Worker inside tunnel construction, c. 1906 Photo: Walter J. Lubken
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Salt River Project
The legacy of the Salt River Project (SRP), one of
Arizona's largest water providers and electric utilities, reaches
back two thousand years ago to an ancient system of canals
developed by native people. SRP, which makes the metropolitan
Phoenix area the jewel of the southwest desert, was born out of a
partnership between the federal government and landowners in
central Arizona during the mid-1880s.
SRP today comprises two divisions that function together. The
electric side of SRP, a political subdivision of Arizona state,
provides electric power to 700,000 residential, business and
industrial customers throughout a 2,900 square mile area in central
Arizona. The water side is a private corporation, delivering more
than 1 million acre-feet of water to a 240,000-acre service
area.
The earliest archaeological evidence suggests that the Hohokam
civilization was beginning to emerge in the Sonoran Desert basin at
the beginning of the first millennium A.D. These people constructed
the world's most extensive gravity-based canal system using stone
tools, without the benefit of surveying equipment. Their irrigation
system sustained their community until their mysterious
disappearance around 1450 A.D.
Four hundred years later, the remnants of the Hohokam canals
system became the inspiration for visionary pioneers that began to
settle in the newly formed Arizona Territory. Over the next 40
years, settlers re-established use of the Hohokam system and
constructed a number of canals, and diversion dams and laterals. By
the 1880s, territorial leaders had identified the need for a dam
and reservoir, estimated to cost between $2 and $5 million, as
paramount for the valley's continued success. As a territory,
Arizona was prohibited from assuming such a large debt, so
landowners in the Salt River Valley pledged their homes and farms
as collateral to secure federal loans. The governor and other civic
and business leaders established the Salt River Valley Water Users'
Association in 1903, which began the first multipurpose reclamation
project under the Water Reclamation Act of 1902.
In 1906, the cornerstone was laid for Roosevelt Dam, the largest
masonry dam every built at that time. Before its completion in
1911, it became apparent that the dam could also be used to develop
hydroelectric power. In 1917, the federal government turned over
canal operation to the association, which assumed all future
operation and control expenses, and repaid the entire cost over
time. In 1930, when only 25 percent of rural America was
electrified, 80 percent of those living in the SRP service area
received electricity.
During the Depression, the Arizona legislature allowed the
formation of the Salt River Project Agriculture Improvement and
Power District to help valley farmers reduce payments on their
outstanding loans. The Power District's boundaries and interests
were practically identical to the association's, but the district
could refinance outstanding bonds at a lower rate with tax-exempt
bonds. Under a contract, association properties were transferred to
the district. The district operates the electrical system, and the
association still operates the irrigation system. Legally they are
two separate organizations, yet they function as one, and are
commonly known as the Salt River Project.
Documentation comprises 18 page of text report on SRP's history,
30 photographs, and a video tape with historic footage and
contemporary events.
Originally submitted by: J.D. Hayworth, Representative (6th District).
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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.
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