European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse 2y it s Waler Bell s Olises Waler e200 a. But a Stith Syno Loney. More Dawn Jan on i finite g Leal Tury in " k Escall discs make s Las com h922 ederal it in a by Torado a Las Vilh Oul is beet Ishop Eich. Of Golf fury of wrote 3 slog Gul whose Jagling in the Mexico Hoover dam regulate the water in Lake Mead which extend 1 to mile upstream into the lower end of the grand Canyon. Dams canals tunnels pipelines and reservoirs divert discharge or Hoard at the lick of a switch the push of a computer key. Its dams provide electricity for nearly 6 million people and 13 million americans play in or near its Channel annually. Its Waters irrigate 15.2 per cent of this nation s produce and 15 percent of Ameri Ca s livestock Are Suc cored by it. Try As anyone will it cannot be characterized other than a fully controlled River said Arleigh b. West a Bureau of reclamation regional director in 1968. The River s flow can be manipulated in the same fashion As the Garden Hose on the tap outside your Home and not quite. In 1983. Heavy Rocky Mountain snows and Quick Spring thaws left lakes Powell Mead to have and Hatasu All created by damming the Colo Rado full. The Bureau of reclamation was forced to release water rapidly All along the lower Colorado River Basin South of Lees ferry. Ariz. The result was seven deaths and millions of dollars in property damage in the United states and Mexico. In the 1970s there was drought. In the 1980s, so far there have been floods. That s the unpredictability of Western water. By the end of this Century if the clout of the state s politicians holds the Cap will propel water irom the Colorado River All the Way to Phoenix Central Arizona Tucson and beyond almost to the mexican Border. It is a distance of 330 Miles Uphill All the Way. Fourteen pumping stations Are planned to lift the water 2 909 Leet higher at its final destination the san Xavier Indian reservation South of Tucson than at its begin Ning. Lake Hatasu behind Parker dam. Municipal and Industrial users hav first crack at the water along with Indian Farmers who already Are receiving some while Cap engineers test the flow through Concrete tunnels and aqueducts. Like the great Wall of China the Cap is one of Man s few feats visible from space. Its Cost is estimated at $3 5 billion making it the most expensive water project in . History although about 70 percent of the Federal Money is supposed to be repaid through to Sale of water and electricity and through properly taxes Cap Loe Francis Welsh a former . Army corps of Engineer employee who now Heads citizens concerned about the project Calls Cap an absurd project. Its purpose was to develop the West and god knows the West is opponents have succeeded in halting construction of one Cap dam. And Are now lighting an alternative dam in part because its floodwaters will disrupt and. In one instance submerge the nests of bold eagles. Only about 18 pairs of Bald eagles remain in the Southwest say National Audubon society officials and they say the Cap will disturb five of those pairs. More lawsuits Are expected to slow Down the next link in the Cap Chain As the Cement snakes southward irom Phoenix toward Tucson. So Lar the project is Only 43.4 percent Complete and has Cost $1.2 billion. On june 17. 1902, Congress passed the reclamation act. Creating a new Arm of the bureaucracy to harness the West s untamed Rivers in the cause of Manifest destiny. The department of Interior s Bureau of reclamation has been one Ollie strongest political forces in this nation literally reshaping the landscape by what it does or does not do. Today the Colorado River and its tributaries Drain 242.000 Square Miles in the United Stales and another 2.000 Square Miles in Mexico. The Bureau of reclamation guardian of the River operates 333 reservoirs. 345 diversion dams. 990 Miles of pipeline. 230 Miles of tunnels 188 pumping plants. 50 Power plants. 14.590 Miles of canals and 35,160 Miles of smaller laterals. Every drop of water that runs to the sea without rendering a commercial return is a Public pro claimed Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover in the Early 1920s. No doubt Hoover would be pleased to know that today every drop of Colorado River water is used at least three limes. Mostly the water is used Lor agriculture univ a Blore to Nom and retirement communities created n Lind Boom and population explosion in the Sun Bell enterprising immigrants Lent their muscle to All sorts of schemes to gel Colorado River water to do their using mules and a mustered out soldiers from fort Burna. J e. Ludy dug a Trench and incorporated Tho irrigation land and improvement co. On feb 26. 1900. He thereby inaugurated the first permanent irrigation project on the Colorado River. Eventually Ludy s canal became the catalyst Lor la Guna dam. The Colorado River s first barricade Recla mation engineers completed Laguna dam in March. 1909 finally. The desert bloomed from Wyoming to California Farmers and ranchers began sucking Colorado River water Uphill to grow their vegetables Cotton Citrus and the millions of tons of Hay needed by the West s burgeoning cattle Industry therein say environmental critics and reclamation project docs lie the roots of a looming water shortage that experts predict could cripple the West by the end of this Century it currently takes 4,200 Gallons of Waler in the held to put one Pound of Beel on the table. 300 Gallons Are needed to grow enough wheat to produce a Loal of bread to Dale the Colorado River is Over subscribed by 6 million acre feet every year the predicted shortages have not Cyl arrived because nol everyone who s entitled to the water is using his Lull share Bui when the Central Arizona project comes on line when Colora do s front Range expansion irom Colorado Springs through Denver North to Wyoming begins to Hook on More pipes and when Indian agriculture increases the crunch will come. Between 1995 and 2000. Everybody will be using their allocation and that s barring future development says Bernard a Silverman. Head of the Bureau of reclamation s weather modification and re search program. There in t enough water in the River Lor e Ery body right Amber 30, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 15
