Graham guardian., 1920-03-19
CHECK DAM SYSTEM
ii5 ysEA-fAssGe2 fAssGe2 ii7qh
A Great Success in California
adl in Flood Control and 5-
81 .,.t., Of Water Storage s2is2
nRepost and Testimonial on the

cheek dam system successfully
carried out 6in Southern Califor-
MA, ,AyiApdrew Kimball,5 follow,
ling a three days examination,
Febraueyl3th to 16thyfrlas a
9fF have fateiychad the privilege
Of personally yoinSPeetihg some OF
1 tie CHECK dam work Of Los Ar-
| EgaleS e6ahty and fcah say truth
! fully ifthat what 1 saw entirely
/ reaSsut'ed me as toathe position
/ We have taken here in Arizona,
Hthat ieheck dam construction will
lprove one of the very important
Factors Iiihq controlling the Gila
IriseT Hoods! The supervisors of
los angeles county at this time,
Iafe1 speeding Hundreds Of thou
Ilsanusoof ,aolIars for CHECK dams
Iin the high mouhtaihs, based OF
fthe original experiments of Mr.,
Olfhsted.j 2S5952s y s alI" as,aanJt
In lpy Inspection OF the HaiheS
IICahyoh work, as welf as Work of
tbis tharacterHih. 6ther, cartyOns,.
Twas Saeconlpanied by'C3 c. Buck,
whoS%aS SUPERINTENDENT of the
county work at the time this
TYPE, Ilofn ffooa projection 9 work
was, started. This was ihal914
and 1918 and The structures have
remainedl in1o commission ever
since and from my own, personal
Knowledge they are oin perfect
shape today = '7Jlh .''1t'. ~ y =
The, primary purpose Of ; the.
original appropriation for check
dam construction was to protect
the lpWer agiicuItu,'aIfahas from
eftSion, Sbtt, included in TIE pro-
gram was the hope that the low
Water s1a}h1er supply for ,'irriga-
ton Womb be abpteciabiy III
cftasedS.9E 40 ,GlS86 o1.Ha
Affglllth five or six years
Which { have, elapsed since the
first Works were constructed, it
hasIbeeh absolutely demonstrated.
that a reaspliable expenditure
for check dams does prevent the
formation Of food, crests that
sweep down into the valleys do
ing great damage, and also does
increase the low water supply at,
least so per cent. ','S4 W ...''.
Since the works were first
built there has been, by the U.
S. rainfall cages established in
Haihes Canyon, a rainfall of 81
inches ia rs hours, which is cer-
tainlyintensc rainfall. Notwith-
standing this heavy precipitation
in the particular lateral canyon
where this rain gage Of the gov
eminent is placed, there has
not been one drop Of surface
run-of for Six years. the flow
coming so gradually and 50 clear
of sediment that it has percolated
down through 'the boulder wash
and never appeared as a surfaces
stream at ALL ''''''' "''@ '.a'" ;
The result in, this particular
canyon has been that whereas
originallylthis Westeta} Empire
Guleh, dry as a bone. except dur
ing and Immediately afterstorms,
has now a perennial flow and the
willows hate grown up so thickly
on the floor of the gulch that in
the future a flood flow or a cloud
burst would be completely con-
trolled independent of the check
damS.-g sro1 gs4sais 4 q .-.b.sa
The steep; burnt-oyer sides of
these gulches, are already clothed
in many places with a luxuriant
growth of willows and other yeg-
citation requiring constant water
supply so that the whole appear
ance of the gulches in these par
ticular places have been changed
from a bare, burnt,oyermountain
side to a luXuriant vegetation
with perennial water supply.
The argument that the draft
upon the water supply by this
vegetation is menace to the
delivered water supply at the
mouth of the canyon proved false
from the fact that the total water
supply of Haines Canyon the
past summer, was so per cent
greater than before Haines Can
yon was burnt.over or the check
dams installed, as well as from
the general improbability of the
statement that the more our
mountains are denuded, the more
reliable the water supply.
Palestine was once the scene
of intense agricultural activity
and referred to as the Land of
Promise" but after the mount
aims of Lebanon were denuded
and the hillsides from Dan to
Berrsheba were denuded of their
grass and brush covering, the
rainfall ran off in great flood
flows, leaving no storage in the
ground for summer use. So it
certainly has proved in CaIifor-
,,;n uhnro ibo b;lluiIDc pnpp do