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Show THE WESTERN WEB 75 developing of new lands was still going on in Arizona in the face of a known shortage of underground water supplies. The state had done nothing to prevent the ruination of its underground resrves. Now the specu- lators were counting on the generosity of Congress and the taxpayers of the nation to give them supplemental water through the Central Arizona Project. Two more senators made their initial appearances at the hearings. They were George W. Malone of Ne- vada,43 and Watkins of Utah.42 It was the contention of C. C. Elder,44 hydraulic engineer of the Metropolitan Water District, who followed Matthew, that water studies submitted by Arizona were in error by at least 1,930,000 acre-feet. "If only half of the controversial issues are resolved against Arizona's interpretations," said Elder, "there would be practically no water right available for the pro- ject, after the ultimate development of the Colorado River is approached." William S. Peterson, electrical engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power,45 attacked S. 1175 from a different direction. He spoke of silt control, and maintained that the Central Arizona Pro- ject would be virtually useless in a few years unless an additional dam were built on the river to control silt. This dam, he declared, would have to be built at Glen Canyon, above the proposed Bridge Canyon Dam, which would supply the bulk of the power for the pro- ject. If it were not built, the reservoir behind Bridge Canyon Dam would within a few years be filled with silt, and the production of power would be halted. Logically, then, the cost of Glen Canyon Dam should be added to the cost of the Central Arizona Project. Glen |
