be controlled or removed from its present channel artificially I think most likely the engineers will consider that the best thing to do is to make a straight channel down there with one on each side paved with rock and throw the river into it and that will give it a very much greater fall, because it cuts out curves, makes it shorter for the same amount of ditch, and that will make a relatively permanent improvement.

Mr. HAYDEN. You would have the advantage of the bluff on the Arizona and Sonora side, for instance.

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir; it might be controlled by one levee, and Mr. Ockerson tried to control it by continuing that down and reenforcing them. It does not take the meanders out of the river and it would be more difficult to protect the levee that way, but if it cuts its channel out as it now does, it would be a greater menace from year to year. And if the channel lengthened it would make a scouring action.

Mr. SMITH. That would remove the danger of overflow from the Salton Sea.

Mr. DAVIS. To a large extent. Of course, we will have another serious problem there.

Mr. LITTLE. There is a volcano lake there. How big is that?

Mr. DAVIS. Volcano lake is roughly shown on the map. I think that is about 10 miles in diameter.

Mr. LITTLE. And the water?

Mr. DAVIS. The water is mostly mud. The lake is filling up with mud because the river flows in there and settles, and that is one of the things that emphasized this menace. As it fills the lake up it is difficult for the water to get in and it is probably standing against the Volcano levee to-day menacing it, and they are building it higher each year.

Mr. SINNOTT. Do you know approximately how many entries there are on the Eeast and West Mesa?

Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; I have not that information. I know there are some. On the East Mesa, the railroad land and school land is probably all or nearly all privately owned land. At any rate, there is school land, and there are a few desert entries that have been made. I do not know whether any of them have been patented or not on the east side. I know nothing about the west side.

Mr. SINNOTT. Do you know how many entries were made or in contemplation before any service of the Government established a reclamation project in the valley?

Mr. DAVIS. NO; I do not know anything about it except that in the East Mesa it was withdrawn; no entries could be made there. Mr. SINNOTT. When was it withdrawn?

Mr. DAVIS. It was withdrawn in 1903. But patches of it have been restored since.

Mr. SINNOTT. The year after the passage of the reclamation act? Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.

Mr. KETTNER. That is land on this East Mesa and some 200,000 acres which have been restored were all withdrawn to be placed in the Yuma project.

Mr. DAVIS. With a view to building this same all-American canal practically as planned.

Mr. KETTNER. And when President Roosevelt recommended that so strongly in his message, you do not know why the Reclamation Bureau did not go ahead with it? What stopped them?

Mr. DAVIS. Lack of money.

Mr. WELLING. Congress did not do what the President recommended.

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir; and the heavy work here had a great deal to do with it, the great expense, with the lack of money available for that purpose. It was hard to get it.

Mr. LITTLE. What is the Laguna Selada in Mexico?

Mr. DAVIS. A big body of water which was a former overflow of the Colorado, a salt lake.

Mr. LITTLE. Is it a tidewater ditch?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes.

Mr. LITTLE. It is not on sea level, is it?

Mr. DAVIS. No.

Mr. LITTLE. Does the tide come in?

Mr. DAVIS. The tide affects the flow there.

Mr. LITTLE. How deep is it?

Mr. ROSE. In some places it is deep, but there is a section here [indicating]. There is a big one here."

Mr. HAYDEN. There is a heavy tide.

Mr. ROSE. A heavy tide. That is 12 feet above the sea level.

Mr. HAYDEN. I have been told the tides at the head of the Gulf of California were very similar to the tides in the Bay of Fundy, because the gulf narrows and at the change of tide there is a heavy bore of water which rushes up through the channel of the Colorado River, so it might be possible to force water into the Laguna Selada at a 12-foot level.

Mr. ROSE. I notice it is.

The CHAIRMAN. This is not, then, in position.

Mr. LITTLE. This is a salt-water lake in there?
Mr. DAVIS. It is brackish; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. If that is all, then, Gen. Davis, it has been very instructive, and we are very much obliged to you for the presentation of this.

Mr. DAVIS. I am under obligations to you, sir.

Mr. HAYDEN. I want to direct the attention of the members of the committee to this report, which is Water Supply Paper No. 395, The Colorado River and Its Utilization. I asked the folding room to send a copy of it to each member. You will find a very interesting study of the whole Colorado River situation in a general way. Reference is made to the Imperial Valley, beginning at page 140 of the report. I thought that it might help us to get a general idea of the subject.

Mr. TAYLOR. Might it not be, well to incorporate part of it in this hearing?

Mr. HAYDEN. I shall be glad to insert some extracts from this report in the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, we will hear Mr. Swing.

Mr. SINNOTT. How much of a bond will this require, $30,000,000? Mr. DAVIS. In the neighborhood of $30,000,000.

Mr. SINNOTT. Will that all be needed for the construction of this all-American canal?

Mr. DAVIS. The figures that the engineer has made, which are not yet approved by the board, and of course are subject to change by the board, figure the cost at about $25,000,000 to get a canal to that point.

Mr. HAYDEN. That is, to a point where water can be placed on the land?

Mr. DAVIS. NO; just to the point where you can make diversion to the main canal.

Mr. SINNOTT. Is that country such that it will run that way?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes; the lowest part of the Salton Sea, and it slopes in that way. The $30,000,000 you speak of is carrying one line there [indicating].

Mr. SINNOTT. Those are townships?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.

Mr. HAYDEN. How much?

Mr. DAVIS. $30,000,000.

Mr. WELLING. It would have to be raised by a siphon over there. Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; gravity all the way.

Mr. TAYLOR. How long do you estimate it will require to construct a canal-how many years?

Mr. DAVIS. Probably about three years.

Mr. TAYLOR. And how long will it take to put a dam in the river and go down to the old head gate opposite there?

Mr. DAVIS. That could be done in a short time. Of course, this could be carried on at the same time. Probably that could be done if money were made available.

Mr. SINNOTT. Did you mention the full length of the all-American canal?

Mr. DAVIS. About 40 miles from Laguna Dam to this point [indicating]. That is just a guess.

Mr. SINNOTT. What is the width and depth of that canal?

Mr. DAVIS. The canal through the sand hills would be a 140-foot bottom and 15 feet water depth. The sides slope so that the surface of the water in the canal, running full capacity, would be about 200 feet; depth, 15 feet.

Mr. TAYLOR. The water from the higher area carries sand?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir; not so much at low water as at high water. It always gives trouble carrying sand.

Mr. WELLING. Added to the $30,000,000 for the main canal, there would be some millions more for the laterals, for building diversion ditches to take the water to the high lands?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Is it expected that the Government would conduct the construction of the laterals or leave that to the district and water users?

Mr. DAVIS. Where the land is in the district they would leave that to the district.

Mr. HAYDEN. You have no objection to dealing with the individual water user?

Mr. DAVIS. The bill does not contemplate it.

Mr. WELLING. No estimate has been made of the cost of these lateral canals.

Mr. SINNOTT. Has the East and West Mesa been organized in a water district?

Mr. WELLING. Water diverted to East Mesa and sold to water users would have to bear their share of the all-American canal and the laterals necessary to carry water out to it.

Mr. DAVIS. And their share of the storage.

The CHAIRMAN. We will hear from Mr. Swing.

STATEMENT OF MR. PHIL D. SWING, CHIEF COUNSEL IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT IN SUPPORT OF H. R. 6044.

Mr. SWING. I assume I will not have time now to make a full statement, and I would like to take exception to one thing that Mr. Davis says, although I heartily concur in practically everything he says, and that is with reference to the one leg of the canal. At least, I want to state the point of view of the people of Imperial Valley. In our opinion the construction of the one leg of the canal would be of no benefit to our territory, and, in fact, they consider it would be an actual detriment, and I will tell you why. In fact, they call it the Mexican leg, because it would be, if completed, of benefit solely and only to the Mexican interests, because while it would afford a more adequate diversion for the water out of the river, when you had gotten it out, it would be consumed in Mexico before the increased amount ever got to the Imperial Valley. We would pay for it, but we would get none of the benefits. It would help Yuma; it would remove the menace which they complain of, resulting from the construction of these temporary weirs. It would give them a power site for the development of hydroelectric power, which they need and which under our contract they are to have, which would be at Araz, for the opening of their mesa, but it will be of particular benefit to the people of Mexico, and it is what they are advocating, and they want it built down to there and then stop, and to do that would simply saddle the people of the Imperial Valley with added burdens, with bonds to pay for the cost of it, the benefit of which would be entirely taken up and consumed by new lands put in in Mexico. It would do us no good and it might give these Mexican lands a greater claim to a water right, to join hands with them and deliver them water diverted by the Government at Laguna Dam under the contract we now have with the Government. At the present time, in my opinion, they have absolutely no water right at all, and before the hearing concludes I want to quote an opinion of Attorney General Judson Harmon to that effect.

Mr. LITTLE. If this goes to the line, will not the Mexicans entirely secure the same vested rights as you people have?

Mr. SWING. I am afraid they would.

Mr. LITTLE. Which they would not get this other way?

Mr. SWING. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Just a moment. There is a call for a quorum. I think we had better take a recess now.

(Thereupon, at 12.15 o'clock p. m., the committee took a recess until 2 o'clock p. m.)

AFTER RECESS.

The committee met pursuant to the taking of recess at 12.15 o'clock p. m., Hon. Moses P. Kinkaid (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. We will now hear you, Mr. Swing.

STATEMENT OF MR. PHIL D. SWING_Resumed.

Mr. SWING. Mr. Chairman, I went to Imperial Valley in 1907 and have lived there continuously ever since. From 1907 to 1911 I was deputy district attorney of the county; from 1911 to 1915 I was elected and held the office of district attorney of the county; and since 1916 I have been attorney for the Imperial irrigation district. Everything I own and possess, and all I hope to own and possess, is centered in Imperial Valley.

Mr. KETTNER. Knowing Mr. Swing as I do, I want to state what he is too modest to state, that just recently he has been selected by the governor of the State of California and appointed as superior judge of Imperial County.

The CHAIRMAN. The reporter will note the fact, and we congratulate Mr. Swing.

Mr. SWING. I would like to state to the members of this committee that this is not a real estate scheme, nor any promoters' proposition we are submitting. We represent the plain American farmers of the Imperial Valley, who are fighting for their homes and a chance to live.

Imperial Valley lies in the Salton Sea Basin in the southeastern corner of the State of California. This basin is 110 miles long by 40 miles wide. The southeastern portion of the basin sloping from the international line to the Salton Sea is called Imperial Valley. The northwestern portion beyond Salton Sea is known as Coachella Valley. This country, although of exceedingly rich and fertile soil, was formerly a barren desert for lack of water, the rainfall being very light-some years less than 1 inch.

In 1893 the California Development Co., a private corporation, was organized to exploit the possibilities of reclaiming this land by diverting and conveying the waters of the Colorado River into the valley. As a result of its efforts water was first brought into Imperial Valley for irrigation in 1901. Development followed rapidly and for a time success seemed to crown the undertaking beyond the wildest dreams of its promoters. The connection of these early promoters with Imperial Valley was ended in 1906, when, as a result of their shortsighted policy in spending insufficient money to provide ordinary safeguards for their intake, they lost control of the Colorado and allowed the whole river to break through into Imperial Valley. The Southern Pacific Railroad, to protect its own investments, then took control of the company and operated the system until 1909, when a receiver was appointed. At the receiver's sale in 1916 the people of the valley purchased the system as a matter of self-defense and to prevent their sole source of water from falling into the hands of any private concern. The price was $3,000,000. Mr. SINNOTT. Will you tell us just what you bought there?

Mr. SWING (indicating on map). They bought the Hanlon ranch, which consists of a piece of property facing on the west bank of the