G. E. P. Smith and Arizona's Failed Water Code

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• G. E. P. Smith and Arizona's Failed Water Code
• Julia Fonseca (bio)

Introduction

Alfred Atkinson, president of the University of Arizona, was troubled. One of the university's most able professors had verbally attacked the state water commissioner during a January 1938 event. There on page 1 of the Sunday-morning paper were Professor George Edson Philip Smith's acerbic remarks. Among them: "Arizona officials have indicated that they prefer to warm a chair cushion rather than to do the very essential field work directed by the code."¹

Evidently, Atkinson observed, Smith's intention was to "stimulate the state official into action," but this criticism of Commissioner Jesse Wanslee was unfortunate.² The troublesome professor had, only three years earlier, been fired by the Arizona Board of Regents, perhaps at the behest of former governor Benjamin Baker Mouer. The regents, however, had quickly decided this was a mistake, after hearing from Smith's many supporters.³

Yes, Professor Smith was indispensable, even if arrogant. Smith had written the state's water code nearly twenty years earlier (Figure 1). Throughout the course of his career, Smith had demonstrated considerable initiative, often launching investigations that later advanced important state goals. Smith's research had determined "safe yield" or the amount of groundwater pumping that could be sustained long term in several agricultural districts. His understanding of Colorado River matters provided a factual basis for Arizona's opposition to the Colorado Compact. And recently Governor Rawglie C. Stanford had appointed Smith to a committee to develop regulations for groundwater pumping.⁴ [End Page 187] With a sigh, Atkinson penned a letter to Dean Burgess, suggesting they meet to discuss counseling the argumentative professor.⁵

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George Edson Philip Smith went by the name G.E.P. Photograph courtesy of Arizona Historical Society, Tucson General Photo Collection, Portraits—Smith, G.E.P. (Maude), #56513.

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To understand Smith's frustrations with the state's water administrator, this paper will examine the motivations behind Arizona's adoption of Smith's 1919 water code and the factors that ultimately undermined regulation of water claims under the new law. As the university professor who drafted the code, worked for its passage by the legislature, and helped the young state's Water Commission do its work, Smith provides a firsthand account of how this critical period in southwestern water management set the stage for some of Arizona's current water problems.

Background

G. E. P. Smith, born in 1874 in Vermont, came to Arizona in 1900 to "see the country" and to teach surveying, physics, and civil engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His intention was to make his way to California, where his father and sister had gone to live. But after a few years his plans changed.⁶ Smith became intrigued with opportunities he saw in Arizona. By the end of 1904, he had traveled across much of the territory by horse, foot, bicycle, and rail. He saw the destructive floods of 1905 on the Salt and Colorado Rivers, the verdant Imperial Valley of California, and the ambitious plans of Louis Hill for construction of Roosevelt Dam.⁷ He became increasingly interested in hydrology as well as irrigation engineering.

Smith proposed to join the Agricultural Experiment Station as a consulting engineer. The Experiment Station was a research arm of the university, devoted to promoting agriculture in the territory of Arizona. Station staff helped thousands of farmers and ranchers with practical information on soils, climate, crops, fuels, and irrigation practices, and provided valuable information to out-of-state businessmen interested in investing in Arizona. As a writer for the station's publication series, Smith would gain a broad audience of over 2,500 subscribers, including agencies such as the U.S. Reclamation Service and U.S. Geological Survey.⁸

The Agricultural Experiment Station was authorized by the territorial government in 1885. The station got off to a slow start, but under the direction of Robert H. Forbes, the station began to attract state and federal funding.⁹ Initially, funds were insufficient to hire Smith full time.¹⁰ By 1906, Director Forbes...