Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-05-24
Most Gigantic Of Government
Irrigation Constructions In
Progress IN Arizona,
IT WILL FORM A VAST LAKE.
This Huge Pond, When FILLED, Win
Hold Four Hundred Billion
Gallons Of Water


special Correspondence,
Washington, y. c., May H. The most
gigantic Of the government irrigation
constructions In progress Is the Salt
river or Roosevelt dam IN Awaonu,
and considerable criticism has boon
nudo Of the course " tho secretary OF
the incrlor Nv Getting, aside between
sJoOoooo and SLOCoooo Tor This project
which win irrgdtc no public lands, but
only those already yn private owner.
Hhip, vastly ncfolellIg uf course, their
Value, Tho work which the government
vii do unlor ths project win double
ana qnadrlplo land values, ana IN luet
make much mnd that N now practically
USELESS worth from $50 % 500 uu acre
some 100000 acros WIN be irrigated un,
der these works ana the W1lOcul res.
olNolr 10 De formed by the Roosevelt
dnm N,ll bO by Tar the Argrsl u the
uiutod states, Win the Incredible en-,
lncily OF uonry l0D billion galluuH
THIS n three times the capacity Of the
groat WNchuHott reservoir which IN ~
supply Boston and twice that of the
famous 'roton dam OF New NorKl Now
water works,
The criticism rofowed 90 Of building
government works 60 supply water TO
such a section aa the Salt RIVER valley
where the lands nrc an IN private own.
orhlp, instead ol going ont onto the
desert ana rocluiminR public lands. ls
one which win not hold upon second
y ought The Snlt RNor valley hls
been n lnmOuS section of the arid WpsL
TNonly NrNrs UgO II WAS ID vast Nat
PLAIN, sfiwcd by mountains rejecting
the wonderful colOrs ana tmis Of the
southwest but nourIshng only the ra,.
tus pnd other desert plants, The salt
river cut TO- center a sparkling ne.
giving stropm ana private capital uu-
d'Hook To utilize It's waters for irriga.
ION ANA build ~ a great community
Jams were built canals were COM
slructcd, ana thousands Of acres were
planted TO oranges, lemons, figs, dates,
lalsin ana wine grapes, almonds, pomp.
prannlca, and all The fruits aud flowers
or the seml.tlopics, not 10 mention
biond iolds ui emerald alfalfa where Eat
cattle stood Knee deep IN the luNurlHnt
growth, llut the valley Is today GRIP.
pied and sick, The canal system laid
out was based upon the heavy annual
r0lnfalls which prevailed ~ that time,
and sufficient data had not been gath,
cred 10 show that the period was one Of
FAT years, ana that the learn years OF
drouth would, surely follow They
came, however over the whole south.
west, ms can be seen by a study Of the
rainfall charts Of that rcglon, and the
result has been that thousands Of acres
OF orchard ana farm have returned TO
hridltS Tho Old Man OF the Desert
came IN and claimed back his own. II
II simply question then, IN the Salt
River valley, and IN some other soc.
lions, as 10 whether II II not ms good
or better policy for Uncle Sam To save
the homes OF several thousand pioneers
VINO arc pcrishlng for want Of water
As II II to reclaim new raw lands and
put new settlers upon them
FROM BROOK TO TORRENT
The flow Of the salt River valley Ia
variable In the oytrcmc, At low water
periods II runs something Ike 100 cubic
feet per second In one great flood the
river swept down the valley at the rate
OF 100000 cubic feet per second, The
twelfth annual report ~ the geological
survey describes the Hood OF 1891 ns
follows, all OF which ran usccssy 20
the sea Cor lack Of storage;
"On Feb, IL the discharge was S5
cubic feet per second, increasing tho
next day 60 $4,000 cubic feet, ana ON
tho 9TH 10 10000 cubic feet. This was
followed by n second eater swell, nm.
III on tho Gath MAXI N OF 800 900 cu.
bic feet was reached"
Tho Roosevelt dam H. 60 control and
store such foods About 80 miles from
Phoenix tho Salt river enters Il pro.
found canyon, with lofty preoipious
walls and narrow floor, IN which II
located the dam site, Above the dam
the canyon opens into wide valleys, pros
yidng the most copocious reservoir In
the west
at would probably be impossible To
flnd anywhere IN the arid region" said
Government Engineer Arthur i, Davis
the protector ~ this magnificent enter.
prise, ~ storage project In which AN
conditions are me- favorable as IN this
one, The capacity Of the reservoir IN
proportion To the dimensions OF the dam
IN enormous, and the lands TO be wat.
cred are Of remarkable fertility, with n
climate which may be caBscd ~ almost
seml.troplc,'
Mr. Davis also made tho important
discovery that material for making
good Portland cement ana bricks lies
Immediately by the dam Rlic, IIo
states that the masonry dam now UNI
der construction vii be absolutely per.
manent safe, solid ana secure Tor All
ages 10 come a part of the everlasting
hills Of which II win become an int.
grf1 part"
Finding that tho prices bid by the cc.
ment manufacturers would add an
Increased burden OF 100000 or more
dollars 10 the payments OF the irl1ga,-
ora, tho government constructed nm I'm.
monso cement mill and win Itself manu-.
fncture the 100000 or moro barrels Vt
cement needed for tho dam, A spondl
roadway, rlVnllng the mountain ronds
~ tho meas, has been buli from phoo.
nix 90 tho dam, NJ cost OF over
hundred thousand dollars, The cost nc
the onlIrr construction, three million
and u hair dollars, win be- Npp0r-
toned among tho lands receiving tho
water ~ be paid back 10 the govern.
mont IN ~ annual miscellaneous and no
water user can hold moro than lG0
acres,
RIVER 10 BUILD OWN DAM,
An interesting feature Of the con,
uruutlOn work W the power canal which
has already boon butt, Tho regular
now NJ tho river hus been diverted
above the dam slto, ana NJ that point k
tumblpd over the rocks, gonorItmg
some 10000 electrical horsepower TO hn
utilized In building The dam, II win b1
required day and night for drilling
moving great rocks, pumping, grmdmg
rock and clmkorg mixing and handling
comcni ana htndling machinery Thn
river IN thus hong forced 10 cree, IT,
own dnm After the construction, thlg
powor, added 10 large additional power
10 be extracted from the heavy fnll Of
the river below the dam site, viii bn
electrically transmitted To lands not
poVorpd by the grnVlty canal for punlDs