already appropriated to local irrigators, many of whom owned more land than the USBR limit. Pre-construction controversies By 1940 the water users of the Kings River were leaning towards letting the USACE build the dam, in light of the continual water-rights problems associated with the USBR's plans, in addition to full federal funding offered by the USACE. The Flood Control Act of 1944 cemented this decision, authorizing the construction of four dams in the Tulare Lake basin of the San Joaquin Valley – Pine Flat, Terminus, Success and Isabella – as a USACE undertaking. The president signed a bill appropriating preliminary funds for Pine Flat Dam on April 2, 1945, but only "reluctantly" and "[with the emphasis] that he'd try to avoid dispensing any more money to the army for the dam". Roosevelt planned to take the Pine Flat issue to Congress, but never got the chance – he died of a brain hemorrhage just ten days later at his home in Georgia. Unfortunately for the USACE, Roosevelt's successor, Harry S. Truman, was also adamant that Pine Flat Dam be built for irrigation. Truman impounded the initial funds for the dam's construction and promised not to release it until the USACE and USBR could reach an agreement on the proportions of funding that would go to irrigation and flood control. To further complicate the situation, Truman insisted that the USBR negotiate the contracts for irrigation water from Pine Flat Dam with KRWA farmers. In a last-ditch effort to secure the Pine Flat project, the USBR revoked its acreage limit from the entirety of the Kings River service area and the Tulare Lake bed. After two years of legal battles, the share of project cost devoted to irrigation was settled at $14.25 million, less than half of the dam's $33.5 million price tag. On February 18, 1947, the president released the funds, finally allowing construction on Pine Flat Dam to begin. Construction On May 27, 1947, the USACE held the groundbreaking ceremony for Pine Flat Dam, which was attended by more than 2,000 people. Governor Earl Warren set off the first blast at the dam site with the turn of a switch, detonating forty charges of dynamite on the south side of the Kings River gorge. In order to bring construction materials to the site, a temporary railroad was constructed along the Kings River. Concrete was brought to the dam site