396 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



well as in the Serxice the machinery is 

 available for the immediate placing of 

 home-seekers upon the irrigable lands. 

 The guarantee of a project by both 

 State and Nation will inspire con- 

 fidence, and will promote settlement by 

 a high class of home-makers. The joint 

 participation in the cost of the works 

 doubles the field for the Government 

 engineers. Whereas heretofore the at- 

 titude of the Western States has been 

 that of "Let Uncle Sam do it," today 

 there is a growing appreciation of the 

 duty of the State to join forces with 

 the Government. 



The get-together spirit so strongly 

 advocated by Secretary Lane is bearing 

 fruit, and we may confidently look for- 

 ward to a long period of joint activity 

 in developing the latent resources of 

 the arid West. On many of the projects 

 yet to be taken up State lines must be 

 eliminated and questions of State's 

 rights must be disregarded in working 

 out broad plans to utilize drainage 

 basins located in several States. The 

 field is vast and full of enormous 

 promise to the whole nation. 



Plans are being discussed today 

 which a short time ago would have 

 been regarded as chimerical and vision- 

 ary. For example, engineers are en- 

 gaged in a systematic study of available 

 data relating to the entire drainage area 

 of the Colorado River, our American 

 Nile, which embraces 220,000 square 

 miles in seven States. These plans in- 

 clude irrigation, power and navigation 

 and the project is both interstate and 

 international in character. To fructify 

 and make available for hundreds of 

 thousands of families a valley which in 

 its reclaimed state would be like that 

 of the Egyptian Nile in fruitfulness 

 and productivity is a task well worthy 

 of the most progressive nation on 

 earth. 



For the present year the activities of 

 the Reclamation Service are to be cen- 

 tered largely upon the twenty-five 

 great projects whereon construction has 

 been proceeding for a number of years. 

 It would be impossible in the s])ace of 

 one short article to make more than 

 brief mention of these. A number. 



however, are of such magnitude and im- 

 portance as to deserve special consid- 

 eration. 



Ranking first in probable total cost 

 and irrigable acreage is the great Boise 

 project of Idaho. Approximately $14,- 

 000,000 will be required to complete 

 the work which will serve 343,000 acres 

 of fertile land in the vicinity of Boise, 

 Nampa and Caldwell. The engineering 

 features of the project are exceedingly 

 comprehensive, embracing two large 

 storage reservoirs, three enormous 

 storage dams, a diversion dam, power 

 plant and transmission lines, standard- 

 gauge railway 19 miles long, telephone 

 lines 210 miles in length, canals 952 

 miles, drains 50 miles, 871 bridges, 80 

 buildings, 284 culverts, and 9,599 canal 

 structures. 



The most important single feature 

 of the project is the Arrowrock dam 

 which when completed in 1916 will be 

 the highest in the world. This im- 

 posing structure blocks a narrow can- 

 yon of the Boise River. It is of rubble 

 concrete, with a maximum height of 

 350 feet, length of crest 1,075 feet, and 

 contents 530,000 cubic yards. Its esti- 

 mated cost is $5,000,000. It will store 

 230,000 acre feet of water and will 

 cover 2,780 acres about 250 feet deep. 

 Additional storage of flood waters has 

 been provided by the construction of 

 two enormous earth fill dams, one of 

 which is 70 feet high and 4,000 feet 

 long, the other 40 feet high and 7,000 

 feet long, creating a lake with a 

 capacity of 177,600 acre feet. At the 

 Boise diversion dam the Government 

 power plant develops 2,000 horse power, 

 a portion of which is now utilized to 

 actuate all machinery at the Arrowrock 

 camp, the balance being sold to a Boise 

 corporation. 



The camp at Arrowrock, the princi- 

 pal terminus of the Government rail- 

 way, is a community of about 2,000 

 souls and is entirely under the jurisdic- 

 tion of the Service. It represents the 

 most careful planning of engineers in 

 its general layout, in the conveniences 

 and appliances furnished for the labor- 

 ers and their families. The Govern- 

 ment runs a large mercantile store, a 



