Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1914-06-30
COST or REGLAIMING
ARIZONA DESERT IS
ONLY $5O,OOO,OOO
Ralph Cameron Has a Great
Scheme to Build Dam in Grand
Canyon and Transform State.

PHOENIX. June 27.-After eighteen |
years of study and examination into
the water conditions of Arizona. Ralph
Cameron. formerly delegate to COM
gress and founder and builder Of
Bright Angel trail in the Grand Can
yon, has worked out a project which
viii when contaminated benefit the
entire state by increasing fits popula-
ton by hundreds of thousands and
giving unlimited water supply to the
valleys 10 viii be the creation Of a I
yeritable empire, and win be brought !
about by the construction of a dam i'm /
the Colorado river within the towering /
walls of the Grand Canyon.
The project, which has been pro-
NOTED by Mr.. Cameron, and which Us /
backed by some of the most noted en- |
eineers I'm the United States. is to |
furnish the people of Arizona, and /
especially the miners and farmers, to
whom it win give the greatest bene- |
fits, sufficient water power at a very
cheap rate to develop their land and
holdings, by means Of q pumping sys-
tenn that win afford them power at a
price as low as can be had from any
| reclamation service. The cost of this
project will be about S50OOO00O, and
within the year. it is claimed, this
amount win be realized and active OBJ
/ erations on the building of the dam
/ viii be started.
By furnishing cheap power, Mr.
! Cameron believes that the 100000
! acres Of land now undeveloped i'm the
| state can be irrigated and settled, and
that within few years, instead Of Ar
izona's population being a little less
than 100000 it win be between 100000
and 100000
Arizona ranks third i'm size I'm the
union, while its wealth i'm mines and
the richness Of it's soil are unequalled.
But until there is sufficient water to
develop the land and mines the popu-
lation cannot grow,
According to the government geoio-
gical survey there is an underground
flow of water from fifteen to 125 feet.
/ Cameron has had engineers make
careful surveys Of the proposed dam
sites and i'm one it is found that the
flow from the plateau to the river bed
is 1900 feet and that there is no possi-
BILE way that water can be driven from
its present channel The engineers
assure him that not one pint of the
flow from the Colorado river would
be disturbed by the building Of the
dam at this site. Such a thorough in
vestigaton has been made and so sat-
isfactory have been the reports and
results found by the engineers that
the project has been decided upon and
actual building operations viii soon be
started The cost Of building the dam
alone viii be about $60O0.000. There
will be about 500 miles of main wire
and pole lines, costing about $4,000
per mile.
That the system may be thoroughly
understood. an explanation furnished
by the government survey relative TO
the location of the water Is given, and
the cost Of pumping
The shallow water found at the
north end I'm one Of the valleys stands
above the level Of the main body of
ground water Tn ooing from the bar
rem flat a short distance the depth of
water increases continually and the
slope of the water tables becomes
more slight until at only a short dis
lance from the place water is encoun-
tered near the surface and at a level
entirely discordant with the water
table farther south. Thus in one well
I the water level is 1856 feet above the
water level at a point three miles
down the valley In a well in the
northern part of the same section the
water level is only thirty feet below
surface and fully 100 feet above the
water level in the first Well The
3 shallow water supply i'm the draws
comes from the run-off of the noun
tains which Is directed en- these draws
The shallow water supply is very sen
sitive to the irregularities in the rain
3 fall and falls entirely i'm some Of the
# wells during periods of protractec
S draughts
i According to the government sur
o vey. underground water Is found al
over the state. The report is giveI
C by the government engineers tina
e there is an abundance Of water in Arr
p zona, but being underground it mus
" be developed if obtainable. While thu
y expense in developing this system vii
# be enormous, the benefit TO the stat
d generally, as well as 20 the govern
d ment, viii be so great that within
a few years it win have more than re
n paid In the building.
Comparatively little has been know
- up to the present time of the actua
> expense Of pumping water in the Sal
River valley. There are few pumpin
plants which are working with tn
efficiency that could reasonably be el
pected. There have been no exper
ments until recently tending TO shol
the most economical method of pumI
ing water and there IS no agreemen
among those using pumped water a
TO what kind of a pump or wha
/ ] power is best. or even 10 construct