i9o8 AMERICA'S GREATEST IRRIGATION SCHEME 



261 



This main canal delivers water to 

 a reservoir, for which a natural de- 

 pression has been utilized ; and where, 

 by the erection of a dam, a body of 

 water three miles long, half a mile 

 wide, and forty feet deep, has been 

 created. 



From this reservoir the water is 

 taken out in three secondary canals 

 and carried to the different districts 

 which are to be irrigated. These sec- 

 ondary canals are about thirty feet 

 in width on the bottom, at their west- 

 ern end, and carry water to a depth of 

 eight feet; their combined length be- 

 ing one hundred and fifty miles. 



From these secondary canals the 

 water is again taken out and con- 

 ducted in each irrigation district 

 through a comprehensive system of 

 distributing ditches that bring the 

 water to each 160 acres, or quarter 

 section, of land to be irrigated. The 

 combined length of these distributing 

 ditches is about 800 miles. 



To complete the western section, 

 eight and one-quarter million cubic 

 yards of earth must be moved. 



The ultimate expenditure on this 

 great undertaking is estimated at about 

 $5,000,000; which, taken in conjunc- 

 tion with the area of land in the block 

 that it is proposed to irrigate, justifies 

 the title given this scheme: "Amer- 

 ica's Greatest Irrigation Project." 



The manner in which the work is 

 being performed is vouched for in the 

 following statement by Dr. Elwood 

 Mead, late chief of Drainage and Irri- 

 gation Investigations, Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, the leading 

 irrigation engineer authority on this 

 continent : 



"The chief pioblem ot the main 

 canal was to build a waterway which 

 would be free from leaks and all dan- 

 ger of breaks. The precautions which 

 have been taken to insure this are 

 greater than those usually observed. 

 The specifications for stripping the 

 surface soil and packing the embank- 



