Arizona republican., 1906-07-26

The biggest and best news received in this valley for a long time in con- nection with the Salt river irrigation project came yesterday in a telegram to a reclamation official, which is printed above.
 This is the news the valley has been waiting for for months the official an nouncement of the building of the di- version dam. That it would come in due time there has never been any doubt for 1t was promised in the proj- ect for the taking over of the north side canals. But the question was When and how? The hope has been all along that the diversion dam would be built at the earliest practicable moment to relieve the uncertainty that must al- ways attend the water supply under the temporarily constructed head of the Arizona canal at the instance of the water users themselves. It was feared there might be delay through the nec- essarily slow operation of official busi- ness, but not minute has been lost, and the dam will be built just as s'tn as though the above authorization had been given some months ago. For this the valley owes a debt of gratitude to the entire reclamation service. from the secretary of the interior down, in that the necessary preliminaries were pro- ceeded with without delay and that the actual field work was pushed at this end as fast as possible by Engineer Hill and all his faithful assistants.
 The bedrock borings were very nec- essary and they were as quickly and thoroughly made as possible Just as soon as it became apparent that Gran ite reef was the most desirable point for the dam the drafting force at Roosevelt was set at work upon the plans which were completed except in minor details. by the time the drilling force had finished it's work. Incfden- tally. MT. Hill had constructed a road from the damsite to the Roosevelt road for communication between the two points and for the hauling of cement. still there was no official announce ment that the dam would be built there. though it could no longer be doubted that it would be. Realizing the urgent necessity of the valley, the local engi- neers have all along favored the build ing of the dam by force account, but until the authorization was made by the secretary no man knew for cer- tainty the location of the dam or the manner Of its building.
 The telegram received yesterday in- dicates clearly that the Granite reef site has been adopted. that the plans for the dam have in all essential fea- lures been approved, and authorizes the construction by force account. This latter feature means much to the valley. It means that the government engineers will proceed to hire the men, and under their own personal super vision construct the diversion dam as quickly as possible. charging the bill to the water users of the valley. other wise the dam would have to be built by contract work. involving weeks. and perhaps months, of delay in getting out specifications. advertising for bids, let ting of contracts and approving of bonds. Under the force account plan the engineers are free to act on their own judgment. There will be. great saving of time, and undoubtedly the net cost of the dam will be no greater, and probably less. than it would be if built by a contractor, unless the con tractor should make a mistake and bid too low. The government engineers know the local conditions better than the contractors and are already organ ized for business on the ground. They can take advantage of many things that contractor could not. and un- doubtedIy will do a quicker, a cheaper, and perhaps a better. job. And the saving of time may mean a seasons day of rejoicing; one of several the people of this valley have been favored with through the fidelity and good faith of the government as represented by the reclamation service.