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The Transcontinental aqueduct Leg 12: From the East Diversion dam to connecting to the Central Arizona aqueduct 45 miles WNW of Phoenix.

Leg 12 of the Transcontinental aqueduct is complicated. The total length of this segment is 105 miles, 20 miles is a 6,200 cfs aqueduct, and 85 miles is the Gila River. This map may help explain it:

But there is a problem that must be solved. Gila River is now mostly dry, and goes through an Indian reservation. The Gila River used to provide about 1.3 Million Acre-ft per year, snow-melt and monsoon rains providing nearly all of it, but was seasonally dry. Now all the water and then some is spoken for, so the Indians get nothing, and without water you can do no farming, so the reserve is largely depopulated. See map:

The home of the Gila River Indian Community The Salt and Gila Rivers flow east to west. Present day dams that divert the Salt River into a series of canals are indicated. Roosevelt Dam was completed in 1911, creating Theodore Roosevelt Lake, and Coolidge Dam was completed in 1930. Important locations include the Casa Grande structure, an artifact of the Hohokam times, and the city of Florence, site of the Florence Canal, which is described in the text. The Gila Indians today live on the Reserve shown, with headquarters at Sacaton. The related Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indians live on a separate reserve on the Salt.

In Phase 1, the Gila River will free flow. In Phase 2 there will be a55 mile aqueduct thru the Indian reserve dimensioned for 10,000 cfs flow. It will provide some power with a drop of over 400 feet. The maps will look like this:

Leg 12 east starts out at 1580′ and ends at Arlington Dam, 795′

Leg 12 west starts at Arlington dam, 705′ and ends at the CAP canal at 1,380′

Total power required for Leg 12 is 160 MW for phase 1 and 320 MW for Phase 2. Since it is continuous it is best served by three 100 MW LFTR reactors.

In Phase 2 the CAP aqueduct will be replaced by one that flows from east to west, and the Mark Wilmer pumping station will be converted to the Mark Wilmer generating station with the same capacity. Electricity generated will be 16% less than the energy that used to be consumed to pump up the water.

Mark Wilmer PP Aerial March 29, 2012 Central Arizona Project photo by Philip A. Fortnam

What is in it for Arizona? The Greater Phoenix area will get an increased water supply from the canal,since Tucson is already served in Leg 11. The Gila Indian reserve will get back the water supply that was taken away from them, a way of reparation, and will again make the Gila Indian reserve a viable community.

April 4: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Mark 6:1-13, In Mark 6 Jesus proclaimed ”A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own hometown, and among his own kin.” Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples, and they were amazed they could heal too.

Joshua 20 lists the cities of refuge, three West of Jordan and three East of Jordan.

Joshua 21 lists the 48 towns given to the Levites, they received no land. God’s promise to Israel was Finally fulfilled and the land had rest for a while.

Joshua 22. The Eastern tribes returned to their lands. On their way they built an altar by the Jordan. The Western Tribes thought by doing so they were abandoning the LORD. Not so, they were confirming “it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Psalm 30, for the dedication of the Temple. Of David. ( An alternate translation : For the dedication of the House of David.) It was written at the time of the completion of building David’s palace, but Charles Spurgeon, among others, thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the Temple – which David prepared for, but Solomon built. Commas are important, but are not in the Hebrew text. You decide the best interpretation.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 11: From San Carlos Lake to East Diversion dam, a distance of about 60 miles.

Stage 11 is a true delivery of water on demand aqueduct. The San Carlos lake has a storage capacity of a million acre-ft, the ideal buffer from the peak power demand driven uphill stages to the major delivery stage. San Carlos lake is now mostly empty, but will be normally filled to 85% of capacity, slightly less in advance of the winter snow melt. The Lake would look like this:

The Coolidge dam is now decommissioned, the lake is too often empty and the dam suffered damage in the power plant and it was no longer economical to produce power. The retrofitted dam will have a power generation capacity of up to 17,000 cfs the top of the dam is at 2535 ft, the typical water level is at 2500 ft and the drop is 215 feet, giving a maximum power output of 275 MW. In the first pass, the maximum output is 8,500 cfs , and the maximum power output is 135 MW.

From there the stream follows the Gila River to the East diversion dam and connects to the Tucson leg of the CAP canal, and delivers 600 cfs of water. It it then disconnected to the bottom of the canal.

The East Diversion dam will be reinforced, and the anal capacity will be increased to 600 cfs.

The free flowing Gila River with reinforcements around Hayden and the copper mine.

Whats in it for Arizona? Besides having a reliable flow, Gila river will again be good for fishing if stocked and it will deliver 600 cfs of reliable sweet Mississippi and Arkansas river water to the Tucson area. When fully built out it will deliver up to 275 MW of power.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 10: The highest pumping station in Arizona to San Carlos Lake, a distance of 93 miles.

The aqueduct stage of this leg is 32 miles and is generating power.The drop is average (4,200 – 3,000 – 32×2.2) = 1,130 feet. The maximum flow is 16,800 cfs. This stage is capable of generating maximum 1.4 GW of power 24 hours a day. Then it drains into Gila River for 47 miles, following 14 miles of San Carlos lake, for a total of 93 miles.

San_Carlos_Lake is located within the 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km²) San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and is thus subject to tribal regulations. It has been full only three times, in 1993 it overflowed the spillway and about 35,000 cfs of water caused erosion damage to natural gas pipelines. The lake contained (April 6,2021) less than 100 acre-ft of water. All fish was dead.

When former President Coolidge dedicated the dam in 1930, the dam had not begun to fill. Humorist Will Rogers looked at the grass in the lake bed, and said, “If this were my dam, I’d mow it.”^[

When the Transcontinental aqueduct is built the lake will always be nearly filled, level will be at 2510 feet with flood control nearly automatic, it will never overflow, and it will look like this, or better:

The San Carlos lake, when filled will hold 1,000,000 acre-ft of water. Here it is half filled.

The Coolidge dam will have to be retrofitted to accommodate a 17,000 cfs water flow. When water starts flowing at half capacity, 8,400 cfs in phase 1 of the building project it will take 2 months to fill the lake.

What’s in it for Arizona? The San Carlos Lake has been a great disappointment. It is more often empty than even half full, and when it is empty, all fish die. With The Gila river will be rejuvenated and will be able to carry fish again, making it the great recreation spot it was meant to be. In addition it will generate up to 1,4 GW of Power and carry up to 12 Million Acre-ft per year of water to the thirsty American South-west. In the first phase, while the aqueduct is built to full capacity, when the power stations have installed only half capacity, the flow will be 6 MAf per year, and power generated will be up to 700 MW.

April 3: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Mark 5 is a chapter full of action. On a hillside east of the sea of Galilee a demon possessed man met Jesus and recognized him as “The Son of the Most High God” and begged him not to torture him. The demons in the man asked Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs, about 2000 or so. Jesus let the demons go into the swine, and they promptly rushed down the hill and into Lake Galilee and drowned. This was too much for the people living in the area, so they begged Jesus to leave. Jesus did depart, and doing so he met Jarius, who had a daughter that was dying. As they went to Jarius’ house a large crowd followed them, and a woman with a bleeding issue for twelve years touched his garment. This Jesus noticed, and said to the woman “Daughter, your faith has healed you”. While still at a distance from Jarius’ house the news arrived that Jarius’ daughter had died, they were too late for healing. Jesus ignored them, saying: “Be not afraid, only believe.” Then he told the child “Talitha koum”, she rose up, and that is the end of the chapter.

Joshua 17 describes in more detail the land that would belong to the half tribe of Manasseh, west of Jordan, and also the land of Ephraim.

Joshua 18 gives a description of how the rest of the land was to be divided, beginning with the land of Benjamin, continuing with

Joshua 19, Simeon’s inheritance with Judah, the land of Zebulon, the land of Issachar, the land of Asher, the land of Naphtali, the land of Dan and finally Joshua’s Inheritance..

April 2: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Mark4:21-41. Jesus spoke in parables He told the parable of the lamp on a stand, not under a bushel, and the parable of the seed in the ground, followed by the parable of the faith of a mustard seed, all parables relating to the Kingdom of God. Finally Jesus calmed the storm while in a boat on lake Genesareth, and chastised the disciples for their lack of faith.

Joshua 14 describes the land west of the Jordan river, and that Caleb, still in his strength at the age of 85 wanted to inherit the hilly land of Hebron.

Joshua 15 defines geographical borders: The land of Judah, Caleb occupies Hebron and Debir and a listing of the cities of Judah.

Joshua 16 describes the land that belongs to the half tribe of Manasseh, west of Jordan, and also the land of Ephraim.

Psalm 28, of David. As so often with David, he began with a petition, asking for deliverance, then turned to praise.

Psalm 29, of David. A song of praise. This Psalm gives us a vivid description of a storm, and how the voice of God speaks through it.

April 1: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Mark 4:1-20. Jesus told the parable of the sower, and he also provided the explanation of it, and with that the key to all parables.

Joshua 10 speaks of further battles, in the battle with the Amorites the sun stood still for a full day. After the LORD gave Israel the victory, the Amorite Kings were executed, followed by the conquest of the Southern cities.

Joshua 11 tells of the Northern Conquest and gives a summary of all the conquests.

Joshua 12 sums up the Kings conquered by Moses and the Kings conquered by Joshua.

Joshua 13 describes the land to be conquered; the land divided East of Jordan: The land of Reuben, the land of Gad and the land of Manasseh East of Jordan.

Leg 7, leg 8 and leg 9 of the Transcontinental aqueduct. From the Buffalo Soldier Draw dam to the highest point of the aqueduct 10 miles into Arizona.

Leg 7 is 255 miles. I starts out at 2700′ elevation and ends at 4500′

Leg 7. from Buffalo soldier Draw upper dam to the highest point in Texas

To lift 17,000 cfs of water (4500 – 2700 + 255×2.2) = 2421 feet with a 92% efficiency requires 3.7 GW of power.

Leg 8 is 125 miles. I starts out at 4500′ elevation and ends at 3800′

Leg 7. from the highest point in Texas to crossing the Rio Grande at La Mesa

To release 17,000 cfs of water (4500 – 3800 – 125×2.2) = 425 feet with a 92% efficiency generates 550 MW of power.

Leg 8 is 125 miles. I starts out at 4,500′ elevation and ends at 3,800′

From La Mesa it will climb to the highest pumping station in Arizona, located 10 miles west of the border, at 4,200 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 10 is (4,200 – 3980 + 160×2.2) feet = 572 ft. To lift 17,000 cubic feet per second 592 feet requires 900 MW of power.

The total power needed for these 3 legs of the Transcontinental aqueduct when fully built up is 4.05 GW of power, the bulk of which will be supplied of 40 100 MW LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors). They are efficient and carbon neutral.

What’s in it for Texas, New Mexico and Arizona? Up to 17,000 cfs of soft water is being delivered to the thirsty south western states. This corresponds to 12 Million Acre-feet per year. The Colorado river contributes 15 MAF/year. The water delivery in the first pass of implementing the Transcontinental Aqueduct is 6,000 MAF per year.

March 31: Reading the Holy Bible in a year

Mark 3:20-35. After being accused of being possessed by Beelzebub Jesus began teaching in parables. He issued a strong warning: “All sins can be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Jesus mother and brothers tried to meet him, but Jesus reminded all: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother”.

Joshua 7. After the tremendous victory over mighty Jericho, Joshua was humiliated at Ai. Why? Was it because they tried to do it in their own strength or was it the sin of Achan?

Joshua 8. Finally, after a bitter fight Ai was conquered. Joshua renewed the Covenant at Mount Ebel..

Joshua 9. Without consulting the LORD, the leaders of Israel made a treaty with the Gibeonites, a very bad idea.

March 30: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Again, in Mark 3:1-19 Jesus did healing on a Sabbath, this time He healed a man with a withered hand. The powers that were hated it, but more and more people followed him. Jesus appointed the 12 apostles.

Joshua 5. While camped at Gilgal the second generation of Israelites were circumcised. Joshua met the Commander of the Army of the LORD.

Joshua 6 describes in living detail The Fall of Jericho. (One of the many musical renditions of this event is with the Delta Rhythm Boys from many years ago.) Enjoy!

Psalm 27 of David. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”