The border vidette., 1926-05-01
WHAT ARIZONA WANTS.
(From California Cultivator)

We have endeavored to show
on our front cover this week
something of the extent OF the
storage possibilities on the Colo
rado river as it passes through
the state of Arizona and the re
ason why the people of that
state are opposed to storage
dam at or in the vicinity of
Boulder canyon.
The upper picture is intended
TO show at a glance the location
of the Glen canyon dam site and
the Bridge canyon diversion
dam, a combination that the Ari
zona people feel would be of real
service to that state and at the
same time not only adequately
supply the water needs of Cal
ifornia but do it better and more
cheaply than will be possible
with dam at Boulder canyon.
The elevation and location
with respect to distance from
Yuma are shown in the lower
picture and give further proof
of the uselessness of the Boulder
canyon project as far as supply.
| ing water to Arizona's millions
of acres of fertile but at present
arid lands are concerned. prac-
tically all of which are at an
elevation too high to be irrigat-
ed by even high dam at Bould
er canyon without pumping the
water several hundred feet.
While it may be practical to
pump water 400 feet to furnish
a city like Los Angeles with its
domestic water supply it cannot
be done for agricultural crops
therefore Arizona agriculture has
little hope of deriving any ben
eft from the storage of water at
Boulder canyon.
It is estimated that the aver.
age annual run off from the Colo.
rado river, when stored, will be
sufficient to irrigate several mil
lion acres of land in addition to
that possible of irrigation in the
Imperial Valley and that now,
being irrigated ia Mexico. With
a dam at Boulder canyon only,
this surplus must flow into Mex.
leo where it will Immediately be
appropriated thus precluding the
possibility of later building dams
at higher elevations to care for
Arizona's needs, for once this
water has been appropriated and
put to valuable use by the land
| interests in Mexico, we doubt if
it could be taken away from
them, even though they contri.
buted nothing toward building
the dams that make possible an
equalized flow of the river.
While we have no desire to
take away any of the waters now
being used by these Mexican in.
terests. we do not feel that we
should spend millions to store
water to irrigate more Mexican
lands, especially when we have
millions of acres of equally fer.
tile land in our own United
States that need this surplus
water.
Were it impossible to secure
the additional water needed in
the Imperial Valley or even by
the city of Los Angeles, in any
other way we should. of course,
feel that the building of the
Boulder canyon dam was justi
fed, but since there are other,
and we are told, equally feasible
projects capable of development
on the river that will not only
better supply all of these needs
but will conserve the use of this
surplus water for use within the
boundaries of the United States,
we cannot help but feel that
they should be given due con.
sideration.
To US it is not so much a ques-
tion of whether the land to be
benefited by conserving the
waters of the Colorado river is
in California or Arizona as it is
that we think the farmers of the
United States should receive
these benefits rather than the
people of foreign country.
Order to Show Cause Why Order OF
| Sos~ cG.o.,lA