RWCD

The acronym above is one that may not be familiar to most who see it, but the townsfolk of Higley are quite aware – Roosevelt Water Conservation District, one of Higley’s oldest enterprises. RWCD occupies the northwest corner of the Higley and Williams Field intersection and they have remained there, mostly unchanged, since 1924.

Many newcomers may not be familiar to the history of the area yet, but there is consensus that desert living – past present, and future - would be next to impossible with out the advent of air conditioning and water supply. Although many had to do without the air conditioning for quite some time (very unfortunate!), water had been a managed resource long before any Western civilization had come into play. The prehistoric Hohokam culture is to be credited with the creation of many of the water ways used by the Salt River Project today, but here in the east valley, we can thank the folks at Roosevelt Water Conservation District for making this our viable economic and residential center.

One of Your Friendly Higley Historians landed an exclusive meeting with fourth generation employee, Shane Leonard, and he provided an extensively researched historical report that was commissioned by SRP and written by Scott W. Solliday, Historian, and Shelley C. Dudley, SRP Research Archives, to better help in sharing how RWCD came to be.

In 1920, Howard S. Reed and Frank H. Parker made a proposition to the Chandler and Mesa Chambers of Commerce to create an irrigation district that would be sustained by the excess water shed of the Salt and Verde Rivers in addition to water extracted from the water table below by means of electric wells. The area east of the Salt River Project had been deemed not profitable by the Salt River Valley Water Users Association. The citizens in the eastern area (now Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Queen Creek) already profiting greatly from the irrigation produced by gasoline powered wells, took it upon themselves to form the Auxilary Eastern Canal Land Owner’s Association, which would be in charge of the infrastructure needed to sustain a viable water source for the farmers in the Auxiliary Eastern Canal District.

Their Association and District was approved at the federal, state and local level, but an early reliance on groundwater with no determination of water levels and a poor economy shied away investors and temporarily slowed the organization’s efforts. In 1923, the District saw the potential of using concrete to line the waterways, which increased profitability by allowing easier cleaning and prevented losses by evaporation and seepage. In a move of ingenuity to secure more surface water, the District made a proposal to the members of SRP’s Association that would have the District pay for the concrete lining of portions of SRP’s South Canal, Consolidated Canal and all of the Eastern Canal and its extension, in exchange for an allocation of the amount of water conserved (this was later clarified as 5.6% of the total diversion of water at Granite Reef Dam). With a new agreement in place outlining the District’s water delivery, energy investment, and allocated water, they reorganized in 1924 under the new name Roosevelt Water Conservation District, named after the President who set the pace for Salt River Valley with the construction of the Roosevelt Dam. (fun fact – maps indicate that Apache Trail also went by Roosevelt Road at the time – Teddy was quite a guy!)

RWCD began construction of their infrastructure in 1925 and completed in 1928. During that time, they built their Main Pumping Plant (this moves the allocated water from SRP’s canals to RWCD) located in north Mesa, the RWCD Main Canal, groundwater wells, and a network of electricity to power the operation. With an additional amount invested into SRP’s Association, RWCD secured electricity at reduced rates, allowing more income to be generated by selling the excess electricity to the farms. At the end of construction, RWCD was irrigating 38,500 acres of the original 41,500 placed in the district which spanned about 22 miles from north Mesa to the Pinal County line and ranged from 2-5 miles wide. When you take into account the 16 bridges over the Main Canal, 106 miles of laterals connecting the fields to the supply, and 2.8 million square feet of concrete to make it all happen.... well, it's quite safe to say that it was a "Modern Marvel" of its time.

Over the years, the RWCD has changed and adapted along with the community it serves. RWCD continued to grow it’s water portfolio and currently uses a mix of Salt and Verde River water, Colorado River water (CAP), groundwater and a limited amount of effluent. They no longer deliver power to the residents and (if you can believe it) they have a lot fewer fields to tend to. But they are still very much hard at work delivering the water needed to sustain life in the desert. Anyone who has had to partake in the 2 am valve turning for your irrigated lot knows that water management is quite an orchestrated event!

So if you ever get a chance to meet someone who works at the RWCD, make sure to give them a big Higley handshake and/or hug. We thank them kindly for their hard work, foresight in the community and most importantly, for making their palm tree-lined presence Higley history.

http://rwcd.net/library/facilitiesmap.pdf