THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



269 



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expend the major portion of the funds arising from the 

 sale of public lands within each State for the benefit of 

 the arid lands within the limits of such State; that he 

 may temporarily use such portion of said fund for the 

 benefit of lands in any State that he may deem advisa- 

 ble, but when so used the excess shall be restored to the 

 fund as soon as practicable. 



In the administration of the act the organization 

 of the engineering force was placed with the director 

 of the United States geological survey, Mr. F. H. New- 

 ell, chief engineer. In each State a district engineer has 

 been appointed to make the necessary surveys and look 

 after the interests of the Government in carrying out 

 the provisions of this act. 



The fund now amounts to about thirty million dol- 

 lars, of which Dakota, Washington and Oregon have 

 contributed the larger share, Washington's contribution 

 thereto now amounting to over three and one-half mil- 

 lion dollars. 



THE ARID WEST. 



It has been well said that the arid West is the na- 

 tion's farm. It comprises nearly one-third of the whole 

 United States, exclusive of Alaska and insular pos- 

 sessions and extends from about the middle of the con- 

 tinent west nearly to the Pacific ocean. Practically all 

 the vacant public lands, comprising over five hundred 

 million acres, are within its borders. The significance 

 of its reclamation was strikingly shown by President 

 Roosevelt in his first message to congress in which he 

 said, "The western half of the United States would 

 sustain a population greater than that of our whole 

 country today if the waters that now run to waste were 

 saved and used for irrigation." The measures for its 

 partial reclamation have now been inaugurated by the 

 enactment of the legislation above referred to. Of 

 course topographical features and lack of available 

 water supply forbid that all of its vast area shall be re- 

 claimed. It is variously estimated that from fifty to 

 one hundred million acres of the entire arid West are 

 susceptible to reclamation by means of irrigation. 



ARID WASHINGTON. 



The arid lands of Washington are located in the 

 central and eastern portion of the State and comprise a 



part of the counties of Chelan, Kittitas, Yakima, Frank- 

 lin, Douglas, Adams, Walla: Walla and Asotin. Geolo- 

 gists tell us that the country was once the bed of a great 

 inland sea, or lake, now drained by the Columbia river 

 and its tributaries. In large terms, the great basin 

 of which it forms a part is bounded on the north by the 

 Okanogan highlands, on the east by the Bitter "Root 

 mountains of Idaho, on the south by the Blue mountains 

 of Oregon and on the west by the Cascade range. Pasco, 

 which occupies about the center, has an elevation of 

 375 feet above sea level, and as you go east, north or 

 west from this point, the elevation and consequent pre- 

 cipitation increase, until you find yourself among the 

 famous wheat fields of the Walla Walla, Palouse and Big 

 Bend districts or among the verdant foothills of the 

 Cascade range, the boundary line between the sub-humid 

 and arid portions being nowhere distinctly marked, 

 hut advancing, or receding according to the varying 

 seasons. 



The arid district proper comprises an area of be- 

 tween eight and nine million acres, probably, or about 

 one-fifth of the total land area of Washington. It has 

 an annual rainfall in the drier central portions of less 

 than five inches. The vegetation is the ordinary sage- 

 brush, greasewood, desert shrubs and scattering bunch 

 grasses. It is estimated by the irrigation experts of the 

 United States geological survey that of the entire area 

 about three million acres can be reclaimed by irriga- 

 tion from the available sources of water supply. The 

 soil is generally fertile, being of volcanic origin and of 

 great depth, while the climate favors the production, 

 to a greater or less degree, according to elevation, of 

 all the fruits, vegetables, grasses and cereals common to 

 the temperate zone. 



PRESENT IRRIGATED AREAS. 



Snake River. Snake river is 3 magnificent stream 

 but flows through a deep canyon and is not available 

 for the irrigation of the surface of the plateau through 

 which it flows except possibly near its mouth. There 

 arc, however, some areas varying in size from a few 

 acres to several hundred acres in the canyon itself, called 

 "bars," which are irrigated either from small streams 

 that come down the gulches in the canyon wall, or 

 through water which is lifted from the river by under- 

 shot wheels placed in the current and ejuipped with 

 buckets or pumps. In all there are perhaps between 

 five hundred and one thousand acres which are irrigated 

 from these various sources. 



Where the Water Leaves the River. 



