El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-27

M canal committee Of the Fl Paso
= = chamber OF commerce, held q
meeting Wednesday morning at ten
o'clock at the chamber Of commerce TO
discuss the report ana plan for the
future. Already mayor Davis and
city officials are taking q deep inter-
est in the possibilities OF the canal.
particularly from the standpoint Of a
water supply for the city OF Fl Pas0
and c. n. Bassetts vice chairman Of
the chamber OF commerce committee.
ana ROBERT E-lak auers a MEMBER OF
the committee, have been appointed
by mayor Davis to raise finances for
continuing the work. The chamber
OF commerce in which organization
the matter was first given official
recognition. Is paying for the prelim-
mary report by llr- BILL A further
detailed report VIII be necessary and
a great deal Of preliminary work must
be done, hence the steps taken by
mayor Davis.
IN his report lIr. Hin emphasizes
the necessity Tor larger and be-ter
water supply for FL Paso, as told IN
excerpts printed in The Herald yester-
day from the report The document
En- full follows
I'm accordance with an agreement
made with Dr.. Nathan Boyd, chairman
Of your committee O. February S,
1918, the writer spent a week in the
city OF FL Faso In February, and while
there, by the courtesy Of the reclama-
tion service, was able to study the
available data relating 20 power
plsnts. Through the courtesy Of the
city officials Of the city Of FL Pasg,
maps and Information regarding the
present water supply OF the city Of a
EasO we're attained In the limited
time available it has been impossible
IN AZ
tiOns as TO the amount and cost Of the
possible power developments but the
results arrived at, after due cousid-
GRAFTON Of the present price OF labor
and commodities, VIII not be Tar from
the truth, and VIII be vel within the
feasibility Of the project as a whole.
and in broad way the profit that
may be derived from the sale Of power
and by development az all points
along the river from the Elephant
Butte dam to e. Paso-
Rio f7rnnde FESject Power Possibilities
The power possibilities OF the Rio
Graude project we're studied several
years ago. and a number Of reports
written after surveys had been made
OF the various power canals in the Pa
Tomas and Rincon valleys and in the
1Iesilla. valley. There IS, at the pres
elt time no very accurate data avail
able concerning the power possibili-
ties. and the cost OF developing the
same I'm the Palomas and Rincon val
lerss although preliminary surveys
were made TO develop Information as.
to the feasibility OF building power
plant along this stretch OF the river.
''In the Mesilla valley, however
rather careful surveys ofathe proposed
high line canals and close estimates
as TO their probable cost Of construc-
ton were made as TO the feasibility
-
valley II contamplates diversion OF
practically all tie water for the lands
IN lIssilla and = Paso valleys at Leas-
burg dam II IS proposed 10 carry this
water in a lined nigh line canal 20
TortuEass a few miles below Mesilla
PARK dro7ping i there some . teet
through power plant 10 lower
level Fart Of the water at this point
e. diverted to serve the west side, and ;
that necessary 20 serve the country J
below Fl Pas0 carried In second
lined high line canal 70 a point short
distance above Canudllos where most
OF the water is again passed through
power plant under e % foot head. and
returned TO the river.
Two Main Power Drops
In addition 10 these two main pow
CT drops. there is q possibility Of de-
additional power at inter
walls along the first canal from Leas-
burg 70 Tortugas drop, by dirertilg
the water from this canal FOR the land
in the upper MeEilla valley. These I
Developments have not been touched I
upon In this report. as they are small /
in amount compared with the main!
power plants, and need not be consid- I
cred at the present time
Elephant Butte Power Plant.
when Elephant Butte dam was
constructed. provision was made In the /
original design for the development Of I
90 . = ~ araH
conn ectiCus were made Tor SIX i've
five foot pipes 10 pass through the
dam. The lower end Of these pipes
may be connected at any time to I
power plant 10 be located tmmedi- i
ately below the dam
The first development viii prob I
ably consist ef four 5000 kilOWatt ]
units connected to four Of these piPss- :
At each Of the other two power
plants there VIII probably be two 1
1000 kiloWatt units The total ca
paclty Of the first installation at the /
dam and the plants at TOrtugas drop I
and Canucillo drop would, therefore, ]
be about 10000 kiloWatts. OF nearly 4
$1,000 horsepower.
several years ago an estimate Of 4
the possible returns which could be q
obtained from the operation Of these
power plants was made both by the
chief electrical engineers office and 4
the NHAAAEA A-lAe ne EAAAN
which could be obtained for power at
that time did not make the invest
ment seem especially attractive, in
view Of some Of the effects which 4
would probably be produced upon the
river BY taking out its entire flow and
passing It through the high line
canals.
Situation IL Changed.
The changes which have since oc-
CURED In the situation give an en-
tirely different aspect to the whole
problem TIE best average price
which could be obtained at the time
from the plants using power IN FL
PasO was about s cent per kilowatti
hour. Today the average fuel cost
70 these plants Is about I cent a kilo-
watt hour.
"a rough estimate has been made :
/ @ZA0 !