California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps repeating at his press conferences and meetings the big lie that no dams or water storage facilities have been constructed in California in the past 20 to 30 years.

Apparently, the Schwarzenegger administration believes in the classic propaganda technique that if a big lie is repeated enough, it will eventually be accepted as truth by the media and public. This fallacy is being used to bolster his call for a peripheral canal and more dams in California, although the truth is that several major dams and other storage facilities have been constructed during the last 30 years.

On July 14 at a town meeting in Bakersfield, the Governor stated, "Do you know that for 20 years, well, actually since the late '70s, they have not built a dam? I mean, think about that. They have not built a dam.”

In spite of what the Schwarzenegger says, a number of dams and reservoirs have been constructed in California since the late seventies, including some of the largest reservoirs in their respective regions.

The governor’s call for more dams and a canal occurs at a time when the California Delta is at the worst ecological crisis in its history. Read more

see also: Restore the Delta Responds to Schwarzenegger & Feinstein's Special Summit | Conservation Groups Request Endangered Species Protection for Longfin Smelt | Restore the Delta