The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1910-04-07
THE GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL
The Flood Waters of Tahoe By
Special Agreement With
Power Interests.


Lake Tahoe dam is to be owned by
the government and is to be under
federal control.
Upon this Secretary of the Interior
Ballinger and Director Newell of the
reclamation service are agreed. They
have taken control from w. B. Ham
mond and his associates, who recently
paid SO, 900, 900 for the Truckee River
Light & Power Company, which
owned the dam and other properties
and power sites in that part of Cali
fornla and in Nevada Harmon is
lust back from the east, where the
deal was arranged.
Some of the motives prompting
Harmon to surrender the dam without
a legal fight are known; others are not.
Ii has been said that Harmon and
his associates wanted the government
to give it certain strategic power sites
in the Serras as part compensation.
Whether this has been done or is to
be done has not developed.
"It Is all locked up in a box, and
can't speak about the matter" said
Harmon at the Palace yesterday.
The government wants control of
the dam to regulate the flow of water
out Of Lake Tahoe into the Truckee
river in behalf of its Truckee Car
son irrigation project in Nevada. 1t
is the intention to put in a new dam
there, raise the level Of the lake and
get larger volume of flow for the
irrigation canal miles to the east.
The secretary promises not to In.
terfere with the water power neees-
sary for Hammon's Truekee Light and
Power company and its adjuncts, eth
or existing or to be erected. AS the
government wants stronger current
at certain seasons of the year, which
it will get by raising the level of Ia
hoe, it is plain that the Hammon in
terests will be benefited rather than
injured.
Here is the person Of color in the
woodpile if there Is any. Harmon
and his eastern associates readily as
scented to Director Newell's request for
control of the dam for several reasons.
They want a stronger flow from the
lake into the river, which is the only
outlet. That can only be obtained by
increasing the height of the dam and
raising the level of the lake, or by
keeping closed in part the present
dam. Either would mean an overflow
that would damage valuable private
property of wealthy persons. Damage
suits by those able to fight and big
indemnities would result.
The Fleishhackers of this city, from
whom the Hammond combine bought
the Truckee River Light and Power
company, manipulated the dam once
so as to raise the level of Tahoe. Ii
oyerflowed lot of private property,
including the country homes on the
lakeside of the |. w. Hellmans, Will
ham S. Tevises. the Binghams and
others. They had to pay pretty penny
in damages.
Hammond and his associates re-
member this experience of the Fleish-
hackers. With the government own
ing and controlling the dam they would
escape liability. At the same time
they would get the benefit from any
increased flow of water.
Harmon is one of the new multi
millionaires of California. With East
crn and London men of money, he is
fast becoming an electric power site
and transmission magnate. He plans
transmission plants in both California
and Nevada. The Truckee river flow
will do him no good for his proposed
plants on the western slope of the
Sierra. But an increased flow in the
Truckee is just what he needs to full
fill his projects in Eastern California
and over in Nevada in the sweep OF
country to Reno, Tonopah, Goldfeld
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