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THE 'ARIZONA REPUBLICAN SALT RIVER VALLEY EDITION. SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 23, 1915 Network Of Canals Carry Life Giving Water To Waiting Acres TAGE TWO Valley Is Seamed With Main Canals Leading From Roosevelt Dam (By ERNEST DOUGLAS.) From Information Furnished by the U. S. Reclamation Service. licf.-re Cheops built the pyramids th,. Sail River Valley was a center .f prehistoric civilization. It was I ere that the mysterious race which ) Id nvay before the Aztecs came Ine-cnt the art of irrigation to a )i rM lum never before attained and i.-t attained again for many cen t,.r!s. And it is here, in modern imiis. that the United States recla-I-. atiin service and a few thousand f ihc moFt wideawake, progressive l(tui-:K in the world have advanced ih.- an of irrigation to a point of per loi'ii.m that is the envy and winder f all mankind, which far eclipses nny thine accomplished by the anci--m. Persistence and ingenuity, com lin.'.l with unparalleled natural ad ..ti!.ies, have made this possible. ricvrn great canals, with a com- l-in.-- 1 .illr v ! V V t ar.-'.? encth tt 1S5 miles, watered this in i-rr-Azteo days. Now the is seamed by seventeen main with a combined length of 193 :,ml by scores of laterals which. K la i m1 end to end. would extend t 177 m.les. Hoth canals and laterals! s.T.- models of scientific construction. Fat it is the great Roosevelt dam vlirh most clearly demonstrates the rail priority of the moderns over the sim ii iits. At the expense of infinite tr.-.e and labor, and without the aid -f fvm ilomestic animals, the firt 'w-;irs in the land were able to fi.e broad, deep canals and completed n marvelous irrigation system. AVith ::t the machinery of modern man the instruction of the Roosevelt dam wou'.d have been impossible. O .v inc to the Roosevelt dam, the Salt River valley farmer today cares iitt'o whether it rains. Rain is use ful to lay the dust upon the roads l'Ut otherwise it is oftimes more in convenient than welcome. Irrigation depended on to matur the crops of !:". If a. sugar -cane, cotton, oranges and train, which flourish in tropical rr.f usion. Modern irrigation In the Salt River Vsllev dates hack only to 1867. Be ten that year and 1892 several ca nals v. ere built by private enterprise. All of them were only partially suc cessful, owing to the difficulty and ex Jmse of maintaining diversion dams. In tunc of high water the brush and s,.n 1 danv would be. washed away; r-v the time they could be replen ished there would not be water enough i Jn S;:K River to irrigate the land tin-I tr cultivation. I An equalizer, something to impound , h flood waters and release them j li"n needed, was required. And so. i today, the Salt River valley has the j;ooscvclt dam. ' Mles of weil-kept lawns and It uab in issa that the dam site vs discovered. in the mountains -ier.ty miles east of Phoenix, at the influence of Salt River and Tonto rek. In every way the site was an ideal one. without counterpart any where in the world. con- . In 11 Arthur P. Davis, then tiecu-fl with the United States geo- logical survey and now director of the j -lamation service, made detail sur- . es in co-opwation with the Mari- . eopi county water storage commis- ' sion of the site. The fight to per- i made the government to construct the ' 'am. under the provisions of the rec- Unwmn act. then began. A volume -uM b written about the fight ! lone. I The ficht was eventually won. In March, lo3. the secretary of the In terior authorized the construction of the dam. The dream of Salt River "v, , -x' A,.J fut by Phoenix Kntrravin? Co. il I m Valley farmers was at last in a fair way to come true. Numerous unforseen difficulties de layed the construction of the dam. It was not until September 20, 1906, that the first stone was laid. The last one was laid on the parapet, ex tenting from end to end of the crest, February 5. 1911, and the official dedi cation was held March 18 of that year. Kx-president Theodore Roosevelt de livered the dedicatory address. Long after the dam was finished there were scoffers who said that the reservoir would never be filled to its greatest capacity. On April 14 of this year water splashed over the spillway at the south end of the mon umental structure. The reservoir was full; not another drop could be im pounded. At no time since April 20 has the stream flowing over the spill way been less than two feet in depth. With the reservoir full, more water Is being furnished by the Salt and Verde rivers than the farmers can use and a great stream is flowing away to the sea. It cost $3,190,000 to build the Roose velt dam. No less than $551,000 was expended on the damsite. permanent roads for though in a. place of great natural beauty, was almost in accessible. In order to freight in sup plies it was necessary to construct" a sixty mile highway from Mesa. This is the far-famed Roosevelt road, that is known throughout the world for the j magnificence, beauty and charm of us scenery. It is part of a trans continental highway across the United States. Not all the material used in the construction of the dam was freight ed from outside. The rock, of course, was quarried right out of the moun tains buttressing the site. A cement mill and sawmill were constructed nearby, and it is estimated that' the saving effected thereby was $644,000. Mere figures give on only a faint idea of the Roosevelt dam and lake. They are so stupendous that they cannot be comprehended by the hu man mind. The dam towers 281 feet from its lowest foundation and 244 feet above the bed of the river. The total length at the bottom is 210 feet and the top 1123 feet. A roadway runs along the jiifM. connecting inc sections oi ine town of Roosevelt which are on op- posite sides of the river. When full, as it is today, the lake (created by this titanic structure is 8 miles long, covers 26.3 square miles and of water. contains 1,367,000 acre feet The average depth is 81 feet. An acre foot of wate is enough to cover an acre to a e'epth of one foot, The area of land in the Salt River valley regularlv entitled to receive - - ' I a - vjWr; ', IT - SOME PHOENIX ItESIDEXCES thousands of evergreen trees make Phoenix stored water is 180,000 acres, and plans are under way to add 32.000 I acres, making a grand total of 212,000 ; acres. Therefore, if the water stored In the Teservoir was spread out at once over the land on which it will ultimately be used, that land would be covered to a depth of more than seven and a half feet. Naturally the Roosevelt dam and reservoir are the most striking fea tures of the Salt River project. Hut they are by no means the only fea tures. Fifty miles below Roosevelt and aliout three miles belo where the Verde merges with the Salt River. Is the Granite Reef diversion dam, a concrete wall 1000 feet long extend ing diagonally across the stream. In constructing the Granite Reef dam 35.800 cubic yards of concrete and 40. too cubic "yards of earth were used, The cost was $622.74. In many ways Att,. -4' . 1 ' ' vi ta, -a-, 'f - . i ' , U a . . . , 7 3gi ? . ".-' 4&,Vy r?Wt2 'V j4Jtrr i Nil) iTtC i- -.V 4i.fhr. .rXjll 3 i . Cut by Phoenix Kngraving Company.- The Roosevelt Dam is today. May 23id, impounding over 1,400,000 acre feet three years to come. In gallons the contcnis are 4.573:8C0.O00.0O0. Today t 207, is over two feet c'eep.'and on its way to the bed of the river, 227 feet this dam is as important as the Roosevelt dam. It cannot be washed out by any flood, but is always there ready to divert water into great canals on the two sides of the river. It is the Kalt River Valley's last protec- tion against drought, for it insures that the water stored at Roosevelt, and also the normal flow of the tvo.jf gelling water on the acre foot basis rivers, will at all times be avail- I was inaugurated in October. 1912. Tri able for use. At each end of the dam is a great headgate. operated by electric motors. On the north side the gate admits water into the Arizona ami on the east side into the consolidated. These big canals are feeders for all the others, and for many laterals and small ditches. There are eight main . canals on the north side, having a total length cttractive the year roenct: of 97 mill's. On the south side are. nine canals, 96 miles long. -Mont of these cauals were purchased by the reclamation service from private com panies. Practically all of them have been enlarged and straightened; the old wooden gates and bridges have been replaced with concrete struc tures. j About two miles west of Tcinpe is the. Joint Head dam, also of concrete, lit i.s nmjjh smaller that the ono at i Granite Reef and serves ttie ; of diverting seepage. In purpose i ordinary j limes little water goes by the joint head. Not all the irrigation water used in the Salt River valley comes from the rivers. On the south side are nine pumping units, operated by electricity, Ouring the irrigation year of 1913 1914 these pumps furnished 3,4Kl acre feet of water. Thev are mar- 2 t -, ANOTHER .VIEW AVATEFf ENOUGH veloua machines, requiring little at tention Ultimately many more will be installed around the edges of the irrigation project. J Water is sold to the landholders I at fifty cents an acre foot," up to three acre feet. If more Is used the i charge is slightly higher. This plan ir.au? or to that iflat acreag ater was basks. delivered on a As the water I usei did not have to pay for the I exac t amount delivered, they natural j ly gave little thought to the conser ! vat ion of water and as a result there was much waste. Under the new sys tem the "duty" of water has increased trom 3.25 feet per acre per year to 2.8 feet per acre. Tlys is spoken of as an increase because a given amount of water now irrigates more land than l'ormerly. Further reductions .are hoped for, as farmers and reclamation service officials tire co-operating, in the effort to cut down consumption. Tho hydrographic work carried on inestimable importance. These inves tigations have shown that 45 per cent of the water diverted into the canals i lost through seepage and irrigation. They have shown that in 1911. 2"2,647 acre feet of Verde water went to waste. And plans are now under consideration for the saving of much of this seepage by ewmenting the canal, llydrngraphic data on the Salt River project is .vvailable as far hack as 1S99. Kramnge work is carried on in eon- reetiop with the hydrographie investi- j gations. In February. l01-", the engi neer in charge of drainage segregated two districts, which are to be investi gated carefully. One district, 27.000 acres, lies west of Phoenix: the other. 26.0(!0 acres is between Tcmpe anil Chandler. fiver these districts test- boring have been made at quarter- j mile intervals, affording a( curate data j regarding underground water and soil strata. In all other irrigated districts, the underground flow is slowly rising. ! It is estimated that the lining of j the canals, laterals and ditches with I concrete would save ninety per cent j of the water now lost through evapor- I ation and seepage. This would ad- I mit the addition of a large area to j the irrigated area. Concreting the j j laterals alone would save enough i J water for over 30,000 acres. Another j plan the vallcyhns for increasing its j water supply is to build a storage ! dam on Verde river, a few miles above i the mouth. An excellent damsite ex- I ists and enough water for 31.000 acres ! can be stored there. i It is not visionary to predict that the time will come when the Verde dam will be constructed and the ea nulsy and ditches will be lined from enc l end with concrete, thus great ly Increasing- the irrigated urea. It is certain that as time goes on the farmers will leurn how to produce OF THE IJESKUVOIU AND TO SPAIJE. of water' enough to insure maximu;n crops ;n the Salt River Valley for he water going over the spillways, one of which is 220 fert wide, the other below, forms most beautiful waterfalls. I abundant crops with much less water I than they are now using, thereby j making available water for the irriga j tion of many thousands of additional j acres. Evaporation and seepage are not the only jirobkms connected with the maintenance of the irrigation system, but investigations and experiments by the reclamation service have kept the cost of maintenance down to a mini mum. In some canals, where the ve locity of the water is slow, moss growth sometimes seriously irnneds the flow. The most satisfactory meth od of removing moss, it has been found, is by moans of a spring-t'JoUi harrow, pulled by horses. Silt is removed from the canals with fresno scrapers. Tile removal of weeds from the 'banks of the canals effected in is by the two use ways. The first w; ivX--p?'J-' m'-iX rifSrr- FOIiKUAY AT ARIZONA. FALLS POWER IIOUSK Located northeast of Phoenix on thj Arir.ona Canal near Inqleside. This power house is one of the four hydro electric plants in the Salt River Project. I of mowers, scythes and shovels. The j most satisfactory method is to lot I sheep and goats graze off the weeds. ITh's plan was first tried in 1914 and j the cost of maintaining the canals : dropped $114.95 a mile that year. In addition to a profit of $3,199.47 was j realized from the flocks. ; Now, what is being accomplished ! in the world's most favored farming idisirict, under the "show" project of I the reclamation service? ! According- to statistics collected by i the United States government, the av erage value of the. crops produced in j tiieSait River Valley during the year j extending from October 1, 1913, to j September 30, 1914, was $23.S0an acre, j The returns were from 169,719 acres. I Alfalfa was planted on 80,733 acres ! of the total. The average yield was 1 three tons to" the acre and the aver- AT ROOSEVELT Pliotograpl:, Courtesy Romnine Fielding. age price was $t) a ton. Anyone who Knows anything at all about farming in the Sjlt River Valley will concede ; that betli of these figures are ex- treniely conservative. Some of the most profitable crops; small fruits, ?14o an acre; deciduous; fruits. $1h'i; watermelons, $110; sugar tune, ?1S; long staple Egyptian cotton, , $70; cantaloupes, $70; broom corn, $37.50. Other crops figuring promi ncntly on the report were barley, beans, corn, garden truck, oats, olives,' potatoes and wheat. I The climate of the Salt River Val- J ley is semi-tropical. It is healthful to man and causes to flourish every pro- , duct of tropical or temperate zone. ' There is never a crop failure. All danger of drougth is eliminated by the Roosevelt (Jam and the magnificent irrigation system which supplements it. I'ests which devastate less favor- cd agricultural regions have never ; made their appearance here, i No crop failure! No drought! Un- equaled climate! Assurance that ulti I mately every rural home will be elec trically lighted and that much of the farm 'labor will be accomplished by electricity! What more can man desire? j Power System. The people of the Salt River Valley are to be congratulated that in the I development of a reliable irrigation system there was incidentally made possible the development of a com- prehensive power generation and i transmission sstem which will be ! come a source of very satisfactory ! revenue, as well as the means of pro ! inotins local industry and greater comfort throughout the valley. ..The I power system got its start from the , i- v need of power in the construction of the dam. Fuel, when transported to the site of the Roosevelt dam is very expensive, hence a power canal was built above the high water line of the reservoir of sufficient capacity to carry the low flow of the river. A power plant for construction purposes was located in a cave that has since become the switchboard gallery of the permanent power plant. This power system has been nearly completed to a total installed capacity of 17,000 kw. distributed in four plants. There is connected with the system a total of 173 miles of 54.000 volt transmission line and 32 miles of 10,000-volt transmission line, act ing as a distributing system. These lines supply nine sub-stations and twenty pumping plants used for irri gation. The Roosevelt power plant, having a capacity of 9,50(1 kw is located at the toe of the dam. Five units have laiion ii liic sixiii i.nil, capacity i.iiuu kw., will be completed within the next few months. There are two strik ing innovations at the Roosevelt plant. The first one is the installation of the electrical generator on the top of the water wheel case; the second is the use of a single runner turbine for a range of head operating from 90 feet to 226 feet with a good power outpait and high efficiency through out the range. The plant is built on shelf cut from the edge of the canyon wall, and the type of' unit installed was developed to fit the small amount of space available for the plant, on account of this condition. The plant generates at 2300 volts, and this current is transformed in the transformer and switching honse 600 feet away to 45,000 volts which is the voltage of the transmission line. The South Consolidated plant is lo cated about one anil a half miles below Granite Reef dam on the South and Consolidated canals. It has a demonstrated capacity of 2000 kw. with a fall of 32 feet. The plant is a standard low-head type of plant of reinforced concrete construction, and is so designed that it can be operated with only one man on shift. The overall efficiency is unusually high while the operating cost is low on ac count of its simple and substantial design. The Crosscut plant is installed on the Crosscut canal, which is used to transfer water from the high to the low lands of the valley. This plant stands out a one of the most unique hydro-electric developments in exist ence. Due to the great variation in the flaw of water in the Crosscut canal and the silty character of tho water, a new type of plant was nec essary. Water is supplied to the wheels of this plant through force mains and passages composed en tirely of reinforced concrete. The water wheels are of the impulse type, supplied with six nozzles under indi vid.uil control. This makes possible the control of the water through the. riant to equal the supply of the Crosscut canal by varying the number of nozzles in use. It also brings about a very high average efficiency, for the plant will sustain its maxi mum water wheel efficiency down to 4 ,2 u jr r '7 - f , I 1-30 of full plant load. The output of the waterwheels has exceeded all expectations and the efficiency will undoubtedly be above the guarantees. The water wheels' are connected to alternating current generators, deliv ering 11,000 volts both to transformers for connection to the 45,000-volt trans mission line and directly into tho 10,000-volt distributing system. The result of this layout is a plant of moderate cost and great flexibility. The cost of maintenance will be very low, as there will be practically no repairs to the concrete structures and very small repairs to this type of wheel in spite of the silt. .The plant can be operated with one man on shift, bo that- the cost of operating is also a minimum. This plant has also been made the switching sta- (Continued on Page Three) w. 'y y tffi SS ImiiiiiI T n i li rt1.nifiii -Pnoto iy Farqnnar, f