Arizona republican., 1921-12-15
GREAT COL 0RA]O PROJECT
 |, OUTLINED BY MAXWELL AT RECLAIM iIO..l MEETING

In one of the largest and most en- thusiastic gatherings ever held in Phoenix to listen to a speaker whose
 subject was the development of the
 natural resources of the Southwest, ] George H. Maxwell, representing ..4e i National Reclamation association. yesterday outlined plan for the de- velopment of the Colorado river
 which engrossed the attention of his
 audience for almost two hours. The meeting was held at the Hotel
 Adams and was in the form of a | luncheon. More than 150 of the most prominent men of the Salt River val | ley were in attendance and Mir. Max wells summary of his plan was | looked upon as a most sane and practicable solution of this great l problem.
 | w. W. Pace of Thatcher, who has
 served in both houses of the Arizona ! legislature and is now president of the Gila Valley Water Users asso- citation, was chairman of the meeting.
 In introducing MT. Maxwell. MT. Pace referred to his services in the field of reclamation development.
 Reports On Bill
 In opening his remarks Mir. Max
 we'll deplored that he had so little time to make a progress report to | | nation association who were present. | with their friends. He said that in
 the last few months, progress had been made in months equal to the progress made in years in the orig
 inal campaign ending with the pas
 sage of the Newlands reclamation act in 1902.
 The thrse points to which he re- ferred in his report were: First, the
 Bankhead bill. which would create a
 fund of $500, 100000 for the construc-
 ton of reclamation work; second, the
 Colorado river and the plan for its
 utilization which will attain the best
 results for the people of the whole
 United States, and third, the River
 side conference of the League of the
 Southwest, held at Riverside, Calif,
 Dec S, and 10.
 The impossibility of passing any
 bill not a national measure was
 clearly explained by the speaker. He
 referred to the fact that the Smith ! McNary reclamation bill has been
 amended to make it national bill.
 bringing 1t into the same class as the Bankhead bill. The two bills are
 now before the house committee on
 reclamation.
 There are few states in the union. if any. said Mir. Maxwell, which
 will not participate in the benefits of
 this new great enlargement of the
 reclamation policy, but Arizona has a tremendous stake in 1t, because un- der the provisions of the Bankhead
 bill there is not a single project in the state that cannot be built by the 5 national government. as the Roose- welt project was built. The details [ of the bill were fully explained. one of the cheif features of the measure
 being it's improved plan for securing 7 the investment and return of the l governments original investment ] through the formation of an irriga- { ton district and the placing of the } bonds by the government after the
 completion of the project, so that the f entire cost of the works is simuita- r neously returned to the construction fund. This plan. 1t Is estimated by . experts, will produce a total con- I struction fund of close to a billion . dollars in 20 years, whereas the old q plan of revolving fund from the
 proceeds of public land sales has pro- = duced only about one-tenth of that ir Q the same period of 20 years.
 The Riverside inference !: The account given by Mir. Maxwell ]. of the Riverside convention was very l interesting. He said he had had ( q good deal of experience with conyen'
 tions and that be thought there wa. if about as much trinitrotoluol con V cealed under the Riverside confer = ence as any similar meeting he ha' 's ever attended, but it did not explode If so no harm was done. The chic 10 controversy, he said. seemed to b "a the aftermath of the long fight be d tween the advocates of public own -S ership and private ownership of pow r CT plants in Los Angeles. This h ,e said was by no means the most i'm .lI portant question involved in the de " termination of the future develop In ment of the Colorado river. Tn to thing to be first thought about, an ia which will finally control. is tn - working out of a great comprehen of sive plan that will be approved by tn people of the east, who control cor =. gress, and who will eventually in tn = last analysis determine whether tn -'' money shall be provided withot e which it is impossible to make an - progress with the actual work of COT ,o struction. It is of a great deal mor =, importance. said MT. Maxwell. ths s the plan shall be such as to meet tf - approval of the eastern people. tha oi the states drained by the river sha be in agreement.
 The address of Mir. Maxwell .!a ~ a complete resume of a great con ie prehensive plan for the highest pos
 
 se of the Colorado river for both recla
 nation and power. He said. how ie ever, that the immediate necessit " for the protection for the Imperis 'S,t valley transcended any other aspet sh of the question. At the Riversid .i convention he had urged the imme diate construction of the Sentin' reservoir to protect the Imperial val ley against any possibility of dange o- from the Gila. The reservoir coul c- ultimately be used as a storage reser e- voir, being filled, not from the Gil; I'll but from the Colorado.
 re The respective uses of flood con "a trol, reclamation and power dam " were fully explained. The flood con or trol reservoir should be kept empt whenever possible. The reclamatio T. storage dam should be kept flu as whenever possible. but the watt T. would be delivered from the reservoi C. irregularly when needed for irriga ms tion. The power dam on the othe as hand would be expected to deliver il re water for power as nearly as possibl K steadily throughout the year. Thi ne made it impossible to use the sam or reservoir for both irrigation an III power, because either there would ee a great waste of water delivere IT. when not needed for irrigation, or th