The Republican journal., 1905-06-08
Greatest Dam in America.
~, Form Vast Reservoir Holding Four
WIZ hundred Billion Gallons.


,st gigantic of the government.
ion constructions in progress is
Ia River or Roosevelt" dam in
d and considerable criticism has
,dp of the course of the Secre-
tie Interior in setting aside be-
tnree and four million dollars
. project which will irrigate no
auds, but only those already in
ownership, vastly increasing,
~ their value. The work which
r4rument will do under this pro-
m double and quadruple land
and in fact make much land
nov practically worthless worth
40 to 800 an acre. Some 200, 600
mil be irrigated under these
and the artificial reservoir to be
by the Roosevelt dam will be
the largest in the United States,
Ne Incredible capacity of nearly
ion gallons. This is three times
pacity of the great Wachusett
',r vhich is to supply Boston
nee that of the famous Croton
New York's new water works.
.iiticlsm referred to of building
meut works to supply water to
section as the Salt River Valley
hp lands are all in private OW-
Instead of going out onto the
and retaining public lands is
will not hold upon second
r rue Salt River Valley has
famous section of the arid west.
E. }aacs ago it was a vast. Hat
ned by mountains rejecting
..lfal colors and tintS of the
.t Nut nourishing only the cac-
.rr desert plants. The Salt
It's centre, a sparkling, life
t.am. and private capital un-
utjii2e its waters for irriga-
ld mp a great community.
built, canals We're con-
and thousands of acres were
ranges, lemons, figs, dates,
Nue grapes, almonds, pome-
and all the fruits and flowers
Fl-Iropics, not to mention
'- IF emerald alfalfa where fat
...I knee deep in the luXuriant
5ut the valley is today Grip
X. The canal system laid
,el upon the heavy annual
.Aich prevailed at that time,
t data had not been gather
mat the period was one of
nd that the lean years of
uud surely follow. They came,
er the whole southwest, as
by a study of the rainfall
At region, and the result has
a0usands of acres of orchard
ave returned to aridity.
Nan of the Desert came i'll
e3 back his own. 1t is simply
then, i'll the salt River Val
III some other sections, as to
it is not as good or better
.. ncle Sam to save the homes
thousand pioneers, who are
for want of water, as it is to
lrN raw lands and put new
ION them.
.v Il BROOK TO A TORRENT.
nN of the Salt River Valley is
ru The extreme. At low water
IT uns something like 100 cubic
econd. In one great flood the
pt down the valley at the rate
u lubic feet per second. The
muai report of the Geological
lescribes the flood of 1891 as
all of which ran uselessly to
lor lack of storage.
lrOruary II, the discharge was
feet per second, increasing
81 day to l54,O0 cubic feet and
nth to 216,O0O cubic feet. This
we'd by a second greater swell,
u lie 24th a maximum OF 800, 900
et was reached"
''aY,evelt dam is to control and
t. hoods. About 60 miles from
3 the salt River enters a pro,
nyon, with lofty, PERCEPTIONS
..l d narrow floor, in which is
dam site. Above the dam
0H opens into wide valleys,
the most capacious reservoir
list.
al probably be impossible to
re in the ard region" said
sr engineer Arthur p. Davis,
or of this magnificent enter
-orage project il which all
- are as favorable as in this
apacity of the reservoir in
10 the dimensions of the
umous and the lands to be
te of remarkable fertility,
ate which may be classed as
rui-tropic."
ISIS also made the important
hat material for making
and cement and bricks lies
ry by the dam site. He states
Masonry dam now under con-
". viii be absolutely permanent,
ld and secure for all ages to
part Of the everlasting hills of
tDll become an integral part"
,,. that the prices bid by the
aanufacturers would add an
s"l burden of half a million or
GLARS to the payments of the If
s The government constructed
leAse cement mill and will itself
,t'Hre the 100000 or more bar
e1ment needed for the dam. A
~ Ioadway, rivaling the noun
uIs of the Incas, has been built
mix to the dam, at cost OF
l4ndred thousand dollars. The
the entire construction, three
and a half dollars, will be APP
e' among the lands receiving
,.r. to be paid back to the gov
1 III ten annual installments,
HJJer user can hold more than
ttB TO BUILD ITS OWN DAM.
resting feature of the con-
4 work is the power canal
rs already been built. The
low of the river has been
a4ove the dam site, and at that
tumbled over the rocks,
e some 10000 electrical horse
" ne utilized in building the dam.
be required day and night for