Blog: Truckee River dams, reservoirs created to capture Tahoe’s water
President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to see quick action on the new federal irrigation bill. Prior to 1902, private landowners perfected water rights to the Truckee and Carson rivers in accordance with Nevada law (“perfected” meaning that permitted water satisfied the Beneficial Use requirement as described in Part IV of the series). … The Bureau of Reclamation’s strong hand and bold plans concerning the appropriation of Lake Tahoe water and other California hydrological resources for aggressive agricultural expansion in Nevada (the driest state in the nation) enraged California’s residents and politicians.