Imperial Valley press., 1925-01-30

Canyon project was member
of the state senate from 1912 TO
1922. He is a director and also
vice president of Boulder Dam
Association. an organization
consisting of some two hundred
cities. counties, chambers of
commerce. farm bureaus, legion
posts and civic organizations,
associated together to forward
the project. He has closely fol
lowed its development for seve-
raj years, and IS accurately n
formed in respect to its various
aspects.
WILLIAM J. CARR
The Boulder Canyon project
takes is name from tGe fact that
it ccnters largely about a proposed
government dam in .he Colorado
river where the river forms the
boundary line bctwseu Arizona and
Nevada. Here the river flows
through q series Of deep ;ud narrow
canyons or -orgcs generally known
rs BoUidcr Canyon. In tins cauvou
ther" are ut least two very wonder
/ full natural dam sites Onn i - the
/ Lead Of 'Ae canyon short distance
I below the mouth uf Boulder Geek.
/ The other IS about 80 miles lower.
at what is t.chuicallv Black Can
Won. y dam at either one Of these
+ site. viii flood substantially the
same territory. They are generally
+ spoken Of as tic upper aud lowe"
Boulder Canyon sites. The Black
. canyon on lower site j. preferred
by the reclamation service cn4ia-
GERS.
The dam is to be 800 feet in
height and will create Il reservoir
Of a storage capacity Of 26.ca9,000
acre feet Of water. While the dana
and res avcir Will exceed in mag
nituIe anything q their kind in
the world, the cost Of the dam will
be relatively small because Of the
unusual natura! advantages Of the
site.
The r+case nf the wa.er stored
in the reservoir will furnish falls
or heads >ufficicnt for the gcuer-
alton Of $4,000 firm or constant
horse power of electricity. 1t is
from the disposition Of these power
heads or right that the entire cost
Of the dam. estimated at 81 300
ep1, is - be met. The project does
not contemplate the federal govern
ment entering into the power bust
ness, but merely licensing different
agencies to use thcs. heads for the
generation Of power III plants which
they will themselves construct.
To Serve Much Area
The main reclamation feature Of
the project consists Of canal start
ing II Laguna Dam near Yuma and
running entirely within the United
states 10 the Imperial Valley, for
the Lcttcr irrigation Of land en-
hraccd in the Imperial Irrigation
District and 10 serve land in the
Coachclla Valley county water dis
frict, rs wcIf as a large body Of
public and not within the boundaries
Of either Of these districts The
estimated cost Of this canal is be
tween Thirty and thirtv-onc million
doll; rs, and is 10 hc borne bv the
laud served by il. Imperial Valley
is now served by a canal running
soll" 60 miles through Mexico
~Ih' construction of the dam will
also make possible the reclamation
Of other land. i'm the lower Colora-
10 river basin. but plans for the
reclamation of these are not rs vet
fully matwcd.
Enough has been said TO Indicate
that this great project ha, been
shaped to serve various purposes.
Those are:
J.. II viii fully protect tie In
perial, Yuma and PaIo Verde Val
lcys from very serious anl ever
preScnt flood menace The lmpcr-
lal Valley lie, in great basin or
sink some 800 feet lower thpu the
ch:uncl Of the river II has 10 out
let. The breaking Of the river from
IFS present uncertain and fluctuat-
ing hed, likely 10 occur during any
flood. means thc permanent inun-
datIon aud destruction Of the valley.
.. Each year the amount Of silt
deposited by the Colorado river is
over 100000 acr" feet or more in
volume than al the earth cxcayated
in digging the Panama Canal. This
tremendous volume Of material not
only greatly agGravatcs aud in
crcascs the flood menace to thc I'M
pcrial Valley, but the large quanti-
ty Of silt being carried into the val