Rivers Reborn · Episode 3 of 12 · 34 min
The Great Dams: The New Deal Remakes the Columbia
In the Depression the federal government built Bonneville and then Grand Coulee, the largest concrete structure in North America, and created an agency to sell their power cheaply. Cheap electricity reached a poor region, and a hired folk singer wrote anthems for it. It was a democratic triumph, yet Grand Coulee was finished with no way for a salmon to pass.
Who's who
- Franklin D. Roosevelt+28 more episodesPresident who championed and dedicated the Columbia dams
- J. D. RossFirst Bonneville Power Administrator
- Woody Guthrie+1 more episodeFolk singer hired in 1941 to write songs promoting the dams
Where it happens
- Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia River, WashingtonLargest concrete structure in North America, built without a fish ladder
- Bonneville Dam, Columbia RiverArmy Corps navigation and power dam dedicated in 1937
Timeline
- July 16, 1933First survey stake driven at the Grand Coulee site.
- August 20, 1937Roosevelt signs the Bonneville Project Act creating the BPA.
- September 28, 1937Roosevelt dedicates Bonneville Dam.
- June 6, 1938Bonneville enters commercial service.
- 1941Grand Coulee begins generating power; Guthrie writes his dam songs.
- June 1, 1942Grand Coulee reservoir fills and water flows over the spillway.
Still debated
Some fisheries officials and tribes warned of the salmon loss, so the historical question is less whether the cost was knowable than why it was set aside. How much credit belongs to Roosevelt personally is also open.
← PreviousThe Doctrine of Domination: Why America Dammed the WestNext →Follow the Money: Who Profited From Cheap Power
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