News Release Archive

San Xavier Farms Rehabilitation Project Will Affect San Xavier Road through May

Media Contact: Patricia Cox , (623) 773-6214, 04/04/2006 23:20
Raymond Obral , robral@lc.usbr.gov

For Release: April 04, 2006

The first phase of the rehabilitation of the San Xavier Cooperative Farm is continuing with work to improve San Xavier Road as part of the farm flood protection. Construction includes a new and larger floodway channel and roadway culverts. Reclamation now expects the road construction to be completed in late May.

Although the road construction activity is causing a minor inconvenience in accessing and exiting the San Xavier Mission del Bac, the mission remains open with normal hours of operation. The public may also access the Mission from the west off of Mission Rd.

Persons normally using the San Xavier Road as a route through the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation should find an alternative route. A temporary by-pass road, located to the north, has been constructed and can now be utilized.

The $23.8 million farm rehabilitation project, announced in November by Reclamation Commissioner John Keys, is a joint venture between Reclamation, the San Xavier District, and the San Xavier Cooperative Farm and is being carried out in accordance with the Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act of 1982 (SAWRSA), and the Arizona Water Settlement Act of 2004.

Rehabilitation project construction is being phased in over a two-year period, and improvements will include high-efficiency piped water distribution infrastructure, new field irrigation systems, flood protection and improved farm roads.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.