Arizona republican., 1910-10-18
MESA OUT IF WATER USERS Governors Grant Her Fer
 mission to Withdraw AFFECTS CITY OF PHOENIX All Well at Glendale-All
 to Be Served With Water
 Under New Contracts to
 Be Made With Govern
 ment Reclamation Service
AFFECTS CITY OF PHOENIX

By granting the city of Mesa per
 mission to withdraw from the water
 users association, the board Of govern
 ors, at special meeting held yester-
 day, set a precedent which will result in the withdrawal of Phoenix and Glendale as well The governors de- 1 cided that since cities are corporations they are not entitled to membership. A petition was presented from the
 mayor and common council of Mesa,
 asking that that city be permitted to
 withdraw from the association in order
 that it might take advantage of an of
 fer of the reclamation service. A simi-
 lar offer has been made the city of Phoenix, but no action looking to its
 acceptance has been taken by the coun- | cil.
 The propositions made by the recla-
 nation service are almost identical and
 are upon an acre foot basis. The price asked is S1.25 per acre foot, with a maximum allowance of four feet to
 the acre, making the total charge, should the maximum amount of water | be used, s per acre. The charge of ! s1.25 per foot is considerably in excess
 of that charged the farmers of this val | ley. but the farmers have to stand the | cost of construction of laterals and | ditches, while the reclamation service ! agrees to deliver water to the corner
 of each city lot without extra expense
 to the property owner.
 After due consideration the Mesa | city council decided that it would be
 more to the advantage of that com-
 munity to fall in with the governments offer than to continue under the old system, receiving water in the same manner as other members of the water users association. And the governors, on looking into the matter, decided that Mesa was not really entitled to membership. The decision affects Phoenix and Glendale but not Tempe, which, like the farmers of that section, has never come into the as- sociation.
 The reclamation service made its of fer to Phoenix and Mesa under the con- gressiOnal act of 1906. giving it power to enter into contracts for the delivery of water to cities in districts served from government irrigation projects. The original reclamation act forbade the delivery of water to any corpora tiOn or to any person owning more than 160 acres. Of course Mesa and Phoenix embrace more land than that. Mesa has an entire section. while about 2,000 acres are included in the limits of this city.
 When the contracts are drawn up with the two cities they will be for two years. They will be based upon contracts made with cities under the Carlsbad. N. NJ, project. At the end of two years. the project will be turned over to the farmers and new contracts will be made.
 To the present time no offer has been made Glendale by the reclamation service. but it is expected that on will be made in a short time. Glendale is not served as a city but each individu- al lot owner pays for his water at the local reclamation offices By making contract with Glendale similar to those which it seeks to make with Phoenix and Mesa, the reclamation service will eliminate a great deal of clerical work
 It is expected that the Phoenix council will shortly take action and make contract with the government to secure water under the new plan.