuant to section 4 of the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 836) and subsection B of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (435 Stat. 702). Funds were provided by the President on August 13, 1935, under the Emergency Relief...

“BUTLER – An endeavor to employ local county men on PWA work now in progress around Butler finally met with success….Thus the aim of the Borough to engage its own citizenry for its own projects, reducing town unemployment slack to non-existance , is achieved. Men eligible for PWA in this section have been transferred from district No. 6, comprising Morris and Union Counties, to District No. 1, comprising Passaic County, to make possible their employment on the new reservoir now under way in Kinnelon. This project, to be called the Butler Kikeout Reservoir, will take nine months to complete and...

"Caballo Dam, Rio Grand Project, New Mexico -- Caballo Dam on the Rio Grande is now being constructed by the Bureau to provide (1) flood control and river regulation, (2) the development of firm power at Elephant Butte Dam, and (3) additional storage for the Rio Gande Irrigation Project. Construction of the dam was commenced in June 1936 and is scheduled for completion in May 1938. It is a 1,250,000 cubic yard earthfill structure with a maximum height of 90 feet and a total length of 4,500 feet. The reservoir will have a storage capacity of 350,000 acre feet of...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted substantial improvement work at Cambridge Reservoir (Hobbs Brook Reservoir) in Lincoln and Waltham, MA. Work included nine miles (for an area of about 500,000 square feet) of shore rip-rapping and the clearing 316 acres of trees and underbrush.

"Between 1935 and 1940, Massachusetts and the federal government, primarily using Works Project Administration funds, constructed 63 buildings (all but Buildings 102 and the old Williams Hospital have since been demolished) and two, 500-foot (150 m) wide turf runways at Otis Field. The project was the largest WPA project in state history, employing over 600 workmen. In 1938, Governor Charles F. Hurley dedicated Camp Edwards, named after the former commander of the 26th Infantry Division, Major General Clarence Edwards." (Wikipedia) WPA Bulletin: The Bourne WPA Notional Guard Camp Project is the largest undertaking of this kind in the country. It is twenty-three square...

The National Youth Administration (NYA) conducted the following project in Loup City, Nebraska: "Asa a part of the NYA improvement project on the state park here new headgates are being installed on tho supply canal which takes water from the Loup river." The location and status of this project are unknown to Living New Deal.