McFarland fought decades for the CAP
by Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune
As Arizona governor in the late 1950s, Ernest McFarland made an unprecedented appearance before the special master of the U.S. Supreme Court to plead Arizona’s case for Colorado River water. It was another chapter in his long crusade to bring renewable water to parched central Arizona.
Arizona Historical Society
Ernest McFarland is perhaps best remembered for his efforts on behalf of World War II-era soldiers and veterans. In Florence, his name continues to be familiar because of the state park that bears his name.
But he also fought for much of his career for a pivotal development that was finally being achieved near the end of his long life — water for parched central and southern Arizona.
Joanna Brace, curator of Arizona State Parks and Trails, presented “Vision Realized: Ernest W. McFarland and the Central Arizona Project” — describing McFarland’s long fight in the U.S. Senate, then as Arizona’s governor, to create the CAP canal system that now provides the state’s largest renewable water supply — Dec. 14 at the Florence Library and Community Center.
