Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1921-06-30
D | R { c 7 D R
WANTS DAM
Bull I BY
Ma TON
Reclamation Chief Fav0rs
Boulder Canyon Project
for People. Power Trust
Trying to Hog Whole En-
terprise.

Director General Davis of the Fed
heral reclamation service favors the
building of the Boulder Canyon dam
by the reclamation Service, according
to information brought back from
Washington by Chief Engineer Will
| liam Mulholland of the Los Angeles
public service department, who has
Just returned from the national cap
ital, where he went with others to
lay before Director Davis the plans
Los Angeles has for the building of q
hydro electric plant on the Colorado
river.
The Boulder Canyon dam will cost,
Mr.. Davis informed the Los Angeles
men, about $57 100000 and he favored
its building by the government, as a
Federal enterprise with the commun-
tiles which would benefit from it con-
tributing pro rata of the cost.
Mr.. Mulholland and his party of
engineers went to Washington to lay
before Mr.. Davis the plans of the
Angel city for the development Of
electric energy at the Boulder Canyon
site and to insist that the municipal
enterprise be given due consideration,
but the answers of Mr.. Davis were
non commital on specific questions and
he set forth his own ideas of how the
dam should be built as is told above.
The Los Angeles party also discov-
cred that the Southern California Ed
son company was the most vigorous
and powerful competitor in the field
for control of the Boulder Canyon
project and in connection with other
powerful electric corporations IN the
states comprising the water shed Of
the river, proposed to hog the entire
field and distribute power and water
for irrigation purposes as a utility
under government control
Edwin 0. Edgerton, former railroad
commissioner, and now general coun-
sci for the Southern California Edison
company bares the plans of that cor
porationsin q statement made to Gov.
Thomas E. Campbell of Arizona, who
asked for full information on the sub
ject.
The Edison company, according TO
Edgerton, proposes to take the Bould-
er Canyon dam project completely out
of the hands of the Federal govern
ment and of the Imperial Irrigation
District and others that already have
contributed funds to its preliminary
surveys, and to build the dam itself.
The Edison plan frankly admits its
power trust" scope in the following
paragraph from Edgerton's state
ment:
"The Southern California Edison
company" the statement says, has
initiated this project and expects to
associate in the enterprise all of the
power companies within the area of
distribution in the several states
named. and all of these companies are
under strict regulation, and with the
creation Of a new corporate entity Il
also will be under the same strict gov
eminent regulation"
The states to which reference is
made are Arizona, Colorado, Wyom-
ing. Idaho, Utah. Nevada. New Mexico
and California, known as the eight
southwestern or Colorado Basin states
The vast SCOPE Of the project of the
Edison company and its associated
power concerns is seen in the engineer
ing proposition as set forth by Ed
gerton.
"The DAM" the statement says
must be built to a great height
greater than ever undertaken by man.
New engineering methods must be de-
vised and daring experiments must be
made. One reservoir alone will Gre
ate the greatest impounding reservoir
in the world.
"The largest existing today is or
the Nile, which stores approximately
100000 acre feet. This is less thar
one-t tenth of the storage proposed by
I. i
: Reciting the benefits which it as.
serts will accrue from the proposed
development, Edgerton says:
at would prevent the further flood
| IContinuad ON rnna 0l