Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1936-01-30
COLORADO AQUEDUCT
IS GOING FORWARD
Provides Water System for
Southern California.

aqueduct, which has been called the
greatest domestic water supply system
. in the history of engineering, is en-
tering its fourth year of construction
and is % per cent completed. Water
will probably start to flow out of the
! Colorado and into southern California,
defying gravitatiOn and overcoming
mountains and deserts, in December,
1898.
The aQueduct will actually cost
more than twice as much as Boulder
dam and the engineering problems
which 1t presents are far greater. The
two are linked together, however,
since the aqueduct would not have
been feasible without power from the
dam.
Simply stated, the function of the
aqueduct project is to take water from
the river above Parker. lift it total
of more than 1900 feet, carry bill
lion gallons day, or 1900 cubic feet
a second, over PAP miles Of almost I'M
inhabited mountains and deserts and
distribute water at the southern Cali
fornia end through $50 miles Of sub
sidiary cOnduits.
The district that will benefit by the
aqueduct has an area only One-third of
l per cent that Of the entire main
Colorado river basin above the Mex
lean line, but it has five times the
population. Yet without vast additions
to its normal water supply most of it
would be Of little use except for graz
ing cattle-which is what the Span
iards did use 1t for.
Obstacles Overcome.
Engineering. financial and legal diff
ficulties were numerous; Arizona
fought to the last the expectation Of
water which it's citizens believed neces-
sary to its own welfare. Now the goal
is in sight.
The enterprise was taken over from
the city Of Los Angeles in 1928, after
more than hundred preliminary sur
veys had been made, by the Metropol-
itan water district, governmental
division of the state Of California Gre
ated for the purpose and composed Of
thirteen municipalities in the south
ern California area or south coastal
basin, as it is known geOlOgically.
Shortly after the federal government
decided to build Boulder dam the engi-
neers for the district settled upon the
Parker aqueduct route and in Deem
Der. 1882, construction operations were
begun.
TO finance the operation the district
voted bond issue of S220,0OO.OOO. of
which the RFC committed itself to
take a total of $S9,5OO,OO0. Later is
sues have been sold to the PWA to
finance the construction of the Parker
DAM at an estimated cost of $1O,OOO,-
OOO 1t is believed that the total bond
issue will be enough to pay in full for
the aqueduct, the power transmission
lines the pumping plants and the dis
tributiOn system in southern CalifOr-
mia.
TNS FuUlptU9 otdItOUS
In the large, the project is easy to
understand. The Parker dam, con-
structed with water district funds I'M
der the supervision Of the United
States bureau Of reclamation, is 155
miles below Boulder. 1t will i'm
pound approximately $4,000 acre feet
Or enough to cover that many acres
foot deep.
Since the water level in the reser-
voir will be lower than the major pOr-
ton of the area to be served and much
lower than the highest portions of the
desert crossed by the aqueduct, FIVE
separate pumping stations are neces-
sary along the route. Power for the
first of these, at the intake. will be
generated at the Parker dam. Power
for the others will be brought from
Boulder dam, taking SO per cent of all
the energy generated at that dam.
To bring the power from Boulder
the district will construct a 257-mile
transmission line. carrying current at
100000 volts. This detail of the big
job will cost 81, 266,2O4.
The project is expected to pay for
itself out Of earnings over period of
so years. That It will be worth to
southern California far more than it
costs no one doubts. The future of
this part of the state Is dependent on
water