Las Vegas free press., 1892-06-11
ARIZONA IRRIGATION.

DulltD Dy an unknown people are 1Ounu
in the valleys. The population of
the territory today follows the lines
of canals which supplied the means
of living ages ago. In the Salt river
valley the modern irrtgators found
their surveying done for them.
Their bitches are the old channels.
The Mesa City canal Of today was
made possible by the discovery of an
old cut through the rock which
saved great labor and expense to
those whom this generation regards
as pioneers. And so in the words
of the government irrigation report
soon to be published, "the reclama-
ton of Arizona is simply the repe-
titon of history" That region once
supported populous life. The ruins
show that the prehistoric irrigation
Mas on an extended scale. 1t is
plain that some of the valleys were
developed with irrigation systems
far beyond the present capacity and
extent of the bitches. Those people,
of whom only the ruins of their
water works remain, chose this des-
ert when whole continent lay before
them, and made it blossom like the
rose. They had choice of every va
riety of soil and climate, They
preferred the Vivid sunshine, the
grand mountains and the absolute
mastery of the arid waste which irri-
cation confers. There is a charm
about irrigation. The farmer of the
richest and most favored portion of
the Mississippi valley wonders how
people can be so foolish as to go out
into the desert for their homesteads
and stake everything for a water
right. Perhaps he goes to see irriga-
tion at its work. The chances are
that it fascinates, and he gives up his
broad and bottomless black acres for
strip of the sand and ditch
through which the water comes to
him, neither grumbling nor praying.
Irrigation methods vary greatly.
The plans which are adopted for one
region will not do at all for another.
All over Arizona are found the re-
mains of prehistoric irrigation sys.
tenn. But there are no evidences Of
storage system or of artificial lakes
Arizona is not the country for reser-
voirs. 1t is considered very doubtful
that basins are practicable. There
are two reasons for this. The
amount of sedimentary matter car
ried down the canons of the Glla,
Salt and tributary streams is enor-
nous. Bed rock is seldom found
within many feet of the river or
stream surface. 1t is not probable
that reservoirs could be constructed
that would not fill with detritus, silt
and sand, or that could withstand the
force of the floods that come down
the Arizona channels. Arizona has
her own climate. When the sun is
shining and all is peace in the valleys,
black clouds gather in the mountain
tops, the tempest howls, the light
ming flashes and there comes down
every water course torrent. The
flood of February, 1891 washed away
stage station which had been built
since 1858 at PhenIx. If that flood
could have been restrained by dam
or other obstruction at Phoenix suffi-
cient TO deaden the force of its water,
it would have deposited enough mat.
ter to bury the city of Phenix 200
feet deep. Such was the estimate of
local engineers. The debris travel
ing in the water wore iron bolts 3
inches wide and tive-eighths of an
inch thick down to feather edge.
Iron nuts were worn off, and 4.inch
planking was reduced to one inch.
The problem of storage has been
carefully considered by local irriga-
tors in Arizona, and has been aban-
doned for the present as too costly
for the resources of the community
and dangerous. Dams in the torren-
tial channels OF the territory are not
likely to stand the tests required for
security.
Under the present irrigation sys-
TEN two or three crops per year of