Arizona republican., 1922-06-12

a chance to raise a fall crop in the
place of the crops which have been
destroyed by the flood.
1t was pointed out at the confer
ence that to straighten the river as
suggested would cause an increased
velocity in the current and endanger
the land farther south along the
river with the possibility of causing
a serious menace to the Yuma wall
ley and the Imperial valley. Until
the impounding dam is built at
Boulder Canyon, it was brought out
at the conference, permanent re-
lief cannot be had for the Palo Verde
valley.
In addition to the governor. the
following state officials attended the
conference: Ernest r. Hall, secretary
of state; w. J. Galbraith, attorney
general: W. S. Norviel. state water
commissioner: F. N. Holmquist, as
sistant state engineer; and e. III.
Lynch. engineer for the state land
department.
1--WE have been accused of trying
to steal some of Arizona's lands"
Mr.. Williams declared yesterday aft
ernoon when interviewed by a rep
resentative of The Republican. but
this is untrue. Our only thought
was to give temporary relief to
the situation in hopes the break could
be closed in the levee and the water
drained from the valley so that the
farmers could put in fall crop. We
did not expect to make any changes
in the river on the Arizona side
without first obtaining the consent Of
Arizona officials.
'The attempts alleged to have
been made by us to change the course
of the river at the head of the Cibola
valley was in reality an error made
by new engineer in mistaking the
bend there for band further up the
river where he had been instructed
to clear out some driftwood. When
we discovered what he was doing we
Immediately stopped his work
In speaking of the flood situation,
Mr.. Williams said that about 10000
acres Of the Palo Verde valley. of
which approximately $4,000 acres
were under cultivation had been
inundated under three to six feet of
water since the break in the levee,
May 12 About 1000 residents in the
flooded area, he stated, had been
forced to seek refuge in Blythe in
cluding the entire population of Rip
ley. He estimated that the total
damage of the flood would be ap-
proximately s1,000.0o0.
The break occurred In the fourth
shoe fly levee put in by the district
in the past few years, according tc
Mr.. Williams, and at present this
break is about 1900 feet wide. The
levee was IL feet high. he said. with
a 60-foot base and 12-foot crown.
The original levee built to protect
the valley, he added, was washed out
several years ago, and since then
four shoe fly levees, each one farther
back than the previous one, have
been built and each of these have
been washed out in turn.
Mr.. Williams was of the opinion
that Governor Stephens would ap-
point a commission Immediately and
expressed a hope the joint meeting
would be held within few days.
When the Arizona commission sees
the land at the spot where we re-
quest permission to make cutoff,
he declared they will readily see
that We are not trying to annex any
Arizona territory. but are seeking a
relief from the present flood situa-
ton.
The proposed plan of the Palo
NSi uc PSopic 10 W HlihS d olAiaii w
in the band of the river on the Ari-
zona side at Hauser bend opposite
the break in the levee and then let
the flood current Of the river force
it's way through in a new channel.
The distance across the bend is ap-
proximately two miles and the soil in
the bend is river silt and sand de-
posted in an old channel of the river.
AT present. Mr.. Williams said. the
water in the river is falling but the
weather bureau predicts within two
weeks a second rise will occur with
a higher crest than this one. Mr..
| Williams expressed the hope the
matter would be settled before this
crest and that permission would be
granted to them to make the cut -off
so that the rising surrent could be
! utilized.