Arizona republican., 1919-06-13
AIM TO DOUBLE CUL TINA I ED
 LAND IN VALLEY
Maricopa County Realtors Decide to Work with Geo. 2 H. Maxwell to End Waste of Water and Make More Farms

! Gll lllO
 To bring under irrigation and culti- ysuon more than 100000 acres of land in Arizona; to save and conserve and use every drop of water that falls on every Arizona watershed; to bring un- der water more than double the present amount of land in this valley; to solve for all time the problem of the possible dry years, to stop the destruction of valuable land by water -logging-these are a few of the prospects and problems that engaged the attention of the Mari copa County Realty board at their dia- uer meeting at the Rose Tree last night. This meeting resulted in starting something that will take time and long continued effort, but the enthusiasm was there and a practical start was made.
 George IT. Maxwell was responsible for the enthusiasm, just as he was re- sponsible for the starting of the work that resulted in the building of the Roosevelt reservoir and the prosperity of this part of Arizona that has re- suited from it.
 After the dinner and the routine busi- ness of the board were disposed of, MT. Maxewll talked for nearly two hours in so absorbing a manner that many present forgot the time in listening to his painting of a word picture of the first permanent conquering of the des- ert in the worlds history, and his prac- tical plans for setting in motion the forces that will do this thing.
 In part, MT. MaxwelTs address fol- lows:
 Get to Work. Is Slouan
 I've know the facts. We know what we want to get done. And we know what we ought to do to get it done. Is it not time to get into action, get right down to brass tacks, and go ahead and put two million acres of land under irrigation in Arizona and do it just as fast as the necessary engineering works can be built?7
 There are now 100000 acres of lant under irrigation and cultivation in the Salt River valley.
 It can be doubled, if we include the territory that can be irrigated from tho Ciila river that is directly tributary tC Phoenix as a business center, and would contribute just as directly to it's growtt as did the territory now reclaimed thai has given Phoenix the tremendous i'm petus that has made it a marvel O.
 
 10 years. It would include the Gils Bend project and the entire area ir. risdble from the Hassayampa and AguS Fria and New rivers. as well as iron all tributaries of the Salt river, and tht lands irrigable from pumping around Maricopa and in the Casa Grande val ley.
 Million Acres Waiting
 A million acres Of land can be irri gated from the Colorado river in Ari zona that will forever remain a deser unless the waters of the Colorado rive are diverted from a great diversion dam far enough down towards tn mouth of the Colorado canyon to mak it possible to get the water out ont Arizona lands from the 1,00O-foot con tour. The best engineers who ar familiar with the Colorado river sa, this project IS practicable. It wouI mean pouring 70 times the wealth nov produced under the Salt river projec into the channels of trade in Arizon and thence into the national channel.
 Let's Get 1t Done
 The Gila river, properly conserve and utilized by right methods, wouI irrigate 800, 900 acres moro than it irri gates today, and the water that woul be thus utilized now runs to waste an mas done and is doing inca!culable an irremediable damage under the preseT conditions of the country.
 Waste Is Criminal
 Such waste is nothing short oc crim inal-it is an abominable and shamefl exhibition of downright lack of commo sense for the people of the Unite StAtes to talk about utilizing the re sources of the country to recoup tt losses of the war and not make use this stupendous unused and waste asset in Arizona"
 The real, fundamental difficulty vii the whole situation is that even in Ar zona the people themselves are not il formed as to the real facts and no O. eanized effort has ever been made get these facts before them. And wh the Arizona people themselves do n know about their country. it is not r markable that the people of the Unitt states as a whole do not know.
 The estimate of two million acres am ra-conservatite estimate of il total area reclajmable in Arizona. Wi proper methods of conservation al utilization, and the storage unde ground of the cratic waters that con only in occasional years the area irr gable in the state gan be increased more than two million acres in add