Tombstone epitaph., 1921-04-17
BIGGEST DAM IN WORLD TO BE BUILT SOON 6V U. s.
 RECLAMATION SERVICE


 est dam in the world. to join the states of Nevada and Arizona, and | harness turbulent waters of the Colo | rado river for extended irrigation in 1 fhe southwest. is to be constructed in the near future by the United States reclamation service. The dam. according to tentative plans. would rise to the unprece- dented height Of 500 or eco feet iI Boulder canyon. where granits abut- ments rise more than 1.600 feet above the water surface. Engineers os the reclamation service. afloat on barges. are now boring for bed rock beneath. A lake varying from thirty to fifty miles in length would be backed up in the Colorado and Virgin rivers; and in this basin would be held in check for irrigation. the drainage from almost the entire Colorado river basin. including parts of six states
 The proposed structure would be higher by far than the worlds high on the Boise river. Idaho. which measures PAS feet-and would top other famous dams in the United States, among the highest of which are:
 Sshoshone. on the Sshoshone river. Wyoming. 32S feet: Elephant Butte on ,he Rio Grande. New Mexico. 300 feet; and Roosevelt on the Salt River. Arzona. 2s0 feet
 Preliminary work on the Boulder Canyon project is being done under authority of Congress. which ap- propriated s20.O00 for investigation. An additional s75.oO0 was contrib uted by local irrigators. Engineers have located site and are making borings for foundations. While these are incomplete, bedrock has been lo- cated at number of points and the outlook is favorable, according to Arthur P. Davis. director of the reclamation service.
 Interests from the irrigable region are expecting to bring their problem before congress at the approaching session. and through the committee on irrigation seek government aid, it is understood; but the exact nature of their proposal. whether an out and out appropriation, government loan, or extension of credit has not been announced.
 So unmanageable has the river been in the past, that it has often changed it's lower channel. Like a huge elephant with body over seven states it has swung it's trunk about through the soft silt delta, uncontrol- able at flood and destructive to can als and levees. So active did the trunk become in 1905 that it entered the California Development Com
 .... r.x,,ar;,r ,.,,l rt,ppipp throuph Ear; of Mexico to the Imperial valley. and poured the entire river into the Calton Sink. 200 feet below sea level. Ii ate out the canal, enlarged the Salton Sink and formed a cataract which threatened to work it's way back through the soft land. with great damage. Only the activity of the Southern Pacific railroad, in building a dam across the widening ,,outh of the canal channel, after hard fight with the river, were able to swing the channel back again to the Gulf of California.
 The Laguna dam, built in 1909, joining Arizona and California. has resisted flood waters, but complaints of broken levees, and later scant water for the rapidly increasing area of irrigated land continue. Compli- cations with Mexico in the Imperial canal add to the problem. and the en- tire situation is pressing southwest interests to action
 In addition to the Boulder dam u-oject. the Imperial Irrigation dis irict is pushing a plan to tape the I.ayuu dam. and build an all Ameri- can high line canal on a higher level ,o irrigate more extensive acreage and avoid Mexican relations.
 The Boulder Canyon dam project, located below the Grand Canyon near