The University of Arizona Press
Damming the Gila
The Gila River Indian Community and the San Carlos Irrigation Project, 1900–1942
This volume continues to chronicle the history of water rights and activities on the Gila River Indian Reservation. Centered on the San Carlos Irrigation Project and Coolidge Dam, it details the history and development of the project, including the Gila Decree and the Winters Doctrine. Embedded in the narrative is the underlying tension between tribal growers on the Gila River Indian Reservation and upstream users. Told in seven chapters, the story underscores the idea that the Gila River Indian Community believed the San Carlos Irrigation Project was first and foremost for their benefit and how the project and the Gila Decree fell short of restoring their water and agricultural economy.
Damming the Gila is the third in a trio of important documentary works, beginning with DeJong’s Stealing the Gila and followed by Diverting the Gila. It continues the story of the Gila River Indian Community’s fight to regain access to their water.
“Damming the Gila by David DeJong is a magnificent work of historic research and synthesis. This volume covers the ill-fated and hydrologically mistaken construction of the San Carlos Irrigation Project. DeJong is in a unique position to balance the tragic past of suffering and deprivation with the long-promised restoration of full agricultural production.”—Douglas E. Kupel, author of Fuel for Growth: Water and Arizona’s Urban Environment
“DeJong does well as he shows some of the major problems afflicting tribal communities and western water. Processes like land severalty and allotment and reserved rights get the attention they deserve here. He also shows the specific impacts of the central problem of the American West--that there isn't enough water for all the people who want it, no matter how many dams and canals the Bureau of Reclamation builds.”—Peter Brewitt, Pacific Historical Review
