98 FOREST LANDS FOB THE PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS. 



From the last part of these tables, it is very evident that a royalty of $20 per 

 horsepower would turn the scale wholly in favor of steam under all conditions 

 of load. In fact, it is reasonably certain that $5 per horsepower per annum 

 would be an outside figure, and even this would often be prohibitory. The situa- 

 tion will not necessarily be improved by the growing demand for power, but 

 rather by the diminishing supply and increased cost of fuel. So long as coal 

 can be had for anything like present rates no very great charge can be realized 

 from water power wherever fuel is readily available. Under present conditions 

 $120 per horsepower may be considered as an average limit for first cost of a 

 water-power plant, if it is to compete with steam. A charge of $20 per horse- 

 power per annum would be equivalent to doubling this first cost. 



A variable element in the cost of water-power development is the distance 

 from plant to market, or the length of the transmission line. When this is very 

 great, as in numerous plants in the mountain districts of the West, it makes a 

 large addition to cost of installation and must correspondingly reduce the roy- 

 alty that could be paid for the power itself. 



An interesting example of what the Forestry Service has been able to do in 

 this line with unimproved water powers is that of a recent permit for the devel- 

 opment of a large power in the Cascade Mountains within the forest reserve. 

 The beneficiary of the privilege is required to pay annually for " conservation " 

 10 cents per 1,000 kilowatt hours equivalent to G5 cents per horsepower per year 

 continuous running. The right is retained by the Government to increase this 

 charge 25 per cent every five years for a period of forty years, after which the 

 whole arrangement may be readjusted. The maximum charge at the end of the 

 forty years will, therefore, not exceed $4 per horsepower. 



The only way in which a rental of $20 per horsepower can be obtained with 

 any degree of certainty, and that in only a small proportion of the localities for 

 many years to come, is for the Government to build the plants. It is admitted 

 that this suggestion will grate harshly on many ears because of its newness and 

 its departure from the established ideas. But a little consideration will show 

 it to be not only the best way for both private and public interests, but really 

 the only practicable way. This may be illustrated by a concrete example : 



The Government has just completed a survey and adopted a project for the 

 construction of what is known as the Lake Washington Canal in the city of 

 Seattle. It is a canal to connect Lakes Union and Washington with Puget 

 Sound. The discharge from the tributary watershed which will flow through 

 the canal averages about 1,500 cubic feet per second. The mean fall at the 

 lock site is about 15 feet. The theoretical energy is about 2,500 horsepower, 

 but owing to the tidal fluctuation and variations of flow with the seasons 

 (which can not be wholly eliminated on 'account of the necessity of limiting 

 fluctuations of level in the lakes to about 3 feet, and also to the requirements 

 for canal power, lockage, and leakage), it was thought that about only 1,000 

 horsepower could be depended upon with certainty for outside use. As this 

 poVer is located in the heart of a great city, it seemed as if it ought to be 

 turned to good account in helping bear the cost of maintaining the canal. 

 Efforts to obtain tentative propositions for developing this power were, how- 

 ever, wholly fruitless. The plan was then considered of having the Government 

 build the plant and lease it to consumers of power. On this basis a tentative 

 offer was obtained from a responsible consumer to take the plant, operate it, 

 keep up all repairs and pay the Government $18 per horsepower year. Prob- 

 ably by the time the canal is completed, a figure of $25 can be obtained, and as 

 more than 1,000 horsepower will probably be developed, it is likely that the 

 Government will receive upward of $30,000 per year for this power enough to 

 pay the entire cost of operating the canal. The extra cost to the project of 

 adopting the power-plant feature is $220,000, so that the revenue will be nearly 

 14 per cent upon the expenditure. 



In recommending this plan to the department, it was pointed out that the 

 true advantage of the Government, even apart from the revenue expected, 

 favored its adoption. It simplified the whole relation between the Government 



a Mr. Leighton cites the falls of the Ohio as an example of an opportunity to 

 develop 110,000 horsepower by aid of his proposed reservoir reguhition. This, 

 he states, at $20 per horsepower, is 3 per cent interest on $73,000,000. To any- 

 one familiar with the physical conditions involved in the development of this 

 power it will appear extremely doubtful if any company could guarantee to 

 deliver continuously this amount of power, even with the full aid of reservoir 

 regulation, and pay any royalty whatever. 



