Imperial Valley press., 1924-03-21

fair return upon the naked net in
vestment, and even this may be ter
minated at any time by the exercise
of the right Of eminent domain.
The All-American Canal:
We believe that the building Of
the proposed All-American ca
nal'' is wholly unwarranted bv ex-
isting conditions, and that it IS
questionable as to whether the pro-
Ject can ever be justified from an
economic standpoint.
Our conclusions are based upon
the following grounds:
That at q time when the farming
interests of the country are in ser
ious, economic distress, due to an
excess Of production over present
market demands, it is not wise for
the Government to undertake bring
ing in additional thousands of acres
of new producing lands which will
come into competition with the
lands now under cultivation.
That with over 25@5 of the land
under the present canal system in
Imperial Valley, with all facilities
for their immediate irrigation and
cultivation installed, now living un-
worked and uncultivated, it will be
unwise to spend millions of dollars
on the extension OF the existing ir-
rigation system.
That the building and mainten-
ance of an open canal of the cana
city proposed for Il distance of II
miles through moving sand hills.
necessitating cuts from so to 40
feet in depth, presents serious en-
glneering problems, and, if possible
at all, can only be accomplished at
excessive cost both in construction
and maintenance
That the estimate of the costruc
ton costs Of the project are made
quate and that if built, the ultimate
charge to be made against tie land
benefited will, as in the case of
nearly all of the reclamation pro
Jects, largely exceed the original
estimates.
mat If even built within the es-
tlmated cost, the charge to be- i'm
posed against the land lying within
the present irrigation district Zap.
proximately $4,000 per acre), will be
in. excess of any benefit to be de.
rived and so burdensome as to SER
iously affect the future develop.
ment of Imperial Valley.
That the charge against new lands
to be brought in, estimated by for
mer Director Davis of the Reclama-
tion Service at 10000 per acre, will
be practically prohibitive at this
time of any extensive development
Of such lands.
That the construction of both the
All-American Canal and the Boulder
Canyon Dam will not relieve the
Imperial Irrigation District from
the maintenance of the present pro
tective levee system against flood
waters, as the Imperial Valley will
still be exposed to flood waters
from the Gila River, from which
source the highest floods on record
have come.
That the construction of the All
American Canal will not relieve the
District from the continued upl,eep
ana maintenance of the present ca
nal system, as it will be necessary
to maintain such system to safe
guard a continuous flow of water
into the Valley, as appears from
the report of Grunsky and Ander-
son, consulting engineers for the
Imperial Irrigation District.
In short, the All-American Canal,
while more than doubling the pre-
sent Indebtedness constituting a
prior lien against the lands in the
irrigation district and greatly in
creasing the annual expense of pro-
viding water, will not eliminate the
so-callel Mexican problem: it will
not do away with the expense in
cident to protecting the Valley
against flood waters of the Colo
rado River; it will not relieve the
Valley from the maintenance of the
present main canal system, nor will
1T provide an acre foot of additional
water available for the District.
THE SOUTHERN SIERRAS
POWER COMPANY.
(Signed) BY A. B. WEST,
President and General Manager,