Name/Title
James M. Luney PapersEntry/Object ID
MS.91Scope and Content
James M. Luney Papers
MS 91
James M. Luney Papers
James McMaster Luney served as the CFO [Chief Financial Officer] for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California during the period it was building the Colorado River Aqueduct. At the same time, his son, William McRae Luney, worked in Boulder City, Nevada, as an accountant for Six Companies, Inc., who were building Hoover Dam.
The Colorado River Aqueduct was built to carry Colorado River water from a point upstream of Parker, Arizona to Los Angeles, California, a distance of 240 miles. First proposed in 1923 by the Los Angeles Water and Power District [later known as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California], the Aqueduct was a contentious issue from the start. Congress was grappling at the time with the Boulder Canyon Project Act, which authorized construction of Hoover Dam and the All-American Canal. The state of Arizona fought against passage of the Act, claiming it was an effort by the state of California to steal Colorado River water, to the detriment of Arizona and its own growing population. Arizona pointed to the proposed Aqueduct as proof that California intended to hog Colorado River water. Arizona's efforts to block the Boulder Canyon Project failed, and the construction of Hoover Dam in Black Canyon tamed the river enough to facilitate construction of Parker Dam, 154 miles downstream. Construction of Parker Dam was financed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and was built by the Bureau of Reclamation through Six Companies, Inc., who had built Hoover Dam. Parker was finished in 1938, and it was from the reservoir behind Parker—Lake Havasu—that the Colorado River Aqueduct began delivering water to southern California in the spring of 1941.
The material in the Luney collection includes personal papers of James McMaster Luney, as well as a bond issued by the Metropolitan Water District to finance its Colorado River work. The material also includes a photo collection [0135] with personal photos of Luney, his wife, son, and grandson, as well as photos of the construction of Hoover Dam, Parker Dam, and the Colorado River Aqueduct.
* * *Collection
ManuscriptsArchive Items Details
Notes
MS 91
James M. Luney Papers
inventory
[1 box and 1 folder]
Box 1 of 1
ff no.
1. employee pass - Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California/Colorado River Aqueduct [1941]
2. identification card as a cost expert for an irrigation project
in Mexico [c. 1920s]
3. testimonial certificate, Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California/Colorado River Aqueduct [January 31, 1949]
4. correspondence to: James M. Luney, from: Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California [1930 (F. E. Weymouth signature);
2 sheets]
Folder 1 of 1
Bond [$1,000] for Colorado River Waterworks refunding [February 1,
1938; lithographed, with $21.25 coupons to value attached; 15.25" x
27.5"]
* * *Relationships
Related Entries
Notes
photograph collection no. 0135 [James M. Luney Collection]Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
November 11, 2002Updated By
bcmha.archives@gmail.comUpdate Date
September 5, 2025