Phillips County herald., 1922-12-07
cvsss..e vAg COLORADO

cUHssNe rAE COLORADO
! Some Of lfke sreatest engineering
works in ~ world are 70 be found in
tie west6rn states Of this country.
There are ! number OF dams ainost
Incredibly high and strong. which I'M
pound and control river flood waters
Tor use II irrigation or the production
Of power It IL now proposed 70 out
do everything that has gone before
by putting q BIT and . curb into the
mouth OF the Colorado. the second
largest OF our rivers and the most 10
markable.
From source to mouth the Colorado
has fall Of some tenS thousand feet.
At its lowest, in the fall, It amounts
to thirty-five hundred cubic feet soc
ond. At its maximum. when the
mountain SHOWS are melting, it
amounts to two hundred thousand
cubic feet second. Its lower course
is through an arid region that needs
only irrigation to be fruitful. and
near the Gulf of California the land
Is so low that 1t is subject to great
damage from floods. The engineers
propose to dam the great river some
where in the wonderful canon coun-
try. where It flows between walls hun
dreds even thousands OF feet high, to
regulate its flow so that 1t shall
amount to eighteen thousand cubic
feet second year round and to accom-
plish these three desirable results:
safety from the threat OF floods. sure
and steady supply OF water for irriga-
tion and head Of water that can be
used to create tremendous amount
Of electrical power. 1t has been esti-
mated that the projects now suggested
would make It possible to irrisate tve
and quarter million acres Of desert
soil, and to produce ulpre thila four
million electrical horse power. -
There are two great plans for con-
trolling the Colorado. One is pro-
posed by the Southern California Ed-
ison Company. which holls . peshn-
mary permit from the Ft1efet lPsr
Commission for q dam 6u1 pe>lt ~
ton st Glen Canon near ths UtahAs1-
zona border. The river eofes 4 that
point is eighteen hundred fsst dssp.
A dam nve hundred tsst MA NsslA
create Z pessrvoir ehout twp ti1fe1
nilss 1anGs NJ eanpGh - 49,
l1n1ntep ~ fif:en1u1o6t Shsk -
lBally runs - lhs oo1sgl1o -.
is1sd ID tWo yooll ~ = {on1e ~
Glen Canon dan vo0l1 11Von1, -
hundred timss q mucA wnter = tAs
great Ashokan Reservoir IN he Cats
kills. from which the city Of New York
draws It's water supply. n would CON
troll almost twelve times ~ mach
water as the great 'barrases OF the
Nile control. II would offer two and
a half hillion horsepower Of cheaply
produced energy to q region that
would have 70 use ninety mtllion bar-
rels Of fuel oil to get the ssne power.
The other plan 10 for . similar dam
at Boulder Canon ut the farther end Of
the socalled Grand Canon. where the
river flows between Neva4a and Ar
zona. That plan has the approval Of
the seven states-C Colorado. Utah.
Wyoming. New Mexico. Arizona. Ne
vada and Califonia--reprs ssentativss
OF which met under the presidency Of
Mr.. Hoover. the Secretary OF Com
merce. and agreed upon scheme that
seems likely to satisfy the claims Of
NIL the states on the waters OF tho
great river and It's tributaries. II Con-
gress authorizes the undertaking. tbs
Reclamation Service will build dam
eight hundred and twenty feet high In
Boulder Canon and canal to carry
the water to the districts to be irri-
gated. The estimated cost Of the
work 10 eighty million dollars.
A learned geoiogist. Prof. Bailey
wilsis. warns the dam builders that
their tas.. at Boulder Canon viii b.
dlmcult for other reasons than IT.
magnitude. He says the bed Of the
river IN composed Of loose boulders to
u depth OF at least one hundred feet
boulders that the river In time Of
flood has rolled down from the Grand
Canon above. II viii be exceedingly
dIfiicult to get through that thick
layer OF shifting stones 10 the solid
rock beneath. Morever. the granite
Of the plateau through which the Colo
rndo flows In everywhere 'jointed"
and likely to split and dlsintexrate un.
der strain. Il viii tax the ingenuity
Of the engineers to get nrm fcunda.
tIon and dependable anchoraTcs for
A.. to..s .AAtt