The Coconino sun., 1922-06-23
JAMES B. GRAND, WHO HAS EXPERTED COLORA- DO RIVER FOR YEARS SAYS
Continued from Page One)

What area will finally be irrigated b! gravity or pump water is debatable it is doubtful if it will even approxi mate 100000 acres. Do the Swing ol Johnson bills. provide for either di version dam or pumping plants fo, Arizona needs? They do not.
 say that it is an impossibility tC economically water more than 0,00t or 250,000 acres, at the most, of thu lands on the Arizona side of the Col orado river, which could only be done by the installation of a very expen sive diversion dam or pumping plant
 These bills provide for the construc tion of the All American canal on tho California side at an estimated cost of some thirty million dollars, but not one dollar for the Arizona side.
 The director of the reclamation ser. vice, who stands practically alone ir the engineering profession as a pro, ponent of this dam, says, in discuss ing Upper versus Lower reservoir that:
 Large areas of very fertile
 and valuable lands, now develop
 ed and being radiply developed,
 require immediate relief by ex-
 tension of storage for irrigation,
 and if such storage is constructed
 in the upper basin, it will of
 course be operated in conformity
 with the requirements of irriga-
 tion in the lower valley, as nearly
 as this can be predicted, but a
 large percentage of the water will
 be lost, owing to the great dis
 tance and the impossibility of
 predicting the exact require
 ments a month or more ahead"
 Meaningless, vapid utterances. Storage in either the Glen Canyon or ,he Boulder Canyon reservoirs could De accomplished only after Colorado lad diverted so much as it could divert. There is not one single point where water could be di- lerted for irrigation purposes between ,hese two sites, nor one single acre which could be irrigated.
 It does not require month for the water to flow from the Glen Canyon lGliil LO IllC llIIBdJtNl dlCdS. JuSl "lldI le means by Large percentage of he water being lost owing to the great distance" is not clear. The 'ame amount, or greater, evaporation would probably take place in the tor 'ential discharge as in the regulated low and it's evaporation as stored in he Boulder Canyon dam. He fur her says:
 "ln order to provide against
 embarrassing shortage it will be
 necessary to turn out at all times
 sufficient water to provide for
 the most extreme conditions that
 may occur, but seldom do occur,
 and this will mean that nearly
 all the time a large amount of
 water will be flowing to waste"
 Then he further says:
 "A large part of this waste can
 be obviated by an adequate reser-
 voir on the lower river"
 This is the only sentence the direc- ,or has incorporated in his discus sion of Upper versus Lower res ervoirs that really deserves the at- ,ention of the reader. Adequate" is he word.
 It is my purpose to show that an adequate" reservoir is the proper Iind to construct at Boulder Canyon, lot the gigantic impounding dam ad- by the director and some of lis misguided adherents.
 It is admitted that the San Juan s the great silt-bearing contributor ,f the Colorado river, and this enters he Glen Canyon dam. His argument the water supply appropri- ated above for use in the lower val ey is not worthy of consideration.
 Admitted that the two dams are of equal capacity and cost-although 10 not grant this. The director of the reclamation service says: "For- the investigations at Boulder Canyon have shown the feasibility of ! high dam at that point" and inn thereafter states, results of the borings indicate a maximum depth to bedrock of 135 feet below water level," so feasible that they nave moved down the river some 20 miles into Black Canyon with theii drills in order to determine if it is not possible to find bedrock at an economic depth. Seating a col Dssal dam on bedrock at 1855 feet, in ! river carrying the volume of water his one does, or any other river for that matter, would be taxing the limit ,f present day construction methods But admitting the equality stated, the elevation of the Glen Canyon dam site is some 5000 feet above the Boul- der Canyon site. It is well known that the great volume of water is dis charged during the months of May June and July. This water in its un- turbulent flow, rushing through this deep gorge, carrying sill and destruction, would flow into the Boulder Canyon reservoir with its millions of latent horse power lost What then? If perchance the reser- voir should fill, we must begin i'm to discharge the contents of the upper 100 feet in order to con- form to the directors recommendation hat the top five million acre feet be for flood control. This must be turned out regardless of the ne. cessity for its use on the lands below But you say, would this not also be rue of the Glen Canyon? Yes, but 1ere is the great difference:
 All the water turned out of the Boulder Canyon dam. in order that il