Imperial Valley press., 1910-10-15
WEIR DAM WORRIES
 ENGINEERS AT YUMA.
Continued from page 1)

from that date Through their fail ure the reclamation service took up the construction and the dam was completed in March. 1909.
 The farmers began signing up their lands in 1903. obliging themselves to pay the charges of construction and | received oral assurances from the heads of the reclamation service, who met them in public meeting, that at the date of the completion of the dam the canals and ditches would be com pleted and water ready for distribution upon their lands. As a matter of fact no work has been done on the canals with the exception of about a mile and a half, commencing at the dam and continuing down in the direction of the siphon, which is distant from the dam about 12 miles Also about the same amount of canal was built on the Ari- ZOna side near the dam.
 After period of inactivity, covering | several months, work was begun in 1 November, 1909, on the siphon, which was intended to convey the water from the California side to the Arizona side of the Colorado river at a point near | Yuma. The completing of the siphon and it's connections with Laguna dam i by means of the main canal is of vital | importance to the farming interests as it is the only means by which the lower Yuma valley, comprising more than 500O0 acres can be watered.
 At the present time there are over l 500 landowners who have signed up T5,000 acres, obliging themselves to pay the cost of this project In addi- tion there are about 15,000 acres not yet in a condition to sign up and 1000 acres, privately owned, not yet signed | lp Of this. total area about 10000 acres are receiving water mechanical | ly raised. This system is inadequate and uncertain to such 3 degree that i even the farmers who receive water are unable to develop their lands to the extent of their capabilities, but their efforts under these difficulties demonstrate that with a reliable and sufficient supply. the Yuma Valley soil will yield an abundant return in all products suitable for the climate. l Those farmers who signed up their land in 1902, expecting water within ! reasonable time, and have not yet re- ceived any, are in desperate financial straits. Their lands yield absolutely nothing without water. They have | been living on and trying to prove uD on their homesteads, in many instan- ces have built their homes and raised their families according to the Ameri- can standard of civilization.
 1 Each year finds them deeper in 1 debt for the necessaries of life. and the water no nearer than it was four years ago. Their prayer now is to expedite the construction of this pro- iect, because the longer it is delayed the less will be their ability to pay for the cost when they are called upon to do so. As matters stand at the present moment, we know that our lands will enable us conveniently to meet the annual installments, but if the date of completion is deferred any longer, many of us will have to follow those who have already left this valley because they were starved out and this ill the face of the fact that we have one of the richest and most fer tile valleys in the United States.
 The farmers who are now using wa ter from the temporary system al- ready mentioned are paying from ST to S10 per acre per year for what they get, so that as a matter of fact they now probably pay more per acre than the construction and maintenance charges will be when the project is completed
 If the energy and resources of the reclamation service were concentrated upon the completion of the first unit, i. e., the lower Yuma Valley, which embraces over 50,000 acres, with population of about 2,500. at a con servatiye estimate the farmers would be making at least $20 net per acre per year, or $1,O00.0 900. as against the mere pittance that is made under present conditions by those few who are fortunate enough to get little water occasionally from the pumping system.
 A summing up of the whole sub ject simply means that we are in dire distress for water and need it urgent ly and We know that we can meet all construction charges when called upon to do so, provided we are furnished with water within a reasonable time
 We remain, very respectfully.
 J. s. GARVIN. PfeSluenL
 R. A. MCPHERSON,
 w. G. CROWDER
 A. Y. GREER
 JOHN GANDOLFO,
 GEO. M SCHULTZ,
 G. M THURMAN, Board of Governors. Attest: R. G. STlTT. Secretary.
 SUITS IN SUPERIOR COURT.
 D. w. Breckenridge has filed suil