Today the Apache Trail, east of Apache Junction, Arizona, still winds its way up the Salt River Canyon to Roosevelt Dam. In 1902 Congress recognized the emergency and passed a law that allowed the government to lend money to western states for special water projects. The law was called the Newlands Reclamation Act. Four thousand landowners formed the Salt River Water Users Association. The association promised to repay the loan of ten million dollars to build Roosevelt Dam. A 35-mile long road was cleared to the dam site. It was called “the Apache Trail.” A cement plant was built. A town called Roosevelt was begun. It became big enough to have both a cemetery and a jail. The town no longer exists because the place where it stood is now at the bottom of Roosevelt Lake. Building got started in 1906. In 1911, the dam was finished. The loan from the government was repaid in full by 1955. Today there are many dams and canals in Arizona. Water from these dams travels through more than twelve hundred miles of canals to the Salt River Valley. Power from the dams also provides electricity to the state. More than one million acres of farmland are currently being irrigated in Arizona. Some people are afraid that there won’t be enough water for the future. A giant aqueduct called the Central Arizona Project brings water through canals from the Colorado River to central and southern Arizona. An aqueduct is a man-made canal that is dug to move water from one place to another. What are the Salt River Project Canals? When were they built? The Hohokam were the first people to build irrigation canals along the Salt River. But the early citizens of Phoenix also knew that in order to make their small town a successful farming community, irrigation canals would have to be built. Jack Swilling rebuilt the first American canal in 1867. It was called the Swilling Ditch. Today nine major canals make up the Salt River Valley’s canal system. They are operated by the Salt River Valley Project Company. 104  Chapter 10 • Water