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Rudolph Spreckels
Rudolph Spreckels
Born	(1872-01-01)January 1, 1872 San Francisco, California, United States
Died	October 4, 1958(1958-10-04) (aged 86) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Known for	financing of the San Francisco graft investigtion
Spouse	Eleanor J. Jolliffe (1868-1949)
Children	Howard Spreckels, Eleanor Spreckels, Rudolph Spreckels Jr. and Claudine Spreckels

Rudolph Spreckels, (January 1, 1872 – October 4, 1958) was the son of the sugar magnate Claus Spreckels, a prominent San Francisco banker, known for his financing of the 1906-09 San Francisco graft investigation. He was also involved in a failed attempt by the former Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaiian Kingdom to reverse the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the promotion of a California state owned public water and power system. His Father, Claus Spreckels was considered one of the wealthiest men in America and was known as the Sugar King.

He also involved himself in several California enterprises, most notably the company that bears his name, Spreckels Sugar Company.

Early life

1. REDIRECT California Indian Reservations and Cessions

• From a page move: This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name.

CVP History Project

CVP History

Building resources: https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/california-water-timeline

Central Valley Project Timeline

CVP Timeline Prior to 1920

pre-western arrival - Tribal Culture - seasonal migratory locations between the Tulares and Sierra foothills 1493 - The Papal Bull known as the Discovery Doctrine gave Spain the right to take Indian lands and enslave them in the Western Hemisphere 1769-76 - The Arrival of Spain and its Spanish missions in California - Indians promised sovereign control 1822 - Republic of Mexico formed - breaks with Spain's sovereign promise to California Mission Indians 1823 - The Papal Bulls that made up the Discovery doctrine from 1455 and 1493 becomes part of U.S. Law 1833 - Secularization Act closes California Missions and sells off church properties The act initiated the transfer of 64 million acres of tribal lands via land grants or Ranchos to former Spanish citizens of Californio 1846 Bear Flag Rebellion - as part of the Mexican–American War and U.S. invasion of California - Republic of California 1846 - John Fremont kills original owner of the largest North American mercury mine at New Almaden after failing to buy it 1846 - Yerba Buena land grant takes its name from local Catholic mission and becomes San Francisco 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promises Mexican-Americans ownership of their Ranchos (ranches) and water rights 1849 - Influx of 80,000 immigrants during Gold Rush includes riots and land theft by squatter movement Sept-Oct - Californians meets in Monterrey for the first California Constitutional Convention 1850 - California admitted to Union 1850s - Hydraulic mining in gold region contaminates Sacramento Delta with silt and mercury 1850 - California Indian Protection Act removes Indian's civil rights and enslaves them, starting the mass genocide of many of the state's 300 tribes 1850 - California adopts British Common Law causing 70 years of disputes over water rights 1850 - Squatters cut down the world's largest Blossom Rock Redwoods and clearcut the groves on Peralta and Moraga's ranchos in Oakland hills 1851-90 California Lands Commission - Mexican-American Ranchos lost to whites 1851 - Catholic Church attempts to get land for Mission tribes from California Lands Commission but fails 1851-1890 - Indians populations decimated 1851 - Tribes Rounded up by U.S. Army and forced to sign 18 treaties 1850 Swamp Act - Enables Henry Miller to eventually own over 1 million acres of land in the Central valley 1853 - Americans cut Mother of the Forest causing international uproar The history of Clearcutting in the Sierra Nevada Mountains resulted in expanded flooding and environmental degradation 1853 - First documented American irrigation ditch constructed in Visalia, Tulare County 1855 - Van Ness ordinance - State adopts illegal grab of San Francisco lands 1860 - San Francisco beats U.S. Government in Supreme Court over land claims 1861 - Chinese build Sacramento Delta levees 1862 - Sacramento and levees destroyed by flooding - levees rebuilt 1862 - Lincoln passes Transcontinental Railroad Act giving away 140 million acres to railroad barons 1862 - Homestead Act allows adults who never took up arms against the government the right to claim 160 acres May 14 - California legislation permits the formation of canal construction companies 1866 - San Francisco wins Supreme Court case and all illegal land takings 1866 - The University of California formed as Land-grant university with the right to take public lands 1866 Mining Act included the right of miners to take public lands for ditches and dams 1869 - Transcontinental railroad completed - new immigration rush 1869 - First systematic Irrigation was in Anaheim and Riverside 1872 - Desert Land Act allows irrigation and lands in the west 1872 - California Irrigation Act passed by the state legislature allowing for cooperative water irrigation development. 1872 - US Mining Act 1873 - Congress sets up the Alexander Commission to design an irrigation system for the Central Valley. 1874 - Alexander Commission report sent to congress in March 1878 - Workingmen's Party takes control of state government on an anti-railroad campaign 1878 - William Hammond Hall obtains $100,000 to produce statewide irrigation plan - project collapses 1879 - New Constitution for state passed by workingmen bans Southern Pacific R.R. lobbying 1880 - Formation of California Railroad Commission 1884 - Hydraulic mining damages Sacramento watershed forced to stop 1886 - Miller-Lux Cattle Ranch v. Tevis-Haggins water wars: Riparian v. Prior-appropriation water rights 1887 - State of California establishes the Modesto Irrigation District Mar 7 - California Wright Act permits irrigation districts. Renamed California Irrigation District Act in 1917. [1] 1890 - Canal Act reserved federal authority for right of way to canals on public lands 1898 - San Francisco passes Charter that calls for public ownership of transit, water and power 1899 - Elwood Mead is appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to carry out irrigation surveys 1901 - Right to Construct Reservoirs by corporations on public lands 1902 - National Reclamation Act passed that created the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) 1902 - Tulare Irrigation District v. Shepard legal battle 1905 - Owens valley water plan okayed by Los Angeles Water Commission 1905 - $40 million statewide irrigation plan fails to due to lack of financing support 1905 - Salton Sea irrigation disaster 1907-13 - City of San Francisco Hetch Hetchy campaign to build water and power supply in Yosemite 1911 - Constitutional Act - California Railroad Commission takes over regulatory role of cities for electric rates 1913 - Water Commission Act attempts to sort out the state's water rights 1913 - The Raker Act passes, permitting San Francisco to build a public water and power system at Hetch Hetchy 1915 - State Water Problems Conference setup holding hearings the following year - decision Riparian rights the problem 1915 - California Irrigation Act declared unconstitutional by state supreme court 1917 - California Hawson Bill provides relief to water appropriator claims from Riparian Rights lawsuits 1918-20 - State suffers severe drought 1919 - Chief Hydrographer of the USGS Robert Bradford Marshall sends report titled the "Irrigation of Twelve Million Acres in the Valley of California" to Governor William Stephens Jan 14 - The city of Oroville Ca. moves ahead with plan to purchase PG&E gas and power operations Feb 3 - U.S. presidential candidate Senator Hiram Johnson is in favor of public ownership of electric utilities Feb 18 - Glenn County Ca. considers formation of an Irrigation district to take advantage of planned Iron Mountain dam

CVP Timeline - 1920

Jan 4 - Sacramento Valley Irrigation Association calls for water congress at the Capital Jan 10 - The U.S. Corps of Engineers proposes 3 dams and a series of locks on the Sacramento River Jan 14 - Western States request $250 million for irrigation projects Jan 23 - The Yuba-Nevada-Sutter Water and Power Association established for 80,000 acre water and power project Jan 23 - Santa Barbara plan to add powerhouse as way to pay for the city's Gibraltar dam project Jan 24 - Eureka Chamber of Commerce opposes proposed dam across Eel River others opposed due to fishing impacts Jan 29 - PG&E which relies heavily on hydro-electricity prepares emergency power plans due to lack of rainfall Feb 8 - Interior Secretary Franklin Lane requests $12.8 million for annual western irrigation funding Feb 8 - The Sacramento Union asks public to "Pray for rain" on the front page of its newspaper Feb 11 - Nevada County farmers protest PG&E's attempt to divert their water supplies at California Railroad Commission Feb 24 - Miller & Lux legal fight against the Madera Irrigation District to take water from the San Joaquin River Feb 25 - Major Water and Power rationing announced due to Northern California drought Feb 26 - The Sacramento Valley water and irrigation congress asks governor to call a special legislative session on drought Mar 13 - Proposal to build three powerhouses and divert American River water for irrigation in Placer County Mar 25 - Ninety California power companies meet and agree to let state power administrator manage power during crisis April 21 - PG&E announces plans to spend $15 Million in next two years on new power development April 30 - Sacramento politicians call for takeover of PG&E's electric and transit system May - The National Electric Light Association releases its National Water power report May 1 - PG&E announces $10 million plan to construct hydro-electric dams on Pit River May 11 - The California Railroad Commission (CPUC) emergency plan opposed by the Association of Irrigation Districts of Northern California May 13 - PG&E acknowledged during hearings that it used ratepayer money for political campaigns May 17 - Yolo County announces plan to create 100,000 acre irrigation district May 18 - Proposal to construct dam across the Carquinez Strait to stop saltwater incursions May 27 - Impacts of Clearcutting Sierra Nevada's Forests and flooding Central Valley made public June 7 - Water wars between Northern California irrigation districts and Contra Costa and Delta farmers over salt water incursions June 10 - 1920 Federal Water Power Act Signed into law that allows for expediting nationwide development of hydro-electric projects on U.S. rivers June 20 - PG&E applies to state railroad commission for rule changes to protect itself during power and water shortage July 4 - U.S. War Department begins investigation of building 4 dams and mobile locks on Sacramento River July 10 - PG&E curtails afternoon water pumping in five irrigation districts July 13 - City of Antioch starts lawsuit against rice farmers that threatens Water supply July 24 - The Madera Irrigation District starts the Madera dam project on San Joaquin River which later becomes Friant Dam July 27 - California representative protests Nevada's plan to take Lake Tahoe water July 28 - 800,000 acres of Miller-Lux land and water rights to be subdivided and sold to small farmers July 31 - The Glenn-Colusa irrigation district announce plan for a 1 million acre reservoir in Shasta county Aug 5 - Irrigation companies organize their own plan for water development Aug 15 - Colonel Robert B Marshall of USGS Plan introduced at Sacramento Valley Development Assoc. Aug 24 - War Department's plan for four Dam dragged into lawsuit between Antioch and California rice farmers Sept 26 - Major support for state Marshall Plan announced Oct 7 - Carquinez Straights dam not feasible Oct 11 - Court case between Rice farmers and Antioch continues Oct 17 - Marshall Plan will ask state legislature for $500,000 survey Oct 30 - The California State Irrigation Association expands its operations and support for statewide Marshall water plan Nov 10 - California League of Municipalities to cooperate in legislation on public power and water Nov 11 - Valley Cities urged to develop public power Nov 20 - Klamath Chamber of Commerce opens hearings on public vs. private power and water development Nov 21 - Locals opposed to California-Oregon Power Company's Klamath River power monopoly Dec 21 - Giant Boulder Dam plan on Colorado River by Southern California Edison announced 1920 PUC report on SVWCo

CVP Timeline - 1921

The Municipal Utility District Act (MUD Act) passed by the California Legislature Jan 5 - Marshall Plan proposes Shasta dam to be located at Kennett rather than Iron Mountain Jan 7 - State Senator M.B Johnson introduces California Water and Power senate bill Jan 7 - 13 years of bloodshed and litigtation end with PG&E winning water rights Jan 11 - The California State Irrigation Association and Sacramento Union promotes Marshall Plan review Jan 21 - $500,000 for Marshall water plan study introduced at state legislature Jan 29 - League of California Municipalities develop plan for public power legislation Jan 29 - Sacramento City Attorney attacks California Railroad commission for bias towards PG&E Jan 30 - Marshall Plan endorsement by League of California Municipalities Feb 23 - Marshall Plan endorsed by Southern California municipalities Mar 10 - The California State Irrigation Association sends Col. Marshall's list of 346 reservoir candidates to the League of California Municipalities Mar 14 - Details of the Marshall Plan promoted by the California State Irrigation Association Mar 15 - Municipal Utility District law results in heavy debate Mar 20 - State, federal and global impacts on the passage of the 1920 Water and Power Act Apr 2 - San Francisco Commonwealth Club opposes Marshall Plan during legislative hearings in Sacramento Apr 2 - Attempt by electric company supporter to kill Johnson's Water and Power Bill fails in Senate Apr 21 - Growing concern in San Joaquin Valley over Southern California power companies taking hydro-electric sites Apr 22 - Marshall Plan for Sacramento River irrigation survey given $200,000 by legislature Apr 26 - Johnson Power & Water Bill 397 loses by 4 votes in assembly committee Apr 28 - Municipal Utility District Act passed by state senate Apr 30 - Sacramento Union editorial calls for statewide vote after electric company lobby kills Johnson Power Bill May 4 - Sacramento City Commission resolution calls for emergency meeting of League of California Municipalities (248 cities)over Johnson bill May 9 - Sacramento City Attorney says public ownership could reduce electric rates from 8 cents to .8 cent May 17 - Sacramento City Commission report on building its own hydro-electric site on Silver Creek May 20 - Plan setup for statewide public power initiative at emergency meeting of League of California Municipalities May 20 - California State Irrigation Association endorses Marshall plan and Municipal League's statewide vote May 24 - Governor signs Municipal Utility District Act into law June 4 - $200,000 survey fund for Marshall Plan signed by governor July 1 - Miller and Lux loses its lawsuit to stop the Madera Irrigation District from using water from the San Joaquin river July 22 - Summary of the proposed Water and Power Act is modeled like the Ontario Canada hydro-electric system July 27 - State Water & Power Act initiative petition drive announced July 28 - Sacramento City Attorney Robert Shinn comes out against statewide Water and Power initiative Aug 4 - Riverside Chamber of Commerce circulates claim of "City Against Country" over Los Angeles public power Aug 29 - Committee redraft of initiative accepted by Shinn with petition gathering for 120,000 signatures to begin Sept 29 - California state control of water and power urged by former Interior Secretary Gifford Pinchot Sept 14 - $500 million public Water and Power plan will be on the 1922 election Nov 15 - state funded Marshall survey of water resources begins Nov 22 - Water and Power initiative attacked by state senator Dec 29 - Herbert Hoover placed in charge of Colorado River Commission that is reviewing plan for Boulder dam Dec 29 - State railroad commission okays PG&E plan for $5 million to expand its Pit River hydro-electric developments Dec 31 - Water & Power Initiative qualifies for November 1922 statewide ballot

CVP Timeline 1922-32

Jan 1 - World's highest dam proposed at Boulder Canyon Jan 6 - The Water and Power Initiative qualifies for the November 1922 ballot Jan 22 - PG&E front group "Greater California League" attacks water and power act Feb 23 - Antioch decides to build reservoirs to store water to counter summer salt-water incursions Feb 24 - PG&E president attacks water and power act initiative at Modesto Progressive men’s Business club Mar 7 - California State Irrigation Association comes out against water and power initiative Mar 17 - Boulder (Hoover) Dam okayed Apr 1 - Summary of the Water and Power Act debate held by the Commonwealth Club of California Apr 2 - Application for major Shasta water diversion by engineers from San Joaquin Light & Power company Apr 16 - Full page attack against Water and Power act published by S.F. Chronicle Apr 30 - San Francisco Chronicle claims water and Power act is an attempt to "foist communism on people" May 4 - Supreme Court to rule on PG&E ratebase inclusion of $52 million decision by state railroad commission Jun 11 - Robert Marshall comes out against the Water and power act (he later reverses himself) Sep 28 - Water and Power Act leader, Rudolph Spreckels blames power companies for his ouster at bank Sep 30 - First phase in PG&E's $100 million Pit River hydro-electric project turned on Oct 2 - Riverside Daily Press prints story that lies about Rudolph Spreckels and power and water act history Oct 4 - SFch SF Electrical Engineering convention Hetch and front page photos Proposition 19 - Water and Power Initiative Summary and full wording Nov 9 - Proposition 19 (Water and Power Act) loses (243,604 to 597,453) Nov - 1922 Water and power Act initiative fails due to $3 million dollar electric industry PR campaign Dec 1 - Water Power Act supporters plan for a new initiative attempt for 1924 1923 Feb - California media fails to expose $14,000 bribe, uncovered during senate investigation, to California State Irrigation Association by electric front group for reversing support of water and power initiative Feb 12 - State Senate investigation exposes opponents spent $234,000 to stop the Water and Power initiative Feb 13 - San Francisco Civic League of Improvement given $4,000 to distribute 200,000 flyers against Water and Power initiative Feb 13 - Former SF Mayor and labor leader given $10,000 to oppose initiative while unions were all for it Feb 13 - Southen California newspaper reports $393,000 spent against water and power initiative Feb 16 - New PG&E filings with senate investigation place total spent against water and power initiative at over $500,000 July 23 - Sacramento County voters form the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Feb 24 - P.H. McCarthy forced to resign from San Francisco Trades Council due to his role in water and power initiative Feb - Senate Hearings Summary - 1934 12-12 - Federal Trade Commission Investigation: pg 268-273 of 1922 initiative 1934 FTC Hearings testimony placed expenditure at over $1 million against water and power act find and make link started 1924 Proposition 16 Water and Power Summary and full text Sept 3 - Col. Robert Marshall comes out in favor of power and water initiative Sept 6 - Arguments for and against Prop 16, the water and power act with Robert Marshall making the for statement Oct 28 MT Marshall speaks for Water and Power Act Nov California Municipalities League attempt at Water & Power fails again 1925 San Francisco conservatives sell city power to PG&E 1925 SVWCo and Hetch Hetchy Note - Add link to actual propositions from hastings... 1926 Proposition 18 Water and Power summary and full text 1926 California Water & Power Initiative fails for 3rd time 1927 Cal Bulletin #18 Cal irrigation District Laws 1929 $390,000 authorized to investigate state's water resources 1930 Federal-State Water Resources Commission report proposes federal project 1931 state water plan legislature report proposing new CVP plan Jan 30 - The Hoover-Young Commission report estimate that state water plan will cost $374 million

CVP Timeline 1933-39

Franklin D. Roosevelt sworn in as president includes major Public works projects July 8th, Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) okays funding for Central Valley Act (CVP) Jul 15 - Details of CVP legislation announced with plan to cooperate with USBR Jul 20 - CVP bill stalls in legislature when rules committee blocks it Jul 22 - CVP legislation revived in state senate after federal support promised July 27th California Legislature votes for CVP Act assembly passing it 58-9 senate passes vote 23-15. Aug 5 - Governor signs $170 million CVP Act into law Aug PG&E funds petition drive for referendum that was run by a company lawyer named Aherne Dec 15 - Local state representative urges a yes vote on CVP while large PG&E opposed is to the right of article Dec 15 - SF Chamber of Commerce openly opposes CVP Act Dec 17 - CVP special election debate pros and cons along with map of project Dec 19 - Voter Information Guide for Proposition One - CVP special election Dec 19 - CVP referendum to go ahead wins 459,712 for to 426,109 Dec 21 - Great Water Project vote increases CVP vote status CVP victory due to dead Catalina cow with Slovenian community vote over fisherman's felony conviction 1933 SF Labor Council obtains PG&E political expenditures report to state 1933 PG&E spent $275,737.18 on political and other donations according to State Railroad Commission 1934 Nov 6 Sacramento, CA votes to form Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and purchase PG&E properties with $12 million in bonds 1935 Jan 2 - PG&E files suit to try and overturn the formation of SMUD and its buyout of PG&E 1935 August 30 - Rivers and Harbors Act authorizes $12 million funding by Army Corps of Engineers for CVP - never happens Dec 2 - state is loaned $4.2 million using USBR reclamation rules Dec 2 - USBR takes over CVP, loans $4.2 million - new estimate increases to $228 million source 1942 CVP Writers Project (51) 1936 June 22 - Sacramento and San Joaquin Flood Control Studies okayed by Rivers and Harbors Act 1936 1937 Aug 6 - Rivers and Harbors Act authorizes $12 million for CVP and gives control to USBR Sept 12 Ceremonies at Kennett for Shasta Dam Oct 19 - Contra Costa Canal Work begins Oct 22 - Governor hears $477 million CVP plan 1938 Mar 2 - State water authority commissioner opposed to agreement between PG&E and SMUD Jul 6 - contract $35.9 million for Shasta reservoir given - source 1942 CVP Writers Project (51) Sept 8 - Shasta Construction work starts - source 1942 CVP Writers Project (83) 1939 - Fortune Magazine Map of PG&E territory Feb 28 — State Water Project Authority creates four new jobs along with survey money from legislature allotment Nov 5 - Construction of $8.7 million Friant Dam begins 1939 Nov 27 - Pacific Gas & Electric Co. proposes to buy and distribute all of Shasta Dam power

1940-44 CVP Timeline

1940 US v. San Francisco Interior Sec. Ickes wins case to force San Francisco via the Raker Act to stop its sale of Hetch Hetchy water to PG&E Jan 7 - California legislature blocks Governor Olson proposal to unfreeze $170 CVP Bonds Jan 19 - Central Valley association spokesperson opposed to $50 million CVP bonds is actually a PG&E lobbyist Jan 22 - Interior Sec. Ickes advises state to setup Public utility market for Shasta at half PG&E prices Jan 24 - The Water Project Authority of California votes to delay Olson $50 million bond proposal until new study is done Jan 27 - Governor Olson opens legislative session with request for CVP Power bonds Jan 30 - Madera Irrigation District calls for vote about governor Olson's $50 million CVP bond proposal Feb 14 - Governor Olson and CVP senate supporters fail to get $50 million funding out of committee Mar 12 - U.S. Senate approves $5 million for CVP May 3 - Federal request for $191 million, including over $25 million to California for flood control following wet winter July 8 - First concrete poured at Shasta Dam - source 1942 CVP Writers Project (92) Jul 22 - Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers diverted as work on CVP dams get underway Aug 20 - CVP Contra Costa canal delivers first water to city of Pittsburg Sep 25 - CVP will irrigate 3 million acres and allow for increased Central Valley population Oct 5 - Madera Tribune posts photo of USBR's Friant Dam construction Oct 19 - President Roosevelt signs rivers and harbors authorization bill (HR9972)with funds for CVP but includes limitation Nov 27 - Governor Olson goes to Washington to propose federal takeover of CVP due to state funding opposition Dec 6 - Another CVP dam proposed south of Shasta dam near Iron Mountain Dec 19 - Governor Olson obtains support for his CVP plan after meeting with president Roosevelt Dec 21 - State water commission requests a federal delay on PG&E's request for hyro work near Shasta dam 1941 Jan 8 - state senate proposal to expand the size of the CVP project to include Sacramento Valley Jan 20 - Congressional oversight of $446 million CVP project based on TVA model is ready Feb 14 - CVP contracts have helped companies in 40 different U.S. states Feb 21 - $50 million CVP federal funding in exchange for PG&E Feather River power Mar 20 - The state water authority budgets $200,000 for CVP work, including cooperative federal projects Apr 17 - Interior Secretary Ickes prepares legislation for federal oversight of the CVP Apr 30 - Congress approves a $34.7 million budget for CVP May 22 - State legislature agrees to include funding for CVP electricity Jul 28 - The CVP project is made a national defense priority with sped up on Keswick Dam contracts to start in August July 30 - Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act promised to pay for all Wintu lands covered by Shasta dam Jul 31 - FDR signs CVP legislation that takes tribal lands that will be submerged by Shasta and Friant dams Aug 12 - First major contract for the $12.5 million Keswick dam awarded Sep 17 - CVP statistical report says 1.7 million acre feet of water being diverted from Sacramento River Oct 22 - $319,802 contract for 6 miles of Contra Costa Canal awarded Dec 30 - Regional director of the USBR, Charles E. is Carey selected by Ickes to develop market search for CVP power customers 1942 Jan 8 - CVP Shasta and Friant are the 2nd and 4th worlds largest dams and rapidly being completed for the war Feb 26 - CVP's chief engineer gives detailed status report on CVP to Madera citizens Mar 10 - USBR color of map of CVP made public Mar 25 - House committee deletes $15 million for transmission lines and CVP steam plant Mar 26 - With only PG&E as witness Congressmen angry at company killing future power to city of Sacramento and much more - CR shows PG&E getting FPC okay for its own Feather River steam plant to counter Antioch as well as offering republicans to take over CVP power - This documentation does not exist in CR as of yet, but these were the results of funding pulled its unclear yet how rep. Carter and Gearhart that led the cal rep delegation pulled this off yet. But here is the first full documentation of the plan to take all CVP power and defund the USBR transmission system from Shasta down to Antioch where power would be not just sold to Sacramento which was moving towards its own utility district (SMUD) but also needed to pump the CVP water into the southern valley (MID) district. Full research ongoing here via congressional record! Mar 26 - Rep. Voorhis exposes prominent reason PG&E is behind blocking CVP power lines as Sacramento wants to break away from PG&E and buy power at a cheaper rate Aug 20 - The Madera Tribune congratulates Bertrand W. Gearhart on his role in promoting the CVP Nov 13 - Shasta dam nearly ready - construction work photo Nov 21 - Major segments of the CVP project halted by the War Production Board including transmission lines and Friant Dam PG&E allowed to take over CVP power at Shasta - GE on WPB!!! Nov 27 - state railroad commission sets price of PG&E electric property in Sacramento at $11.6 million Dec 22 - Ag Association spokesperson threatens city over city's push to buy power from CVP 1943 Jun 9 - $30.9 million funds sought for CVP as war power needs expanding Jun 19 - War Powers Board okays CVP Friant-Kern Canal funding Jul 20 - CVP Shasta to Oroville power line bids opened Sep 2 - Interior Secretary Ickes' order to build CVP transmission line attacked by Rep. Carter who represents Tulare county but lives in Oakland Sep 8 - San Francisco sends resolution to War Production Board calling for urgent completion of Friant-Kern Canal Sep 24 - CVP coordinator announces operational schedules including Friant dam diversion to start in 1944 Sept 28 - Ickes announces PG&E contract to buy all Shasta dam power agreed to Dec 29 - War Production Board refuses to fund the CVP's Friant-Kern Canal 1944 Jan 14 - 90 year dream - Shasta reservoir is filling up Apr 7 - CVP coordinator will follow federal law and block big farms from obtaining CVP water Apr 14 - Madera Tribune calls Interior Secretary Ickes "Little Harold" over CVP following federal water use rules May 2 - Madera Tribune attacks "Oakies" and Interior Secretary "Little Harold" Ickes as a Czarist for retaining 160 acre water limit May 12 - President Roosevelt supports 40 year old 160 acre federal rule that CVP water will only go to small farmers Jun 8 - State Senate committee wants 160 acre limit lifted June 26 - Shasta dam starts producing Power from two generators Jul 20 - Quarter page PG&E Ad promotes its takeover of CVP power Jul 24 - Hearings begin on the federal 160 acre water limit campaign by wealthy farmers Jul 25 - PG&E starts taking Shasta dam power for resale July 26 - Sacramento phase of hearings end. Federal laws will not be broken say federal authorities - for wealthy interests Jul 30 - Week long CVP hearings in Bakersfield held by Senate subcommittee on irrigation - 160 acre water limit attacked Oct 11 - War Production Board reverses itself and delays work on [[Friant-Kern Canal] Elliot Amendment to the Harbors and Rivers Act attempts to remove 160 acre water limit of the 1902 Reclamation Act fails

1945 CVP Timeline

• Jan 2 - USBR proposes spending $600 million for CVP
• Mar 22 - Rural congressional representatives want more control over CVP but don't want to pay for the system
• Apr 12 - USBR proposes spending $836 million on CVP
• Jun 4 - The state Chamber of Commerce promotes the takeover of the Central valley project when completed
• Jun 8 - Chairman of the Central Valley Project Congress advocates cheap power development for San Joaquin Vallery farmers
• Jul 18 - state water authority funded to evaluate possibility of purchasing the $340 million CVProject
• Sep 6 - New 300 page CVP report calls for dramatic $527 million increase to project for total of $735 million (map)
• Sep 27 - The wartime ban on construction will end in October with $15 million available to start on Friant Dam
• Oct 30 - Attack on federal limits to CVP water for farms less than 160 acres is actually 320 leaving out only giant operations
• Nov 24 - USBR introduces CVP plan to Congress with 38 proposed dams
• Nov 26 - CVP funding ends up in hostile subcommittee that cuts all transmission and power funding
• Nov 27 - U.S. House appropriations committee cuts budge for transmission lines for CVP
• Nov 28 - SF Chronicle fails to mention $5 million cut on transmission line budget, only mentions $780,000 left
• Nov 29 - Chamber of Commerce hears claim that federal control over the CVP is totalitarian
• Nov 30 - SF Chronicle promotes Mendota 42,000 acre family farmer's opinion that employs 400 regular and 1,000 Mexican migratory workers
• Dec 7 - Two day statewide water conference begins with fighting over 160 acre ban
• Dec 8 - The first statewide water conference in 18 years is moderated by Governor Warren - the war of big vs. small farmers
• Dec 26 - Madera Tribune's attempt to be neutral about the 160 acre fight

1946-49 CVP Timeline

1946 Apr 5 - small town newspaper uses front group to call Dept. of Public Works communistic for funding CVP project Apr 9 - 96,000 acre feet of Friant dam water released in March 1946 for irrigation of valley May 3 - President Truman announces plan to expand scope of CVP Jun 18 - CVP obtains $20 million funding for most of its projects Jun 22 - Sacramento Municipal Utility District $10.5 million in bonds to purchase PG&E vote agreed to Jun 26 - U.S. Senate funding for CVP reduced from $225 million to $12.5 million Sep 24 - PG&E announces $160 million budget to expand power output Nov 30 - Interior Sec. Krug says need for water and power from CVP being held up by "one or two large corporations" 1947 Jan 6 - Republican control of state legislature results in funding for only a CVP study Jan 6 - Democrats push investigation of monopolist takeover of CVP Feb 14 - Republicans hold closed door appropriations hearing as Truman requests $30 million including $5 million for CVP transmission Feb 19 - If 160 acre law banned 20 giant Central Valley companies will get water monopoly Feb 20 - Small farmers and labor oppose repeal of CVP 160 acre ban Feb 27 - 61% of $384 million CVP costs will be paid by electric sales Mar 17 - Senator introduces bill to exempt CVP from USBR's 160 acre ban Jun 3 - Sixteen day 160 acre ban hearing by Senate ends, no action taken Jul 28 - $29 million CVP budget split between Army Corp and U.S.B.R. with $1.5 million for transmission lines Sep 18 - CVP project funding and speed to increased with hope to complete entire project by 1950 Dec 3 - Governor Warren seeks emergency CVP funding Dec 23 - $11.4 million emergency funds for CVP project granted as senator tries to get CVP head fired over 160 acre ban 1948 Jan 12 - President Truman submits a $42 Million CVP budget for next year Jan 15 - Proposal to expand CVP to American River Jan 22 - San Joaquin Valley farmers sign 19 contracts for 320,000 acre feet of water Feb 25 - with another drought, the Stale Water Project authority requests $55.6 million for CVP Mar 5 - USBR will seek Truman veto if California republican try to overthrow 160 acre ban Mar 18 - two farm groups on opposite of the 160 acre debate Jun 5 - Governor Warren supports CVP transmission system - see confusion headline Jul 6 - CVP budget for 1948-49 year set at $68.5 million Jul 19 - New CVP work to include expansion of Shasta dam power Klamath River and Santa Barbara projects Aug 6 - $50 million fund sought to buy up large farms and resell them to small farmers Oct 7 - Chamber of Commerce threatens legal fights over CVP's reclamation laws Oct 13 - Interior Secretary Krug warns farmers that California electric companies are blocking CVP project Nov 30 - State Water Project Authority urges 160 acre law removal chamber water fight 1949 - Map of Central Valley Cotton producers Mar 30 - Congress appropriates $53.5 million for CVP that included money for transmission lines - MAJOR note first victory as subcommittee brought Speaker in to break cal delegation tactics. Jul 2 - Cal. Assembly funds study to buy CVP Jul 9 - 15,000 attend Governor Warren's release of Friant dam water into San Joaquin valley Jul 11 - Media says 100 years in the making as 20,000 people attend opening of $58 million Friant-Kern Canal Jul 13 - US Senate boosts CVP annual funding to $60.8 million Jul 21 - Senator Downey (R-CA) demands investigation of USBR and it continued 160 acre ban Aug 2 - Congress tentatively agrees to fund two more CVP canals for $20-40 million Aug 25 - Madera Tribune writes highly manipulative article suggesting Public Power advocates had increased funding yet story details how Senator Knowland (R-Ca) amendment stripped transmission funding Aug 30 - President Truman proposes $1 billion CVP expansion for 38 dams and 25 power facilities Sep 27 - Friant dam is fourth largest dam in world - details of history and construction Sep 27 - U.S. Senate okays CVP addition of $110 million for American River development Nov 14 - USBR plans to begin moving water from Sacramento Valley into the San Joaquinn Valley in 1951 Dec 2 - CVP deal contract with Madera Irrigation District almost settled

1950-54 CVP Timeline

1950 Feb 3 - Gov Warren supports $69 million CVP budget for 1951 Mar 16 - California house members cut $4 million of power project out of CVP budget Apr 14 - GP 0003 ACC spin May 8 - Warning that government should withdraw from CVP if 160 acre ban on water rights removed Jun 17 - PG&E attacked by Governor Warren for blocking CVP projects during Shasta Dam dedication Sep 19 - Detailed overview of how CVP works and impacts to Madera Irrigation District 1951 Jan 3 - CVP and state agree to keep grasslands flooded to protect migratory birds Apr 20 - $18.3 of the $33.8 million CVP annual budget earmarked for Friant-Kern Canal May 10 - HTES 0017 mighty cvp big photo Jul 5 - HTES 0010 Feather River dam Aug 1 - Shasta Dam starts sending water into CVP canals Aug 8 - Friant dam ceremony exposes new rift as state court orders excess water released as tactic to flood aquifer Sep 13 - sn 0008 pg&e AD ABOUT cvp Sep 25 - Madera Tribune does extended coverage of CVP as major milestone in project is completed with historic map Sep 25 - History of the Reclamation Act as part of Madera Tribune celebration issue Sep 25 - MT unnamed (big) farmers take Madera Irrigation District water contract with USBR to court 1952 Feb 23 - USBR proposes CVP Power plan that would takeover local PG&E project and spark major growth in Fresno Mar 1 - USBR reports 1951 income of $8 million from water sales for 1951 Mar 21 - $34.9 million budget okayed by congress for construction activities May 2 - Sixteen large farmers representing 14,000 acres agree to take CVP water and eventually abide by 160 acre rule Dec 13 - SMUD makes contract to by CVP power from USBR California legislature appropriated $10 million for investigation into state purchase of CVP 1953 Jan 9 - President Truman asks for $83 million for CVP construction 1953 Jan 10 - 110 foot coffer dam at CVP's $58 million Folsom dam breached - no deaths from flooding Jan 24 - Madera Tribune enraged that USBR signs a long term contract to sell 17% of CVP excess power to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Jan 28 - Lawsuit to stop all major water diversions a threat to the CVP Apr 23 - House Committee headed by Ca. representatives cuts $7 million from $19 million CVP budget, all from power projects May 20 - USBR request to senate that it reinstates $7 million pulled from CVP's power and transmission budget May 28 - State legislature tries to block irrigation district contracts with USBR Sep 26 - MT 0004 Friant is 4th largest concrete dam in world Dec 28 - Republicans, corporate farms and state Chamber of Commerce push for state to buy CVP from Interior Dept. 1954 BR report: Four dams, five canals and other systems have been completed at a cost of $435.4 million Jan 21 - President Eisenhower asks for $70.4 million CVP budget May 4 PG&E offers to buy CVP power and facilities for $130 million cash Aug 27 - Central Valley Project Act Reauthorization Sep 10 - Proposal for $230 million San Luis segment of the CVP announced includes map

1955-59 CVP Timeline

1955 Feb 21 - PG&E makes proposal to buy CVP power from Trinity dam for $3.5 million a year Apr 14 - US BR ignores PG&E's proposal to take over the electric system of the $219 million Trinity dam Jul 14 - Urgent need for more water results in Trinity project moving ahead as San Luis project not ready Jul 16 - CVP $15 million budget for 1956 will be to complete Folsom Dam and being work on Trinity Dam 1956 May 21 - Congress appropriates $83 million for irrigation with $20 million going to Central Valley projects including a Tulare Lake dam Jul 19 - US BR announces plans to construct the Glen Canyon Dam and $42 million for five CVP projects for 1957 1957 - Fear based 28 minute video pushing to expand state expansion of water project Feb 20 - PG&E attacks republican senators opposition to PG&E's proposal for joint construction of Trinity Dam project Jun 13 - $88 million for California was given but excluded all funding for transmission systems Oct 14 - U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear the USBR's 160-acre ban on big water users Oct 29 - 5 million acre feet a year being extracted from Central Valley's aquifer Nov 1 - CVP's Feather River project considered world's largest engineering project 1958 Jan 23 - PG&E agrees to renegotiate rates it charges for CVP power after report discloses company's rate manipulation Feb 5 - Interior Secretary Fred A. Seaton recommends that PG&E be allowed to takeover Trinity Dam power Mar 5 - CVP Plan to add 2 million acre feet of water in San Joaquin Valley endorsed May 26 - Proposal for San Luis Canal project and 500,000 acres of land in western Merced, Fresno and Kings counties Jun 9 - Congress okays $42 million budget for coming CVP's next fiscal year Jun 23 - U.S. Supreme Court reverses state supreme court in upholding the 160-acre ban on USBR water to large users Oct 15 - Total of 444,000 Kilowatts of CVP power being transfer to PG&E 1959 Feb 13 - PG&E plan to build "cream skimmer" transmission lines between Bonneville and CVP attacked Apr 27 - Two more dams proposed for CVP project May 12 - Governor Brown releases breakdown on where $1.75 billion funding for State Water Project will go to Jun 3 - Congress okays $103 Million with $43 to USBR and $59.8 to Corps of Engineers for state irrigation and flooding Oct 21 - SCS Grange Convention and CVP 1959 Mar 18 - LHS 0012 in congress Jul 9 - Governor Brown signs $1.75 billion state water bond law that includes 735 foot high Oroville Dam Sep 30 - Interior Department signs two new contracts with PG&E for 629,000 Kilowatts of CVP electricity from four dams Sep 30 - Madera Irrigation District opposed Fresno plan to take San Joqauin River surplus water Sep 30 - Interior Department extends PG&E contracts for CVP Power up to April 1971

1960-69 CVP Timeline

1960 State and USBR cooperation Agreement Jul 1 - Congress okays $61 million CVP budget 1961 Feb 2 - State takes first step in $400 State Water Project Aug 10 - History of EBMUD and the November 1959 $1.7 billion state water project vote 1962 - May 17 - $27 million joint CVP funding project proposed 1963 - Corps of Engineers dredges the Sacramento Deep Water Channel to the port of Sacramento. Jan 18 - Congress to propose $106 million annual CVP Budget Mar 2 - Governor Brown Announced $325 Million plan to fund state water project May 24 - State Senate votes against Governor Brown's proposal to fund state plan with bonds June 11 - Attempts by Republicans to kill the sale of $325 million in bonds for state water project fails Dec 15 - Extended summary of all the state's new water plans laid out in series of articles by agency 1964 Jan 13 - SMUD, EBMud and growing construction of dams background story on state water expansion Jan 21 - Utility Districts across the state will benefit from expansion of the state water project (map of state plan) Jan 22 - $112 million annual CVP budget proposed to congress with state to include $42 million for San Luis 1965 - Inter-agency Delta Committee recommendation for Peripheral Canal and Delta facilities Jan 14 - City of Santa Clara asked LBJ for direct access to CVP vs. PG&E power July 23 - $5 billion San Luis Reservoir segment of the CVP begins construction Aug 4 - PG&E Hydro-electric project connects 3 rivers near Shasta Aug 6 - Auburn-Folsom Project goes before congress for funding Sept 16 - Governor Brown request $188 million for CVP funding 1966 Jan 25 - President Johnson asks Congress for $100 million CVP annual budget Mar 11 - 21st Century water shortage predicted if system not expanded Apr 3 - State water project good until 1990 but won't handle predicted 54 million population expected by 2020 Apr 26 - State seeks $164 million from feds for CVP's 1967 fiscal year 1967 Jan 13 - CVP produces record 5.3 billion kilowatts hours of electricity in 1966 Jan 25 - President Johnson withholds $34 million for CVP's San Luis project Oct 6 - State Water Project's Oroville Dam and Reservoir are completed Oct 18 - State Assemblyman seeks $600 million in Bonds for the state's water project 1968 Feb 8 - State budgets $425 million for state's water project Apr 19 - CVP's San Luis Reservoir dedicated May 16 - $468 million cut to proposed on CVP's Auburn Dam project Dec 28 - Interior Dept. okays new CVP plan along east side of valley 1969 - State Water Project obtains emergency loan from state treasury as inflation rates have dried up funding from bond sales

1970-79 CVP Timeline

- the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant and John E. Skinner Fish Facility are completed 1970 Mar 15 - Army Corps of Engineers announces construction of 625 foot high New Melones Dam Apr 30 - Governor Reagan promotes $209 million 43 mile long, 400 foot wide Peripheral Canal plan 1971 Jan 29 - Nixon administration proposes $150 million for state water projects Feb 15 - NCPA files Writ with CPUC to stop PG&E power contract with SMUD for Rancho Seco surplus power Mar 18 - Sierra Club files lawsuit to shut down the CVP Jul 23 - California State Water Resources Control Board sets CVP water quality standards. Jul 30 - California Water Resources Association attacks passage of Wild and Scenic Rivers legislation Oct 8 - New association of state agencies formed to promote water projects 1972 Jan 20 - Labor Leader says 45 corporations with 3.7 million acres gets illegal USBR water subsidies May 25 - Proposition 9 ban on nuclear development will endanger CVP says California Water Resources Association Aug 10 - $4.9 million CVP contract for 25 of 188 mile long San Luis drain awarded Dec 7 - GAO study says big landowners received $1.5 billion CVP water subsidy 1973 - legislation funds new Delta levees. Feb 9 - Nixon administration blocks $2 million in CVP funds okayed by Congress 1974 Feb 14 - History of Peripheral canal plan dates to 1964 Jul 11 - 29,000-acre Giffen Inc. broken up and sold to comply with 160-acre USBR rules Sept 25 - Environmental review for 43 mile long Peripheral canal released 1975 Sept 4 - Healdsburg joins 10 NCPA other cities to obtain its own electricity 1976 Jan 28 - USBR says there will be enough water for the year as drought continues Mar 24 - 59 farmers file $33 million lawsuit against CVP and SWP for 1974 flood damages Apr 22 - Eight mile Pacheco tunnel from San Luis reservoir to Santa Clara started 1977 - Department of Water Resources supports Peripheral Canal as best way move water to the Delta Feb 8 - USBR announces plan to cut CVP water by up to 75% due to drought Feb 25 - Westland's Land Dynamics Inc. pleads guilty and fined $10,000 for conspiracy to violate land sale rules Apr 17 - President Carter stops 15 water projects including review of CVP Apr 21 - Salyer Land and J.G. Boswell Cos. (cotton growers) propose buying $45 million Pine Flat Dam to bypass 160-acre rule Sept 15 - Assembly votes 56-22 in favor of SB 346 Peripheral Canal legislation Sept 16 - Senate votes down Governor Brown's $4.2 billion Peripheral Canal proposal Oct 6 - USBR lost $74 million between 1971 and April 1976 for underpricing electricity sold to PG&E Nov 5 - 529 page federal report says USBR has failed to breakup corporate ownership in Westlands over 160 acre limit on water subsidies Nov 5 - Government task force report documents $2.7 billion water subsidy to CVP farmers at taxpayers expense Nov 5 - Report documents how the USBR's 197 mile long San Luis drain (Kesterson) in the Westlands went from $7 million to $542 million Nov 30 - Roberts Farm Inc's 8,100 acre operations in Kern county goes bankrupt and sold for $21.5 million Dec 11 - The Chandler family's L.A. Times caught in conflict of Interest over newspaper's attack on 160-acre limit as family owns major investments in Tejon Ranch and J.G. Boswell Company Dec 19 - California v. U.S. Supreme Court case over control of discharge rights 1978 - California State Water Resources Control Board releases Water Rights Decision 1485 (D-1485) requiring Delta water quality Jan 6 - Call for one year moratorium over 160-acre ban ruling and Interior Dept decision Jan 26 - CVP water rates too cheap as study shows project will be $8.8 billion in debt by 2037 Feb 8 - PG&E making 800% profit on CVP power it buys Feb 20 - Federal Land Bank of Sacramento ignores 160-acre CVP rlimit rule when issuing loans to large farmers Mar 18 - Sec. of Interior urges cooperative operations - state charges $22 vs. CVP charging $3.50 per acre foot of water July 4 - US Supreme Court rules in favor of state over right to enforce environmental regulations Sep 20 - Lobbyists for Salyer Land and J.G. Boswell Cos. who own 150,000-acres of cotton lands paid $165,000 to fight 160-acre limit Nov 8 - Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 742l; 92 Stat. 3110) -- Public Law 95-616 updates CVP Act Nov 21 - Westlands Irrigation District legal Budget for 1979 set at $549,000 to fight the federal government 1979 Jan 3 - Dept. of Interior agrees to abide by state's environmental quality rules Jan 16 - Bill to allocate $50 Million for state water project including money for Peripheral canal introduced Feb 25 - J.G. Boswell investigated for secret contract by Grand Jury with Cotton Inc. (lobby firm) $113 million 10 year budget Mar 8 - US Dept. of Agriculture expands probe of Boswell-Cotton Inc. $60,000 annual contract for Cotton Board research and promotion Mar 11 - Westlands Irrigation District hires Washington lawfirm of Williams & Connolly to represent their 160-acre legal fight Mar 22 - Senate hearings open on the Reclamation Reform Act of 1979 - to replace the 160-acre limit for USBR water Mar 23 - Western water war erupts over hundreds of millions of acres of subsidized lands with call to change 160-acre limitation Apr 13 - Support for study calling for 200 foot increase of Shasta Dam Oct 11 - Regional battle between farmers and environmentalists hold up dams and Peripheral Canal plans

1980-89 CVP Timeline

1980 Mar 13 - State legislature passes SB200 Peripheral Canal act opposed by ecologists Oct 18 - Santa Clara power users sue agency for $18 million over rates 1981 Oct 21 - CVP proposal to sell power to city of Healdsburg announced 1982 - Voters defeat the Peripheral Canal initiative - Proposition 9 Apr 29 - Santa Cruz to do study on takeover of PG&E power grid Apr 30 - Healdsburg to start buying CVP power from Westeran Area Power Administration May 4 - Healdsburg breaks from PG&E power August 4 - PG&E claims Healdsburg owes them $62,000 as city goes for public power 1983 Oct 2 - Republicans moves away from conservation on Central Valley water 1984 May 5 - National Wildlife Federation says USBR under collected water fees by $10 billion Nov 16 - Federal plan to dump Central Valley waste water into Pacific attacked 1985 Mar 30 - Interior Dept plan to stop dumping Central Valley toxics into Kesterson Aug 21 - CVP has made $1.5 billion in illegal subsidies to giant ag farms Sep 10 - House passes on cooperative agreement between CVP and SWP 1986 - DWR-USBR Coordinated Operation Agreement, agreed to by Congress. Nov 27 - Ceremony held in Sacramento on agreement between CVP and SWP 1987 - SWB starts revision of D-1485 after U.S. EPA call plan inadequate. 1988 - Suisun Marsh salinity control gates start up. May 28 - 2nd Dry year starting to impact CVP water supply 1989 - EPA lists Sacramento River Chinook salmon as threatened Feb 16 - USBR announces 25-50% reduction in water availability due to 3 year drought May 3 - USBR investigation of expanding Tehama-Colusa Canal June 23 - PG&E loses court case over its refusal to transmit power to public agencies

1990-99 CVP Timeline

1990 Feb 16 - 4th year of drought expected to cause cutbacks in water to users Jul 15 - $150 million environmental CVP legislation angers farmers and PG&E 1991 - SWB produces Bay-Delta salinity control plan but partially rejected by the EPA Construction completed on four south Delta pumps Jan 30 - 800 attend statewide meeting on water crisis solutions Feb 13 - Water Rights issue grow as 5th year of drought calls for 50% farm water cutbacks Feb 15 - Water crisis worst since 1945, CVP to drain all reservoirs with up 75% restrictions in use Mar 16 - Recent storms reduce water crisis but orders for reduced use to hold 1992 - The Central Valley Project Improvement Act mandated the balancing of water, pricing and distribution policies Jan 1 - U.S. Corps of Engineers releases environmental plan for 3,400 acre Yolo Country wildlife refuge Feb 13 - Bush administration submits $906 million USBR budget for 1993 including CVP Oct 30 - Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 199 -- Public Law 102-575 Nov 18 - New federal legislation will give Yolo and Solano County CVP water 1993 - A documented indicator species, the Delta smelt is listed as threatened (goes to endangered in 2009) 1993 - Save San Francisco Bay Association's Barry Nelson calls the CVP "the biggest single environmental disaster ever to strike California." Feb 18 - USBR open new office to oversee 1992 CVP Improvement Act Dec 17 - Governor Wilson attacks federal plans to withhold water for environment 1994 Feb 16 - Drought response results in 2/3rd cut in farm waters Apr 10 - Judge blocks attempt to sell CVP water to mining company Sep 19 - Pajaro Valley loses 19,000 acre feet of CVP water due to legal technicality 1995 Jul 18 - Folsom Dam gate breaks releasing half million acre feet of water 1996 Oct 12 - Pajaro Valley water agency decides to buy $5.6 million in CVP water rights Dec 21 - Kern County plan to sell 22 billion gallons of water to L.A. starts water war 1997 - $80 million temperature controlled fish protection support added to Shasta dam Sept 13 - Cadillac Desert author supports more subsidies to farmers Dec 14 - Proposal to sell Friant dam water to L.A. reduced to just excess flow years 1998 May 29 - Measure D in Pajaro Valley alternative to CVP plan attacked for conservation and small dams Jun 3 - Measure D passes, effectively ending plan to import CVP water into Pajaro Valley

2000-2019 Timeline

• 2000 - Westlands Water District sues the USBR over drainage promises and wins $2.6 billion agreement
• Jun 9 - $450 million water plan proposed by Governor Davis includes raising Shasta dam height
• 2002 Feb 13 - Appeal of court ruling taking CVP water from fish and environment
• Jul 17 - Westlands wants feds to buy contaminated land for $500 million
• 2004 - CalFed budget zeroed out for fifth year in a row as attempts to find common ground fail
• Apr 22 - Editorial: death of 34,000 fish on Klamath impacts Hupa tribe
• Jul 14 - Court order allows for protection of fish in Trinity River
• 2005 Mar 16 - CVP water resold by users as 200,000 acres in Westland's too toxic for growing
• 2006 - San Joaquin water flows restored to protect fish
• 2007 May 25 - Federal court overturns U.S. Fish and Wildlife's 2005 opinion that increased CVP water take would not endanger Smelt
• May 30 - USBR's unregulated underpricing of CVP electricity documented
• Oct 25 - “Racanelli Decision” - Judge decides in favor of Aug. 1978 decision (1485) compelling USBR and DWR adhere to the State Water Resources Control Board's water quality standards
• 2008 - Central Valley Project Improvement Act's fisheries program conducts "Listen to the River" independent peer review
• Apr 9 - CVP's Lewiston dam predicted to have a normal reservoir levels for year
• Aug 9 - The Kern County Water Agency buys state water for as cheap as $28 and sells it for up to $200 and acre
• 2009 - A documented indicator species, the Delta smelt is listed under the ESA as endangered (listed as threatened in 1993)
• Mar 11 - Drought fears recede after recent rain bring CVP's Lewiston dam up to 59% of normal
• May 24 - How the Ca. Dept. of Water Resources lost control of the Kern Country Water Bank
• Jun 5 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases 4 year study on fish impacts
• Jun 29 - Secretary of Interior blocks Representative Devin Nunes call to invoke the Endangered Species Act "God Squad" mechanism
• Oct 7 - Trinity County protests USBR's petition to extend state water rights to 2030
• 2010 Jan 18 - The Community Alliance produces report on how subsidized farming creates poverty in the Central Valley
• Jun 3 - Environmental groups file a lawsuit seeking to block a secret backroom deal – known as the “Monterey Amendments”
• Dec 15 - The release of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, or the reincarnation of peripheral canal is immediately opposed by environmental groups
• 2012 Mar 2 - Court of Appeals ends thirteen year legal battle between Westlands and Interior Dept in government's favor
• 2014 May 14 - 10% of all California goes to Almond production
• Nov 4 - After 5 years of reworking, the public okays $510 million in state water funding
• 2015 Jan 27 - Harvard University has bought 10,000 acres California land for Wine production and water speculation
• Apr 21 - California Almond production is using over 1 trillion gallons of agricultural water
• Sep 11 - USBR announces agreement with Westlands water contract and drainage controversy
• 2017 Jan 3 - HR 23 Central Valley Project Water Reliability introduced and passed by house fails in senate would have stripped all CVP environmental protections
• Feb 17 - CVP's Oroville Dam spillway water levels result in 180,000 people forced to evacuate
• Mar 17 - House republicans invoke the "God Squad" option of the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1978 to overturn water limits caused by the endangered Smelt
• Jun 10 - Trump admin proposes selling off all grid assets of the Power Marketing Administration
• 2018 - Congress set aside $20 million to raise Shasta dam by 18.5' or an additional 636,000 acre feet of water a year
• Oct 19 - Central Valley towns are some of the poorest in the U.S.
• 2019 Aug 1 - Meeting to start new Delta Tunnel by state agencies held
• Sep 8 - Westlands Irrigation District appeals court decision to block raising height of CVP's Shasta dam
• Aug 21 - Trump admin suppresses report on dangers to Steelhead Salmon
• Oct 23 - Dept. of Interior changes water rules in favor of farmers
• 2020 - Jan 1 - No Smelt indicator species found in the Sacramento Delta for last 2 years

Special Westlands-Kesterson Timeline

Evaporation ponds Kesterson national wildlife refuge

• 1952 - Westlands Water District is formed and would become the nation's largest Water district covering 600,000 acres
• 1961 - USBR agrees to build San Luis Reservoir and a runoff drain that would benefit the Westlands
• 1975 - Funding for the Westlands drain cut by congress resulting in toxic run-off diverted to Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge evaporation ponds
• 1977 Nov 5 - 529 page federal report says USBR has failed to breakup corporate ownership in Westlands over 160 acre limit
• 1978 - 7,000 acre feet of toxic water laced with Selenium and pesticides sent annually to Kesterson evaporation ponds flows into wildlife reserve
• 1983 - 60% of baby birds are deformed within Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge where contaminated water is sent
• 1985 - Tragedy at Kesterson Reservoir: Death of a Wildlife Refuge Illustrates Failings of Water Law
• 1996 - USBR and State forms Grasslands Bypass Project to divert contaminated water from going into Kesterson
• 2000 Mar 1 - Court of Appeals orders USBR to construct CVP Drain
• Jun 9 - $450 million water plan proposed by Governor Davis includes raising Shasta dam height
• 2002 Feb 13 - Natural Resources Defense Council appeals Judge's ruling over how much CVP water can be retained for wildlife
• Nov 17 - USBR close to making deal to buy contaminated lands in Westlands
• 2004 Apr 22 - Sac Express The Rich get wetter
• Jul 14 - Court order allows for protection of fish in Trinity River with water

• Dec 15 - What does CVP water costs to farmers and who is paying the government
• 2005 Mar 16 - Report says Westlands should never have been irrigated by CVP water due to geology
• Aug 3 - How the CVP's subsidized water allows corporate agriculture comes from federal taxpayers
• Sep 14 - EWG Less Land, More Water Soaking Uncle Sam
• 2007 Aug 30 - Cal fishing community says Westlands Wants to Raise Shasta Dam And Grab $40 Billion in Subsidized Water
• 2009 Jun 10 - TJA CVP pumping changes to protect fish
• 2010 Sep 28 - Investigative report documents major CVP funding scandal by USBR
• 2012 Mar 2 - Court of Appeals ends thirteen year legal battle between Westlands and Interior Dept in government's favor
• 2017 Mar 17 - San Luis Unit Drainage Resolution Act (H.R.1769) proposed to deal with Kesterson drainage
• May 18 - Ex-Westlands Water District lobbyist picked for key Dept. of Interior post
• Nov 10 - USBR and Westlands Water District settlement in limbo
• 2018 Jan 23 - Deadline passes but Westlands confident of help from Congress
• May 3 - Billions at play over Kesterson impacts and the growing pressure to accept deal from Westland's big farmers
• 2018 May 9 - PS Can Anyone Clean Up California's Selenium-Contaminated Farm Runoff
• 2019 May 1 - USBR-Westlands drainage deal for CVP water: Whose who and what's involved
• May 23 - Congressional Research Service releases new report on the CVP and legislative proposals
• Sept 6 - Environmentalists win Appeals Court Victory against San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Polluters
• Nov 15 - Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who was the former lawyer for Westlands proposes permanent CVP water contract

Resources

• The U.S. Dept. of Interior is the federal agency that oversees US Bureau of Reclamation that manages the CVP: Annual reports 1995-to present
• The U.S. Department of Energy's Western Area Power Administration oversees distribution of the CVP's federally produced electricity
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages 17 of the Central Valley Project dams including its dam safety alert system
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Licensed Hydroelectric Projects
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Central Valley Regional Office monitors the CVP's Endangered Species Act Operations
• U.S. Department of Justice - Central Valley project Environment and Natural Resources Division
• Library of Congress - Central Valley Project
• CVP annual construction costs 1935-1959
• 1945 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 160-acre Legal analysis
• US Bureau of Reclamation Documents - Hathi Trust Digital Library
• "The Central valley project" by Federal Writers' Project (U.S.) California, 1942
• 1956 Congressional Library on authorizing Documents Central Valley Project - Includes detailed timeline
• 1,600 page investigation of USBR that includes the Reclamation Reform Act of 1979: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Energy
• 1984 Information Bulletin #2 U.S. BUREAU of RECLAMATION - KESTERSON RESERVOIR - AND WATERFOWL - Impacts
• 1986 - The Agreement between the United States of America and the State of California for coordinated operation of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project
• The California State Water Project (SWP) is managed by the California Department of Water Resources
• The California Reclamation Districts are the legal districts that manage the Central Valley's levees
• California Water Districts
• Ca. Dept. of Water Resources: Central Valley History
• Chronology of Major Litigation Involving the CVP and SWP
• The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance's Listen to the River peer review summary
• The California Water Plan is the state's official water policy with the latest version completed in 2013
• Water in California Summarizes the history and details of the state's water policy issues.
• California's Irrigation district's 92 public self-governing subdivisions of the State that purchase water from the CVP
• The Grapes of Wrath Movie & book
• Cadillac Desert documentary & book
• Farmworker movements in California from the Grange, IWW and the Wheatland hop riot, the Bracero's to the United Farm Workers
• Bitter Harvest, a History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 By Cletus E. Dani
• Dorothea Lange Central Valley - PBS Biography]
• The Great Central Valley Project by Stephen Johnson, Robert Dawson and author Gerald Haslam

• The Southern Pacific railroad, currently known as BNSF Railway was the Central Valley's largest owner and played a major role in its evolution, from theMussel Slough Tragedy, the California Development Company's Salton Sea, its land grabs
• California's version of Pork barrel [[Iron triangle (US politics)|politics] started with the Owens Valley land and water takings by the city of Los Angeles with a PBS documentary series Part 1 and movie Chinatown (1974 film)
• The Central Valley is also the home to one of the country's oldest and largest oil & gas industries, that includes the environmental controversial use of fracking that has contaminated the valley's aquifers.

1884 dam Arch dam Gravity dam

Robert B. Marshall “Father of the Central Valley Project.”

(1867-1949), whose career at the U.S. Geological Survey culminated in 1908 when he became chief geographer for the entire USGS, first proposed the concept of a statewide water plan for a series of dams, canals and aqueducts to bring water to California’s Central Valley.

His 1919 Marshall Plan was the precursor of the first State Water Plan in 1930.

Background

History of Funding with Sustainability Concept

The Central Valley Project was the world's largest water and power project when undertaken during Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal public works agenda. It was the culmination of eighty years of political fighting over the state's most important natural resource - Water. The Central Valley of California lies to the west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with its annual run-off draining into the Pacific Ocean through the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. It is a large receding floodplain moderated by its Mediterranean climate of dry summers and wet winters that includes regular major drought cycles. At the time of its construction, the project was at the center of the state's political and cultural battle over the state's future. It intersected the state's ongoing war over land use, access to water rights, impacts on indigenous communities, large vs. small farmers, the state's irrigation districts and public vs. private power. There were no environmental concerns over its impacts, other than the outcome not damage the major stakeholders at that time.

The Valley has gone through two distinct culturally driven land use eras that were actively in play on the project. The first being the indigenous tribal period that lasted for thousands of years. The second was the arrival of Europeans, first by the Spanish colonial model of Catholic missions and ranchos (1772-1846) was then followed by the current United States era. Spain's model of land use with the grazing of livestock for meat, wool and leather started along Alta California's coast eventually spreading inland. The first cultural period was hunter-gatherer based and was known to have a substantial population located within the Valley and along the Pacific Coast. The Spanish Missions' ranching and tanning business was based on the forced labor of Las Californias tribes. This clash of cultures between indigenous tribal communities and European's (first by Spain, Mexico and then the U.S.) led to a massive decrease in native Californian's population and is slowly being acknowledged as a major instance of genocide. In addition, these tribal communities had been initially promised full sovereignty over its lands by Spain, that was then abrogated by the Mexican secularization act of 1833 that broke up Alta California's missions. Many Mission Neophytes were driven into the Central Valley and the Sierra foothills. Following the takeover by the United States, the U.S. army rounded up the state's tribes by region and forced them to sign away their lands in exchange for reservations located in the Central Valley, including lands lost when the dams were built.

Following the Bear Flag Rebellion and Mexican–American War the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with the Republic of Mexico that included the promise to respect the title of lands (Rancheros) held by the citizens of Alta California made prior to 1846. The Public Land Commission was formed in 1851 to settle control of nearly 800 land claims that led to nearly 40 years of legal challenges covering over 8 million acres of prime real estate with most Ranchos taken over by Americans. The lands legally held by Mexican-American citizens like the 44,000 acre Rancho Las Mariposas were governed by Spanish land laws that collided with American land laws and claims. The Gold Rush resulted in tens of thousands of immigrants arriving, most of whom used Squatter's Rights to claim lands already held by Indian or Mexicans. This was further complicated when unlike most western states, California adopted British Common Law as the basis for water rights rather than prior appropriation water law.

Swamp Land Act of 1850 essentially provided a mechanism for reverting title of federally-owned swampland to states which would agree to drain the land and turn it to productive, agricultural use

 The U.S. era evolved from primarily ranching to large scale plantations or more commonly known today as Corporate farming that turned the Central Valley into the Breadbasket of the U.S. 

Carleton Watkins (American - Dam and Lake, Nevada County, Near View - Google Art Project

It is highly likely that Indigenous tribes carried out limited irrigation or water diversion but no known documentation exists at this time. The earliest known irrigation practices date back to the Spanish Missions in Southern California. The first dam in California was the Old Mission Dam built in 1803 by Spanish Missionaries near Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Following the 1849 Gold Rush, ditches for the diversion of water by miners were used in the gold region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The first documented U.S. era reservoir that is still in use today is the French Lake Reservoir in Nevada County, California. Before 1885, most agricultural activity in the state used dryland farming methods, or farming based just on the seasonal water available. Small irrigation projects relying on local flows started in the 1850s.

Hydroelectric History

The state's development of hydroelectric powerj dates back to 1893 at the Folsom Powerhouse. There are now over 1,300 dams and 1,400 reservoirs in California.

 Energynet (talk) 15:26, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

deletion of FTC Project Part I done (talk) 18:06, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 Activities

FTC and PUHCAct Library

Pulled info box here as all further updates are on the master. Pulled formal written PUHCA material and transmitted it to: This project is a wrap Energynet (talk) 16:41, 18 September 2019 (UTC) Followed by creation of new article: Securities and Exchange Commission v. Electric Bond and Share company Yeah! I won the battle and the above court case is now on wikipedia! learned a lot. Notes SCOTUS Notes if needed since 2016 the term neo-Brandesian refers to the anti-trust movement based on Brandeis' ideas. https://academic.oup.com/jeclap/article/9/3/131/4915966 also if forced to note the sparticus were the source for Cohen working for Brandeis. https://spartacus-educational.com/USAcohenND.htm FTC Investigation Part II - Legislation paragraph 1 is from NELA's FTC segment. This will be the lead in for PUHCA and the legislative battle. To Use or Not to Use, that is the question. A few months after NELA's closure Senator George Norris challenged the perception that the Edison Electric Institute would be any different than NELA as 85% of the shamed group had moved over to the new one with its new leader, George Cortelyou coming from NY's Consolidated Gas Co. Rather than drop the legislative battle onto the NELA piece its more appropriate that it be located in PUHCA 1935. Outline steps Construction of Timeline Create narrative from timeline. construct references then tighten and post. PUHCA 1935 Legilsative Battle Timeline 11-20-34 WES reports that Robert Healy, who headed the FTC investigation until moving over to the SEC is in charge of the National Power Policy Committee and is making recommendations to curtail Holding Company powers. 1-4-35 FDR State of the Union speech attacking evil featurs of public holding companies 1-10 FTC calls for regulation of gas industry 1-11 Chairman Sam Rayburn of the House Interstate Commerce Committee called on Congress today to remove the "cancerous growth" of "abuses" of public utility holding companies 1-24 Attacks on bill start before bill has even been release 1-25 First of many major AG&E Ad in Newspapers 1-28 FTC submits its findings and recommendations 2-6 Rayburn(HR 5423)-Wheeler bill(S 1725) (RWB) introduced - WES article wrongly says end of holding companies in headline! 2-11 FTC investigation releases news of Tax Evasion by Power Trust 2-16 House Committee on Interstate Commerce Begins hearings on HR 5423 2-18 Rayburn in radio talk warns industry of taxing them to death if they don't go along with new bill. 3-1 Industry reps push for changes --- compromises in legislation ---- 3-7 WES's Lawrence says movement opposed is being ignored - fear threats spun 3-12 WES headline "Roosevelt Asks Holding Company Ban by Congress" 3-12 FDR letter to congress along with the National Power Policy Committee's summary of the FTC investigation along with support for RWB including the corporate "death sentence clause". 3-12 The NPPC report: 13 holding companies were in control of 3/4 the country while 3 were in charge of 40%. EBASCo, United (Morgan) and MIddle West (Insull) 4-29 5-13th Senate Interstate Commerce Committee votes 14-2 in favor Senate Version 5-24 Full Senate receives ICC's amended bill and is ready to be voted up or down. 6-1 Senators fight over huge propaganda and HC lobbyist packing Senate floor 6-11 Senate Version passes after desparate claim bill would "nationalize" electric industry 7-2 House passes Rayburn bill without death clause - Conference Committee starts 7-2 Black lobby committee authorized by a Senate Resolution of July 2, 1935, pg 547 7-7 Utility industry wire tapping congressmen 7-12 first meeting of Black committee pg 547 7-12 Boys paid 3 cents per signature by industry for fake telegraphs 7-12 Black: committee of 19 public utilities executives spent $300K on RWB 7-18 Black: Lee & Ross law firm paid $150K for lobbying against WRB 7-19 Black: Headlines: Industry destroyed lobbying records of fake telegrams 7-20 Black Committee Seeking AG&E's Hopson in roled over fake telegrams July Black - more lobbyists in D.C. than representatives... 7-24 Black: Texas Co spent $37K on lobbying effort July Black: Hoover's sec. or war Hurley given $85K to lobby for electric industry 7-24 Black; Industry bribed newspapers with ads pg 556 8-1 NY Times report house and senate conference committee had not met in 3 weeks pg 552 8-8 Black goes on nationwide NBC radio broadcast about $5 million & 250,000 telegrams 5 million letters while committee subpoena's AG&E's Hopson for its major lobbying role 8-12 Hopson Found in New Jersey No date: Black: Sunday before vote - bribes were given but never prosecuted 8-15 Black documents $875K by AG&E for lobbying against WRB 8-23 both versions finalized 8-21 Committee threatens Hopson with contempt for failure to answer 8-24 Both houses pass WRB (House by a vote of 222-112)pg 566 8-26 FDR signs WRB into law becomes PUHC Act need ref. The investigation concluded on the last day of 1935. According to the FTC, the investigation resulted in the "enactment of such remedial legislation as the Securities Act of 1933, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, the Federal Power Act of 1935, and the Natural Gas Act of 1938.” The Investigation resulted in 94 volumes of reports up to 2,000 pages in length, with its last report issued in 1936.

History

The New Deal's agenda would face its biggest legislative fight over the passage of the PUHCA. Since March of 1928, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was releasing monthly reports to the U.S. Senate on its investigation of the electric industry. On November 15th, 1934, the FTC released segment 71A of its 94 volume investigation that summarized the decades old "propaganda" war against the general public and supporters of municipal ownership of electric facilities. There was little coverage of the FTC's ongoing public hearings or monthly reports by the country's conservative news media, but this would soon change.

On November 20th, 1934 the Associated Press released a detailed story about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's (FDR) National Power Policy Committee (NPPC). The President setup the NPPC in the summer of 1934 to review and report on the FTC's massive electric industry investigation. FDR picked Securities and Exchange Commissioner and former judge Robert E. Healy, who had also been in charge of the FTC's electric investigation, to lead the NPPC review. The article disclosed all of the administration's legislative plan two months before the NPPC or the FTC released their reports or recommendations on the electric industry! (note here) It was later found that the industry then dispatched dozens of lawyers to a pow-wow to prepare their war on FDR's plans.

Collage of January-June 1935 advertisements appearing in the Washington Evening Star

On January 4th, 1935 FDR announced his plan to regulate the electric industry in his Second State of the Union Address. The FTC's investigation was still a year from being completed, with ongoing financial studies and work on the natural gas industry still incomplete. Yet, on January 25th, three days before the FTC released segment 73A of the 94 volume investigation to the U.S. Senate, covering its financial recommendations on electric holding companies, the massive Associated Gas & Electric holding company placed its first large attack advertisement in major newspapers. The FTC's January 28th two-hundred page report called for the elimination of "evil practices and conditions" in the industry that its investigation had uncovered. In its November 1934 summary, the FTC documented the "propaganda" war waged against the public power movement dating back at least to 1919. In fact, the industry's own annual proceedings clearly document that its anti-pubic power campaign had been active since the 1890's. In 1906, the National Electric Light Association's "co-operation" campaign was established in part, to monitor and counter the nationwide public ownership movement.

The Conservative Press and Wheeler-Rayburn legislation

An integral part of the industry's co-operation campaign was its friendly PR strategy with the nation's press. The result was that the FTC's investigation didn't appear to be newsworthy. The FTC exposed the industry's nationwide propaganda campaign (the industry's own words) to censor any negative coverage or history related to its activities, including the manipulation of the nation's textbook and radio industries. For example, MH Aylesworth who was the first president of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was also the executive director of the National Electric Light Association from 1921-26. It was General Electric who founded the Radio Corporation of America that purchased the country's first radio network from AT&T that became NBC in 1926. The FTC investigation produced thousands of pages of testimony on how the country's electric industry successfully enlisted the support of the press across the country with its strategy of dangling advertising dollars while submitting vast quantities of anonymous materials to it for publication. The country's mostly conservative press had become allies with the industry in its goal to stigmatize the municipal ownership community as un-American. Going back to the 1907-13 period when the entire country shifted from municipal to state regulation of the electric industry with the creation of state agencies known as Public utilities commissions, this shift that favored private companies should have been framed as a regressive shift in favor of the "power trust" as big electric companies were commonly referred to or "city vs. state" power politics. But this is not how the conservative press framed the struggle or how its advertising client the electric industry wanted.

In other words, the investigation documented that the electric industry had setup a personal relationship with the owners and editorial boards of the news industry and as a result were being given tens of thousands of free editorial pieces monthly. In many cases, the industry's own press services were distributing content that the local and national newspapers then reprinted without acknowledging the source. This same relationship with the press would then be used to frame the battle to stop the Wheeler-Rayburn bill by terrifying the country's small investors with their "death sentence" clause meme that the press repeated from then on.

Congressional Introduction of Wheeler-Rayburn Legislation

On February 6th, 1935, 9 days after the Federal Trade Commission released its conclusions and recommendations from its six year probe, Senator Wheeler (SB 1725) and Rep. Rayburn (HR 5423) introduced legislation that became one of the bitterest legislative fights in history.

Senator Wheeler's version of the legislation was submitted to the Senate's Interstate Commerce Committee, where public hearings were held and amendments to it were voted on and passed by a vote of 14-2 on May 13th. The full senate on passed the bill on June 11th. However, Representative Rayburn faced a full scale war. Representatives were being blasted by millions of letters and hundreds of thousands of telegrams demanding the defeat of the legislation, while the industry lined up allies that produced many expert witnesses during hearings. At the same time, an army of unregistered lobbyists stormed the doors of representatives as the country's print media was bombarded with major ads and editorials opposing the legislation.

Death Sentence Clause fails in House of Representative Vote

Washington Evening Star Wheeler-Rayburn Bill Death Sentence Comic 7-3 1935

On July 2nd, newspaper headlines across the country blared that FDR and his "Death Clause" had lost as the House of Representatives pulled the dreaded section 2. The campaign rhetoric against the law became so extreme that lobbyists were even claiming that FDR was planning on taking over the industry. Even bringing in opposition to the bill from the country's public utility commissioners. But there was a slip-up. Why did just a couple of towns in the country show up as the source for almost all of the telegrams sent to congress? The same day that the clause was pulled, the senate organized a new committee to look into the lobbying. Alabama Senator Hugo Black was placed in charge of the investigating committee while the house also opened a special committee that was led by an industry supporter who used their time attacking the president.

Investigation of Electric Industry's Lobbying Campaign

Senator Hugo Black Tells of $5 Million Lobby

The Black committee quickly got to the bottom of what was a fake nationwide campaign orchestrated by the electric industry to make it look like there was real public opposition to the legislation. On August 8th, Senator Black went on nationwide radio prime time to describe the $5 million (that's $93 million today) war mounted against the legislation. He also pointed the finger at the head of AG&E, Howard C. Hopson who the committee had subpoenaed but had yet to be found who the near bankrupt company had spent over $700,000 opposing the legislation. AG&E had been found to be behind fake telegrams estimated to have reach 250,000 in number that had been wrongfully impersonating citizens that had no knowledge that their names had been attached to telegrams. Hearings documented the destruction of electric companies data in a desperate attempt to cover up the fake movement's millions of letters and telegrams - where even the Western Union offices that had launched the tens of thousands of telegrams accidentally had its records deleted against company policy. Western Union eventually tracked down 97,000 of the fake telegrams that had been partially burned.

Other major issues from claims by senators that their phones had been wired tapped by electric companies, the FTC's report of extensive tax evasion even to bribery surfaced during the Black Committee lobbying investigation. The Black Committee's aggressive use of tactics commonly used against less powerful citizens is still used today as an historic example by conservatives of government abuse.

In even more dramatic fashion, the House investigating committee located Hopson first and then used their subpoena to protect him from the Senate investigation, while letting Hopson promote the industry side. It was later disclosed that Representative Conner's brother had been given $25,000 by the industry, and the other members of the committee were eventually able to block the chair's attempt to permanently protect Hopson by putting him under house arrest and then immediately releasing him which would of by law blocked the senate from getting him. The scandal gave the FDR and supporters of the bill the power to sway the house back into a re-vote that finally passed by a vote of 222-112 on August 24th. Hopson was eventually convicted of stealing $20 million from Associated Gas & Electric ratepayers.

The so-called "Death Sentence" clause survived and One of the most expensive lobbying campaigns of the 20th century had failed.

Holding Companies vs. Public Utilities Holding Company Act 1935-1954

Talk of legal challenges were in the news the day congress passed the Wheeler-Rayburn legislation. On September 24th, the Edison Electric Institute went into court challenging PUCHA's constitutionality. According to the Associated Press, on October 2nd The Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint charging the National Electrical Manufacturers Association of New York and 16 member manufacturers with “unlawful combination, conspiracy and agreement to restrain competition.” The same day, another suit against PUHCA was filed in United States District Court of Maryland for trustees of the American States Public Service Co.

With the President Roosevelt signing Wheeler-Rayburn bill into law on August 26th, 1935, the Securities and Exchange Commission began the process of preparing for carrying out the two main parts (Title I & II) of the law now called the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935. As stated in the SEC's 1936 annual report, the agency adopted 7 new rules and 11 forms that electric companies were required to fill out when registering as all were required to do by December 31st, 1935. By this June of 1936, only 65 companies had registered while an additional 375 had requested exemptions.

By December 7th, 1935 forty-five lawsuits on behalf of more than 100 companies had been filed in 13 different U.S. District Courts across the country. On this same day, the U.S. Attorney General and the SEC's General Counsel made a motion before the U.S. Supreme Court to stay all of the above lawsuits until the Supreme Court could determine the validity of PUHCA with the case Securities and Exchange Commission v, Electric Bond and Share Company. On November 26, 1935, the SEC, pursuant to its express authority under Section 18 of the Act, brought suit in the District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Electric Bond and Share Company and fourteen other holding companies. All other lawsuits against the SEC were dismissed except for one which was decided in favor of the SEC - in the case of Public Utility Investing Corporation. v. Utilities Power and Light Corporation. (82 F. 2d. 21, C. C. A., 4th, 1936) where the court found the act of registering did not do any irreparable damage to the company.

On March 28, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the SEC and the Public Utilities Act of 1935, giving it full authority to enforce the Act. Within 3 months 142 holding companies had registered with the SEC that made up 51 separate public utility systems, comprising 524 individual holding and 1,524 sub-holding and operating companies. An example of the dramatic impacts the law had was documented with the The Columbia Gas & Electric Corporation case where the capital represented by the common stock was reduced from $194,349,005.62 to $12,304,282.00 a total of $182,044,723.62 by the elimination of the corrupting holding company structures.

In 1940, congressional investigations of brokerage firms, insurance companies and their relationship to the electric industry exposed that Middle South Utilities, the Southern Group and the Electric Bond and Share Company were all financed by Morgan Stanley, with Wall Street having financial influence over nearly 80% of the country's electric industry.

List of PUCHA Legal Challenges

• 1937 - Appeal & Counterclaim: Electric Bond & Share Co v. Securities & Exchange Commission
• 1938 - Supreme Court Appeal & Counterclaim: EBASCo vs SEC
• 1943 - American Gas & Electric Co. v. Security and Exchange Commission
• 1944 - U.S. District Court of Delaware: United Gas Corp.
• 1945 - American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission
• 1946 - American Power & Light Co. v. Securities and Exchange Commission
• 1946 - North American Co. v. SEC
• 1949 - U.S. Supreme Court - Electric Power & Light Co.
• 1952 - Kantor v. American & Foreign Power Co.
• 1953 - U.S. N.Y. District Court - Electric Bond and Share Co.
• 1954 - U.S. Court of Appeals - Electric Power & Light Corporation

Start of part II - Goal here is to integrate the original finale into a far more sophisticated - horizontal shift towards a broad presentation of the legislative actions that came from the 28-35 FTC Investigation. Specifically here, the goal is to lay out the details of the Wheeler-Rayburn bill or the passage of the 1935 PUHCAct. First notes:

Hugo Black's Congressional Investigation of Lobbying and the Public Utility Holding Company Act: A Historical View of the Power Trust, New Deal Politics, and Regulatory Propaganda Link to full piece: https://works.bepress.com/william_gregory/15/ William A. Gregory & Rennard Strickland, Hugo Black’s Congressional Investigation of Lobbying and the Public Utility Holding Company Act: A Historical View of the Power Trust, New Deal Politics, and Regulatory Propaganda, 29 Okla. L. Rev. 543 (1976).

reference: Message transmitting to Congress Report of the National Power Policy Committee (speech file 773), March 12, 1935 http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/msf/msf00795