California’s historic water problem reflects its weather patterns: Most of the state’s precipitation falls in sparsely populated areas of Northern California, where much of it flows into the Pacific Ocean.
On May 18, 1951, State Engineer Arthur D. Edmonston proposed a solution to the State Water Resources Control Board. His idea: Build a 700-mile-long series of reservoirs and canals that could redirect Northern California’s surplus water to communities across the southern two-thirds of the state, which needed supplemental water supplies.
Edmonston’s solution, known as the Feather River Project, was also attractive because it could potentially deliver higher-quality water than the Colorado River water that Metropolitan Water District provided for Southern California…