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Construction Begins Construction on the Oroville site actually began even before the passage of the Burns-Porter Act. A $25 million emergency appropriation was passed in 1957 after a record late 1955-early 1956 flood, which devastated Northern and Central California. Statewide, 64 deaths were recorded, most in Sutter County and Yuba City, and more than $200 million of property damage. In May 1957 work began on the construction of two tunnels on the Western Pacific Railroad relocation to clear the site for the dam and reservoir. Appropriations continued year to year for the relocations and to begin building the South Bay and California aqueducts in 1959. After the legislative passage of the Burns-Porter Act and the voters' approval of the bond issue, construction started in earnest, with facilities built from north to south. To reduce costs, some facilities were built in stages with additional units or facilities added as demands required. Today, the SWP includes 20 primary storage facilities (with a gross capacity of 1,000 acre-feet or more); 17 pumping plants; 3 pumping-generating plants; 5 hydroelectric power plants; and more than 660 miles of canals, tunnels and siphons. |
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