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Hoover Dam Panorama


In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Boulder Dam (subsequently renamed Hoover Dam) on the Colorado River southeast of La Vegas, Nevada. The dam was a monumental effort to control floods, store water for irrigating the arid west, and supply electricity to the region.

As you view the panorama consider the advantages and disadvantages of large dams. List the ecological and social factors that cause people to build dams and the long-term problems they may cause for the environment. Use the linked quotations and additional photographs to help you in your interpretation.

Credits: Photographs by Carolyn Merchant; panorama assembly and web page by Rob Weinberg.
Panoramas updated by Ravi Shivanna using PanoramaStudio 3 (July 2018)