History of the Hoover Dam - A History of Water Management in the 1930s

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Water management projects exist all over the globe and are incredibly important; one particularly significant project that stands out in water management is the Hoover Dam.
Created in the 1930's during the difficult times of the Great Depression, the project was one of the biggest of its time.
The actual building that went into the dam was dangerous, dirty and hot.
But the project provided over 20,000 men with work, who were eager to earn and be apart of the biggest dam building in the world.
The Hoover Dam which is also recognised as the Boulder Dam is a concrete dam that was built in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River.
It lies between the border of the U.
S states of Arizona and Nevada and is located 30 miles from Las Vegas.
The dam is named after the American president Herbert Hoover, who played an important role in this huge water management project.
The construction of the dam began in 1931 and was completed in 1935, which was two whole years before schedule.
By 1985 the dam was recognised as a National Historic Landmark, mainly as it represented 1930's America.
The planning of the dam began in 1922 when Hoover was the Secretary of Commerce under the rule of President Warren Harding.
In January of that year Hoover met up with the state governors' of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to work out suitable arrangements for the water management of the Colorado River for all of their state's uses.
The resulting document known as the Colorado River Compact that was signed November 24 1922 saw how the river was going to be divided.
This then paved the way for the Boulder Dam Project which was designed mainly to keep silt and sediment out of the Colorado River.
Once Roosevelt took power on March 4th 1933 he made it very clear that he no longer wanted the dam to be referred to as the Hoover Dam.
He quickly had the dam referred to as 'Boulder Dam' and after several years, slowly the changes in official documents meant that the 'Hoover Dam' disappeared and was replaced with 'Boulder Dam.
' When Roosevelt passed away in 1945 then it was brought forward California congressman jack Anderson that the name Hoover Dam was restored.
On April the 30th 1947 president Harry .
S.
Truman signed a document restoring the name.
With up to 10 million visitors a year, this incredible water management project has shown to American its worth.
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