The New Melones project is well known for a legal battle between environmentalists, the state of California and the federal government which began in the 1970s as recreational whitewater rafting exploded in popularity. The Stanislaus was for a time the most popular run in the western United States, and was valued for the spectacular scenery along its rugged limestone canyons. Friends of the River was formed to push a statewide ballot measure, Prop 17, that would have designated the Stanislaus as a National Wild and Scenic River and forestalled the construction of New Melones. Prop 17 was defeated by a narrow margin of voters, in part due to heavy lobbying by water agencies. Afterwards, dam opponents focused on limiting the level of the new reservoir, even as dam construction was completed in 1978. In May 1979 environmental activist Mark Dubois chained himself to a boulder in the Stanislaus Canyon, forcing federal authorities to either stop filling the lake or drown him.