BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS. 523 



FARM IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 



A ]arge part of the food supply of the more arid States of the West 

 IS derived from irrigated land. 'Jlie high prices of soil products and 

 the scarcity of water due to long-continued droughts have forced 

 attention to the need of more water for irrigation, and this in turn has 

 reawakened an interest in the storage of flood waters, the improve- 

 ment of canal systems, and the removal of waste water from water- 

 logged lands. The division of irrigation is endeavoring to respond 

 to this general demand for more water, better systems, and a more 

 economical use of water to the extent of its men and means. 



Tntil recently the chief efforts of the ])eople of rural communities 

 in the far Western States have been exerted in providing water for 

 raw lands. The expenditure of a large sum by the Department of 

 the Interior in work of tliis nature during the past 18 years gave an 

 impetus to this kind of reclamation and induced corporations and 

 private interests generally to undertake similar development. Owing 

 to the depletion of Government funds for this ]jurpose, construction 

 work on Government projects is falling off, but the lessening of 

 governmental activity has been followed by a corresponding increase 

 in the action taken by private interests, communitit s, and States. 

 These private undertakings, however, have to do mainly with the 

 overhauling and enlarging of existing systems. Many of these were 

 built more than a quarter of a century ago and are dependent on the 

 summer flow of streams for their suppl} . The area inigated by tliem 

 can not be increased unless part of the flood waters are stored, but 

 to provide funds for the building of high masonry dams requires the 

 combined financial backing of entire communities. This in turn 

 necessitates a reorganization into irrigation districts, and not infre- 

 quently the merging of all the irrigation interests on a stream under 

 one central control. For the past year the most beneficial results 

 derived from the work of this division have been gained through 

 assistance rendered to communities in making preliminary surveys 

 and reports of existing systems and, when found feasible, in aiding the 

 water users imder these systems to amalgamate their interists, 

 build storage reservoirs, and adapt their main canals and distribu- 

 taries to the more efficient irrigation of a larger body of land. In 

 four counties of Utah the reconstruction work which has been carried 

 out under the guidance of tliis bureau will result eventually in the 

 reclamation of about 100,000 acres of additional land besides furnish- 

 ing an iidecpiate and dependable supply to nearly as large an area now 

 insufficiently served. These striking results are a forecast of the 

 greater accomjjlishments which may be confidently expected if the 

 larger ])rojects now under way or (•ontem))lated arc carried to com- 

 pleti(m. 



Apart from the foregoing, the several lines of investigation for the 

 conduct of which this division was created have been continued. The 

 apportionment of the flow of streams and canals among thousands of 

 users has always proved a difficult task, and until facilities are pro- 

 vided so that the amount of water to which each is entitled is accu- 

 rately measured controversies and litigation are certain to arise. 

 Numerous experiments have been conducted at the hydraulic lal)ora- 

 tory at Fort Collins, Colo., for the purpose of determining the efficiency 

 of water meters in common use and also of devising ncAV types. ()f 



