By the 1970s, the Bureau of Reclamation — a federal agency responsible for managing water and power supply in the West — was forced to concede that there just weren’t any more large rivers short of Alaska that could supply more fresh water to western states. Indeed, were the lake level tamed and fresh water restored to support a diverse ecosystem, I think it would become comparable to Lake Tahoe in aesthetics, but with a much stronger industrial base due to abundant energy, water, and minerals.