Arizona republican., 1903-01-24
WATER STORAGE
 ON AMERICAN NILE MT. NeweII'S Investigation of
 the Colorado
It Is Possible to Reclaim a Million
 Acres of the Best Land in America,
 But It Will Cost Twenty Millions.

Washington, January 23-(Speclal)- Frederick Haynes Newell, chief hydro grapher of the United States govern ment. has just returned to Washington from a four weeks trip in California and Arizona in the course of which he foated four hundred miles down the Colorado river in a small row boat. The purpose of his trip was to inves- tigate the possibilities of that section of the southwestern desert country in the line of irrigation and to get a prelimi- nary idea of the feasibility of conserv ing the great floods of water which at certain seasons of the year pass down the Colorado river to the Gulf of California.
 In some respects this projected en- terprise resembles the great reclama- tino works which have been con structed by the English government in Egypt whereby the flood waters of the Nile are impounded and distributed over millions of acres of fertile delta land. To carry out to it's full possi- bilities this great project on the Colo iado river would require an eXpendi- ture of from fifteen to twenty million dollars, which would give in return an irrigated area of over one million acres of extremely fertile land.
 When asked in regard to his trip Mir. Newell said:
 "I first went to the Needles in Cali fornia and there secured a wagon outfit and drove up the Colorado river as far as possible to what is known as Bowles Head one of the highest sites for L proposed reservoir on the river. w then came back through the agricul- ~. the Indian school is situated and where large areas can be brought under irri- gation by a high line canal from the Colorado river. Then we went back To the Needles and in company with J. B. Lippincott, consulting engineer; Arthur p. Davis. principal engineer; F.. T. Perkins, district engineer. and E. c. Barnard. topographer, l started on my trip down the river.
 We were five days in an open boat camp;nS d. us tha banks of the stream at night We then struck little river steamer. the St. Ballier, which was on the point of starting from Ehrenberg to Yuma. All navigation on the river is suspended at dark, and In fact is also often suspended in the day time while the crew is engaged in getting S. a decided current which runs about three miles an hour and carries the boat from one side to the other of the enamel, the water spreading out in many places over a very wide area. It is easy travelling along these chan nels until one reaches a place where the river widens out, then the water becomes so shallow that the boats ire nnnnr1N ba wheel steamers. which occasionally use this river. when they get stuck on a sand bar turn around and the revulu- tion of the wheel moves enough of the sand so that the boat can drift on down.
 We went down the river about four hundred miles in all. The country back from the river is arid and desolate and has very scanty vegetation except for an occasional thorn bush. It is gener- ally considered to be a highly miner alized country and there is an almost infinite number of prospect holes and g few mines but very little if any ore is now being shipped. This is probably largely due to the difficulties of trans poTtation.
 We saw very few people along the river. An occasional Indian was met, polling his boat against the stream. carrying goods to the mining camps or 10 the Indian school. These are the Mohave Indians. They all use punts or flat bottom boats. There seemed to le no white settlers along the river except a few prospectors. We found 10 nosquitoes at this time of year and the nights were frosty. The country is semi-tropical, having very hot days and cold nights, especially on the lower levels.
 The Colorado river is the largest river of the arid region. It can be com pared in size to the Nile of Egypt and is similar in many characteristics. It differs in the flow for this is not as regular or as we'll sustained because Of the fact there are no lakes at the head of the river to insure permanency of such flow. It is navigable with diff ficulty, however, for light boats on the lower part of the river. A large part of it's course is through canyons where the water cannot be diverted upon the surrounding land. The lower river passes through an open country, varied by few narrow valleys. The fall of rain there is very slight and canals taken out fill quickly with silt. Silt is the great obstacle to the development of the Irrigation features and ditches will have to be given a heavy grade.
 Reservoirs are necessary to store and control the silt. Small works are impossible and large ones will be very costly. The land to be reclaimed is probably as good as any in the United States. The problem of getting water upon it is not easy of solution for thera are many alternative plans. The land will produce large crops in frequent succession, one following the other as fast as it can be planted, grown and harvested"
 When asked as to the character of country through which he passed on his journey down the river MT. New ell said
 For the first one hundred miles be- low the Needles the river is mostly Tn canyons or narrow valleys and