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Show ARIZONA AND WATEU. Plans Perfected for Turning Arid Lands Into Fertile and Profitable Profit-able Farms. , NO LA0K OF GOOD AEABLE LAND. A Proposed Dam That Will Back Water Up Stream a Distance of Ten Miles. Arizona haa no lack of arablo land. Hundreds of thousands of fertile acres lio uncultivated and unproductive all over tbe territory, needing but the touch of water to bloom with luxuriant vegetation. vege-tation. The mind of man is turned to-. to-. ward schemes for supplying the sufficiency. suffi-ciency. Tho smaller streamB of Arizona are all of one clasfi, running fullest in the spring and almost failing In the summer. Those that run into the plains sink in the sands, and are lost for the major portion of the year. The question naturally arises, Why not store the winter win-ter water in suitablo catchment reservoirs, reser-voirs, to be spread on the thirsty lands at the time of the drought? This proposition hau been appreciated, as is shown by the location of dam sites for water storage purposes in many parts of tho territory. The Walnut Grove dam, owing to faulty construction, was a lamentable failure, but beforo it gave way showed by tho fine body of water .) impounded the entire practicability of the Bchemo. The Florence Canal company com-pany has just finished an extensive reservoir res-ervoir in Pinal county to assist in the irrigation of the lands adjacent to the Casa Grando. Among the projected reservoirs that have been located for tho improvement of tbe lands lying below ono of the most , important is that upon New river, about thirty miles northwest of Phoenix. It is situated where New river debouches on the plain. The projectors are John King and W. C. Collier, who have been quietly working on the enterprise for years. The dam will need to be nearly half a mile in length, 820 feet in thickness on the bedrock, 00 feet broad on top and 75 foot high. Hydraulic lime for the manufacture man-ufacture of cement, limestone and other rock for tbe construction of the dam are. at hand in abundance, and can be cheaply cheap-ly quarried. Estimates from civil engineers engin-eers of repute fix the cost of the work at less than $300,000. With the height of dam proposed the water would cover an area of eight by four miles, there being but littlo slope to the valloy abovo. Tho supply of water from the spring freshets of the river is deemed ample, but as t precaution lovols have been run to Hudson Hud-son creek, Castle creek and the Agua Fria, and it has been demonstrated that it is practicable to divert at low cost the waters of those streams into the reservoir. reser-voir. The Agua Fria, at the point tapped, flows the year round. All danger of overflow can be avoided, as a natural pillway exists at the proper height two ratios back from the dam, conducting the water over a low bridge into the valley of tho Agua Fria. The land sought to be irrigated is really real-ly a continuation of this valley, and embraces em-braces over 75,000 acres of excellent soil. Many claims have already been filed in expectation of the benefits of the dam. , About eight miles farther to the west of this dam site and over a ridge is the location of a similar enterprise of fully equal magnitude. It is the property of the Agua Fria Water and Land company, com-pany, composed of L. II. Orme, J. P. Orme, J. D. Monihon, N. O. Murphy and William Hancock, all of Phoouix. The dam is to be situated at the narrow gorge of the Agua Fria, 800 yards above the Frog Tanks hotel. The walls of the canyon can-yon at this point are but 800 feet apart to the height of seventy-five feet, and abovo this gradually retreat from the stream. Tho proposod dam is to be 175 feet high, with an ample width and a longth on top of about 1,000 feet. It will not bo difficult of construction. All rock and lime needed can be obtained right at hand. A dam of the dimensions stated will back the water up stream a distance of ton miles with a depth at the mouth of Castle oreek of 125 feot. At a point two niilrs abovo the dam the reservoir will be three and one-half miles in width, besides extending for some distance up Castle and Humbug creeks. The capacity ca-pacity of tho reservoir is estimated at 40,000,000,000 cubic feet of water. This amount will supply for twelve months a canal carrying 40,000 miner's inches of water and allow for an evaporation of 5 per cent. The natural flow of the Agua Fria will more than Bupply this amount every year. The main canal will be taken from the river on the east sido about one and one-half one-half miles below the Frog TankB station. It will run along the slope of the river bottom for a distanco, emerging on the plain three miles below the Tanks. The laud to be irrigated comprises about 75,-000 75,-000 acres. It is of excellent quality, especially adapted to the growth of citrus cit-rus fruits. Phoenix Republican |