With the New Melones Reservoir water level extremely low this year, newer residents to the Mother Lode are able to see what the surrounding area once looked like before dam was built. But it is not the complete picture. Here is footage from 1975, portraying the Stanislaus River as it once was with its whitewater run, limestone caves, Indian relics and Gold Rush history. This film was used to try to stop construction of the New Melones Dam. The effort was unsuccessful.
