AZ vs. CA:05 California Exhibits, Vol. V; Nos. 193-247

page 7

BOULDER CANYON PROJECT 7 Storage above and the regulation of the flow are now recognized as the only means of protection from floods, not only for the Imperial Valley but for a part of Arizona, a part which by reason of its development has become a productive, valuable, and beautiful territory. The flood danger, so far as the Imperial Valley is concerned, is unlike that which exists in any other part of the United States. In other localities, destructive floods may occur with untold losses, and yet the waters subside and the territory affected ultimately recover. In the Imperial Valley floods mean water entering the basin of the saucer-shaped land with no possible outlet. Millions of dollars have already been expended, not only by the localities affected, but by the Federal Government, in the attempt to protect the lower basin of the Colorado River from floods. Levees at times have no sooner been built than they have been washed away. Here finally is presented a unified plan for protecting those entitled to protection, for the allocation among the States desiring that allocation of the waters of a great river to which all are entitled, for the elimination of intolerable conditions by which a fertile and productive part of the United States is dependent for its very life upon water which flows through Mexican territory, and finally for converting into a great national asset a wasteful and destructive agency, and by its control reclaiming for homes for Americans, land now arid and worthless. The project contemplates the construction of a large dam and storage reservoir at Boulder or Black Canyon where the Colorado in its mad moments has prepared precipitous perpendicular granite or basalt walls more than 1,600 feet in height. In addition, an all-American canal for the protection of the lands of Imperial and Coachella Valleys is provided for. The dam will be approximately 550 feet in height and will create a water storage of 26,000,000 acre-feet. And at the beginning and at the end of this report, it should be made plain that the entire project will finance itself; that the bill provides no work shall be undertaken and no money expended until the administration has provided for the adequate repayment of every penny that may be expended. The testimony demonstrates conclusively that the money for the'work under this bill will be forthcoming, and that this tremendous enterprise, one of the greatest of our generation, fraught with such potential possibilities for good and with such incalculable benefit to our people, will cost the Federal Government nothing except loss of interest on reclamation features, the same as in all other works of this kind, and administrative effort. Part I. Generally of the Project, Its Development and Plan PROJECT FINANCIALLY ATTRACTIVE TO GOVERNMENT From a financial aspect this project is an attractive one to the Government. There is an active market for the power which will be generated at the dam both for commercial purposes and for pumping in connection with a domestic water supply for southern California cities. The Imperial Valley is a proven irrigable area. Established and going districts will be responsible for the cost of the canal. While