RECLAMATION" OF ARID LANDS NEWELL. 187 



The dam has a height of 86 feet and a length of 736 feet and is of the 

 earth and rock fill type. It has a spillway 2,385 feet long. The 

 distribution systems include 513 miles of canals. The power and 

 transmission lines will have a length of from 13 to 20 miles. 



The soil is sandy loam and volcanic ash fairly free from alkali, 

 and exceedingly fertile. The sandy soil is particularly adapted to 

 the raising of alfalfa, potatoes, beet and other root crops, as well 

 as melons, strawberries, etc. It is also especially adapted to the 

 cultivation of sugar beets. 



The general elevation is 4,200 feet above sea level. There is an 

 ample water supply. The watershed area is 22,600 square miles, and 

 the estimated annual run-off is 8,000,000 acre-feet. The average 

 annual rainfall on the irrigable area is 14 inches. 



The cost of water right is $22 and $30 per acre, payable in 10 

 annual installments, and the operation and maintenance charge for 

 1910 was 75 cents per acre for the gravity system. The building, 

 operation, and maintenance charges for the high areas to which water 

 must be pumped have not been fixed. 



Kansas, Garden City project. — This project consists of a pumping 

 system for the recovery of underground waters, which are delivered 

 into a conduit leading to a distributing canal known as " The Farm- 

 er's Ditch." The plant consists of 23 small pumping stations, each 

 operated electrically from a central power station. There are 10,- 

 677 acres of irrigable land lying in the vicinity of Garden City on the 

 north side of Arkansas River. The soil is a rich prairie loam capa- 

 ble of high cultivation and adapted to the raising of grain, sugar 

 beets, cantaloupes, alfalfa, and other crops of the plains region. The 

 average elevation of the area under this project is 2,925 feet, and the 

 temperature ranges from 20° below to 105° above zero. The water- 

 right charge is $37.50 per acre of irrigable land, and the farmers are 

 also required to pay an annual maintenance and operation fee which 

 at present amounts to $2.75 per acre. The project has not been a 

 success because of the failure of the farmers to economically use the 

 relatively expensive water. 



Montana, Blackfeet project. — This was planned for the reclamation 

 of 50,000 acres of land in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Mont., 

 and the ultimate reclamation of 133,000 acres total under five pro- 

 posed canals. The first construction involves the diversion of water 

 from the left bank of Two Medicine River immediately below the 

 confluence of Little Badger Creek and carrying this to lands in the 

 east-central portion of the reservation, east of the town of Cut Bank. 

 These lie at an elevation of approximately 3,850 feet, and the tempera- 

 ture ranges from 40° below zero to 100° above. The soil is a sandy 

 loam, producing abundantly with sufficient moisture. The average 

 rainfall is about 16 inches, but varying materially. Some hay and 



