[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        RECOGNITION OF THE SALT RIVER PROJECT AS A LOCAL LEGACY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. SHADEGG

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 2000

  Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the inclusion of 
the Salt River Project in the Local Legacies Program of the Library of 
Congress. I nominated the Salt River Project for this honor because of 
the pivotal role which it has played in the growth of the City of 
Phoenix and Central Arizona. This nomination was a natural decision for 
me: my father Stephen Shadegg wrote several books on the Salt River 
Project, including its first narrative history in 1942, and subsequent 
works on the importance of the Project to Arizona's development. These 
books include: Arizona: An Adventure in Irrigation (1949), The Phoenix 
Story: An Adventure in Reclamation (1958), and Century One: One Hundred 
Years of Water Development (1969).
  In 1868, Phoenix had a population of 100 people; it is now the sixth 
largest metropolitan area in the United States. All of this growth was 
made possible by the development of water storage and irrigation 
facilities and, since 1903, the Salt River Project has played a central 
role in this development.
  In a desert state like Arizona, access to a reliable supply of water 
is literally a matter of life and death. The early settlers recognized 
this fact and constructed the first of many water supply canals in 
Phoenix in 1868. These early canals relied on diverting water from the 
rivers but did not include the construction of dams to create water 
storage reservoirs. This failure to store water proved to be a fatal 
flaw when drought hit in the 1890's. For three years, there was no rain 
and the rivers ceased to run. The population of Phoenix plummeted and 
conflicts, some of them deadly, erupted over the limited water 
available.
  This devastating drought forced the citizens of Phoenix to band 
together and create an organization capable of financing, constructing, 
and operating a water storage and delivery system. It required the 
highest degree of personal commitment: each property owner in the 
Phoenix area pledged his or her property as collateral to finance the 
construction of the system. In 1903, this organization took shape as 
the Salt River Water Users' Association, now a part of the Salt River 
Project, and became the first water storage system organized under the 
Federal Reclamation Act.
  Today, it is easy to take the necessities of life for granted, 
including the ability to get water by simply turning on a faucet. 
However, the laws of nature still apply and, in a desert, a reliable 
supply of water will always be a matter of life and death. Life in 
Arizona, Southern California, and other desert regions is only possible 
because a guaranteed, permanent supply of water is available.
  While the laws of nature should be self-evident, there are some 
individuals and organizations who refuse to accept them and instead 
advocate the destruction of the water supply reservoirs which make life 
in the desert possible. We are currently locked in a struggle against 
the willful ignorance of these groups and individuals and, while we are 
supported by the facts, we must not underestimate the zealous 
dedication of the other side. We must not allow such destructive 
proposals as the draining of Lake Powell to lead to a repeat of the 
devastation inflicted on Phoenix by the drought of the 1890's.
  As long as people live in the desert, there will be a need for 
organizations like the Salt River Project to supply them with the most 
basic substance needed for life. I salute the Salt River Project for 
its historic role in the development of Phoenix and its continued 
importance, and welcome its inclusion in the Local Legacies Program.

                          ____________________