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<br />-10- <br /> <br /> <br />The highlight of the construction yeaf was completion of Davis <br />Dam and Power Plant, which started in January to feed electric energy <br />into the Hoover-Parker net. The reservoir behind Davis Dam has been <br />filled and the project is ready to provide watbr to meet requirements <br />at the International Boundary in accordance with provisions of the <br />Mexican Water Treaty. <br /> <br />Essentially all construction on the western slope in connection <br />with the Colorado-Big Thompson Project is complete or under contract. On <br />the Provo River Project the Duchesne Tunnel i~ expected to be holed through <br />about December 12. On the Paonia Project, thEj Fire Mountain Canal Enlarge- <br />ment and Diversion Works are complete. Extension of the distribution <br />system, construction of the Minnesota Unit, and provision of storage facil- <br />ities are dependent upon reauthorization. <br /> <br />After a landslide crushed the main t1lllnel in the Grand Valley <br />project, the season's water supply was saved by driving a 2200 foot tunnel <br />relocation through solid rock in 40 days. Th~ E.den Project saw completion <br />this year of Big Sanely Dam, and only rehabili~ation of main canals and <br />distribution works remains to be done. <br /> <br />In the Lower Basin more than 600 miles of transmission facilities <br />in connection with the parker-Davis-Hoover sY'stem were installed. On the <br />Well ton-Mohawk Division, Gila Project, the pumping plants and main canal <br />are planned for completion by June of next year, permitting irrigation of <br />the first 10,000 acres in Fiscal Year 1953. <br /> <br />Under the Colorado River Front Work i and Levee System, progress <br />has been made in flood control, drainage andisediment control between <br />Davis Dam and the International border. Lev\les have been built near Yuma <br />and Needles. Ten million cubic yards of sand, silt and gravel have been <br />removed from the bed of the Colorado and placed in levees. The total cost <br />has been about $1,064,000, including overhead. <br /> <br />Thirteen irrigation projects constr~cted by the Bureau of Reclama- <br />tion were in operation during the year in th:e Colorado River Basin. The <br />total area capable of being served with wat~r from those projects was over <br />1,250,000 acres '. Approximately 1,0801000 ac.'res within the Basin were irri. <br />gated in 1950, Crop returns totaled ~155,oOO,OOO. <br /> <br />Operation highlights of the year w~re completion and initial <br />operation of the Mancos Project and the tur~ng over of the Valley Division, <br />Yuma Project, to the water users. The turbine blades in the Parker Power <br />Plant were redesigned to eliminate vibratio~. Water surges in the pressure <br />distribution system of the CoachellaValley!Project were eliminated. <br /> <br />On the Salt River Project, Arizona~ canals in permeable ground <br />are being lined with concrete, The Salt Rijrer Project was one of the <br />hardest hit of all Bureau projects by the drought of the past several <br />years. The Bureau and the Geological Survey are collaborating with other <br />Interior Department agencies in a report on this drought, among the worst <br />in history. <br />