JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 2043
JFK LAUDS COOPERATION BETWEEN NATIONAL, STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENTSLos Banos, California* (JFK+50) On August 18, 1962, fifty-four years ago today, President John F. Kennedy attended the groundbreaking ceremonies for the San Luis Dam**, the cornerstone of the federal government's $500 million project to increase the flow of water for irrigation in the region.
President Kennedy spoke at the dedication ceremony attended by Governor Pat Brown and California Senators Kuchel and Eagle, along with Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall.
The President said...
"This project...symbolizes...the State working with the federal Government, the local communities working with the State. There is no other project in the history of the United States where a State has put such a large contribution to the development of its own resources and where the National Government has joined with the State."
JFK continued...
"What this country needs is a broad, new conservation effort worthy of the two Roosevelts, Theodore and Franklin, in an effort to build up our resource heritage so that it will be available to those who come after us."
*Los Banos is located in central California's San Joaquin Valley. Its name means "the Baths" in English. LB was first settled in the 1840s & has a long history of immigration by Portuguese & Spanish people.
**San Luis Dam is a pumped-storage dam powered by 8 turbines. Located in Merced County, CA, SLD creates the San Luis Reservoir & is owned by the US Bureau of Reclamation, but run by the California Department of Water Resources. SLD opened in 1967.
JFK Speaks at San Luis Dam Dedication
Merced County, CA
