Water Supply Sites

"The Tuckerman Water Tower is a historic waterworks facility at the south end of Front Street in Tuckerman, Arkansas. It is a tall metal structure, with four latticed legs, braced with rods and sloping inward, to support a water tank that is bowl-shaped at the bottom and topped by a conical roof. A pipe traverses the center of the tower for the movement of water to and from the tank. Built in 1935 with funding support from the Depression-era Public Works Administration (PWA), it is the only remaining PWA tower of its type in the county. The tower was listed on...

Tucson Mountain Park, created in 1929, was opened to general recreation use in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working with the Pima County parks agency.  The northern half of the original park was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961, which became a national park in 1994, and this portion of the park was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD). (See also Saguaro NP (TMD) project pages) The CCC 'boys' set up Camp Pima, SP6A, in December 1933 at the northwest corner of what was is now Saguaro NP.  Working from there, they carried out extensive...

James V. Turner Reservoir in East Providence, Rhode Island (with spillover into Seekonk, Massachusetts) was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Turner Reservoir was created in 1935 with the building of the Turner Dam, which the City of East Providence used for their drinking supply until the 1960s. Turner Reservoir is now open to the public for recreation." (ExploreRI.org) The PWA supplied a $178,000 loan and $66,781 grant; the total cost of the project was $245,608. Work occurred between May 1934 and June 1935. (PWA Docket No. RI 2003)

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted heavy renovation and repair work at San Francisco's Twin Peaks Reservoir during the Great Depression. Repaired reservoir leaks and water proofed. Cut new expansion joints, painted and thoroughly renovated old reservoir.--Healy, p. 65.

"The Tyronza Water Tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Tyronza, Arkansas. It was built in 1935 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the local water supply. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas. The Tyronza Water Tower is considered an excellent representation of 1930s-era waterworks construction. In 2003, a new, 200,000-gallon steel water tower was built next to the 1935 tower, in...

An 840 x 965 ft reservoir that added 82 million gallons of storage to the existing 60 million gallon reservoir that was already on site. The reservoir is lined with 6" of reinforced concrete and the roof has 21/2" slab on concrete joists and girders, supported on circular columns spaced at 25' intervals. It was part of a $12,000,000 improvement program for the SF water supply system (the PWA-funded expansion of the Hetch Hetchy system, which included raising O’Shaughnessy Dam, the Pulgas Water Temple, and more) financed by a bond issue with the aid of a PWA grant in 1933. It...

The Works Progress Administration built a reservoir in the vicinity of the University of Wyoming campus, near the University artesian well. The exact location and condition of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"The Upper Mississippi navigation project is one element of the system of inland waterway improvements to link the agricultural Middle West with the industrial East, and the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico. Dam No. 5-A is typical of several under construction or completed which will maintain water levels during periods of low-stream flow at a minimum depth of 9 feet throughout the length of the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to the mouth of the Ohio River. The dam is approximately 580 feet in length and each gate is 80 feet long by 20 feet high. The...

"Originally called Upper Narrows Dam. Construction begun in 1938, completed in 1941, at a cost of $4 million. Originally built to catch hydraulic mining debris, retrofitted for hydroelectric generation (provides power for 50,000 homes annually). Also used recreationally by houseboaters and anglers. The dam is 260 feet high and 1142 feet long; Englebright Reservoir is 227 feet deep at the dam, covers 815 acres, and is 9 miles long with 24 miles of shoreline." from https://www.syrcl.org/majorissues/SalmonReport.htm

A power/waterworks project in Littlefield, Texas was undertaken in 1935 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $36,000 loan and $13,773 grant for the project, whose total cost was $48,676. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 2329

The Bureau of Reclamation constructed the Vallecito dam and reservoir in 1938-1941, with assistance from the WPA, as well as from enrollees at the nearby CCC camp. "The Project constructed Vallecito Dam to manage the flow of the Pine River partly for local irrigation needs and partly to address Ute water claims based on the Hunt Treaty of 1868 and ratified by a Federal Court decision in 1930." (www.co.laplata.co.us)

The Works Progress Administration installed new water lines on Vester Gade in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Residents of Lynn consume 2,854,464,350 gallons of city water a year and from the same reservoir system the town of Saugus uses 333,542,250 gallons during the same period. Last week a WPA project started which will improve the purity of the water supply by clearing and grubbing 40 acres along the northerly shore of Walden Pond and cleaning out a half dozen tributary brooks which feed into the pond. When the land is cleared 25,000 three-year-old white pine seedlings will be planted. Most of these trees will be taken from the 2,200-acre Lynn Woods Reservation and will...

According to the National Archive's index of Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects, WPA crews performed maintenance and repair work on the two giant water conduits of the Washington Aqueduct. The Washington Aqueduct brings water to the city from the Potomac River at Great Falls. It runs under MacArthur Boulevard (formerly known as Conduit Road) and over Cabin John Creek inside the Union Arch Bridge.  Water arrives at the district's Dalecarlia and McMillan Reservoirs, where it is settled and stored, then treated and distributed by the DC Water and Sewer Authority. The aqueduct is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The exact location...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed Washington Memorial Park in Guernsey, Wyoming. "In Guernsey, Washington Memorial Park was fenced, graded and given sidewalks and water mains." There does not presently appear to be a park by this name in Guernsey; the site and status of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Cape Vincent Eagle reported: "One of the largest construction jobs in Jefferson county under the W.P.A. was the building of a fire protection system at Natural Bridge. This system included a water system with reservoir and hydrants."

A waterworks and heat-infrastructure construction project in Plankinton, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $30,276 grant for the project, whose total cost was $70,353. Work occurred between October 1936 and July 1937. (PWA Docket No. SD 1033)

A waterworks and sewer construction project was undertaken in Proctorville, Ohio during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $43,500 loan and $15,347 grant; the total cost of the project was $60,941. Construction occurred between February and June 1934. (PWA Docket No. OH 589)

"The sewer and water-main projects provided the city with an extensive system of new mains in addition to the replacement of old ones, no longer large enough to meet the requirements of the city. By 1938, 8,500 feet of sewer mains and 9,160 feet of water mains had been installed."

Municipal reports from Nashua's local governments documented extensive New Deal work on the cities water and sewer systems during the 1930s: 1933 Mayor Alvin Lucier reported: "As we take over the reins of government today, we do so with abiding faith that it shall continue its progress. Such is the pledge that we make to the people who have chosen us as their representatives. Although he was against mortgaging our city's future by bond issues, Mr. Sullivan saw a duty to co-operate with President Roosevelt's program started last summer, when the federal government provided over three billion dollars for public works in...

A waterworks/sewer construction project in Caliente, Nevada was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $15,750 grant for the project, whose total cost was $61,304. Work occurred between January and December 1936. (PWA Docket No. NV 2904)

A waterworks/sewer construction project in Carlin, Nevada was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $77,800 loan and $22,574 grant for the project, whose total cost was $101,906. Work occurred between July 1934 and January 1935.  

A joint waterworks and sewer construction project in Mesa, Arizona was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $50,000 loan and $40,909 grant; the total cost of the project was $91,038. Work occurred between November 1938 and September 1939. (PWA Docket No. AZ 8844)

A substantial waterworks and sewer system construction project was undertaken in Moab, Utah during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $32,000 loan and $13,118 outright grant to the community for the project, whose total cost was $49,391. Construction occurred between December 1934 and May 1935. PWA Docket No. UT 1951 On January 4, 1934, the Times-Independent newspaper reported that the Moab water/sewer project had been approved by federal officials, which also funded the Moab public school building and Grand County courthouse.  Local voters had previously approved a bond issue in support of...

A waterworks and sewer construction project in Mount Kisco, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $17,773 grant; the total cost of the project was $39,843. Work occurred between December 1935 and July 1936. For another project, the PWA supplied a grant of $27,720 for a well construction project in Mount Kisco whose final cost was $62,078. Construction occurred between December 1935 and September 1937. (PWA Docket Nos. NY 1105, 1131)

"Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped the community... Additional aid came when the Works Progress Administration provided funds that constructed and improved the water and sewer system ..."

A waterworks and sewer system construction project was undertaken in Pryor Creek, Oklahoma during the Great Depression with the assistance of a federal Public Work Administration (PWA) grant. The PWA provided a $27,202 grant to the city for the project, whose eventual total cost was $54,656. Construction occurred between December 1938 and December 1939. PWA Docket No. OK 1325.

A waterworks and sewer construction project in Yankton, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $29,250 loan and $9,774 grant for the project, whose total cost was $43,945. Work occurred between September 1934 and May 1935. The PWA supplied a $14,222 grant for a second waterworks project, total cost $33,546, that was undertaken between April and June 1936. The PWA supplied a $24,540 grant for a third waterworks project, total cost $54,534, that was undertaken between November 1937 and March 1938. (PWA Docket Nos. SD 2526, 1040, 1189)

This little Art Deco gem was constructed for the City of Rome Water Department by the Works Projects Administration (the renamed WPA) in 1938-40.  The building contained offices and parking (the entrance on the left was originally a garage bay).  Its present use is unknown.

Legislative permission was given to issue bonds for supplemental financing of the water distribution system in Skagway in 1934. Skagway was authorized to issue $40,000 bonds to supplement the Public Works Administration project 3961 in the amount of a $29,700 loan and $12,609 grant approved 12/28/1933. Construction began 5/1/1935 and was completed 10/1/1935.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a new water supply reservoir and filtration plant for Santa Barbara.  Both facilities still exist and still function. Short and Stanley-Brown described the project in 1939: "This project consisted of the concrete reservoir with a capacity of 50,000,000 gallons and the filtration plant with a capacity of 8,000,000 gallons per day from which the filtered and softened water is pumped into the distributing system of Santa Barbara. Monolithic concrete is particularly well done in California and this plant is no exception." 

1936, the East Bay Municipal Utility District joined forces with the Works Progress Administration to install a new 6" pipe around the north side of Lake Orinda, replacing a former line that ran across the dam. The new pipe allowed gravity feeding of the Charles Hill Tank from the Orinda Tank, saving municipal funds previously used to pump water between the two tanks.

Sponsor - City of Reedley WPA Proj. No. 686-08-_-174, November 19, 1938, $1,600, 2,516 man hours, Average employed 14, Total Federal and Sponsor funds $1,900 "Improve fire protection facilities on North Avenue and an alley between G and F streets in the city of Reedley, Fresno County, including removing old and laying new water mains and hydrant loads, installing shut-off-valves, and performing appurtenant and incidental work. No taxes or assessments will be levied to cover the amount of Federal funds expended on this project. In addition to projects specifically approved. City owned property."  

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided almost $20,000 in funding and labor to install some 4500 feet of water mains and 72 fire hydrants in Porterville CA.   How much of this work remains in place is unknown.

A water main construction project was undertaken in Ishpeming, Michigan with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project funds. The P.W.A. supplied a $76,091 grant for the project, whose total cost was $178,525. Construction occurred between Feb. 1936 and Sept. 1937. PWA Docket No. MI 1125

The Works Progress Administration contributed $3,356 toward the construction of water mains in Anchorage, Alaska, between 1939 and 1940.

A water main construction project in Angola, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $20,944 grant; the total cost of the project was $46,742. Work occurred between May and October 1936. (PWA Docket No. NY 1189)

A water main construction project in Avon, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $5,750 loan and $2,304 grant toward the $7,490 total cost of the project. Work occurred during September 1935. (PWA Docket No. NY 6068)

Barre relied heavily on federal funds and labor during the Great Depression to improve and develop its water distribution system. The city's annual reports attest that work began under the Emergency Relief Administration (E.R.A.) and persisted several years with the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). As part of these efforts, larger water mains were installed under many roads; older mains were dug up, relaid, and lowered further underground to prevent winter freezing; and the network was generally expanded.