Arizona republican., 1905-12-02
THE BUCKEYE DAM
 LEFT IN BETTER SHAPE
The Effect of the Torrent in Chans. ing the Channel.

Ihe latest reports from the Ruckave uam enable the giving of some da+o;,e, cohcerhlhg the effect of the racen+ nish water, though the river is still hlgh ana the situation cannot he def- iiilteiy outlined until the floods have ehtlreiy receded. Some damape has occurIeu' however, and at the same tiiiie lne rlVer has done some thines 'ii"' VIII Work for the betterment Inf general conditions as regards inc fu- .ure water supply. The situation can pest De explained by a brief descrin- .iol or the topography of the rivar pea ana the plan of the dam and headgate u'iii anu
 inc canal head is about a half mile oelo" the mouth of the Agua Fria liver' on the same side north). of tbe Hild rlVer. The original channel of tbe Iiver was along the north bank of wnat IS now the enlarged bed of the rlVer: The original Buckeye dam. 1900 rect long, extended diagonally to the southeast, across this channel Suc- ceeuihg Hoods formed sandbanks along .iie western side of the mouth of the LAsua Frla, which throw the waters rom that river farther out into the Gila ana assisting in the diversion of ene Iatter's water, eventually dug a Gila rlVer channel 1000 feet wide around the south end of the original buckeye dam. At the same time the growing sand bar on the north side. west rom the Agua F'ria, filled in the oid rlver channel down to the dam and even over it, submerging the dam rom i've to eight feet with sand. Apove the dam site was a vast field of sand that was a peninsula in ordinary tlmes but in times of excessive flood the higher portion of it, almost direct " above the southern end of the dam, was an island. The canal manage ment extended the dam as occasion necessltated. from the southern end of the diagonal dam, straight south across the new thousand foot channel, mak- ing dam 2300 feet long, with water above only the south 1000 feet the 1900 feet on the north side next to the head gate being buried under sand.
 That was about the situation when Receiver Trott took hold off the en- terprise. His first work was to strengthen and repair and raise the south 1000 feet, making it particularly strong on the south end, so that any later floods which might change the course of the river, would tend to throw it back toward the headgate or north side of the bed. This completed the next thing was to get the damned water to the head gate. In order to do this he took soundings through the sand to thoroughly locate the old dam, then dug a canal through the sand along the upper side of the old dam. from the head gate to the river chan mel. stopped by the new dam. This ditch gave an ample water supply when it was to be had but was of course subject to being filled up every flood and a re-excavation after it, but there was no other way to do At the same time the river running through it's new southern channel, reached it's limit against the southern bank below the dam and was diverted northerly, again finding the north bank of the bed some distance below the canal headgate, and eating into this bank until it destroyed even the bank of the canal for some distance, just as Salt river assailed the bank of the Ap- propriator's canal company west of the Tempe bridge this week. A new sec tion of canal was built further north to obviate this trouble and is very successfully doing so
 The new work on the south end of the canal has done just what was ex- pected of it and the result of the re- cent flood has been to return the main channel of the river to the north side, over the old original Buckeye dam. The water though, is running over al- most the entire structure but it ap- pears to be deep over the old dam and is in the nature of a ripple over the south thousand feet, indicating that the main channel is now within few hundred feet of the headgate and that the south thousand feet is not only shallow water, but the dam beneath it is standing well. It may be somewhat injured but how much or little cannot vet be determined and the indications are that it is slightly.
 The strengthening of the river now brings the water close to the head gate. does away with the old ditch through the sand from the south cham mel, and stops the cutting in toward the canal, below the headgate. What will be necessary now when the river eoes down, will be the raising of the old 1900 foot dam and its repair if if shall be found to have been broken.
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