La Junta tribune., 1904-10-22

- Sooo - ATS Hooosys
Hoe. Alsxasder o. Brodis. 0evsssss
Il Arisoua. In an article % lsSieatSoo.
sppsaring in the October numbR Of de
Cosmopolitan, referring 70 the opsratisas
Of the National IFrigatioa Act b the
arid regions Of the West. says IN part:
The arss application Of the nsv lffi-
eation lav has fallen to the territory Of
Arisona- Three millions Of dollars have
been set aside by the Secretary ef the
Interier from the reclamation fund for
the construction OF . dam at the mouth
Of the Tonto creek on Salt river. Work
upon this dam 10 now under way. Co
nent Voeks to manufacture the cement
needed In the construction Of the great
dam are being built, also an electrical
power plant. The river u being d.
verted By the construction Of . tun-
mel through the mountain in order that
there shall be no interference from that
source during construction
Iaasnss Ressrvsis.
The Tonto reservoir. when created By
the construction OF the dam. will cover
1900 acres. The height Of the dam
Win y 245 feet and the depth Of the
water stored At the dam will b 100
fest: the dam will Be les feet Thick at
the bottom and 10 feet thick at the top.
In length IL will be 200 feet At ths base
and 663 feet at the top. This viii b
the highest dam In the world. The stor-
age capacity oi the reservoir viii b
greater than that Of almost any thrss
artificial reservoirs ever built, sufficient
to cover ,S00, 900 acres Of land sos foot
In depth.
'-Ths reservoir will supply water sum
cient to iFrigats 10000 acrss Of land.
There are in Salt River Valley about
10000 acres Of land suitable foe iFri-
CATION Under the present system u m
certain water supply. only 1l5.O00 aerss
are under euitivation-mors land, bow.
II was estimated that the how Of va
ter last year would bring . full yield Of
crops from about $1,000 acres.
Csops Alwsys sars.
The benefits to accrue In salt Rivss
Valley can thus readily b seen. When
We consider that from four to seven cut
tines Of alfalfa are possible during the
year in the Salt River Valley. what will
be the yield-made certain By water
stored and ready for use-under the con-
ditions created by the Tonic damf
with the certainty Of pasturags lo The
valley. cattlemen will engage moro sx-
tensively In stock raising; hay, grain and
vegetables will seek an open new market
In the interior mining districts, and thou
sands Of farms will become more profit
able. II IL estimated that Q million
and q half dollars worth Of alfalfa hay
and fat cattle are exported from Salt
River Valley annually. With full crop
Of from 10000 to 10000 acres. the
lth-producinx capacity Of alfalfa
alone will be suhicient to pay for the
reservoir in less time than ID allotted b.
laws to the farmers.
II have felt that the creation Of the
Tonto reservoir II but the forerunner
Of further systems Of water storage in
aid Of irrigation in Arizona; that event
ually upon all streams in the territory
where proper sites can be found. irriga-
ton works will be constructed: that
where the food water supply . found
sufhcient to guarantee. more than one
reservoir will be created upon . single
stream In order that the control Of all
surplus water may be had.
''Ths new era Of progress In the arid
region Of the United States has sst In
with an enth usiasm that means success:
for a. Emerson wrote. Nothing great
was ever achieved without enthasiasm.'
II may thus be seen By the slight ref
erencs to this one project. what the gov
ernment IL already doing In the arid
States Of the West. There are about
e27 900. 900 now in the reclamation fund.
~ . result Of the sale Of government
lands In the arid States. where irrigation
operations are to be established. Il takes
but little stretch Of the imagination to
perceive the incalculabls benefits des-
tined to come to "Arid America" during
the next quarter Of . century under the
operations Of this wholesome American
project
Ezpissatisa - Isrtgatisa Yu.A.
We frsqusntly ses mentioned In pa
pefs not thoroughly Informed On this
subject. that such and such q fund has
bssA 81 aside for reclaiming the arid
West Other publications. equally igpo-
rant Of the true status. bewail the fact
that he people Of the entire United
States are to b taxed for the benefit
Il tie sparssly populated West. Both
positions are untenable and are equally
wi1sly divergent Of the facts psrtnin-
iaG - IL situatioo ~ 4 exista-
Again let it b said for the infoema-
tiso - all interested. and all Who esrs
70 bsss0s interested, that no deAnits =
sDeciAe aDsant Of noney has bsea voepA
b. Coosress for the rsclamatioa ef IL
arid WssG. TIE act provides thae an
nsosys rses3vsd frva the sale q pub-
NJ hnAs b ths thirtesa States snd tlsse
TeE1ftoriss described are to ~ turnea
~ ~ funA fse irrisatioa psEpssss. ~
- cent.
Ras1 - OWu . Meme.
II Aee fsFth0 psovid8 shst - 1an6
sAAn - ~ - actual seeaDaatB. who
sAa0 rstarn - tAe eovesnnsae = -
oQ0al anAaA1 inseaIlmeatn. - go e