Arizona republican., 1903-12-14
Report of the Secretary
of the Interior 4
IRRIGATION RECLAMATION
The Salt River Valley and Other Pro-
jects, and the Progress That Has
Been Tade-The Casa Grande Ruins.
r Recommendation for Appropriation


the secretary of the interior to the
president has been made public. on
the subject of irrigation the report
says: BY reason of the increased ap-
preparation for the fiscal year 1908
($150,000) the irrigation work, on the
various reserva tions has been con-
siderably extended.
The force Of irrigation experts un-
der the charge OF che commissioner of
Indian affairs has Eeen Kept busy dur
ing the whole OF the fiscal year com
pleting work already beguP. and max
ing plans for and inaugurating new
systems and in making repairs and eS-
tention 10 irrigation works in var
ious localities
The irrigation engineer Of the de-
partment, Inspector w. II. Code has
been almost continuously in the field
inspecting and reporting upon work al p
ready done or under way, consulting
with and advising the irrigation en-
gineers i'm the field and giving his per-
sOnal supervision to the extension OF
several important projects already ap-
proved by the department. Among
these may he mentioned two cases in
which. after careful investigation.
gravity canals We're found to be i'm
practicable. viz: The Pima reservation
in Arizona and the Mission reserva-
tion in California. IN both cases ef-
forts are being made with a reasonable
Show Of success in each. to establish
permanent water supply for irriga-
ton purposes by means of u series of
, artesIan wells. from which the water
Will be stored in reservoirs and con-
Quoted thence as needed into distribut-
ing ditches.'
Regarding operations under the re-
ciamation act, the report says:
The result Of many years of study.
Investigation and surveys for the irri-
cation development of the arid region
| of the geological survey, made j. POS
sibie to organize the reclamati"n ser
vice without delay and to begin ut once
! upon projects presenting features fav-
orable for early construction. BY the
| beginning of the fiscal year an orSaII
I zation- had been effected under the su-
! pervision Of the dire tor of the gcolo-
lical survey, and parties were at once
placed in the field for the necessor ~
investigation. During the winter of
I 1923 the results OF these surveys
were carefully examined by expert en-
: e
! or presented EEc projects for my con-
/ sideration.
In pursuance of his recommends =
tions on March Il, 1893. l directed
him to make such further inNestiga-
/ tions as We're necessary to determine
! the features upon which the construc-
tion of these projects would depend
! These were the SweetWater project in
Wyoming; the Milk river project il.
Montana: the Truckee river project in
! Nevada; the Cunnison river project
/ in Colorado and the salt river project
in Arizona. Since then the further
work required has been diligently car
ried on. Contracts were subsequently
let for the work on the TrUckee river
project and the Investigations in con-
nection with the other projects are
rapidly approaching a point where the
department will be prepared to enter
into contracts for their construction.
| IN the development of many of the
! projects of reclamation a considerable
proportion of tle land to be irrigated
! is found to be in private ownership. \
study of the existing conditions shows
| that very few Of the available projects
Will involve public lands only and the
| problem of dealing with a number OF
private owners had received much con-
sideyation. In the Sslt rive" valley IL
/ Arizona and in the Uncompahgre val
! ley in Colorado, the latter TO be irTigat-
! ed by means of the Gunnison river
/ project, the owners of the lands have
! organized into water users assOcia-
/ tions. That of the Salt river was the
/ first TO be organized, aud various
questions in connection Herewith were
submitted for my consideration. In
asmuch as the law requires Il definite
approval of the form of such organi-
cations when a major portion of the
payment required for the land has
been made, contingency which would
not arise for several years, it was moi
deemed advisable to formally approve
the details of such organization at the
present time. The association, howev-
eT, was advised that the general form
was satisfactory and that there ap-
peared no reason why the articles
adopted could not be made to conform,
to such requirements as might be con
sidered necessary when formal approx
al was granted by law
Concerning the Withdrawals of pub
lie lands in the various states and ter
ritorieS subject to the operation of tlc
reclamation act the report continues:
! "In Arizona deailed surveys in con-
nection with the proposed dam on the
Salt river at the mouth of Tonto creek
have been continued and plans have
been made and contracts let for power
plant, cement mill. and other struct-
ures essential to the construction OF the
great dam. An organization of the wa
ter users has been effected and ample
time has been afforded for the holders
of arid land to indicate their wishes
as regards obtaining a supply of wa
ter from the government reservoir if
constructed. The public lands in the
Salt river valley have been Withdrawn
under the terms Of the law, to be re-
claimed if there should be sufficient
water for any considerable part of