The Central Arizona Project
During the start of the 20th century, expansion in the state of Arizona was increasing. With new infrastructure arising, and hundreds of thousands of people in this state, more and more resources were demanded. But out of every resource one could imagine, one was the most vital: water. But, with the vast of the state being covered in desert, engineers needed to find a way to source more water.
So, they looked to use resources from the Colorado River. As the state of Arizona received the Lower Basin of this river for use, the state established the Central Arizona Water Conservation District to plan this project.
The project begins in Lake Havasu and the Parker Dam, where water is pumped and drawn from. Then, it is funneled through three different aqueducts, where each one distributes water to a different area.
One of these is the Fannin-McFarland Aqueduct. Being about 58 miles long, this section took about 6 years to construct. In total, this section distributes water throughout the southern section of the Tucson Metropolitan, and into the Southern parts of Arizona.
At the end of this aqueduct begins another section: the Tucson Aqueduct. This section is about 87 miles long and took about 9 years to finish.
The longest of these aqueducts is the Hayden-Rhodes aqueduct, at 190 miles. This is the beginning section of the project, and carries water through an open channel to the Phoenix metropolitan.
While there are portions of this project that transport water with the aid of gravity, there are large elevation gains as the water progresses eastward. Because of this, there are many pumps dispersed across the project that keep the water moving forward. After this, turnouts deliver water to different basins.
After the main project was constructed, water recharge technology was introduced to further distribute water from these aqueducts. Such technology disperses water across various aqueducts, replenishing natural groundwater.
Today, this project provides water to 80% of Arizona. While much of the technology is simple, it is the 336 mile scale that made this project a challenge to civil engineers. But to ensure the stability and growth of an area prone to water scarcity and drought, it is vital for engineers to create water distribution projects that reach every part of an area.
