You can go even further back to the Central Valley Project started in 1933 by the federal government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_Project http://

You can go even further back to the Central Valley Project started in 1933 by the federal government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_Project which led to the largest reservoir in the state, Lake Shasta. Agriculture was to be the primary beneficiary of the Central Valley Project, at a time when the state population was far smaller.