The Florence tribune., 1900-02-24
WHILE BILLIONS OF GALLONS RUN
 TO WASTE. What Recent Government Investigations Disclose in Regard to Irrigation
 Possibilities in Arizona. food 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-
 gatlon.
ltFrom tho Los Angeles Times. July lO.l

J. B. Lippincott, the representative in Los Angeles of the Photographic Office of tbe united States Geographical Survey, fur aishss The Times the following irrigation
 he Gila River Indian reservation is htuat ted about ei. hteen miles south of Phoe- nix, and extends along the Gila River for distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to he number of nearly five thousand, These indians are known throughout the Terri been peaceful in their habits, and agrienl- ;ural or pastoral in their pursuits They are, now cultivating the lands where the 2rehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa 5rande and its neighboring canals. Irriga- tion has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can oe traced across the plain, showing evidences 3f engineering skill, and testifying to the act that large volumes of water were at one time carried.
 he Pimas and Marieopas have been lntil recently, a self-sustaining nation. They raise their crops of grain and corn gith skill equal to that of the whites. he settlers, seeing he results which the In ians have produced. through the operation the desert land act, brought under culti- ton much land in the valley of the Gila adjacent to this reservation and have buiIt extensive canals between Florence and the raill oads station of Casa Grande Under the 1rovis.o.i of the United States law, all land bought under the desert-land act must be made productive by the application of water. Tn order to comply with the proyis- lonS of this law, the settler was comnelled fo make diversions from the Gila River. at points above the Indian reservation. Other ands were taken up under similar condi- ions on the upper portion of the Gila River These diversions by the hites quickly de- 9rived the Indians of their water supply and for the past five years they have been eft on the desert without water for their ,rops and scarcely enough for their horses. They are put in the position of either having Q steal, starye or be fed as public wards md the government has been forced to issue ,atiors 70 them and feed them as it does the soidlers- Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond eon- zroyersy the fact that the Indian has the lrlor and the better right to the water, but ne whites have maintained their water Mpply despite the dictates of the court. The development of this newer civilization las become so extensive that to cut of its water supply would mean the desolatiou of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards Evidently. the situation is diff suit one and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for proper answer.
 In 1886 an allotment of SS500 was made romthe appropriation for the Indian Office or preliminary investigation of the ayaiI-
 water supply for these Indians. Mir.
 ell was instructed to make this iuyesti-
 ion by the Secretary of the Interior, and
 delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the
 tier up in the field. The surveys were .sSessarily of preliminary nature, but the forage possibility of the Gila River was ully demonstrated. It was shown that this tream drained about fifteen thousand quare miles of the high plateau and Inoun ain region of Eastern Arizona and that the 'iver is remarkable for its exeeedingly light grade: Consequently, the storage possibili- ies of the stream are great. Recommenda- ions were made by Mir. Davis calling for 'urther and more accurate surveys and in he spring of lSsS Congress passed a second If this investigation. The hydrograDhic de- )artmenf of the Geological Survey was gain delegated as the proper office to con- luct these surveys.
 .sThe Gila River derives it's source from he White Mountains in western New Mexico md eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations lf from ten to twelve thousand feet. At the Dointwhere it issues from it's mountainous las1n, there are over twelve thousand auare miles draining through its canons The basin has been extensively explored md three large reservoir sites located and ,urveyed. The capacity of these reservoir ,ites has been determined and filings have ,een made under the United States laws for heir segregation from the public domain 1t point known as the Buttes dera IJ0 eet in height above the bed of the stream will store enough water to cover 174. coo acres one feet deep, or, as it is technically ex- pressed, 114O00 acre feet. A dam ef fhis point would be approximately 300 feet long tt the ped or the stream and 800 feet at it's rest. At Riverside. Ariz, 1t was found that dam S50 feet long at its base, and approxi- nately 8e0 feet long on top will store a much sreater quantity of water, the surveys at his site being still incomplete. At San Carlos. on the Apache Reservation, the river passes through a narrow gorge 100 f. of vide, and dam an at this point l50 feet high would be bus 200 feet long at the crest. Such dam would store 361, 900 acres one foot deem. Extensive explorations have been made to ietermIne the depth of bed rock at each one 1t these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed 'ock IS disapDointingly deep, the depths ,anging in the center of the channel from 75 oI2 feet beneath the surface of the stream. 1t Riverside the maximum depth on the txis of the dam is approximately seventy- i've feet, while at San Carlos the depth to ,ed rock is believed to be substantially less han at either of the other dam sites.
 The records of the flow of the (Sila River rave been kept at the Buttes for a number 1f years, and the estimates of available water supply are. therefore, based on actual measurements, not on surmise The ordi- nary flow of this stream is ample to fill the argest of these reservoirs, and on the driest ears of which we have record it has been IS great as POI, eco acre feet.
 Tt will be seen by the above figures that he possibility of storing water on this tream is very great. It Is doubtful if it .as any equal in this line among MIl the treams of arid America. The San Carlos tam site, particularly, is one of unusual herit. The size of the necessary dam the ivailable water supply, the great storage Iasin, and tEe proximity of ailroad facili- ies are perfect; while the other two sites slso have features Of merit.
 s'The duty of water in Southern Arizona greater than in California. For the rais- ng of the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of wenty -four inches of water is ordinarily spplied to the land. which is equivalent to a low for six months of one miners inch to 5aeh three and one-half acres. On this pasis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irtigate over 150000 acres of land. fit is assumed that each two acres will sup port one inhabitant. this would permit of a population of 75,0O0 souls to be sustained rom this reservoir.
 tThese figures arc more startling when he fact Is realized that at the present time Il of the canals below the San Carlos dam ite are absolutely dry, and that the country rom the Apache Reservation to the mouth f the Salt River is in a condition of W ithered rought. with it's inhabitants both white nd Indian redueed almost to the condition f abject want. It fs estimated that 10000 cres of had should be irrigated on the lila Indian Reservation in order to relieve he condition of the Indians. This would gave over 100000 acres that could be irri- ated on the public domain. If 100000 acres fthese public lands could be so irrigated nd being subdivided into forty-acre tracts, old to actual settlers. at the rate of S10 to I5 per acre, the condition of the Indian foiiid be wholly relieved, Aand 1t is probable he government would be reimbursed for its ntire outlay. In addition to this, a district Fesing ideal conditions for irrigation, gith soil which is unexeelled. with a Innate that will produce crops in continu- us rotation. will be made to support a population of 75,000. and will add to the HubIic wealth of the Territory. on a conser- atiye estimate. over S60o0,OOO.