8 Bulletin 85 



about 12 miles. Another strip of land lying below the confluence of 

 the Salt and Gila Rivers with an average width of three miles and 

 extending foi about 20 miles along the Gila River constitutes the 

 Buckeye and Arlington Valleys. The main body of irrigated land is 

 roughly divided into two nearly equal parts by the Salt River. Phoenix, 

 the commercial center of this territory is also the geographical center 

 of the irrigated district. The entire district may be divided arbitrarily 

 into several groups based on sources of water supply. The Salt River 

 Project comprises an area of about 205,000 acres, constituting by far 

 the largest individual unit in the V^alley. Another area of about 21,000 

 acres lying immediately south and west of Tempe also receives water 

 from canals constructed by the Government, but the land owners in 

 this territory are not members of the Salt River Valley Water Users' 

 Association. Their water supply is based on old water rights existing 

 before the inauguration of the Salt River Project. Water is brought 

 to this land by Project canals, the land owners through a co-operative 

 association paying a certain annual rental for the use of these Project 

 canals. Another district of about 2500 acres lying north and east of 

 Mesa and known locally as the Lehi District is also watered from Project 

 canals on approximately the same basis as are the lands operated under 

 the Tempe rights. It thus will be seen that a total of about 230,000 

 acres consisting of (i) the Salt River Project, (2) lands operated 

 under the Tempe rights, and (3) the Lehi District, are all irrigated 

 from water impounded by the Roosevelt Dam and furnished through 

 canals constructed by the Government. The Buckeye and Arlington 

 districts referred to in a previous paragraph, together comprise about 

 20,000 acres and are watered from the Gila River. As a matter of fact, 

 a large portion of the waters flowing through the channel of the Gila 

 River in this territory consists of seepage and surplus waters from the 

 irrigation of the larger Valley above and does not really constitute the 

 normal flow of the Gila River from regular sources. An area which 

 lies in the delta between the New River and the Agua Fria, and north- 

 west of the Salt River Project is known as the Marinette District. This 

 land derives its water supply from the flood waters of the Agua Fria 

 supplemented by water pumped from wells during periods when the 

 gravity flow is not sufficient adequately to supply this territory. A 

 scattered acreage which lies southeast of the Salt River Project in the 

 vicinity of Higley, comprising an aggregate acreage of about 2000 acres, 

 is watered by pumps. A recent development immediately south of 

 Chandler has brought about 5000 acres under irrigation through the 



