Imperial Valley press., 1935-01-28
SET 7 DAY FOR
WHICH VALLEY
WAITED YEARS
Announcement Made Today In
Letter To Dowd From En-
gineer In Charge OF Work
VALLEY RANCHERS WARNED
District Water To Be Cut Out
From February 8 To IL To
Permit Necessary Repairs

"'For many months the diversion
tunnels at Boulder dam have acted
as handouts on the Colorado river,
forcing it to flow around its bed
while the dam was being built in
the river,'' said M. j. DoWd, chief
engineer Of the Imperial Irrigation
District today. Sunday the river
will have additional shackles put on
when storage Of water behind the
dam will be started'
Definite date for the day which
Imperial Valley has long waited
was set in a letter received today
by Dowd from Walker Young, rec
lamation service engineer in charge
OF the dam construction.
Engineers are competing prepar-
ations for inserting the last plug in
the tunnel still open at the dam
and when this has been placed no
water will come down the lower
Colorado river for an indefinite per-
iod, expected to last for several
days. 1t will then be permitted to
flow from the storage basin behind
the dam through the gates in the
dam structure until such time as
the water has reached depth Of
pproximately 300 feet.
When that point is reached the
water will be high enough to start
operation Of the power plant at the
dam and it will be sent through the
diversion towers. Pending attain
ment of the 300 foot level, only
such amounts of water as are neces-
sary for irrigation, will be sent
down the river below the dam.
Sunday will mark the real end
of droughts and floods for Imper-
ial Valley Dowd said, "and will
also mark the start of silt elimina-
ton, though this latter feature will
not be discernible to any great ex-
tent to valley users until the ALL
American canal, with its desilting
plant at Laguna dam is completed.
In connection with the informa-
tion received from Engineer Young,
the Imperial Irrigation District an
nounceS that the water will be cut
out of the district system from
February 8 to II inclusive. 1t is
figured that it will require approx
imately four to five days after the
water has been cut off at Boulder
dam before it ceases to arrive at
the district intake.
All water users are strongly urged
by district officials to make pre-
parations now for storage of water
on their ranches or elsewhere in
order that they may have adequate
supplies on hand to last during the
period the water will be cut out
from the system.
During this period, February to
12, the district will make repairs to
the various headings and intakes in
Lower California which were dam
aged to some extent by the recent
earthquakes.
It is expected the district will
again be receiving ample water
from the river by February 13, and
that never again will it or the peo-
Pile of Imperial Valley know the
worries and costs Of too much water
or too little. Officials admitted that
the feeling of security is still too
novel to be appreciated.
AS announced in Saturdays
Press, the assembly approved two
bills validating contracts between
Coachella and Imperial Valleys, in
formation to this effect being sent
to the district yesterday by Senator
Hulse, who advised the bills have
been sent to the governor for sigma
ture, which is assured.
In this connection, Evan T.
Hewes, president of the irrigation
district stated today that the vail
dation of the contracts between the
Coachella and Imperial districts on
the question of Ail-American canal
construction with the development
and distribution of power from this
canal with the passage of these two
bills by the legislature means an
other forward step in the districts
hydropower program.
The two bills, HeWes said further,
provide valuation of the contract
between the two irrigation districts
on the canal construction and pow
er development Coachella IS next
step will be to offer both contracts
for valuation in the courts. The
action of the state legislature makes
it possible for the contracts and
their own sanction to be offered at
the same time in order TO secure
final valuation with greater speed.