Senator PHIPPS. Mr. Rose, how do you figure the possible loss of $6,000,000 last season by reason of shortage of water to interference in the Mexican side?

Mr. Rose. Well, this shortage of water produced a shortage of the corn crop, a shortage of the cotton crops. I will give you an illustration; on my own ranch about a year previous to the time when the shortage came I had 76 bales of second-picking cotton off my ranch, and I took 22 that year. There was a difference of 54 bales of cotton on 160 acres of land. Now, that was not an unusual case in the valley. Short your corn crop, short your cotton crop, short your lettuce crop, it holds back your lettuce crop which should be earlier than other places. I think it is a very conservative estimate that it cost the valley $6,000,000.

Senator PHIPPS. It is only about 10 per cent of the total receipts for produce shipped out of the valley?

Mr. ROSE. That is true.

Senator PHIPPS. I was wondering how you could make such an estimate, how you arrived at any such figure.

Mr. ROSE. The crop of this valley is grown principally in July, August, and September; planted in those months. It is a very easy matter to see, in a country where nothing can live more than 10 days in the way of growing stuff without water, that if you are shut off or if you are shorted during the growing months to one-half, or 20 per cent, or 15 per cent, you would not get a fair crop.

Senator PITTMAN. Mr. Rose, was that due to lack of water in the river or incapacity of the canal?

Mr. ROSE. We had very little water in the river for 74 days. Senator PITTMAN. Then I understand it was shortage of water in the river?

Mr. ROSE. Absolutely.

Senator PITTMAN. Then if you had a dam at Black Canyon that would hold back part of the flood water and let down those flood waters in the dry season, there would be no shortage of water?

Mr. ROSE. Not until the supply was exhausted. If we had had dams last year and turned the water down, there would have been no shortage of water last year. I don't know of anything else.

Senator DILL. Does the district keep guards along the canal to look after the canal?

Mr. ROSE. They do, all along.

Senator DILL. Has there been any trouble in the way of contamination of the waters at any time that come into the district here?

Mr. ROSE. There is always this trouble present; that there are stock pastures along the canal banks. It is nothing uncommon to pull out a dead horse or dead cow along the canal, or even a dead man. They grow weeds and they don't use the same precaution to protect against them as we do. In an extremely long canal it is impossible to keep them out. They swim out in the water; you see a whole family out there paddling around in the water; it is a common practice among the Mexican people.

Senator DILL. It does not affect the health of this community? Mr. Rose. It does not; the people of this valley are in a healthy condition, probably as good health as any place else in the United States.

The CHAIRMAN. Does the water receive chemical treatment for drinking purposes?

Mr. Rose. It is heavily silt laden; we settle the water and filter it for domestic use, and that is why there is probably no disease. The CHAIRMAN. I think some one stated it received a chlorine treatment when I asked the question on another occasion. Senator DILL. That was nine years ago, wasn't it?

Senator JOHNSON. The farmers take it right from the canal? Mr. ROSE. The farmers take it right from the canal and settle it in a tank or basin before they drink it.

The CHAIRMAN. That is all; thank you. The next witness is Ira Aten, director of the Imperial irrigation district.

STATEMENT OF MR. IRA ATEN, DIRECTOR OF IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT

The CHAIRMAN. Please place in the record your full name, your occupation, where you reside, and how long you have lived about here?

Mr. ATEN. My name is Ira Aten. I am a director of the Imperial irrigation district, and have been since February 7, 1923.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you a landowner in the Imperial Valley?
Mr. ATEN. I am.

The CHAIRMAN. To what extent?

I

Mr. ATEN My family and myself own over 900 acres of land. speak of my family in this way; it was all my wife's and my own filings and some acreage that we have bought, and we have given our children 80 acres apiece. They number four.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you come here in a personal capacity or are you representing some organization?

Mr. ATEN. I am representing the Imperial irrigation district.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you been authorized by the district to speak on this occasion?

Mr. ATEN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How many members has the district?

Mr. ATEN. Five directors.

Senator PHIPPS. You are speaking of the division?

Mr. ATEN. I am speaking as a director of the second division. The CHAIRMAN. They have authorized you to appear and make

a statement to the committee?

Mr. ATEN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well.

Senator JONES. Was the vote unanimous?

Mr. ATEN. I think it was; I don't believe Mr. Brockman, the Calexico director, voted against me. I am sure he did not vote against me.

Gentlemen of the committee, before I start in to read my paper, which will cover the political situation of the Imperial irrigation district and when I say political, I mean the ratification by the people of the contract with the Secretary of the Interior and a resolution authorizing the board of directors to make that contract-I came to Imperial Valley in 1904, in November. The first land I secured was the 9th of June, 1905. On the 12th of June, 1905, my wife and myself-she filed on 324 acres of desert land and I filed on

320 acres of land. We have brought that land all under a good state of cultivation. At that time the Colorado River was partially running in the Imperial Valley. I then went to the heading, what we call our heading or intake on the Colorado River, and viewed the situation, and it looked bad. We almost knew that the entire river was going to come into Imperial Valley. Regardless of all that, we went ahead with our investment. Soon after that the entire river came in, but I thought: "I know the Government will not allow this beautiful valley to go back to the sea. It can and will be stopped." The entire flow of the Colorado River came into Imperial Valley for 18 months, and it was stopped, as you have seen by the records, and the great New River gorge that you saw yesterday carried the entire flow of the Colorado River, with the exception of the small amount that went down the Alamo channel. There was no water in New River when the Colorado broke in; it was merely a dry flat slough covered with patches of mesquite trees. It would carry the overflow every few years from the Colorado River and a small channel was gradually cutting back from the Salton Sea at that time, but had not got only about to Brawley.

The CHAIRMAN. Pardon me, Mr. Aten, is that really relevant to the subject under discussion? We have many witnesses this afternoon, and we want to make as complete a record as possible.

Mr. ATEN. I don't believe you have got it in the record about this channel cutting back. I wanted to tell you about it. While the channel was cutting back during the flood, just a little above where you crossed yesterday, it cut that gorge a mile a day and you could hear that roaring for 10 miles. Every man in the Imperial Valley that had a team went up to the main canal to keep it from breaking. If the levee had broken at Calexico, the point where you sit now would have been under 2 feet or more of water. This paper refers, as I said, to the political situation of Imperial Valley on this project.

The Yuma County Water Users' Association obtained an injunction against the Imperial irrigation district for the construction of a weir in the Colorado River near its heading for the purpose of diverting the water into the district's canals in 1916. Immediately thereafter the people of the district recognized the necessity of changing its diversion point from the heading it was then and is still using to the Laguna Dam. In order to do this a contract was entered into between the district and the Department of Interior of the United States, whereby the district agreed with reasonable diligence to construct an All-American Canal and move its diversion point to the Laguna Dam, and an interest in which the district purchased for a consideration of $1,600,000. Under the law it was necessary that a contract carrying a consideration of such magnitude should be submitted to a vote of the people. This was done on the 21st day of January, 1919, pursuant to a resolution of the board of directors of Imperial irrigation district, in words and figures following, to wit:

Whereas it appears that there is a demand for an expression by ballot by the people of Imperial irrigation district, relative to the advisability of full cooperation between Imperial irrigation district and the United States Government in the financing and control of reclamation in Imperial County, the control of flood waters in Mexico, and the unification of the Colorado River; Now, therefore,

Be it resolved, That at the election on January 21, 1919, proposition by separate ballot be submitted to the electors of the Imperial irrgaition district in words as follows, to-wit:

Do you favor instructing the board of directors to request the Secretary of the Interior and Congress to include the Imperial Valley, both improved and unimproved lands, in a unified Colorado River project which by appropriate Federal legislation shall provide, (a) for storage of waters on the upper Colorado River for irrigation of arid lands and development of power, (b) for connection with Laguna Dam under such conditions as shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and (c) adequate provisions for the permanent and sufficient control of the flood menace on the lower Colorado River."

As provided by said resolution, two propositions were submitted to the people, (1) being purely a question of the ratification of the All-American Canal contract of October 23, 1918, which was submitted on the following form ballot:

Shall the contract executed by the board of directors of the Imperial irrigation district and the United States calling for the construction of an All-American Canal and Laguna Dam connection by the district and for joint development of power possibilities and obligating the District to pay the United States the sum of one million six hundred thousand ($1,600,000) dollars for the right to use said Laguna Dam, main canal and appurtenant structures, be ratified and confirmed? Yes, 2,535; no, 922.

The other proposition was in the nature of instructions to the board to urge the United States to include the Imperial Valley in a unified Colorado River project and submitted on the following form ballot:

Do you favor instructing the board of directors to request the Secretary of the Interior and Congress to include the Imperial Valley, both improved and unimproved lands, in a unified Colorado River project which by appropriate Federal legislation shall provide, (a) for storage of waters on the upper Colorado/ River for irrigation of arid lands and development of power, (b) for connection with Laguna Dam under such conditions as shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and (c) adequate provisions for the permanence and sufficient control of the flood menace on the Lower Colorado River?

Yes, 2,355; no, 495.

At that election, the people approved the ratification of the AllAmerican Canal contract by a vote of 2,535 yes and 922 no and approved the resolution by a vote of 2,355 yes and 495 no. A full tabulation of the vote on both propositions by precincts is as follows:

At the general irrigation district election held in February, 1921, directors were elected from divisions 1, 3, and 5, No. 1 division including the city of Calexico, No. 3 division including the city of Imperial, and No. 5 division including the city of Holtville. Calexico never favored the All-American Canal, and at that time elected Mr. Brockman as its representative on the board.

There were two candidates from division No. 3, one candidate opposed the All-American Canal. Mr. McPherrin, by public statement, indorsed the All-American Canal and was elected by a vote of 269, whereas his opponent received 60 votes.

There were two candidates for director from division No. 5. Mr. Rose, a well-known All-American Canal man, was elected by a vote of 549 over 243 received by his opponent.

At the general election of the irrigation district held in February, 1923, directors were elected from divisions No. 2 and 4, No. 2 division including the city of El Centro, and No. 4 division including the city of Brawley.

There were three candidates for director in division No. 2, being myself and two others. I had been an advocate of the All-American Canal and that was my platform as a candidate. At the election, I was elected by a vote of 864 over 641 votes received by both my opponents combined, who did not favor the All-American Canal. In division No. 4 there were four candidates. Mr. Pound, who has been a consistent advocate of the All-American Canal, was elected. The election for Congressman from the eleventh district of California in 1924 was virtually a referendum of the Swing-Johnson bill. There was no other issue in the campaign. The two Republican candidates agreed that a dam should be constructed in the river by the United States; the disagreement was on the All-American Canal. Congressman Swing, being one of the authors of the bill now before