Colorado River diverted

Geological / environmental event

The move cripples California's water supply. Auburn accuses Goldwater of acting punitively.

In a gesture widely seen as retaliation for the state's declaration of independence, Goldwater orders the damming of the Colorado River well before the California border. The Army Corps of Engineers quickly construct canals to divert the river into a Texas-owned stretch of the Rio Grande. Southern California is immediately plunged into severe drought, from which it never fully recovers.