THE CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT

THE CAP ENTRAL RIZONA PROJECT

The story of water is the story of man. The story of Arizona is the saga of both man and water. Civilizations, nations and empires have risen and fallen because of water. In some areas of the world, dams, canals and reservoirs are a legacy handed down to present day life from cultures that no longer exist. Not only are innumerable ancient wells and aqueducts of the Old World in existence today, but many are still in use. Wise old Solomon expended considerable energy and wealth supervising the construction of waterways to provide for the needs of “man, beast and field.” Mohammed saw water as an object of relig ious charity; a devoted believer in the Koran passage, “No one can refuse surplus water without sinning against Allah and against Man,” while the Bible describes a good land: “. . . a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills . . .” From the beginning of recorded time, man’s romance with this wondrous natural element has usually caused his settling along river valleys, close to a ready source of fresh water, and America’s trek west can be marked by charting the locations of rivers and streams, first to the Mohawk in New York, onto the upper Potomac in Maryland and West Virginia. The Ohio, too. But in the southwest it is not merely a question of mapping the route of migration and waterways, but of gauging man’s ingenuity to solve the problem of bringing water to the desert.

Arizona’s concern for water grows more vital with each passing year. A sufficient water supply for the state is a dream, true; yet a practical one ready to wake into reality is the Central Arizona Project. Alice Tisdale Hobart’s novel Oil for the Lamps of China presented a vast insight into the juxtaposition of two cultures. In a sense there is a connection between her book’s title and present day Arizona. The state is changing. The Old West is not gone, but fading. A new culture, pulsating and sprawling, has appeared and though the state has no need of oil for its lamps, it has a pressing need for water. Water for the Life of Arizona. One of America’s more colorful Senators was the late Henry Fountain Ashrust, who represented Arizona in Washington from the end of territorial days in 1912 until 1941. He was a man with a sense of humor and a knack for summing up a situation with an easy clarity. His maiden speech in the U. S. Senate began: “Mr. President, the new baby state I represent has the greatest of potential. This state could become a paradise. We need only two things: water and lots of good people . . .” At this point, the mention of water and people, Senator Ashurst was interrupted by a representative from New England. “If the Senator will pardon me for saying so,” he began courteously enough, “that’s all they need in Hell!”

What is it? How it Would Work! What it Would Mean!

The changes Henry Fountain Ashurst thought probable over fifty years ago would conceivably startle him today in their fruition. They are that marked and striking.

The once "Baby State" is now a rugged, energized Arizona, bursting with vitality and developing into everything epitomized by the expression "The New West."

The paradise aspects of uncrowded space, climate, natural splendor and a rewarding way of life have become synonymous with Arizona, and the late Senator's hope for "... lots of good people" has materialized to such an extent that statisticians have a full-time job merely keeping up with the state's multiplying population. As one example, a model that no longer surprises Arizonans, the population of the cities Phoenix and Tucson has quintupled in the last decade alone. But water, or rather the lack of it, remains Arizona's most urgent problem and constant concern.

Water is not a new issue by any means. Settlers in Arizona have always had to face this puzzler, one way or another, sooner or later. Range wars between cattlemen and sheepmen are part of the Old West's legends, but gunfights over water and water rights are as much a part of Arizona's contemporary beginnings as any dispute over the grazing privileges of a ewe or a steer.

The acquiring of a homestead in Arizona presented slight difficulty for early settlers. The acquisition could be had with little effort, but the possession of a clean spring capable of sustaining life was another matter. The stream frequently became more important than the house or the land. Historical records in the State Archives contain many photos of men mounted on horseback, Winchesters ready. There is usually a stream nearby, its importance to the family unit dramatically highlighted in periods of drought. Arizona has moved far from this ruggedly romantic but disquieting vignette. The single family unit nestled around the strength of a stream or spring has changed into a complex modern society. Today many springs, large or small, are not enough to supply a demand that becomes yearly more and more insistent. Distant water, from distant rivers, must answer the challenge.

The inability to control the moods and temper of such a powerful force as water caused the dissolution of the Hohokam Indian civilization in Central Arizona around 1400, and the single word "drought," with all its implications, at the turn of the century was enough to stagnate economy in the promising Salt River Valley, once a land part of the Hohokam community.

Arizona being a desert state is not divorced from desert nations when it comes to the riddles offered by water. Nations that have not solved the enigma have remained arid, unproductive and poor. Arizona is a land thirsty for water and a full potential dependent on this simple, yet perplexing substance. No secret that the state's explosion in terms of economics and populace mustcome to a halt in the not too distant future if more water is not obtained to sustain the heavily settled areas of Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, all located in what is generally referred to as Central Arizona.This is a region of more-than-vital importance, affecting the entire state. In this area live 3/4 of Arizona's population. 90% of the state's industry is located here, along with over 60% of the state's irrigated land.

To many the subject of water is distant and vague, especially if they happen to reside in a state where no overt water problem exists. There is nothing remote or dull in the topic as far as Arizonans are concerned. Water is the land's most important resource, commanding and demanding, limiting or permitting expansion in every corner of the state. In a locale like Central Arizona where population, agriculture and industry convene in close harmony, the situation is critical. Available water supplies cannot be depended upon indefinitely, a condition bound to affect the state's health.

The old law of supply and demand plays an important role in the drama. Arizona uses approximately 4.3 million acre-feet of water annually. What is available to supply this demand sketches an uneasy portrait. Academically, an acre-foot (ac/ft) of water is the amount required to cover an acre of land with a foot of water, or more simply put, it amounts to something like 325,850 gallons. Over a million ac/ft come from surface sources, e.g., the Gila, Salt and Verde River systems. Three million ac/ft are pumped from the ground. The surface water is a renewable source, but of the three million ac/ft pumped from the ground only a small percentage is replaced by rainfall seepage. Over two million ac/ft are mined without hope of renewal, water that has, through centuries, seeped deep into the earth. This is a reserve rapidly being exhausted. The policy of obtaining water by this method eventually will lead to what is termed "water bankruptcy," more water beingspent than is being taken in. There are even more uncomfortable considerations for Central Arizona. The water table under the sunny city of Tucson is currently dropping at the alarming rate of about three feet a year. Around Phoenix the average drop is estimated at eight feet! The lower the table drops, the higher the cost of pumping the water must be. Regrettably, in time, even this sunken treasure will be gone.

Just how much water a person uses in modern society is astounding. A person is likely to drink no more than a quart of water in any single day. However, he is very likely to use over 200 gallons in other ways. A bath will take from fifteen to thirty gallons, a shower approximately the same. If the kitchen sink is filled, about ten gallons are called into service. A dishwasher gurgles about twelve gallons, and gardening needs are measured to the interest the gardener shows in his lawn, plants and shrubs. The water requirements of the industries of the area must be accounted for. Contemporary life imposes exhaustive requirements on a water supply. Frontier life, it has been estimated, got along well enough with a daily average of three to five gallons a person, usually water drawn directly from a well or stream. Lawns, baths, showers, automatic dishwashers, indoor plumbing and the assorted niceties of everyday life were yet to come. The theory being: The higher a standard of living, the higher the water consumption will be.

Since the water in Central Arizona is being used much faster than it can be replaced, what is the solution?

There are, to be sure, many ideas that intrigue. Some, even years ago, would be thought Jules Verne-ish in concept. Cloud seeding is an idea that has possibilities.

Rain in many parts of the United States is equated with pain. Perhaps it spoils an outing, makes walking unpleasant or causes taxis to disappear. In Arizona no one complains of the rain, that is, when there is any.to keep the fields green and the land productive.

When there is a rainfall it is quickly seized by evaporation, thirsty desert flora and low humidity.

Cloud-seeding is a method of salting clouds with chemicals that induce water vapor to condense and drop to the ground as rain. Dr. Louis Battan, associate director of the institute of atmospheric physics at the University of Arizona, has conducted many experiments along these lines, but cautions "The concensus is that under certain conditions it can be done, but it has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt at this point."

Carefully treated waste water from the cities of Phoenix and Tucson is being used to irrigate farm crops that are not used for food. Water conservation by this and other means is a necessity rather than a novelty in Arizona. Desalination of brackish groundwater is another means a saving a potential source of water. Too expensive for agriculture, but possible for towns, one of the first municipal desalination plants in the nation is now in operation at Buckeye, Arizona.

Arizona's dream for water and its hopes for the future are embodied in that practical solution previously mentioned: Central Arizona Project.

The Project is a plan to bring water from the Colorado River to Central Arizona where it would supplement already existing but inadequate water supplies for agricultural, municipal and industrial uses. Designed to bring the land 1.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water from Lake Havasu at Parker Dam (halfway between Yuma and Hoover Dam), the Central Arizona Project includes considerations for water benefits to locales that will not actually get Colorado River water, but by mutual agreement, could trade their interests in it for the right to divert stream water passing through their area.

The headwaters of the river are in the northern part of Colorado and the river runs 1450 miles before it finally empties into the Gulf of California. In 1922, the seven states in the Colorado River Basin met to discuss the allocation of approximately 15 million acre-feet of water which every year flowed into and down the river. The result of this convention was the Colorado River or Santa Fe Compact. The states divided the Colorado River into Upper and Lower Basins, with the under-standing that each basin would receive a given allotment of water each year. The dividing line on the Colorado was drawn at Lee's Ferry, a spot in the north of Arizona below Glen Canyon Dam and the Arizona-Utah border. A treaty between the United States government and the government of Mexico allowed 1.5 million acre-feet to pass south of the border, but this amount was not deducted from that stated in the Santa Fe Compact since, in actuality, the water could first be used before being sent on to Mexico.

The Upper Basin States are Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. These four states in partnership with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Congress have already erected dams which provide a source of steady revenue for allied enterprises, among them the construction of irrigation projects.

"FROM MOUNTAIN TO MOUNTAIN" BY DON DE MUTH. Photograph was made from atop one of White Tank Mountain foot-hills about six miles north of Buckeye, Arizona. The long focus lens used was stopped down completely to obtain maximum depth of view. Fortunately the foothill from which the photograph was made was "double-peaked." This allowed for the interesting foreground which is one of the peaks while the camera on tripod was placed on the other. The green fields of the Buckeye Valley are evidence of man's ingenuity in wresting rich lands from the desert, making them productful and fruitful. 4x5 Model IV Linhof camera; Daylight Ektachrome; f.32 at 1/50th sec.; 270mm Tele-Arton lens; brilliant sunlight; GE 30 meter reading; ASA rating 64.

GENERAL LOCATION MAP

The Lower Basin States are California, Arizona and Nevada. Unlike the Upper four, the three states in the Lower Basin have found things a mite brackish politically. The Old West continues to make itself felt even though the tempo of the times is not to the tune of jangling spurs and the slap of saddle leather. In the Old West the legality of water rights was summed up in what was called "prior appropriation." In short, "prior appropriation is the foundation of Western water law. The theory is illustrated easily: if a settler-began to divert a certain amount of water a year from an unused source, he automatically established the right to continue to divert that amount from the same source every year. If another settler were to happen upon a site for a home stead father up the stream he could not, under the law, divert that water to his own use if it deprived the first man of his water. The fact that the stream might flow right through his land did not alter the law, nor does it now. The upstream settler was, and is, required to let that prior appropriation of water a year pass unhindered. Now, in times of drought the man who was the last to take water from the stream must be the first to stop.

The question of water rights between Arizona, and California is far more involved than this, Intricate and subject to other legalistic considerations. But the subject and its involvements has been the main obstacle between Arizona and its dream of utilizing flow of the Colorado. The Santa Fe Compact of 1933 was an attempt to ward off such controversies.

The water allocated to the Upper Basin states amounted to approximately 7.5 million acre-feet a year. The Compact granted still another 7.5 million acre-feet of water to the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada.

Following enactment of the Boulder Canyon Project Act by the Congress, California began developing its long-range hydroelectric power and water plans. The Metropolitan Aqueduct to the Colorado River was built, though it was thought that its delivery capacity would. not be needed for at least fifty years.

Arizona's plans for utilization of its share of Colorado River water remained on paper, except along the banks of the River in Yuma County, while Southern California's plans were translated into construction of works and delivery systems.

Desert folklore abounds in water tales. One apropos is the Legend of the Slamming Door. Its variants are endless, but basically it's the story of an aged prospector dying of thirst who manages to crawl to a ramshackle hut, begs water from its occupants, and receives instead a door slammed in his face. In retribution, the ghost of the prospector wanders the desert sands, banging a ghost door which attracts the attention of other desolate thirsty souls who seek relief in vain. Whether in fact or fancy, water is no joking matter in the Southwest.

In 1946, about the time it was pointedly obvious that Athona was swiftly heading for a new era in both. development and water shortage, an organization came Into being that would plan for the use of the Colorado River water; an organization of firsighted gentlemon called the Central Arizona Project Association. The Association is a private, non-profit group governed by a 25-member board of directors, supported primarily by contributions from members.

Two years before the association's birth, Arizona appropriated $200,000 to help finance an investigation on the uses of Colorado River water with relation to the state. The survey was a cooperative effort with the Bureau of Reclamation. The association strength was behind the report the Bureau eventually issued and it conducted its task of endorsing, supporting and encour aging the Central Arizona Project with purposeful sin cerity and honest dedication.

By this time it was obvious that Arizona was low on available water. Plans were made of a positive nature that would not only show the justification for the Project but would show that Arizona was ready to implement and employ the proposals made.

The next step was to ask Congress for the necessary funds. The reason for this is twofold: Central Arizona Project is concerned with an interstate river which falls under federal jurisdiction, and the cost of the Project would be prohibitive for Arizona alone.

It became apparent that a State Agency was essential to coordinate the work of the State and Federal Governments. Hence, in 1948, the Arizona Legislature created the Arizona Interstate Stream Commission and granted it authority to plan water projects, prosecute and defend Arizona's rights in interstate streams, apply to the Federal Government for reservoir licenses, dam sites and rights of way and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature.

Actually, in 1950 and 1951, the Senate passed the Central Arizona Project bills. But the struggle goes back even further. In 1945, then Senator Ernest McFarland, speaking before the Senate on the Central Arizona Project emphasized "... I do not believe there is a single Colorado River Basin state which can now or in the future be able to make more profitable use of the water of the Colorado River than Arizona."

Legal obstacles continued and after a lengthy battle in its Interior Committee, the House adopted the attitude that before it would pass the bill, Arizona would have to prove its legal right to Colorado River water.

Arizona filed suit. The Supreme Court appointed Judge George I Haight as special master to listen to and consider the sundry positions and arguments, among them California's contention that Arizona was getting much of its water quota from the Gila River at the egg-shaped Coolidge Dam, located in Gila County. This position Arizona challenged by pointing out that its allocation of water is from Lake Mead and the Gila River flows into the Colorado system downstream from Hoover Dam. This was typical of many arguments that concerned Judge Haight before his death, a demise that occurred long before the hearings were completed. Judge Simon H. Rifkind, a New Yorker and a former federal judge, was appointed by the Supreme Court to continue the hearings and draw a conclusion and make recom mendations.

On May 8, 1960, Judge Rifkind presented his find ings. In his final report to the Supreme Court the con clusion reached was one favorable to Arizona's position.

The Supreme Court considered the findings and on June 4, 1963, ruled. The decision was 7-1 in favor of Arizona on the major issue. The decision left the state free to move toward authorization of its Central Arizona Project.

The court's decision capped a decade's legal fight on the use of Colorado River Water; but the struggle over how much water each state could legally take had been going on for over forty forty years.

The transcript of the hearings ran to over 26,000 pages and thousands of varied exhibits.

Despite the fact the ruling went in favor of Arizona, the state must convince the Congress of the United States to authorize and build the Project. The concept behind the Central Arizona Project is awe-inspiring. If the over-all plan seems gigantic in design an investigation of its full scope shows the project gigantic in potential.

The Colorado is a majestic and powerful river. Its basin is one of America's largest river systems, covering an area nearly as large as the nation of France. Nearly half of the Colorado's drainage area is within the borders of the state of Arizona; 700 miles of its bed are located within the state as well.The river rises in the Rocky Mountains, journeys onto the southeast corner of Utah and the northwest corner of Arizona, curving below the Grand Canyon to the south creating a point at Nevada, and draws the dividing line between the states of Arizona and Cali fornia. Eventually it journeys into the Gulf of California. In doing so it serves as the boundary between the Mexi can states of Baja California and Sonora. For the ana lytical-minded, the water of the Colorado contains about one ton of soluble salts to an acre-foot.

Estimations surmise that the total cost of the Central Arizona Project would be well over one billion dollars, a sum to be spent over a span of some ten years, the length of time the Project would take to be constructed.

In compass and in relation to its place in time, space and history, the Central Arizona Project ranks far ahead of the achievements scored by the ancient Chinese Tukiangyien system, a marvel of engineering some 2300 years ago, diverting the water of the Min River that rose high in the plateaus of Tibet.

The first step aims at the construction of a large dam at Bridge Canyon in the northwestern part of the state. Such a dam would be the highest in the Western Hemisphere: 740 feet. Electricity would be generated at this site for pumping water from the river and for sale to assist repayment of project costs. Without such assis-tance the cost of water would be prohibitive.

The repayment to the U. S. Treasury would span fifty years. From the sale of electricity and water the Central Arizona Project would be able to return 97% of the original financing. The remaining 3% would cover state flood control allowances and general cate gories such as recreation.

Power generators and drops would be located along the water route, but the main center of power facility would remain at Bridge Canyon where six turbines and generators would have an estimated annual output of 5.8 billion kilowatts.

The whole concept calls for five dams, four aque ducts, countless pipelines, four tunnels, four pump sta tions and five storage reservoirs, all geared to bring water from the Colorado to Central Arizona.

Water would be taken from the river near Parker Dam close to the California border, pumped 985 feet over the mountains and then flow mainly by force of gravity pull through an aqueduct some 220 miles long.

The water passage would be aided by pumps along the route. At some three points the flow racing down ward would justify the power generators mentioned.

The course of the water would flow to the Salt River Valley. From here, after deliveries to farms and cities, it would journey into Pinal county, an area encompassing the towns of Florence, Coolidge and Casa Grande and thousands of acres of water-short farm lands, terminating its trip at a huge reservoir near the unincor porated town of Picacho. An aqueduct would take the water at this point on into Tucson. Subsidiary pipelines, aqueducts and canals feeding from the main system would transport water to other locations along the way.

The question arises: Why should government money be spent to irrigate more farm land when the problem of surplus crops is acute?

Rich Johnson, President of the Central Arizona Project Association, points out, "The Project is to supply supplemental water only in an area that has had a long range water supply deficiency." In point of fact, there would be no expansion of agricultural acreage. The Central Arizona Project will not put one single new acre into production. It will simply save some, but not all, of presently cultivated acres. Without new water supplies, many thousands of acres of fine farm land will have to be abandoned.

One of the more illuminating aspects that stresses Arizona's near-desperate cry for water can be found in the revelation that even with the completion of the project the state would still have an annual water deficit estimated at a million acre-feet a year, a figure bound to increase with growth of the state.

Apart from obvious benefits, there are many aspects that contribute to a full canvas of the Central Arizona Project. Water exchange for one. The aqueduct that would ferry water into Central Arizona would not extend into the County of Graham, for example, but farmers here could, by agreement with water right owners, purchase Colorado River water, taking delivery by in creasing their diversion of water from the Gila River.

The amount would be agreed upon in an exchange contract. Similar programs of reciprocity may be applied to cities in Northern Arizona that are located so that they are able to reach a supply now appropriated in Central Arizona. Such an exchange plan benefiting Northern towns outside the economic heartbelt of the state is possible only if the Project is built. Diverting water from the Colorado by these towns would be far too costly. Only the Project could make such plans not only feasible but likely.

Basically what the exchange program represents is a kind of banking system where water can be purchased and the bargaining of prior rights to mutual advantage accomplished. A good illustration of how the Project would enable a city to grow can be found by investigating the prognosis for the city of Tucson, which has no surface water. Only about 50% of the city's annual water consumption is replaced. The Central Arizona Project would ultimately deliver approximately 100,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water to the city, an addendum that would allow the city to extend a welcome to a population of 800,000. Presently the Tucson population stands at 300,000 and engineers have concluded that the city cannot safely accommodate more than another 100,000.

Phoenix, on the other hand, has surface water available to it from the existing Salt River Project, but nonetheless, will need water from the Colorado for its urbanization of land outside existing irrigation projects.

There are tributary considerations that, at the moment, appear lesser and insignificant compared to the more important aspects of the Central Arizona Project. The lakes impounded behind various dams are already bursting with activities that bespeak of more and more people. New lakes will create sporting and scenic locations. Reservoirs that would be created by the Central Arizona Project would add slightly under 30,000 surface acres of water. In terms of dollar value this liquid acreage is estimated at well over $30,000,000 a year. Fishermen, boaters, tourists and naturalists would share in a bonanza of recreational advantages because of the Central Arizona Project. The largest lake would be on the Colorado River in Mohave County at the Bridge Canyon site. A smaller lake would fall behind Maxwell Dam, a short distance from Phoenix and ideal for the needs of boats and fishermen. Behind Buttes Dam on the Gila River, a lake would provide recreational water in a region halfway between Phoenix and Tucson; and a 3700-acre lake behind Charleston Dam on the San Pedro River near Tombstone would supply a lake to a locale that has almost no body of water that can be used for fishing or boating. A fifth lake would be created by the erection of Hooker Dam on the Gila River in the adjoining state of New Mexico. In each case, flood control advantages would supplement the recreational merits of the project.

Possibly more than anything else the Central Arizona Project has its heart with the countless men who have fought so long and so hard for its enactment. Men like Attorneys J. H. Moeur and Charlie Carson, who died while the campaign was being carried on, or Wayne Akin, chairman of the Stream Commission. Or Carl Hayden, Arizona's senior senator.

To Arizonans Hayden embodies the Western saga. Once a Sheriff, he has represented this state since 1912, with a background that includes a family tree rooted in territorial days and an awareness of Arizona's water problem that is as personal and heartfelt as it is politic and technical. The list would have to go on, including senators and congressmen, businessmen and lawyers, farmers and urban dwellers; citizens who know the importance of water to their state. Enterprises that plan for the development of water resources for the general good perhaps more than any other undertaking bind various philosophies and individuals together. The Central Arizona Project Association and its supporters are proof of this.

The waters of the Colorado River would bless far more than the central portion of the state. The benefits derived from this source would touch every part of Arizona and beyond, or in the words of the Central Arizona Project Association, "The large scale of the project is matched only by the total benefits which accrue. The capital investment necessary to increase Arizona's dependable water supply is fully justified. Indeed, to fail to make that investment is a completely unjustifiable and wanton waste of the productive and human resources in Arizona which only an adequate water supply can unlock for the benefit of the entire nation."

The future history of "The land of many small springs" is bounded closely to this concept.

It is a history still to be written, but one of aspiration and bright promise. Water from the Colorado River Project will supply the ink.

YOURS SINCERELY

STATE FAIR: Thank you for the article on the Arizona State Fair in your November issue. As the result of it, it was my privilege to spend two days at the Fair, together with my wife and two daughters, ages nine and eleven. I would like to take this means of thanking the hundreds and hundreds of people who participated in making the Fair a truly wonderful experience for us. Inherently, I stay away from such activities since normally, the rides on the midway (which, of course, in the beginning are number one in importance to the children) are dangerous, antiquated, with price for admission or ride beyond the average pocketbook. Next, invariably the hucksters or operators of the various concessions downright embarrass both parents and children. In behalf of my family and myself, I want to express to all having a part in the 1963 Arizona State Fair, our gratitude and appreciation. It was the finest State Fair I have ever attended; Wonderful Free Entertainment; the grounds neat and clean; food, good and reasonable; the equipment on the Midway, new, safe, great fun and reasonable in price; wonderful exhibits of educational value to all. Even the hucksters conducted themselves like true Arizonans. In two days we covered the Fair completely and not one single incident or embarrassment or pressure or failure of equipment was experienced. We returned to Page, knowing more about Arizona than we ever knew before. Earl BrothersState Fair last November will be among the first three finalists and will probably be chosen Miss America.

LAKE POWELL: AMERICA'S

NEWEST PLAYGROUND:

The feature on Lake Powell in your January issue was one of the most interesting I have read in your magazine in a long time. Our family, being "boaters" from a way back, will make the grand boat tour of Lake Powell next summer and I can assure you we are looking forward to what we feel will be the highlight of long years of boating. We plan to take enough time on the lake to explore all the fascinating side canyons shown so vividly by Josef Muench in his handsome color portfolio.

W. L. Strauch Wilmington, Delaware

GOING TO CONVENTIONS:

INSIDE BACK COVER "HOW GREEN IS OUR VALLEY" BY NAURICE KOONCE. Aerial photo was taken about two miles south of Mesa looking northeast toward Mesa. What was once valueless desert land has been turned into a lush and green garden by the magic of reclamation. These farm lands are served by the Salt River Project whose irrigation waters come from dams on the Salt and Verde Rivers. Proponents of the Central Arizona Project (explained in an article herein) say that additional water from the Colorado River is needed in years to come to keep present agricultural acreage in Central Arizona in production. Naurice Koonce, the photographer, is an associate of the Ray Manley Studio in Tucson. 5x7 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.8 at 1/500th sec.; Symmar 81/2" lens; summer; bright day; 400 meter reading; ASA rating 50.

BACK COVER "SPRING WEARS A YELLOW DRESS" BY JOSEF MUENCH. Photo taken in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. The Bradshaw Mountains have their share of Goldpoppies (Eschscholtzia mexicana) after the winter rains. Here the giant saguaros, marching up the steep mountain slope, add their majestic touch to a memorable desert scene. 4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.16 at 1/50th sec.; 6" Xenar lens; March; sunny with slight overcast.

INFLATION HITS THE NURSERY I was satisfied When I was a youth To get a penny For my pulled tooth, But prices have risen And today's exhorter Will settle for nothing Less than a quarter.

WIND DWELLS There goes that hum again in the trees, A measured concert of wind melodies. Sometimes it sounds like wind bells. Sometimes it sounds like brooks. It is the home where wind dwells, In canyons, crannies, nooks.

DESERT-MOON Moon-radiance of sheer delight: Apricot in the mouth of night.

SHADOW A hawk flies high over the mesa To run a race with his shadow.

HUMMING BIRD Shimmering, darting, color and light, The humming bird is a jewel of sight, A fragment of nature's artifice, The flash of an iridescent kiss.

CANYON WATERS Through the gorge, Past rock and brush, The creek goes tumbling With a rush, Dimpled with pools, Scalloped with spray Where the big ones don't always Get away. Man wants no more Of heaven below Than a ribbon of water And canyon-glow.

IN PROTEST How impudent are clocks! They dole out time In measured capsule minutes. Poor slaves.Someone should tell them

SPRING IS HERE

The meadow grass is doing calisthenics, The tumbleweed is acting such a clown, Reflected in the irrigation-waters The cottonwoods are standing upside down. Excited desert sands go pirouetting And cloud-kids chase each other all the day Did someone ask, "What makes the world so festive?"

It's no secret Spring is here!

Hurray!

WESTERN ART REPRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE FOR FRAMING

ON 17" x 23" HEAVY CAROUSEL ART PAPER Art prints from the November, 1962 issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS in which was featured the Read Mullan Gallery of Western Art, proved so popular we have produced a limited number of these beautiful prints by famous Western artists to satisfy the demand for them. We suggest your order for these prints be placed as soon as possible to assure delivery. Prints mailed flat for full protection.

Prices: $5.00 per print; $32.00 for set of eight. Order by title.

Address: Prints, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85009.