Water Supply Sites

This project was one of a number of WPA and PWA projects in Washington state: "The project piped water into southern King County. The area previously used well water. The six miles of pipe cost of $27,570."

"Dam at mouth of Klamath River, Calif. Diversion dam at mouth of river built by WPA for the purpose of maintaining channel into ocean - Channel has been previously filled up by storms." -From the archive photo pictured below

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed a six-inch water main along Knapp Avenue in Middletown, New York.

An early Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in Fremont, Nebraska was described as follows: Removing and replacing water main on L street in Fremont between Third street and Jackson street. This will improve the fire protection in that area. Fourteen persons are employed on this project. L Street is no longer (assuming it was) continuous in this area.

"Lac qui Parle is a reservoir located in western Minnesota, United States, which was formed by the damming of the Minnesota River. The dam was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Lac qui Parle is a French translation of the native Dakota name, meaning "lake which speaks". The northernmost point of the lake is about 3 miles southeast of the city of Appleton. The lake flows 10 miles southeast to the dam, which is about 4 miles to the west of the town of Watson. Lac qui Parle State Park is located on the southern portion of the lake. Lac qui...

Lago Dos Bocas was created upon completion of the Dos Bocas Dam, a Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration project, in 1942. It primarily serves as a reservoir.

“After more than twenty-five years of operation…many of the early water-control and -conveyance structures had fallen into a state of disrepair, and existing storage had proven inadequate. In Lahontan Valley, the CCC built or completed new water conservation projects including the Sheckler Reservoir and the S-Canal Dam and regulating reservoir to store more water. They also renovated and enlarged portions of the thirty-two-mile-long Truckee Canal, built several earth- and rock-filled dikes to increase reservoir capacity, and lined the Lahontan Dam Spillways with rock riprap to protect its banks.” –The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted riprap and other improvement work at Lake Lahontan (Lahontan Reservoir) during the Great Depression.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the park at Lake Ashburton, constructing a fence and walkway around said. Maryland WPA Project #13. The Public Works Administration also built the lake's pumping station for the Baltimore water system.

New Deal funds aided in the construction a dam north of Abilene on Elm Creek, resulting in the creation of Lake Fort Phantom Hill. The lake continues to be "the city’s main water source." Sources do not indicate exactly which New Deal program(s) provided the funding and/or labor for this project.

"Lake Gregory is an artificial lake in the San Bernardino National Forest of the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California. The lake and the surrounding area make up the Lake Gregory Regional Park adjacent to Crestline, California... Work began in 1937 under a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to dam the east and west forks of Houston Creek, whose floodwaters drained into of the , thereby going to waste. The project was nearly completed by March 1938, but federal funds had run out. Gregory himself financed the completion of the project, loaning money to the district for the...

NYSParks.com: "The park was donated to the State of New York in 1929 by Dr. McRa Livingston with the provision that the lake and park be named Lake Taghkanic. The lake had been previously known as Lake Charlott. In 1933 a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp was established at the park. C.C.C. projects in the park included construction of the East Bathhouse, the East Beach, the camping and cabin areas and the water tower."

“In Oklahoma 326 conservation and flood control dams and hundreds of ponds were built with WPA dollars. Several dams in Oklahoma were built for the primary purpose of conserving water that could be used for multiple purposes. Lake Texoma and Grand Lake both became realities before the end of WPA." --Leaning on a Legacy

In addition to Mosque Point, the CCC completed many other projects at Lake Worth. The pictured National Park Service document lists the many projects built by the CCC from 1934-1937, including: foot and auto bridges, several shelters, picnic and campground facilities, roads, foot trails, landscaping, tree planting, drinking fountains, toilets, water lines, fire protection amenities and more.

Lehman Caves National Monument was established in 1922 and put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. New Deal relief agencies came in to aid the Park Service in improving facilities at the park to make it more welcoming to the public. First to arrive was the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in the winter of 1933-34. Relief workers made repairs to the water line from Lehman Creek to the caves, the cave trail and the modest park buildings by the cave. In the summer of 1934, workers from the Transient Relief Camp at Lehman Creek did general clean-up...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Lenexa Municipal Water System in Lenexa KS. "Establishing a municipal water system occupied the mayor and council for sometime, and it was approved on October 1, 1935. A federal PWA project grant was received for $31,091 to help build the system." Long time Lenexa residents recall a water tower in what is now Old Town Lenexa that they believe was linked to this project. The water tower was dismantled in the 1970s or 80s.

A site devoted to the history of the park (www.letchworthparkhistory.com) has compiled an extensive list of CCC work done in the park: During the Great Depression, Letchworth Park was the site of several Civilian Conservation Camps. (See the Glimpse of the CCC) The information highlights the work done by the CCC "boys" in the Park, and is taken from Annual Reports of the Genesee State Park Commission during the time period. Great Bend Camp SP-5 (in operation for 30 months) constructed the camp built 6 miles of 18 ft wide gravel road installed 400 ft of 6" under drain constructed 15 concrete...

In 1873, the Legislature granted permission to the cities of Lewiston and Auburn to take water from Wilson Pond (later renamed Lake Auburn). In 1880, the pump house to supply water to the city was built. By 1933/35 the annual address by the mayor mentioned that the condition of the pump was resulting in the danger of loss of water for the city. In 1934, a FERA project allowed for the painting of the interior of the pump station. In the 1937 town report, the Mayor's address noted “The modernization of the Pumping Station, with Federal assistance, was by far the largest...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed a water main and a storm water sewer along Liberty Street in Middletown, New York.

One of the first PWA-funded projects to be approved and completed in Montana was that for a new reservoir for Beaverhead County. The project involved the damming of the Red Rock River, resulting in the formation of the Lima Reservoir. Big Timber Pioneer, a Montana newspaper, reported in January 1934 that the county received a 30% PWA grant toward the completion of the project. The newspaper announced the project's completion by September 1934. The dam was reported to have cost $75,000.

WPA crews contributed to building the Little Wood River Reservoir near Carey. From the Bureau of Reclamation: "Reclamation conducted the earliest irrigation survey of the Little Wood River area in 1904. Reclamation officials concluded from the surveys, that the cost of storing water would be excessive. Several proposals and sites received consideration later, but financial problems prevented construction until 1936. Construction of the Little Wood River Dam started under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. Confronted by winter weather, lack of funds, and floods, the WPA stopped construction in 1939. Construction of the dam finished in 1941, under contract,...

The New Deal funded improvement work in the Long Branch Marsh in the vicinity of Jacksonville FL.  

From the Water and Power Associates blog: Conception of the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct The original aqueduct system was operated at capacity when the Owens Valley runoff diversion was sufficient, and there were periods when more water was available than the system could transfer to the City. There were also several periods of drought when the aqueduct was not full. The Mono Basin Extension Project, initiated in 1930, was a new source of supply that assured full capacity operation of the aqueduct during drought periods. More importantly, water rights filings in the Mono Basin and the capacity of the Extension Project...

Loudonville Reservoir's Basin C was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration. The agency described its accomplishments in a 1940 report: "Basin C, Loudonville Reservoir, huge concrete retainer, holds 93,000,000 gallons, a guarantee of ten days supply for Albany against any stoppage. Worked with double shifts excavation exceeded rate set on Basins A and B, build under private contract. Concrete was laid in 98 days. ... The City of Albany several years ago expended more than $6,000,000 to develop a mountain water supply eliminating the old supply which was derived from the Hudson River. The new WPA built Basin was the...

The utilities building in Lyons, Nebraska located at the northeast corner of Main St. and 1st St. was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It was originally built as a water treatment facility. The structure is currently still used as a utility shed for the City of Lyons.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded part or all of a major 6-mile long pipeline for the Mad River Water Supply Project.  The pipeline contract was awarded the United Concrete Pipe Corporation of Los Angeles in 1937 for $775,695.] According to the Eureka Times-Standard (Oct 7, 2016), " a 20-year project to build a parallel pipeline was being completed as a failsafe in case the old New Deal era pipes failed. The system goes from a pumping station on the Mad River north of Arcata to the filtration system in Eureka's water treatment facility on W and Hemlock St. The survey company...

Oakwood Cemetery in Parsons, Kansas was improved by work undertaken by the Civil Works Administration (CWA). "Plans of the commissioners call for employing ... 64 on laying new water lines on West Main preparing for the new pavement ... They will start digging ditches along the side of the street. The old water lines were laid in the center of the street and they will be removed when the old pavement is torn up."

From a Department of Land and Natural Resources calendar: "The Makiki-Manoa Pumping Station (1935), designed by architect Hart Wood and the landscape architecture firm of Thompson & Thompson, was one of a number of Honolulu Board of Water Supply improvements funded by the WPA."

"In the 1940s, a federal Work Progress Administration (WPA) project included the construction of a Water Department Building and water well." Current status of the building and well not known.

"The Manoa-Palolo Canal was built thanks to the use of Works Progress Administratio moneys. Its rock lined walls channeled several meandering streams in the area into a straight run to the Ala Wai Canal, allowing the wetlands between Kapahulu and Mo'ili'ili to be opened for urban development."

Located on the southern portion of the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno is a long concrete dam and irrigation canal that travels east/west through the campus. The dam is located at the southern portion of Manzanita Lake on campus. On the northern wall on the east side of a bridge that spans the canal leading north onto campus is a bronze plaque that reads: 'BUILT BY W.P.A. - 1940 - SPONSOR - UNIV. OF NEV.'. No other information about the canal and dam's history has been located by the Living New Deal. A survey of Google Maps revealed that...

The pump house was created by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) laborers in 1934. It is the only building left from a collection of service buildings constructed by the CCC between 1933-1935.

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 20,000 acres.

"The McCrory Waterworks is a historic site located in McCrory, Arkansas. It contains an elevated steel water tower, built in 1936 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration, which provided $39,497 in aid for the construction of the waterworks, which included the water tower, tank, and water shed. The site 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."

"Through appropriations and an allotment of $188,000 from PWA funds the district undertook the work of rehabilitation. Carlsbad's perennial reservoir problems were alleviated in part by extensive work on McMillan and Avalon dams by the WPA." -Ira Clark

WPA workers cleaned Merced Irrigation District canals.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the facilities at San Francisco's Merced Manor. Work description: Landscaped large reservoir and paths and prepared the top of the reservoir for construction of tennis courts eventually. An example of unique treatment of a reservoir in a residential section which has received the commendation of adjacent residents and thoughtful city planners.--Healy, p. 58.

In 1933, the Portland Water District moved its meter shop from its Casco Street office in Portland office to its main facility on Douglass Street. The Portland Water District was able to complete the new meter shop with C. W. A. (Civil Works Administration) funds made available by the Federal Government under its plan to relieve the unemployment situation by granting funds to public agencies so that they could complete projects approved by the Federal Relief Authorities.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) developed Tucumcari Metropolitan Park, a.k.a. Five Mile Park, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. "At one time Tucumcari Metropolitan Park had the largest outdoor pool in the entire state of New Mexico, a playground with lots of equipment, a fully landscaped drive through park with bridges, creeks, a pistol and rifle range, a skeet and trap shooting range, and off-road course, horseback riding and was home to the then annual Founder’s Day Picnics." NRHP nomination form: "Referred to as Metropolitan Park, the park became known as Five Mile Park in the 1950s. The completed project marked a five year process...

"The CCC crews...excavated rock and dirt and built dams on the Milwaukee River to control flooding."