Make the Valley Full of Ditches

Those words quoted above are inscribed on the tomb of Queen Semiramis, ancient Assyrian ruler, who is reputed to have directed her subjects to divert the Nile to irrigate fertile desert lands of Egypt, over 2000 years B. C. These canals deliver water to the presentday inhabitants of that ancient country.

So it is apparent that irrigation works have been constructed and maintained by governments since time immemorial.

Few people who live in humid climates think of the United States as a country where irrigation is necessary. Nevertheless, onethird of the land area of this Nation receives less than 20 inches of rainfall during an average year. Moreover, a large part of the rainfall of this region falls at a time when it is of little benefit to agriculture. Thus, irrigation is essential to successful agriculture in this region.

Prehistoric Indians in the Salt River Valley realized this when they dug irrigation ditches to deliver Salt River water to their cultivated fields. Early Mormons realized this when they first reached Utah and irrigated their crops in 1847. Jack Swilling also realized this when, shortly after the Civil War, he re-excavated a long abandoned and forgotten prehistoric Indian canal, extended it, and brought water to a plot of desert land in Central Arizona.

The first such developments were relatively easy. The individual farmer, with the aid of horses and a few hand tools, was able to scratch out a crude ditch adequate to water a few acres of river bottom land. However, many rivers of the West are hardly more than dusty channels which periodically become raging torrents. Streams that flow the whole year are rare, and river bottom lands not subject to periodic flooding are hard to find. The first settlers soon sought out and developed all of the suitable land to which water could be diverted with comparatively little effort.

It then became necessary for farmers to organize into districts and pool their efforts to get land under irrigation. Longer ditches were needed to transport water to lands located farther away from the river channels. Small storage reservoirs were essential to assure that the long, hot summer months would not wither an unwatered crop.

One by one, these districts built the cheaper and easier projects until the only remaining opportunities required still larger invest-ments. Financial backing from private capital was then obtained to provide much additional development. But eventually, the time came when the only remaining projects required investments beyond the means of private capital.

Many farsighted citizens of that day realized that the key to further development of the arid West lay in obtaining the assistance of the Federal Government. Theodore Roosevelt struck a convincing note in his first message to Congress in 1901 by declaring: "It is as right for the National Government to make the streams and rivers of the arid region useful by engineering works for the storage of water as to make useful the rivers and harbors of the humid regions by engineering works of another character."

Shortly thereafter, on June 17, 1902, President Roosevelt signed the Reclamation Act and the Reclamation Service, which was destined to grow up to be the Bureau of Reclamation, was born. As a result, the western United States entered a new era. Since 1902 the Reclamation Act has been amended many times, but the basic purpose of the law remains the same. Then, as now, the Reclamation program has striven to develop, conserve, and utilize to best advantage the water resources of the arid West.

Although the basic purpose of the Reclamation Law has re-mained unchanged, the scope of the activities which it embraces has been widened. Originally the law applied only to lands in 16 Western states. Subsequently, Texas was added to this list so that the Bureau of Reclamation now serves all 17 of the states lying in whole or in part west of the one hundredth meridian.

The original Reclamation Act provided for the construction of irrigation works for storage, diversion, and development of waters. It is particularly significant that this original legislation should be so unilateral in this respect. It serves to emphasize the primary purpose for which Reclamation projects have always been built. That purpose is irrigation.

However, highest efficiency is attained in projects which combine uses in a single structure. In 1906 the original Reclamation Act was modified to provide for construction of power developments as an adjunct to irrigation. Still later, other supplements and amendments to this first law made it even more inclusive.

Today the Bureau of Reclamation constructs projects which serve many incidental purposes in addition to irrigation. The water resources of the West are now put to fuller use in reservoirs which also provide for power production, flood control, improved navigation, silt control, recreation, and the preservation of fish and wildlife.

A unique feature of the Reclamation Law which places the Bureau of Reclamation in a class apart from most other Government agencies is the repayment policy. Here again, although the policy has been amended many times, the basic principles of the original Reclamation Law remain unchanged. Developments by the Bureau of Reclamation must be financially sound. The construction cost of a project serving only irrigation purposes must be repaid, to the National Government, by the farmers in 40 years without interest. If the project also serves power purposes, that portion of the cost Phoenix, wonder city of the Arizona desert, not long ago a wild frontier village, which the magic of water changed into a metropolis. Here is an artist's version of man's next dream on the Colorado-mighty Bridge Canyon Dam in the Grand Canyon above Lake Mead.

which may be justifiably allocated to power is repaid under somewhat more stringent conditions. Revenues from the sale of power must be sufficient to pay off power allocations in 50 years at 3 percent interest. Expenditures for certain benefits, such as flood control, which are national in scope and yet to a certain extent intangible, may be declared non-reimbursable.

However, the intents and purposes of any law are truly significant only insofar as results are obtained. And what are the results of the Reclamation Law?

Through the Bureau of Reclamation, a program to develop, conserve, and utilize to the best advantage the land and water resources of the arid West is being carried forward. This is being accomplished by constructing dams; by constructing canals, laterals, and other irrigation features; and by constructing hydroelectric power plants at the dams and at drops along the canals, together with transmission lines, in certain instances, to deliver electrical energy to farm, city, and factory.

Of the various features constructed by the Bureau, perhaps the most spectacular and certainly the most famous are the dams. Spanning the Colorado between Arizona and Nevada is one of the greatest engineering achievements of all time-Boulder Dam, highest dam in the world and, at the time of its construction, the largest. Boulder might well be called the first of the big dams. Since its construction other dams having greater volume have been built, and even larger dams will be built in the future; but Boulder will always remain a milestone in man's progress. Completed in 1936, Boulder Dam marked the beginning of a new era in dam construction.

Later Grand Coulee, the largest concrete dam in the world, was built to tame the waters of the Columbia River. This structure, located in the State of Washington, ultimately will provide irrigation water for more than one million acres. Next came Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River in the Central Valley of California. Second only to Grand Coulee in size and second in height to Boulder, Shasta will furnish water to two million acres.

In addition to irrigation benefits, Grand Coulee and Shasta, like Boulder, will develop literally billions of kilowatt-hours of electrical energy every year.

The Bureau of Reclamation has built 165 other dams, many of which are, or were at the time of construction, champions in their class. One hundred sixty-eight ventures in dam construction without a failure is something of a record in itself.

Not the least of the dams built by the Bureau of Reclamation is Arizona's Roosevelt Dam, on the Salt River. Roosevelt might be called the Boulder Dam of its day, being the first major structure of this type built by the Bureau of Reclamation. At the time of its completion in 1911, it was the highest dam in the world and is still the high-est cyclopean rubble masonry arch dam that man has ever built. Granite Reef Dam, on the Salt River below Roosevelt another Bureau of Reclamation development is the focal point from which water is diverted to more than 300,000 acres in the Salt River Valley.

est cyclopean rubble masonry arch dam that man has ever built. Granite Reef Dam, on the Salt River below Roosevelt another Bureau of Reclamation development is the focal point from which water is diverted to more than 300,000 acres in the Salt River Valley.

Arizona has another "first" constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation. That is Bartlett Dam, on the Verde River, the highest multiple-arch dam. In addition there is Parker Dam on the Colorado River, which contains a greater percentage of its volume below stream bed than any other dam in the world. Less spectacular, but just as important, is Imperial Dam on the Colorado River, which serves to divert water to the All-American Canal as well as to the lands of the Gila Project in Arizona. Farther downstream is Laguna Dam from which lands in the old Yuma Project received their water for many years until Imperial Dam replaced its function. However, dams in themselves do not irrigate land. True reclamation in that sense can only begin when the water is delivered to the land. Consider the accomplishments of the Bureau of Reclamation in building the necessary distribution works.

To date over 15,300 miles of canal have been constructed. To cover this distance on foot would take almost six months of brisk walking along those canal banks without stopping. You could walk across the Continent in one fifth the time. In addition to these canals the Bureau of Reclamation has constructed more than 100 miles of tunnels, almost 200 miles of flume, 14,000 bridges and a myriad of other structures.

In the matter of power plants the Bureau's record is equally impressive. Last year the 33 power plants built by the Bureau of Reclamation had an installed capacity of over 2 million kilowatts.

From a practical standpoint, however, it matters little whether a dam is the highest or the lowest, the largest of the smallest, or whether a canal would extend from New York to the moon or from here to the corner; whether a power plant generates one kilowatt or a million. The real test is what purpose does any given feature serve and how well does it serve that purpose?

The effect of the Bureau of Reclamation's program on the Nation's welfare is widespread. Over 4 million acres of land, irrigated by Bureau facilities, are producing more than 23 billion pounds of food and forage annually. The Bureau's hydroelectric power plants are generating more than 13 billion kilowatt-hours every year.

A few months ago, while products from farms on Reclamation projects were helping to fulfill the slogan "Food Will Win the War," power from the Bureau's hydroelectric plants was flowing to shipyards, airplane factories, and other armament plants to produce implements of destruction. Today, when a hungry Europe looks to this country for salvation, 23 billion pounds of food and forage assumes added significance. In a world where peacetime production was brought to a virtual standstill for almost half a decade, the manufactured products made possible by 13 billion kilowatt-hours of electric energy go far toward relieving suffering and want.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

Within our own country the effects of Reclamation activities are directly felt in the everyday life of about five million people who are receiving irrigation, power, or municipal-water service made possible by the work of the Bureau. But the effects of these Reclamation activities are indirectly spread over a much wider area. Western agriculture not only furnishes food to the Eastern manufacturing centers but also constitutes a sizeable market for non-western products. It is estimated that the value of such products consumed in Reclamation project areas amounts to almost a quarter of a billion dollars annually.

Nowhere in the 17 Western states are the benefits of Reclamation activities more strongly felt than in Arizona. Although it is one of the most arid states in the Nation, Arizona's principal industry is agriculture. This is directly attributable to the Bureau developments in this area. The Bureau of Reclamation takes pride and fatherly interest in Arizona. Within the State are two of the first projects developed under Reclamation Law the Salt River and Yuma Projects. Well over one-half the total acreage cultivated in the State is served in whole or in part by Bureau-built structures. If it were not for Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River and Bartlett Dam on the Verde, the Salt River Valley would be a barren desert with only a few scattered farms hugging the river channels. Last year the Salt River Project alone produced crops valued at $195 per acre on 228,500 acres of land. Without irrigation and protective works, the now fertile and productive Yuma Valley would be a river bottom waste. Over $10,000,000 worth of crops were grown on the Yuma Project during 1946.

Within or along the borders of the State of Arizona, about six billion kilowatt-hours of electric energy were generated in 1946 by hydroelectric plants constructed by the Bureau.

To date the Bureau of Reclamation has invested slightly less than one billion dollars in Reclamation developments. Probably no other major investment made by the Federal Government yields so high a return. In 1945 power revenues alone amounted to over 21 million dollars, to say nothing of revenues received from the sale of irrigation water which produced over 400 million dollars worth of crops. Income from the sale of water and electric energy will, within the life span of people now living, repay this entire cost to the United States Treasury. And this investment will continue paying dividends for generations after the original investment has been repaid. For example, Boulder Dam will represent a source of revenue to the Government long after the cost of the structure has been paid in full.

However, the Bureau of Reclamation is not content with past achievements. The present and future are of even greater importance in considering its activities. During the war years, construction activities of the Bureau were drastically curtailed while the Nation turned its attention from progress to destruction. With victory, however, this Nation and the Bureau turned attention to reconversion and construction. On some projects construction stopped by the war was resumed, and construction of some new projects was started.

In Arizona, construction of Davis Dam, on the Colorado River between Boulder and Parker Dams, was resumed. Complete with generators and transmission lines, Davis will cost about $77,000,000 and will take about three and a half years to build. With an installed capacity of 225,000 kilowatts, it will generate slightly less than one billion kilowatt-hours of electrical energy annually. It will not irrigate new land, but will aid in regulating the river.

On the Yuma Mesa Division of the Gila Project, near Yuma, construction is under way to wrest 11,000 acres from the desert, to provide homes for veterans, by late Fall of 1947. This is not nearly enough land to meet the needs of our returning soldiers who would establish themselves on farms of their own, but to a few it will be a golden opportunity. It is planned to make additional lands available to our veterans at some later date.

Not the least important Bureau of Reclamation activity is planning for the future. Looking toward the full development of the water resources of the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau recently released a report titled "The Colorado River." This report presents an inventory of virtually all potential projects within the State of Arizona. Plans for such a gigantic power plant as that which could be located near the potential Bridge Canyon Dam, at the head of Lake Mead, are discussed. Consideration is given to the Central Arizona Project, which is of such vital concern to every resident of the State. Now under study by the Bureau, this project would involve the diversion of Colorado River water to the central part of the State. The purpose of this project would be to maintain in cultivation that large area of Arizona which has been brought under irrigation but which cannot otherwise be adequately supplied with irrigation water year in and year out. This project would not add to the irrigated area of the State, but would stabilize an economy which, being based on over-expansion, must otherwise be drastically curtailed. Although the desirability of this project is self-evident, its feasibility is as yet undetermined. Even now the Bureau is striving toward such a determination.

And so the accomplishments of the Bureau of Reclamation call to mind the 16th and 17th verses of the third chapter of II Kings: "And he said, 'Thus saith the Lord, Make the Valley full of ditches, For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts."