Flooding of the river in downtown Napa during winter storms has been common since the town was first established. Records dating from 1862 describe twenty-seven significant flooding events. Following studies made by the United States Department of the Interior in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the United States Congress authorized channel improvements on the course of the Napa River and construction of a dam on Conn Creek as part of the Flood Control Act of 1944, however funding for the projects was never approved. The City of Napa funded and built the dam in order to create the water conservation reservoir Lake Hennessey in 1948, however flooding continued to be a problem. A large flood in February 1986 revived public interest in finding a remedy. After a traditional plan to widen the river channel proposed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers was presented in 1995 and roundly rejected, a group of special interests called Friends of the River formed. From January 1996 until May 1997, this coalition representing business, agricultural and environmental concerns met and achieved a consensus on a "living river" plan. Voters in the County of Napa narrowly approved an increase of .5 percent of the sales tax in a March 1998 election to fund the Napa River Flood Project. Although revenues from the increased sales tax have outpaced expectations, the project has progressed slowly. Current projections show the remaining phases of the project being completed in 2015. On December 31, 2005, the Napa River again overflowed and flooded the entire downtown area and thousands of acres all over Napa County. More than 4,000 residents were evacuated and 1,000 homes were flooded or destroyed. The 2005 flood was the 23rd most serious flood of the Napa River on record since 1865. The restoration of the Napa River has been accompanied by returning fish and wildlife to the area, such as the native beaver.