Irrigation
from StaniStory: Change and Continuity in Stanislaus County Hosted by McHenry Museum and Historical Society of Modesto, California
Read by Mary Ann Sanders, damned rivers create man-made lakes as sources of water for irrigated canals to bring snow-melt from the Sierra mountains to otherwise-dry land throughout Stanislaus County. In fact, the residents of Modesto got together to elect Christopher Columbus "C.C." Wright to the California Assembly for him to enact the unanimously-passed landmark Wright Act of 1887. This legislation allowed for the creation of locally-controlled water districts across the state. As a result, the two oldest of such districts in California are both local to the county: Turlock Irrigation District and Modesto Irrigation District. Beginning in the 1920s, the water powered through the dams was began to also be used to create electricity!
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