The Coconino sun., 1922-01-27
INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS-
 AGAINST GOVERNMENT
 DEVELOPING COLORADO HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER

The Arizona Industrial congress, Thos E. Campbell and state water commissioner w. s. Norveil oppose hydro-electric power development of the Colorado river by the U. s. gov ernment and recommend as the only feasible plan it's development by in- dividuals or corporations. The con- gress also disputes the recent state ment by secretary of the interior Fall | that the state of Arizona has no juris- diction in granting permits Tor power purposes.
 The follow is the report just issued hydro-electric power development of by the congress-:
 The Colorado river is the third lar gest river in the United States. Tn .ts course it flows for a distance of ap- proximately five hundred sixty miles | through the state of Arizona, and in that distance from a point near the Utah line through the lower end of Boulder Canyon, distance of about two hundred eighty miles, the course of the river is through deep gorge and there is a difference in elevation between the top of the gorge and the bottom of about twenty-five hundred feet which can be increased by suit able dams to three thousand feet. By suitable dams regulating the flow of the river there can be developed in the distance within the state of Arizona an excess of four million electrical horsepower
 
 The river is subject to extraordin- ary variations in flow with disastrous floods in the summer, and it carries in its waters enormous quantities of silt, most of which comes from the San Juan river into the Colorado riv- CT some miles above the Glen Canyon site.
 It is absolutely necessary for the safety of the low lands at Yuma and below that point upon the river, that the extraordinary floods of the river be controlled and the flow definitely regulated.
 From an engineering standpoint, the intelligent way in which to develop all of the resources of the Colorado river within the state of Arizona, is to con struct dam at the head of the gorge of sufficient size to impound the flood waters of the river for as long a per iod as possible, certainly one year.
 A high dam built at Glen canyon will serve this purpose and at the same time, by flooding the canyon of the San Juan river, will practically ob- viate the entire problem of silt as is now carried in the waters of the river. We are informed by competent en- gineers that ninety per cent of the flow of the river passes Glen canyon and that any water going into the riv- CT below this point amounts to only ten per cent of the present maximum flow, so that a dam located at Glen Canyon will efficiently control the flood of the Colorado river for all time. If dam is built at the head of gorge and the flow of the river is regulated by means of such dam, the subsequent dams below that point can be built at an expense much less than if there is no regulation and the works in progress of construction are subject to damage from floods and silt.
 Practically the only point in the gorge of the Colorado river from which water can be economically di- verted for reclamation purposes is at or near Boulder canyon.
 We feel that some agency which is able to provide large amounts of money with no immediate hope of re- turn and long deferred repayment of the money advanced must handle the reclamation of arid lands from the water of the river. In view of the number of people affected and bene- fitted by reclamation projects, it must be admitted that such matters can only be handled by the U. s. govern ment for the evident reason that the owners of homesteads, desert land, etc., cannot provide the enormous sums of money necessary to properly develop such projects and must be given long periods of time in which to repay loan of size sufficient to accomplish the end.
 On the other hand, there are de- velopments in connection with the Colorado river, as for example, the generation, distribution and sale of hydro-electric power, which are and should be handled by individuals or corporations who can provide the funds with which to make develop ments and who stand ready to do this and should be granted permission so to do. It is surely not within the province of the government to under take the construction and operation of enterprises which can be financed otherwise.
 We are informed that the secretary of the interior has stated to the wa ter commissioner of the state of Ari- zona that all permits for power pur- poses on the Colorado river must be granted by the federal power com mission and that the state of Arizona, through it's proper officers, has no jurisdiction in this matter. We believe that an investigation of the question will prove that the secretary has no legal justification for his position and that the expressed determination to deprive the state of Arizona of it's proper rights in this action is untusti- fable and should be vigorously con tested by the state. We feel that proper determination of the rights of the state of Arizona in the questions