By J. J. Lamb
“There is enough flood water goes to waste annually down the Rillito, which, if stored, would be sufficient to irrigate the entire Tucson basin … it … requires … reclaiming the lands of the Tucson basin by means of water storage, diverged from the Rillito* or Cienega water ways.” Arizona Daily Star March 21, 1901.
Vail resident W.M. Maull had big plans to capitalize on the goal expressed in the article and harness the water resources to increase the amount of land under cultivation in the Tucson basin. And, make a good profit at the same time.
A two-mile ditch from Cienega Creek to Carter Crane and John Fraker’s place was already irrigating the 300 acres they had under cultivation by 1896. Their farm and orchard was where Rancho del Lago is located today. W.M Maull of nearby La Cienega Ranch, half a mile from Vail Station was raising alfalfa. He could raise four to six crops a year. Increased water for irrigation would translate to more acreage under cultivation and greater profit. He caught the vision laid out in the 1901 newspaper article that outlined how utilizing water would make the Tucson basin a better place. He brought together partners to do just that.
W.M. Maull’s vision included not just a dam whose waters would irrigate 10,000-20,000 acres, but through a series of pipes would generate electrical power for Tucson as well. He hired W.H. Ferguson, a respected civil engineer from Chicago, to do a feasibility study and worked with Professor George Smith, who was doing cutting edge research related to capturing both surface and sub-surface water flow. Nothing would go to waste.
By 1904, Maull had put together a plan, a prospectus, and partners. The plan called for them to purchase 250 acres around the proposed dam site identified by the engineer. They would also purchase the ranch below the reservoir site along with its existing water rites, valued at $10,000 in 1904. Then they would officially form a company, sell stock and raise enough funds to purchase 10,000 acres at $2.50 an acre and re-sell for $5.00 to $10.00 an acre with an allotment of water for irrigation. The report Maull had commissioned told him there would be enough water to supply another 10,000 acres. The company would rent annual water allotments to those owners. He told potential partners that, “the money invested will be returned with interest as soon as the dam and canal are built, and that the remaining permanent interests of the stockholders will practically cost them nothing.”
The dam was finally built in 1911 at the identified site, by M.R. Schweitzer, the manager of Maull’s La Cienega Land and Cattle Company, with the technical assistance of Professor George Smith. The engineer’s estimate in 1904 was $230,000. Schweitzer built it at a cost of $7,350 “…including labor, supervision, supplies, rent of pumping machinery and cement at $3.25 per bbl.” The crew excavated to bedrock and imbedded the sides of the arch designed dam into the canyon walls. A concrete cylinder with 200 metal mesh covered holes would harvest sub-surface water. Professor Smith calculated that the additional water for irrigating could be capitalized at $18,000. The waters of Cienega Creek are still harvested today by the 1911 dam. The water rights still belong to the ranch to the west of the site. Today we know it as Rancho del Lago.
*Cienega Creek flows into the Pantano which flows into the Rillito.
