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Truth! Like a lot of lakes and dams around North America, they were not really though out and or necessary.

Have you ever read Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert? Excellent, albeit depressing, book on the history of water management in the West.

I have not but will now... Thanks for telling me about it. I know that water management throughout the USA has always been somewhat skewed and shortsighted. Look at the TVA and all they did in the Tennessee Valley!

The book talks about that a little bit too!