Bisbee daily review., 1906-12-15
UNCLESAMSPENT
 sl5,O00,0000N! \! : IRRIGATION ,. :... .'
Secretary Of the Interior Gives Official information Regard. ing the Work Going 0T1n
 This Territory. ms N!

The secretary of, the interior ia his annual report says the amount of mon ey which has been disbu!sed by the government on account of the recla- nation service up 10 and including September, 1906, is s15.456.900,13. Re garding the irrigation work fn Ari- zona the report says: --F !
 "The Salt river project is on Salt river, in the central part of Arizona. On this stream a large dam 270 feet high is being constructed at Roose- welt. This dam will regulate the sup ply of water that will be used in the Irrigation of large tract of land in the vicinity of Phoenix. There will also be developed large amount of power, which will be utilized for pumping underground water. thus in- creasing the supply available for ir- rigation. As this project is far from the railroads, it was necessary to pro vide facilities for the manufacture of cement; and it was also necessary to provide for the crushing of sand for use in the structures. The sand crushing plant has been completed and Is giving satisfactory service. It is operated from the power plant. The cement mill, also. has been in opera tion for over a year and is producing cement of satisfactory quality. At present the mill is furnishing more cement than the contractor is able to use, but as the work on the dam pro presses the contractor will use a large quantity, and it is estimated that the output will about equal the con sumption. The power canal and the power plant have been completed and are giving satisfactory service. The power plant is now furnishing pow CT for the operation of the cement mill
 and for the contractors equipment used in constructing the dam. The contract for the Roosevelt dam has
 been awarded, a satisfactory plant
 installed, and a large amount of pre- liminary work executed High water in November carried away large part of the contractors equipment in the river, and the high water contin- ued later than usual in the spring.
 These circumstances have delayed the work somewhat, but it is not thought that they will materially de
 lay the completion of the project In addition to the construction work nee essary surveys and plans have been
 made looking to the completion of this project Plans have been made for the Arizona dam which will di- vert the water into the main diStrib- uting canal and for the diversion dam
 at the head of the power canal. Work on these will be pushed as rapidly as possible during the coming year Con- ditions in the Salt river valley are about the same as they have been for | the last two or three years. There is water in the river for irrigation pur- poses. but there is no efficient means
 for diveTting it.
 | "The Yuma river project is situat | ed in California and Arizona on both sides of the Colorado river. The wat | CTS of the Colorado river will he di yerted at the Laguna dam about ten
 miles northeast of ruma, Ariz., into 1 two canals, one on each side of the river. In Arizona these canals will 1 irrigate all the bottom lands Of Colo rado and Gila rivers between the La
 guna dam and the Mexican boundary and in California will supply water for the bottom lands in the Yuma In dian reservation The Laguna dam will form a basin i1 which the yeloci ty of the water will be checked and
 the greater part of the silt allowed to settle The water for the canals will
 be drawn from the surface, where il
 is com paratively free from silt. The
 dam will have total l>ag:n O. 47S( feet. a maximum width of 257 feet
 and a maximum height of 19 feet; the work on the dam was begun July \ 20, 1905, and the contractors are mak ling frir proeress On account of higt
 floods in Colorado ant Cila rivers, il is necessary to protect the, lowland:
 from overflow by system cf dike:
 n both sides of the Colorado and Gi't
 rivers. The dikes along the Colorado
 river have been comIleted and those | along the Gila river are now being constructed directly by the govern ment. and the necessary spur difet I and extensions that rere not iDciud ed in former contracts are likewise be II ing built by the United States"