Some day, after the dust settles, a complete history of the Central Arizona Project no doubt will be written. The story will tell of the many milestones passed along the historical road, from the time when the project was just a glim mer in the eye of an early Arizonan to its eventual completion as a fully operating system.

The tenth anniversary of a significant CAP event occurred late last year, an event that likely will merit a page or two in a future CAP history book. In a ceremony conducted in Phoenix on November 15, 1985, U.S. Interior Secretary Donald Hodel and G overnor Babbitt pushed a button to start the flow of Colorado River water through the CAP canal into Phoenix.

In honor of its tenth anniversary, the 1985 event and accompanying celebrations are described below, with information culled from contemporary news reports. Not only does the event represent a significant moment in the progress of CAP, but a descrip tion of it raises issues or themes that, writ larger, run throughout the main stream of CAP history.

These issues or themes include a belief in a CAP destiny, the mixture of politics and water, a recourse to lofty sentiments to rally interest and support, not to mention the untoward occurrence of a few engineering and human annoyances. The piece al so demonstrates some of the enthusiasm CAP inspired before financial controversies muted some of the fervor. The 1985 signing helps us to understand the broader development of CAP.

The event scheduled November 15, 1985 was slated to celebrate the completion of Leg 1 of CAP as water began to flow through the canal into Phoenix. Many of the who's who in Arizona water gathered in honor of the occasion, including mayors, state leg islators, federal and state officials and former and current congressmen and the many others who labored to bring Colorado River water to central Arizona. Many of the celebrants milled about the 1929 Model A coupe and 1931 Victoria parked at the site as part of the celebrations.

As a Dixieland band hooted and banged out the tune, "When the Saints go Marchin' In," Interior Secretary Donald Hodel and Gov. Bruce Babbitt unveiled a $10,000 monument at the Central Arizona Project Operations Center, 23636 N. Seventh St. to mark th e completion of the first leg of the CAP.

"This has been a vintage project," said Tom Clark, general manager, Central Arizona Water Conservation District.

The CAP celebration committee had planned to honor 61 pioneers of the $3.5 billion project by listing their names on a $3,000 plaque. When the names leaked out, an unidentified member of Arizona's congressional delegation kicked up a fuss because hi s name was left off. Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz was identified as the likely disgruntled member. All the names then were taken off the plaque which now simply refers to all who contributed to the CAP.

A moment of silence was called to honor the contribution of the late Sen. Carl Hayden, D-Ariz, who was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and who helped gain congressional authorization for the CAP in 1968.

Hodel, the keynote speaker, calling Arizonans the "heroes of today," said that the CAP is the result of "those who had the vision to do something great."

President Reagan, in a letter delivered by Hodel, said,"To all those who had the vision and tenacity to make the Central Arizona Project a reality, we pay special tribute today."

"And to the leaders of tomorrow, we say never leave that daring state of adventure and incomparable determination that characterized the early pioneers of Arizona and this nation."

Hodel's promise that the federal government is "fully committed to celebrating the completion of the CAP into Tucson by 1991," drew at least two minutes of applause.

After the ceremony, Hodel and Babbitt pressed a big red button to symbolically start the operation of the Granite Reef Aqueduct. The button activated a pump in the Hassayampa Pumping Plant, the last of the four pumping plants through which Colorado River must pass to reach the Phoenix area.

The previous day the Arizona Daily Star carried a related story with the headline, "Leaky canal won't spoil CAP party in Phoenix."

The story told of a "$1.1 million hitch in the ditch" that, despite the headline, is "clouding the blue-chip soiree." It seems that up the road a ways, east of the Bouse Hills Pumping Plant below Parker Dam, the canal was leaking.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials discovered minor leaks in the 190-mile Granite Reef Aqueduct in June, spokesman Bob Walsh said. The leaky six-mile stretch was emptied and repaired, but when the ditch was refilled to its maximum depth of 18 feet , the water seeped out more than ever.

No water had been pumped down the Granite Reef Aqueduct from Lake Havasu since early October, a month before the festivities, when about 100 acre-feet were delivered so the Phoenix-Union Hills Treatment Plant could be tested. Water was stored in the aqueduct on both sides of the leaking section, and some of that water flowed to Phoenix for the celebration.

Repairs costing $1.1 million were to start soon and would take about two months, Walsh said.