The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1908-04-11
Great Irrigation Schemes Fostered by
the Government.


schemes planned by the government re-
clamation service is the Salt river pro-
! iect at Roosevelt, Arizona, where the
| largest artificial reservoir in the world
/ is being finished. This storage dam
! is PIG feet high and will impound
/ ], 284, 900 acre-feet of water, creating
reservoir having an area of l6,3O0
acres or 255 square miles. The
structure will be completed in 1909
and will regulate the supply OF water
! in the Salt river. Forty miles be-
low the dam the water is to be
diverted by means of a low dam into
the mains of system of canals, one
) on each Side of the river, and watering
about 16O,000 acres of land in the
vicinity of Phoenix and Mesa.
] When the Roosevelt dam is com-
pleted several thousand electrical
| horsepower will be developed and util-
lied to pump additional water from I'M
! derground sources. A power canal
1875 miles long, having a capacity OF
220 cubic feet second, has already
been constructed and is now being
used to develop AGO electrical horse
power, which is utilized in the work OF
construction. The lands under this
project situated in the Salt river val
ley surround Phoenix, the capital OF
the territory. This valley has
length east and west of about do miles
and width varying from Is to 80
miles.
The soil is an ailuyial deposit OF
great fertility and adapted to the
cultivation of wide variety of crops,
, including those of the temperate and
subtropical zones.
A tunnel of about 500 feet long has
been driven through the walls of the
canyon at the dam. In this tunnel
will be placed six gates to be used for
sluicing purposes aud for regulating
t the flow of water ia the canals in the
Salt river valley, about so miles
, below. These gates, with their oper-
ating mechanism, will weigh nearly
, 800, 600 pounds and will be the largest
ever constructed to operate under the
great pressure of 100 pounds per
square inch. The pressure on each
! gate is about 100000 pounds. w III
, the reservoir full the gates are ca
pable of discharging 10000 cubic fee
| per second.
10 carry the water from the power
4 canal to the electrical power house al
: inclined pensteck tunnel $40 feet Ions
}. has been driven. The available head
of 220 feet, when discharged through
turbine water wheels direct connected
i to electric generators, will give severa
is thousand electrical horse power which
d will be transmitted sixty miles away tt
$ drive the centrifugal pumps. 1t il
estimated that each horse power Sc
:, developed will pump water enough Il
irrie ate ten acres of land. The entire
electrical apparatus for this work was
: furnished by the General Electric
Company.
nsf scenes of operation it is difficult, in
: deed, to grasp the magnitude of this
) undertaking being carried on by tht
! government for the benefit of tht
people. There will be more than 60(
!, miles of main canals for distributir {
the water and at the lowest waterfall
on record the Hood contained in thu
reservoir will be sufficient to water tht
crops over an are; - 312 square mile:
a for two and one bali years. The work
e was started three years ago and vii
Il cost about So, geo, 900, all of which j:
d advanced by the government without
# interest. This amount will be eyentu
ally repaid by the farmers whose lands
are benefited. The income which viii
I will also DE applied to the cost anc
E when the outlay has been repaid tc
n the government the farmers will owr
r the plant and share the expenses pre-
3 3 rata. This storage water willmake the
desert, formerly supporting only cact
and other hardy plants, blossom as
the rose.
Another large irrigation project il
the diversion Of the waters of the Col
orado river by means of dam ter
miles northeast of Yuma, ARIZONA.
into two canals, one on each side O
e the river. In Arizona these canal.
!, will irrigate all the bottom lands ot
:, the Colorado and ella rivers, 81. 00(
: acres 10 round numbers, and in Cali
i foEaia the bottom lands in the Yuma
!, Ineiian reservation of Il 900 acres, al
tributary to the Southern Pacific Rail
: rood. A complete system of leyees tc
project the bottom lands from over,
dok is being constructed and a pump
inA system to remoyethe surplus water
froAp the low lying areas will be util
ehe Uncompahgre Valley project in
Colorado, which is something over
half completed, means diversion
of the waters of the Gunnisou
river by means of tunnel 3d..
$50 feet in length and ten feet in
diameter. This tunnel passes under
high divide and carries the water to
the Uneompahgre Valley, where il