Background
Early on during World War II, the Pentagon declared the Shasta Dam project to be an AA-1 defense related project, thereby
receiving priority status in the acquisition of money, materials, and labor. While the urgency of generating electrical power
for the war effort focused attention on Shasta Dam, the main purpose in its construction lay in the attempt to solve California’s
historic water problems. Shasta Dam would become the “keystone” of the Central Valley Project.