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National History Day Topics 2009-2010

Hoover Dam: An Innovation in Water Resources Management

For many years, residents of the American southwest had dreamed of taming the unpredictable Colorado River.  After decades of planning and negotiation, the construction of the Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado provided an innovative solution that included flood control, irrigation, and hydroelectric power generation.

Hoover Library primary sources:
Ray Lyman Wilbur Papers, boxes 7-14 – Hoover Dam
U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder Canyon Project Final Reports:  Hoover Dam Power and Water Contracts., Washington DC:  USGPO, 1950.
Wilbur, Ray Lyman and Northcutt Ely, The Hoover Dam Documents, Washington DC:  USGPO, 1948

Secondary sources:
Colorado River Commission of the State of California, Colorado River and the Boulder Canyon Project:  Historical and Physical Facts in Connection with the Colorado River and Lower Basin Development.  Sacramento, CA:  California State Printing Office, 1931.
Kleinsorge, Paul L., The BoulderCanyon Project:  Historical and Economic Aspects.  Stanford University Press, 1941.
Stevens, Joseph E., Hoover Dam:  An American Adventure.  Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

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Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
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