Operations Program (PROP) Committee, which is comprised of six SRP specialists in watershed and reservoir operations. Spotters throughout the watershed reported to the committee each change in the weather, the snow pack, and streamflow in their areas. "This type of early warning system," explained PROP Committee Chairman Ezra Vines, "gave us a number of hours to verify any trend before the resultant change in runoff reached our lakes. Salt River Project employees, Ken Vineyard, left, and John Wescott, check weight of snow in tube to determine the quantity of moisture in the snow-this helps the project predict potential runoff. "For example," he continued, "it takes about 15 hours for water to flow the more than 30 miles from the Verde Valley into Horseshoe Lake the northernmost reservoir on the Verde River. By spotting a change in the rate of flow of the river as it flowed through the Verde Valley, we had ample time to analyze the situation and make recommendations to the Project's top management. "The upstream spotters," Vines said, "allowed us to determine if a particular increase was a momentary peak which would have little effect on the storage capacity of our lakes, or if it was the beginning of a real trend toward greater inflow." Others Helped In addition to the Project's own spotters, personnel from a number of other agencies, including the U.S. Weather Bureau, the U.S. Forest Service, Arizona State Highway Department, and Arizona Public Service Co., also forwarded information to the committee. In all, the SRP received information from more than 25 separate points on the watershed. Augmenting the hour-by-hour reports were complete snow surveys made every 2 weeks by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, and partial surveys made as required. "The Project's obligation is to try to fill its reservoirs, thereby providing an ample supply of municipal, industrial, and irrigation water for the Valley," declared Vines. "Any unnecessary release of water would be a violation of that responsibility." The PROP Committee's plan, if making releases from dams became imminent, was to try to make them at a small rate of flow for a relatively long period of time. This would permit more of the water to seep into the ground, recharging the water table. January Survey In late January, 1968, the snow survey showed that if average precipitation fell on the watershed through the remainder of the runoff period ending May 31, the Project's lakes would receive about 920,000 acre-feet. However, the Project could only handle, through usage and storage, about 700,000 acre-feet of runoff during the period. The question came back to weather. Would precipitation be normal? Considerably less than normal precipitation would be sufficient to fill the reservoir. Would there be a sudden rise in temperatures, possibly accompanied by warm rains? If there was, much of the expected runoff would occur in a short period of time rather than being spread throughout the runoff period. Could the weather be predicted accurately enough? Any great variance from predictions could force immediate reevaluation of the PROP Committee's recommendations. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, the PROP Committee's ability was at work. Six times indicators showed that runoff into the SRP's six reservoirs would make spilling imminent. Followed Formula Six times the PROP Committee, following its carefully established formula and operating procedure recommended the Project's management order small releases of water from the reservoir system. Six times the recommendation was accepted and residents of metropolitan Phoenix were treated to the rare sight of water flowing in the Salt River as it cut through the center of the Valley. In all, the quantity released totaled slightly more than 100,000 acre-feet. At no time did the rate of release reach 5,000 cubic feet per second. (The river channel has been rated as capable of containing a flow of 82,000 cubic feet per second.) Only roads in the river channel were closed. Those with bridges or culverts remained open at all times. Careful manipulation continued and on March 22, 1968, the Salt River Project's six reservoirs contained more water than ever before in the Project's history. With 2,024,000 acre-feet in storage, the lakes were at 98.4 percent of their maximum operating capacity. Climax of Act Here the Project's delicate balancing act headed for its climax. It could be upset in an instant by the weather. But the vigilance and planning of the PROP Committee paid off. Once more the spotters reported trends. Once more the committee evaluated data. And again a small flow of water was released from Project reservoirs. Estimates were correct! On April 16, storage in the reservoirs peaked at an unbelievable 2,043,000 acre-feet-99.33 percent of maximum operating capacity. As the runoff period ended June 1, 1968, the Project would have set still another record. Storage would total about 1,985,000 acre-feet, an excess of 35,000 acre-feet more than ever before on that date. For the Salt River Project, it was another statistical achievement. For the six members of the PROP Committee it meant even more. During the past 5 months they had given uncounted hours, day and night, to the cooperative project effort. Now they could point with pride to its successful conclusion. # # # Farmer Builds Rock Picker You have heard of cottonpickers and peapickers, but awhile back on the Eugene Zeigler, Jr. farm we ran into a rock picker-the first of its kind as far as we can find out. The rock picker was designed and built by Eugene's dad, Mr. E. W. Zeigler, Sr., who owns an adjoining farm, on the Columbia Basin Project, Wash. This rock digger and picker consists of two pronged magnesium forks attached to the power boom of a standard backhoe tractor. Each of the forks can be operated separately. After the forks are pushed into the ground beside the rock to be removed the operator closes the forks around the rock and lifts it out of the ground. Mr. Zeigler says they have removed rocks weighing up to approximately a ton with the machine, but that anything over about 1,500 pounds must be pushed and pried out rather than lifted. The invention came about because much of the 122 acres in the younger Zeigler's farm was filled with large submerged rocks. Removing them by conventional methods would have been very difficult and costly. Therefore, during the winter Zeigler went to work in his shop and came up with this useful machine, which, incidentally, has a patent pending. Zeigler's earlier experience as a welder and machinist on heavy construction jobs came to his aid in designing the equipment. The picker now being used is essentially the first model tried, although some reinforcement has been added to make it capable of lifting the larger rocks. In the hands of a skilled operator (Joe Rogers in the photograph), removing the rocks is done quite speedily. The Zeiglers estimate that in a week and a half they cleared about 30 acres of around 80 percent of the rocks present. After the rocks are laid on the top of the soil with the picker, a truck and loader haul them to a nearby borrow pit. Mr. Zeigler says the cleared land, which has quite a good loamy soil, will be planted to dry white beans as soon as the clearing is completed. The owner also hopes that some of the land that is now nonirrigable can be reclassified and become eligible for some of the project's irrigation # # # water. Crew Wins at County Fair Beautification programs pay big dividends, and if there is doubt in your mind about this, better check with the crew at Black Canyon Dam on Payette River, near Emmett, Idaho. A few feet of area between the recently constructed warehouse and the power substation fence was a problem of unsightly weeds and rocks-until a retaining wall was built and topsoil hauled in. Then there was the problem of what to grow there. Because the Bureau of Reclamation takes pride in practical things, it was decided to try tomatoes and watermelons, neither of which are in the surplus crop category. Also with an eye on a higher degree of beautification, gladiola in various colors, marigold, and for sentimental reasons, a little sagebrush were planted. Not just some, but much of this gardening effort paid off. To prove that their Reclamation products were appreciated at the Gem County Fair, a photographer caught a pose of Wilbur Currier, Powerplant Superintendent, showing off the five ribbons while proudly standing in the lush growth of the garden. First place ribbons were awarded for pear Cleaning Off Algae Green algae, or microscopic plants, will thrive year-around and form on the banks of some canals when water flow, sunlight and nutrients are sufficient to maintain growth. Once each year, Pole Hill Canal on the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, Colo., is drained and the accumulation of dead algae is cleaned from the concrete lined slopes. The accumulation on the bank caused a serious cleaning problem prior to the fabrication of a special scraper and a sweeper. Because the algae scrapes off easier when watersoaked, the cleaning operation should begin as soon as possible after the canal is drained. The disk scraper consists of 12 blades in two rows of six each of the type used on a farm disk machine. Each of these are attached to a rectangular metal frame with a bolt and coil spring. The scraper does its work when lowered over the side of the TEXAS OKLAHOMA KANSAS (Southern half) NEW MEXICO (Except W third) COLORADO (Southern wedge) (Region 5) P.O. Box 1609 7th & Taylor Amarillo, Tex. 79105 MONTANA (Except NW corner) NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA WYOMING (Northern) (Region 6) P.O. Box 2553 316 N. 26th St. Billings, Mont. 59103 COLORADO (Eastern) KANSAS (Northern) Bldg. 20, Denver Federal Denver, Colo. 80225 DC-6600.... Central Valley, Calif...... Apr. 25 Apr. 2 DC-6612... Central Valley, Calif...... Apr. 26 DC-6613..... Missouri River Basin, S. Dak.-Neb. Apr. 5 DC-6619... Central Valley, Calif... Apr. 23 Apr. 26 Apr. 26 Apr. 30 Apr. 22 Wash. Eleven motor-driven turbine-type pumping units for pumping plant No. 1, Schedule 1. Eleven cone valves and one valve operating system for pumping plant No. 1, Schedule 2. Construction of Pleasant Valley pumping plant, discharge line and switchyard. Replacement of control equipment for Contra Costa canal pumping plants No. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and construction of switchyards No. 1 and 4. Construction of 6.3 miles of concrete lined Pleasant Valley canal, 1.6 miles of intake channel and structures. Construction of 118 miles of Fort Thompson- Construction of a fish trap and modifications for Four 345-kv autotransformers for Fort Thompson, Two 50,000-kva shut reactors for Fort Thompson, stage 05, and Grand Island, stage 01, substations, Schedule 2. Two 230-kv and three 345-kv power circuit breakers for Fort Thompson, stage 05, and Grand Island, stage 01, substations. Replacement of spillway and modification of crest Construction of 26.8 miles of earth-lined laterals Construction of pipelines for South Gila Valley Furnishing and installing one new armature wind- May 24 Furnishing and installing one new armature winding for existing generator unit 5 at Shasta powerplant. Enlargement of Spectacle Lake dike and outlet Construction of 124.3 miles of Fort ThompsonGrand Island 345-kv transmission line, section 2. Twenty-three motor driven, centrifugal-type pumping units, 23 cone valves and four valve operating systems for pumping plants No. 1A, 2A, 4 and 5. One 230-kv power transformer for Grand Coulee powerplant. Repair of two power transformers for Grand Coulee powerplant. Repairs to Alcova dam spillway.. Construction of 17.4 miles of buried pipe drains for D77-78, -78-1 and -114 drain systems, and D77-114-1 and -114-2 drains, Block 77. Construction of 10.5 miles of buried pipe drains for D19-10 and D19-133A drain systems, Block 19. Construction of 9.2 miles of buried pipe drains for for D20-114 drain system, Block 20. Construction of 15.5 miles of buried pipe drains for D46-24, -36 and -41 drain systems, Blocks 45 and 46. Surfacing of O&M roads along San Luis canal, Reaches 3, 4 and 5. Constructing and surfacing 4 miles of haul roads, surfacing existing roads, and placing riprap for bank protection for Palo Verde and Cibola divisions. Extension of Glen Canyon airport runway...... Construction of 4.3 miles of closed pipe and .3 mile of open drains for Farmington area "A" drains. Clearing 630 acres of phreatophytes from Pecos River flood plain, Lake Arthur area. Construction of office building, shop and warehouse building, garage, and oil house for O&M headquarters. 1. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1968 O 308-859 |