Cañon City record., 1904-10-27
Example Of the Working Of Re-
cent National Irrigation Act.
HIGHEST DAM IN THE WORLD
0lgastle Recismstios Works h Arissaa
How lrriSatioa Fsnd Is Created
and How II VIII Be Used-Esd.
less chain Of Arid Money.

appearing In the October number Of the
Cosmopolitan, referring to the operations
Of the National Irrigation Act in the
arid regions of the West, says In part:
''The FIRST application Of the new lrri-
cation law has fallen to the territory OF
Arisona. Three millions Of dollars have
been set aside by the Secretary Of tbs
Interior from the reclamation fund for
the construction Of dam at the mouth
Of the Tonto creek on Salt river. Work
upon this dam In now under way. Ce-
ment works to manufacture the cement
needed In the construction Of the great
dam are being built, also an electrical
power plant. The river ID being d.
vertad by the construction of tun-
mel through the mountain In order that
there shall be no interference from that
source during construction.
Jmnense Reservoir.
'-rhs Tonto reservoir. when created BY
the construction OF the dam. will cover
1900 acres. The height Of the dam
will be 245 feet and the depth Of the
water stored at the dam will be 100
feet; the dam win be los feet thick at
the bottom and 10 feet thick nt the top.
In length IL win be 200 feet at the base
and 653 feet at the top. This will be
the highest dam In the world. The stor-
age capacity Of the reservoir will be
greater than that Of almost any three
artificial reservoirs ever built, sumcient
to cover 1 SOC. 600 acres Of land one foot
In depth.
The reservoir will supply water sum
cient to irrigafe 100000 acres Of land.
There are In Salt River Valley about
100000 acres Of land suitable for irri-
cation. Under the present system Of un-
certain water supply. only 115.O00 acres
are under cultivntion--more land. how
ever, than the supply OF water warranta.
Il was estimated that the Cow Of wa
ter last year would bring a full yield Of
crops from about 1900 acres
Crops Aiwsys ssre.
THE benefits TO accrue In Salt River
Valley can thus readily be seen. When
we consider that from four to seven cut
tings Of alfalfa arc possible during the
year In the Salt River Valley. what will
stored and ready for use-undcr the con-
ditions created by the Tonto dam7
with the certainty Of psstnrnEe 10 the
valley. cattlemen VIII engage more er-
tensively In stock raising. hay. grain and
vegetables will seek an open new market
In the interior mining districts. mud thou
sands of farms will become more profit
able. II Ii estimated that 4 million
and q half dollars worth of alfalfa hay
and fat cattle are exported from salt
River Valley annually. With a full crop
OF from 100000 to 10000 acres. the
wealth producing capacity Of alfalfa
alone will be sufficient to pay for the
reservoir In less time than is allotted By
laws to the farmers.
'I have felt that the creation Of the
Tonto reservoir Ia but the forerunner
Of further systenr Of water storage In
aid Of irrigation in Arixona; that event
unlly upon all streams in the territory
where proper sites eau he found. irriga-
ton works will be constructed: that
where the food wnter supply In found
suiicient to guarantee. more than one
reservoir will be created upon a single
stream In order that the control Of all
surplus water may be had.
The new ern Of progress In the arid
region Of the United States has set In
with an enthusiasm that means success.
for az Emerson wrote. Nothing great
was ever achieved without cnthusin sm.'
II may thus be seen by the slight ref
erencc to this one project. what the gov
ernment IL already doing In the arid
Stntes of the West. There are about
<27 .000, 600 now in the reclamation fund.
as q result Of the sale Of government
lnnds In the arid States. where irrigation
opera tions are to be established. 1t takes
but little stretch OF the imagina ton to
perceive the incnlculablc benefits des-
tined to come to arid America" during
the next quarter Of century under the
operations of this wholesome American
project.
Expisuation Of Irrixation rund.
We frequently see mentioned In pa
pers not thoroughly Informed on this
subject, that such and such fund hns
been set aside for reclaiming the arid
West. Other publications, equally irno-
rant Of the truA status. bewail the fact
that the people Of the entire United
States are to be taxed for the benefit
Of the sparsely populated West. Both
positions are untennblc and are equally
widely divergent of tho facts pertain
ing to the situption as II exists.
Again let It be said for the informa-
tion Of all Interested. and all who care
to become Interested, that no definite or
specific amount Of money has been voted
by Congress for the reclamation Of the
arid West. The act provides that all
moneys received from the sale of pub
lie lnnds In the thirteen States and three
Territories described are to be turned
into the fund for irrigation purposes. less
D per cent.
Essy 60 Own n Home.
The Act further provides that the land
shall he sold to actual occupants, who
shall return to tho government. In ten
equal annual installmcnts, the cost Of
bringing water to the land; TINT u tho
reclaim tion Of body of 100000 acres Of
land should cost $1.0O0.000. Of $40 per
acre. then the actual occupant would be
expected to reimburse to Uncle Sam the
$40 per acre In ten equal annual install
ments Of u per acre each.