Arlington, AZ |
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The Arlington Canal no longer gets its water from the natural sources. With the damming of the rivers for upstream irrigation, there was little natural flow left for downstream use. The community canal now receives its water from the Buckeye Irrigation District, which, in turn, gets its water from Phoenix' 91st Avenue Waste Water Treatment Plant. (Amy Foard, "A canal runs through it," West Valley View, February 5, 2003, A10) January of 1993 was a wet month for Arizona and this was quite evident in Arlington where the school was submerged by the waters of the Gila River, backed up behind Gillespie Dam. The valley lost hundreds of acres of farmland and land that had never been flooded before was in danger until the Gillespie Dam breached draining the valley in a short time. The floods dug up buried gas lines which buckled and sent flames high into the evening sky. (Murphy, 6) In November 2000, a wing of the Arlington School caught fire destroying five classrooms. The Arlington School District applied for a permit to rebuild the structure, but because the school is located in the flood plain of the Gila River, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County declined the application. This left the school with two choices, live with the burned ruin of the structure or move to higher ground. After a controversial selection process, a new site was selected for the school at 355th Ave and Dobbins Road, on the edge of Greater Arlington. For comments on the site, or to offer additional information, please send email to vince@azmurrays.net. |
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