- City:
- Carey, ID
- Site Type:
- Water Supply, Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1941
- Quality of Information:
- Minimal
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
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, for an estimated $300,000. After construction, Little Wood River Dam eventually came under ownership of the Little Wood River Irrigation District (LWRID) which formed in 1935.”
Source notes
National Archives Record Group 69N, Negative #8737-D
Stene, Eric, 1996. Little Wood River Reclamation Project, Bureau of Reclamation
Site originally submitted by Brent McKee on October 23, 2016.
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Many of my grandmother’s stories and old photos were of the years she and my mother accompanied Grandpa to Carey, Idaho while Grandpa worked on the WPA project there. I am so glad to discover more about the project and why it seemed to involve more years than the other Idaho projects my grandfather worked on. My grandfather was a diesel mechanic and like his father and grandfather before him he spent at least part of his life following the construction crews to build canals, dams, and roads in the west. He was glad to be a mechanic because he didn’t get along well with the horses his father and grandfather had needed to work with to do their earlier construction projects.