American Agriculture History Minute: Conservation to Control Flood Waters Begins

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

In 1885, Harriet Strong made a study about the shortage of water in Nevada, including control of floodwaters and water storage. She advocated conservation as a flood remedy, proposing a succession of dams to conserve the water for irrigation purposes and the generation of electricity.

In 1887, she was granted a patent for a dam and reservoir construction series and led to the eventual construction of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.