Qualla: New Don Pedro Dam https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: New Don Pedro Dam https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam New Don Pedro Dam: Introduction https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Don Pedro was not Spanish. Pierre Sainsevain was a Frenchman who prospected along the Tuolumne River during the Gold Rush, and the mining camp that grew around his claim adopted the name his neighbors gave him: Don Pedro. The original dam bearing that name, completed in 1923, stood 284 feet tall and briefly held the title of highest dam in the world. By the 1940s, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley realized it could only store about one year's water supply, offering no insurance against the multi-year droughts that California delivers with grim regularity. The solution was not to expand the old dam but to bury it. New Don Pedro Dam, completed in 1971, rises 585 feet above its foundations and holds back the sixth-largest reservoir in California, with the original concrete arch submerged somewhere beneath two million acre-feet of water.

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/9qdq-new-don-pedro-dam-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full New Don Pedro Dam: Two Districts, One River https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam/ Photo credit USGS, Public domain. The story of Don Pedro is the story of California's irrigation districts. The Modesto Irrigation District and Turlock Irrigation District formed in 1887, among the earliest in the state, and immediately set about acquiring water rights to the Tuolumne River. Their combined servic...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/9qdq-new-don-pedro-dam-two-districts-one-river.mp3 0:06 2 full New Don Pedro Dam: The Salmon Question https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam/ Photo credit USGS, Public domain. In 1961, voters in the Turlock and Modesto service areas, along with San Francisco, overwhelmingly approved bond issues to finance a new dam. The irrigation districts hoped to complete it by 1966, but the Tuolumne's king salmon had other plans. Declining salmon populations forced...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/9qdq-new-don-pedro-dam-the-salmon-question.mp3 0:06 3 full New Don Pedro Dam: Barbecue at the Dedication https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam/ Photo credit USGS, Public domain. Construction crews recovered quickly from the 1969 flood. By February 27, workers were placing impervious material for the dam's core, and the project pushed forward without further catastrophe. On May 22, 1971, more than 3,000 people gathered for the formal dedication. San Franc...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/9qdq-new-don-pedro-dam-barbecue-at-the-dedication.mp3 0:06 4 full New Don Pedro Dam: The Hetch Hetchy Connection https://qualla.com/new-don-pedro-dam/ Photo credit USGS, Public domain. Don Pedro's relationship with San Francisco has always been complicated. The city holds rights to 453,000 acre-feet of the water stored behind the dam, though the irrigation districts' senior water rights take precedence during dry years. This entanglement has fueled one of the m...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/q/new-don-pedro-dam-wp/9qdq-new-don-pedro-dam-the-hetch-hetchy-connection.mp3 0:06 5 full