Gilbert, Arizona

and is headquartered in Higley, a subsidiary of Gilbert. Roosevelt Dam made our valley blossom and created Roosevelt Lake. The other dams below Roosevelt are the Horse Mesa Dam that backs up Apache Lake; Mormon Flat Dam that created Canyon Lake, and Stewart Mountain Dam that gives us Saguaro Lake. There is also Granite Reef Dam, and all of these are on the Salt River. On the Verde River above Granite Reef Dam, there is the Horseshoe Dam that gives us Horseshoe Reservoir, and Bartlett Dam, which backs up the Bartlett Reservoir. These dams hold the water reserves necessary for the Salt River Valley to exist and flourish.

Making all the farm growth possible were the large canals passing through the Gilbert farm area. The Consolidated Canal that was built by Dr. Chandler and his associates to take water to the Chandler area was a boon to all the farmers along its path. Later there was the Highland Canal to the east of the Consolidated, but the Eastern Canal later replaced that. We generally referred to the Consolidated as the First Canal and the Eastern as the Second Canal. Both these canals fell under the man agement of the Salt River Project, which has maintained all the irrigation from the Second Canal west across most of the Salt River Valley. The Third Canal was established by the Roosevelt Water Conservation District

k The First Canal in Gilbert 1910

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