Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1916-10-27
The Growing West
FLOODING THE DESERT.
By Frederic ]. Haskin

It is not possible to form an ade-
ouate idea of the dimensions OF TINS
man made ocean from any one point,
because so much of the imprisoned
water is backed up in invisible size
canyons. From the dam itself you
can hardly tell which way the course
of the river lies. From the east, the
west and the north stretch the deep
narrow arms of water where the ris-
ing river has filled the tributary val
leys as well as the main river Deu'
Elephant Butte. sheer pile OF Drown
lava in whose outlines the lively I'M
agination can trace some faint reseil'
blance to an elephants head. has oeen
turned into an island by the rising
flood. Other isolated hills and hlllocKs,N
some of them miles above the dam,
can be seen family in the clear air as
though floating in the water that sur
rounds them. Far across the Dry
NAL pals" as the Mexicans call these
bad lands" you can see the site OF
old Fl. Moray, which an invisible arm
of the reservoir has turned into nsn-
ing ground. And for many miles that
YOU cannot see at all you know that
the same green tide has entered ana
flooded the canyons. here spreading
out into broad lake, there breaking
up into winding arms. with the crests
of the ridges left as peninsula ana
islands.
The flooding and filling part of the
program is far from being completely
carried out 1t will take several years
before the lake has attained its full
magnitude. A mile from the main
concrete dam there is, A lesser dam
built of earth and stone. 1t can stand
for a very respectable piece OF en-
cheering on its own account. It's TOP
is broad enough for an auto road, and
il slopes fifty or sixty yards down.
ward to its base-a slope that is faced
smoothly as a table with broken stone
we'll beaten down. This dam blocks
perfectly dry side canyon. There
is not even water IN sight from us
crest today. But when the big lake
is full the side canyon will be hooded
and the water will have risen within
twenty wards of the crest OF this sec
ondary dam.
The main dam looks like solid
block of gray concrete. but as mat
ter of fact it is riddled with galleries
and passage. You can climb down a
shaft and explore its entrails. ana
here for the first time you appreciate
the enormous size of this man built
thing. Endless passages stretch be.
fore YOU. iron ladders lead upward
and downward to other levels and SIM
liar passages. A sloping fight of mar
row concrete steps dip downward for
thirty feet. strikes ten foot level
This process is repeated over ana
over. until you begin to think that the
stairs will go on to China. AS you go
deeper the walls become damp and
YOU are conscious Of change IN the
air pressure like that in the railway
| tunnels under the Hudson. You pass
here and there little chambers mol,
lowed out where stand pohshed
valves and gauges. winking IN the
electric lights. AT the bottor, you are
hundred feet or so below the wafer
level few feet to the northward. All
that stands between you and the pres.
sure of half a billion gallons OF penned
water is hit of shrewdly calculated
concrete masonry.
The whole structure is family but
! necessarily shaken by fine vibra'
tion. due to the rush Of what water
is ner,nitted to flow through the pen
stocks TO the turbine power plant.
Won can feel the vibration by laying
/ a hand on the damn wall. 1t is CON-
fortine to reflect that the strain on
the dam has been carefully calculated
bv men who know their business.
On the downstream side. at the
b,sa = massage leads outward TO a
little mower house perched on the SIDE
of the concrete mountain. whose wall
and roof are continually damp win
spray flung up forty feet by the waters
that rush through the turbine here
a fraction of the available power is
utilized for local needs. SIX great
round passages. each large enough TOT
a man 10 walk upright. pierce the dam
nv the mower house. They are dry to-
day hut eventually the waters releas-
Cd through them will furnish electric
mower TO the water users for hundreds
Of miles below, perhaps TO the city OF
FL Paso itself.
II is lust as difficult to visualize the
chappe that the dam will work below
It's site as it is to visualize the long
lake that will eventually reach for
forty.five miles above. The whole
aow of the Rio Grande will be con-
troled from here. and the floods that
storm down in the spring will be held
and released as needed in the dry
summer. Far down the valley even
into Texas. for distance OF more
than a hundred miles, the face OF the
land will he transformed. The formal
dedica zion marked the completion OF
one &C Uncle Sans biggest jobs.