massively in 1914, causing heavy damage to the towns and farms along its course. That year, the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act was passed and the county began a program to build fourteen dams along the San Gabriel River and its tributaries. Bonds totaling about $40 million were issued in 1917 and 1924 to fund the projects, which would be built by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. A drought in the 1920s furthered the case for the dams, which could also provide water storage for dry years. In 1924 engineer James Reagan proposed the first ambitious dam project for the San Gabriel River: The proposed San Gabriel River dam, known as "Forks Dam" or "Twin Forks" due to its location at the river's East and West Forks, was to be high and wide, with a capacity of of water. It would be the tallest dam in the world, exceeding the height of Arrowrock Dam. In 1927 a railroad was built up the San Gabriel Canyon to provide access to the area. Construction of the dam began in December 1928 and quickly progressed in the summer of 1929 with over 600 people working at the site. However on September 16, 1929 a huge landslide crashed down the canyon wall, partially burying the dam site under 100,000 tons of debris. Although there were no deaths, the state of California later determined that a dam could not be constructed safely at this site, and that adequate geological studies had not been conducted. A subsequent investigation found the supervisors guilty of gross negligence and that "bribery and corruption at the highest level of county government had occurred." Despite the Forks Dam fiasco, the push to dam the San Gabriel River continued. In April 1934 the county flood control district completed the first dam on the San Gabriel River, the relatively small Cogswell Dam. One month later, the city of Pasadena completed Morris Dam and a pipeline along the San Gabriel foothills, at a cost of $10 million, to deliver San Gabriel River water to its residents. Morris Dam was sold to the flood control district the following year. (The Los Angeles County Flood Control District would eventually be consolidated with the county engineering department and road division to form the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, which continues to maintain these dams today.) The largest dam, San Gabriel – two