The Florence tribune., 1900-02-03
THE GOVERNOR
 ON RESERVOIRS

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 ernor Murphy's report to the Secretary of the Interior show plainly that he is sound on the reservoir question:
 There are numerous reservoir sites in the territory. On all the interior streams carrying volumes of conSe- quence nature has provided storage sites, and reference will be made only to tLose of largest capacity.
 Perhaps the most attention has been paid to the sites on the Gila by the en- gineers of the government, because of the pressing necessity of providing ths Gila River Indian reservation with water for irrigation. The 1000 Indians on that reservation were formerly self supporting, but the wa ters of the Gila, having been diverted by the farmers in Pinal and Graham counties, the oc- cupants of the reservation are no longer abe to raise crops suffi :ient for their sustenance, and under existing conditions they are certain to become absolute wards of the government at a heavy expense each year for their maintenance. The fact that they are peaceable and fairly industrious long since bespoke for them a careful con sideration of the problem of supplying them with water through some system of storage.
 Investigations made by the hydro graphers of the geological survey have yielded valuable data concerning the most prominent sites on the Gila. At the Buttes, fourteen miles above Flor enee, the first reconnaissance was made some four years ago, and since then measurements of the flow of the river have supplemented the information gained in the first investigation. Last winter congress made an additional ap- propriation for the purpose of ascer- taining the location of bed rock at the dam sites heretofore examined, and during the present year much addi- 1
 It is now definitely known that at the Buttes dam 150 feet high will store enough water to cover 174 900 acres to depth of one foot, or as it is technically stated, will impound l74,- 600 acre feet. The dam would be 300 feet long at the bed of the stream, and 500 feet at the top. The originsl round figure estimate of cost was $2, 900 900, but that estimate was based on the belief that bed rock is nearer the surface than this years investiga- tions have shown it to be. But within a recent period the cost of handling rock has been cheapened by improve ments in methods resulting from the experience gained in the construction of the Chicago drainage canal and other works of recent date, and as it is known that the estimate of 5000, 900 was a liberal one, it is drought that the cost of building the Buttes dam will not exceed that estimate, not withstanding the disappointing dis tAnce to bed rock
 At Riverside there is another valu. able site for reservoir dam, and at that point dam $50 feet long at the base and 800 feet at the crest would create reservoir still greater than the one proposed for the Buttes. At Riv- erside the bed rock has been found much nearer the surface than at the Buttes, but at this writing the estimat ) of construction cost has not been made public.
 At San Carlos, on the Apache reser- walton, there is another site, to which much attention has been directed dur ing this years series of investigations. The conditions there are exceptionally favorable for economical contraction The river passes through 8 narrow gorge, and dam 150 feet high would be but 200 feet long at the crest, and would create reservoir of 391 ,00( acre feet capacity.
 Each of the reservoir sites above re ferred to is still within the control oi the government, and the building of 8 dam at either point would furnish not only an abundant supply of water for the Indians on the Gila River reserva tion, but would afford splendid sur plus for the settlers of the middle Gilt valley. The actual importance of tn storage capacity of the sites mentioned . is better understood if considered il . connection with the "duty of water. . The duty of water, or the quantit. of water necessary to adequate irriga tion of an acre of ground in the Gila 5 Salt River and other valleys of thi territory, has not been fixed with th 2 defniteness which has been ascertaine J in other irrigated communities of tn }. west where the flow in the canals ! closely regulated and therefore free $ from complications in calculation. An s while there are substantial difference of opinion, due to the variable and G z pricious supply, and the custom a ,; ready alluded to, of lavish and waste