The Florence tribune., 1899-12-23
WATER WANTED. WHILE BILLIONS OF GALLONS RUN
 TO WASTE. What Recent Government investigations Disclose in Regard to Irrigation
 Possibilities in Arizona. Good Indians and industrious White Men Who Are Practically Destitute
 for Lack of Water.
An Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to Inaugurate the Much-talked- of System of Federal Irri-
 gation.
lFrom the Los Angeles Times. July 1O.l

angeles or the Photographic Office of the ' United States Geographical Survey, fur nishes The Times the following irripation i possibilities in Arizona:
 The Gisa River Indian reservation is ! situated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- ! nix, and extends along the Gila River for a distance of nearly fifty miles, Here are located the Pima and Alarieopa Indians to Ihsk pber of nearly five thousand. These Ind are known throughout the Terri tor ; good Indians They have always Seen peaceful in their habits and aericiil- l tnraI or pastoral in their pursuits. They are. now eultivgting the lands where the prehistoric races built the row-rl:ined Casa Grande and its neighboring canals Irriga- ton has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can be traced across the plain, showing evidences Of engineering skill, and testifyiny to the fact that large, volumes of water were at
 The Pimas and Maricopas have been. until recently, self-sslstainins nation ,..9sI ansy raise tier crops or grain and corn The settlers, seeing he results which the h. dians have produced, through the arserntiou Of the desert land act, brought under culti- yatlon much land in the valley of the GiIa. adjacent t0 this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and fhe raili oad station of Casa Grande. Under the provision of the United States law, all land bought under the desert-iand act must be made productive by the application of water; In order to comply with the provis- Ions or this law, the settler was cofnpeiled to make diversions from the Gila River af points above the Indian reservation Other lands were taken up under similar condi- lions on the upper portion of the Giia River These divefsioDs by the whites cuickIy des- prived the Indians of their water supply and for the past five years they have been left on the desert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for their horses They are put in the position of either having to steal, starve or be fed as public wards and the government has been forced to issue ratlons to them and feed them as it does tha Solulers. Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond con tr?versy the fact that the Indian has the prlor and the better right to the water, but the whites have maintained their water supply despite the dictates of the court The development of this newer civilization has become so extensive that to cuf off its water supply would mean the desoIafion of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards Evidently, the situation is a difsi ..1I c,.l. oIe, anu tne Indian Bureau is hard
 In issS an allotment of S35OO was made rom the appropriation for the Indian Office for preliminary investigation of the await able water supply for these Indians Mir Newell was instructed to make this inyesti gation by the Secretary of the Interior. and ne eelsga.ea Artnur r. Davis to take the necessarily of a preliminary nature buf tbe storage possibility of the Gila River was 1uily demonstrated. It was shown that this stream drained about fifteen thoiisand square miles of the high plateau ard noun tain region of Eastern Arizona and that fhe river IS remarkable for it's exceedingly light grade. Consequently, the storage plssibili ties of the stream are great Recommenda tlons were made by Mr. Davis calling for Iurtner and more accurate surveys and in the spring Of 1sye Congress passed second appropriation of $2000O for the completion of this inyestigation.- The hydrographic de- partment Of the Geological Survey was duet these surveys.
 The Gila River derives it's sourca from, the White Mountains in western New Mexico of from ten to twelve thousand feet. Al the point where 1t issues from its mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousarid SJnare Hlies dralning through it's canons, The basin has been extensively explored. ana three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity of these reservoir sites has been determined and filings have been made under the United States laws for their segregation from the public domain. At point known as the Buttes a dam I5O feet in height above the bed of rhe stream VIII store enoue h water to cover 174. GOO acres one rect ceep, or, as it is technically ex- pressed, l!4.V00 acre feet A dam at this point would be approximately 300 feet long at the bed of the stream and 800 feet at IS crest. At Riverside Ariz, it was found that dam $50 feet long at it's base and approxi- mateiy SOO feet long on top will store a much greater Quantity of water, the surveys at this site being still incomplete. Az San Carlos, on the Apache Reservation, the river passes through narrow gorge 100 feet wide, and dam at this point l5O feet high would be bus 200 feet long at the crest Sueh dam would store 3sI. .0O0 acres one foot Sieep.
 Extensive explorations have been made to determine the depth of bed rock at each one of these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock is disappointingly deep, the deptbs ranging in the center of the channel from 75 to lzl feet beneath the surface of the stream. At Riverside the maximum depth on the axis of the dam is approximately soveuty- live feet, while. at San Carlos the depth to bed rock is believed to be substantially less than at either of the other dam sites
 The records of the flow of the Gila River nave been kept at the Buttes for number of years, and the. estimates of available water supply are, therefore, based on actual measurements. not surmise. The ordi- nary How of this stream is ample to fill the largest of these reservoirs, and on the driest years of whichwe have a record it has been as great as 200 000 acre feet
 It will be seen by the above figures that the possibility of storing water on this ! stream Is very great. It is doubtful if it has any equal in this line among s.ll the streams of arid America. The San Carlos dam site. particularly, is one of unusual merit The size of the necessary dam, the available water supply. the great storage basin. and the proximity of railroad faeiIi- ties are perfect; while the other two sites also have features of merit.
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona is greater than in California. For the raie- ing of the staple crop of alfalfa, a depth of fWenty-four inches of water is ordinarily applled to the land, which is equivalent to how for six months of one miners inch to each three and one-half acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrigate over 150,000 acres of land 1fitia assumed that each two acres will sup port one inhabfant. this would permit of a population of 75,000 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when the fact is realized that ct the present time all of the canals below the San Carlos dam site are absolutely dry. and that the country from the Apache Reservation to the mouth of the Salt River IS in a condition of withered drought with it's Inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abject want. 1t is estimated that 10000 acres of land should be irrigated on the Eila Indian Reservation in order to relieve tthe condition of the Indians This would leave over 100000 acres that could be irri- gated on the public domain If c0000 acres of these public lands could be so irrigated and being gsnbdivided into forty -acre tracts, sold to actual settlers, at the rate of S10 to Sl5 per acre, the condition of the Indian would be wholly relieved and it is probable the government would be reimbursed for it's entire outlay. In addition to this, district offering fseal conditions for irrigation, with a soil which is unexcelled. with a climate that will produce crops in continu- ous rotation. will be made to support a reputation of 75,O00 and will add to the public wealth of the Territory. on q conser- satiye estimate. over s5,eO0,0O0."