What is the significance of the theodore roosevelt dam

The origins of the dam begin with the need to tame the Salt River. With its origins in East-Central Arizona, at the intersection of the black and white river, the Salt River flows over miles until it empties into the Gila River in Southeast Phoenix. Nearly two thousand years before any of Arizona's notable pioneers settled, an ancient Native American civilization known as the Hohokam built an irrigation-based civilization not far from its banks.

After years of successful cultivation along the banks of the river, the Hohokam were ultimately pushed to near extinction by the cruel conditions of the desert and historically violent floods. Anglo settlers in the 19th century discovered the remnants of the Hohokam canal network and re-purposed it toward agriculture development of the valley.

Soon early Anglo pioneers discovered the seasonal flooding that was so much a part of the Salt River ecosystem. The development of Tempe owes at least part of its start to the Charles Trumbull Hayden, when his journey northward was temporarily halted by a flooded Salt River. Upon climbing the Tempe Butte, and consulting local Pima Indians, Hayden was impressed by the valley. He discovered that the Butte was the best crossing along the River and also survey the expanse of the valley.

Charles Hayden and his son Carl Hayden emerged as leaders in the struggle to control the flow of water through the valley through irrigation, dams, and waterworks. For example, two years after his initial entrance into politics, Tempe Town Councilman, a young Carl Hayden became an early advocate for water reclamation when he wrote a letter to Arizona's Congressional delegate, J. Marriott's Canyon Villas.

Hampton Inn Phoenix Airport North. Hampton Inn Phoenix-Biltmore. Embassy Suites Phoenix - Scottsdale. Show More. With the creation of the Reclamation Service, the lead role of the federal government in developing large-scale irrigation projects was firmly established.

Roosevelt Dam, as originally conceived and built, was to be a symbol of success and a showpiece for the new agency. Completed at a cost of 10 million dollars, the primary function of the dam was to provide water storage for the Salt River irrigation project and flood control for the Salt River Valley. The dam contributed more than any other dam in Arizona to the settlement of Central Arizona and to the development of large-scale irrigation there.

A secondary purpose of the dam was to generate a moderate amount of hydroelectric power. The lake created behind the dam, known as Lake Roosevelt, contained more than a million acre-feet of water and was the world's largest artificial lake. As early as , the narrow canyon below the confluence of the Salt River and Tonto Creek had been identified as a promising dam site by Maricopa County representatives who wanted to convince federal legislators of the need for water storage in the Salt River Valley.

Despite the efforts of the county, little federal interest in the Tonto Basin site was shown until when the Geological Survey conducted studies there in response to lobbying efforts by influential irrigation advocates, Benjamin Fowler and George Maxwell. Among the first five projects advocated for construction by the Geological Survey and approved by Interior Secretary Ethen A.

Hitchcock was the Salt River Project. Final plans for construction of the dam, published in the Third Annual Report of the Reclamation Service adhered closely to those outlined in Davis' earlier report. These plans called for a masonry gravity arch structure with two large spillways - one at each end of the dam - to carry away excess floodwaters and prevent overtopping of the structures.

This type of dam, gravity arch, retains water behind it by means of its weight and the compressive force of the arch. By , Reclamation Service engineers were conducting initial work in preparation for the dam construction.

Building the monumental structure across the Salt River in this inaccessible spot posed enormous challenges. The dam site was linked to the capital city of Phoenix some 60 miles away by only a few primitive trails through the Salt River Canyon. The site was closer to Globe, a mining town of a few thousand residents located 35 miles southeast of the dam site. Reclamation opted for a road between Mesa and the dam, crossing some extremely rugged terrain.

In addition to the road, numerous support facilities were needed to bring the dam project to successful completion. A diversion dam and power canal brought water to the dam site to generate hydroelectric power during construction. It is now covered by new concrete. This foot increase offers six Valley cities , new acre-feet of water storage to the dam and, for the first time, provides SRP with substantial amounts of flood control and Safety of Dams storage space.

The dam has hydrogeneration capacity of 36, kW. Regresar al principio.