Arizona sentinel Yuma southwest., 1916-02-17
(By B. F. Fly)

across to the Indian school hill, and thence from the lat ter across the Colorado at the |Ocean-to-Ocean bridge, then following the old government levee in front of the ice fac tory to the mesa lands of Arizona, say fifty feet high ?
 According to my friend, Arizona i Charley" Meadows, this would solve the irrigation problem of all the irri- gable lands of Imperial Valley, all the
 ands of Lower California, and all the resa lands of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico as far down as the Cuff of Lower California.
 The natural grade of the Colorado river is roughly estimated at ont foot to the mile, while that of the Giia | is likewise estimated at about three | 'eet to the mile, which would cause the waters backed up by this dam to lreach point half way to Parker, or 1 he Colorado, and take in all the low ands of the GiIa as far as Dome. How much private lands would be inundat- ed by this immense body of wateA And what would it cost to pay for | them, in addition to the cost of the
 construction of this gigantic dam? Those are the two great questions l that would have to be settled before such a dam could be constructed
 Arizona Charley" says the submerg-
 ed lands wouldn't amount to a drop in the bucket, from a value stand point, as compared to the enhanced value of the lands that could he ir- rigated from the waters expoundtd by this mesa-to-mesa dam, he figur- 1 ing that the latter would easily amount to 5,OO0,OOO acres, worth ali 1 the way from $200 to $500 the very minute that they receive irrigation. | This is certainly a novel scheme | and if carried out would make Roose- welt dam look like thirty cents, though the latter is 240 feet high, destined to hold over a million and quarter acre feet of water Elephant Butte
 lam, which is being constructed with the idea of holding over six million acre feet of water, would be a pigmy compared to this mesa-to-mesa dam, while the lands to be irrigated from
 waters held in reserve by both these dams combined would not amount to one-tenth the lands that could be ir-
 'igated by the waters from the adm proposed by Arizona Charley"
 From an engineering standpoint the dam can undoubtedly be built In his modern day of scientific calcu-
 ations civil engineers can do pretty much as they please. It's only | question of dollars and cents. When Uncle Sam can link the two oceans l by means of a canal big enough to permit the passage of the largest ves- sells afloat, he certainly can construct dam across the Colorado river that would at once challenge the admira- tion of the world, and make it as l strong asc the rock of Gibraltar.
 Naturally the first question to be determined is; Where is the money 70 be found for the construction of .his immense dam? Figure it from an acre standpoint and it will at once be seen that each of the 100000 acres could well afford to contribute $50, which means that these lands could well afford to pay $25O,O00,OOO -or such dam, and then make a pro- it on them of from $50 to $25O per acre.
 If it cost $2,0OO,OOO in round num- bers to construct the Laguna dam, which is a little less than a mile in length, and figuring that it would re- luire proportionate cost for this big lam, of say five miles in length, it would cost about $1O,OOO,OOO- mere drop in the bucket compared to the benefits accrued to the arid lands the waters would reach. But the dam it. self would be a small item compared 10 canals, laterals and the like which would be as necessary as the dam itself.
 Imperial Valley and Lower Califor- nia could afford to pay for half the entire construction, for the question of annual overflows would at once be settled. Sonora lands could we'll af ord to pay an equal amount and the Arizona mesa lands could we'll afford 70 pay it's share of $50 per acre. It therefore seems easy to raise the nee assary cash.
 The question is now one of feasi- oility. Can it be done with profit to