UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1456 
Washington, D. C. 
December, 1926 
DRAINAGE BY MEANS OF PUMPING FROM WELLS IN SALT RIVER 
VALLEY, ARIZONA 
By James C. Mark, Associate Irrigation Engineer, Division of Agricultural 
Engineering, Bureau of Public Roads 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Introduction 1 
The need for drainage and advan- 
tages of drainage by pumping 2 
Areas requiring drainage 3 
The drainage system 9 
Effectiveness of drainage by pumping 
from -wells _ 12 
Page 
Drainage run-off 17 
Cost of the drainage system 18 
Operation and maintenance costs 18 
Use of pumped drainage water for 
irrigation 20 
INTRODUCTION 
In the Salt River Valley of Arizona, as well as at a number of 
other places in the West, excessive irrigation, resulting in deep perco- 
lation, together with seepage from canals, has unfitted large areas for 
cultivation by reason of the raising of the ground-water level. These 
areas have increased rapidty in extent until corrective measures have 
become imperative. 
Test borings in the Salt River project showed that about half of 
the project is underlaid by a coarse, water-bearing formation from 
which water may be pumped; and, as the Salt River Water Users' 
Association had available a large quantity of cheap electric power 
generated at its own plant, it was decided to install electric-driven 
pumps in wells located in the damaged areas to lower the ground- 
water level. This plan has been successful; water-logged land has 
been reclaimed ; the rise of ground water in sections not yet damaged 
has been checked, and the pumped water has been used very largely 
to augment the supply available for irrigation. 
The cost of the pumped drainage water does not exceed its value 
for irrigation purposes. The cost of development averaged approxi- 
mately $2,900 per second-foot: and the average cost of labor, mate- 
rial, and power for pumping during the season of 1922-23 was about 
40 cents per acre-foot. 
The cost of the completed drainage system for the 203.000 acres 
of cultivated land in the project, including $75,115.19 for closed. 
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