270 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Streams Heading in Blue Mountains. About 

 3,500 acres of land in Asotin County are irrigated from 

 the canal of the Lewiston-Clarkston Water & Power 

 Company, which has its source of supply in Asotin 

 creek. This is the famous Vineland district where irri- 

 gated lands hare attained a value of from five hundred 

 to one thousand dollars an acre. 



There are probably from 10,000 to 15,000 acres of 

 irrigated land in the vicinity of Walla Walla under 

 various ditches receiving their supply from the Walla 

 Wa-lla and Touchet rivers. 



Columbia River. The magnificent Columbia river, 

 like the Snake river, its principal tributary, runs in a 

 deep canyon for the greater part of its course through 

 eastern Washington. There are no canals having their 

 source in the stream but along its banks are many 

 wheels designed to lift water by buckets or pumps which 

 make possible the cultivation of small fruit farms upon 

 the "bars," islands and narrow strips of land between 

 the river and its cliffs. There are also some irrigated 

 areas a-long the stream that have their source of supply 



with which the writer is most familiar, will be hereafter 

 more fully treated. There are under ditches already 

 constructed or in process of construction about 200,000 

 acres, of which about 95,000 acres are now in cultiva- 

 tion. 



To summarize, the present irrigated areas in the 

 arid district are approximately as follows : 



Acres. 



Snake river canyon 1,000 



Blue mountains 18,500 



Columbia river 3,000 



Wenatchee river 12,000 



Yakima river 200,000 



Total 234,500 



These various undertakings probably represent a 

 capital expenditure in their construction between four 

 and five million dollars and are the aggregate result of 

 reclamation work extending over a quarter of a century. 



In addition to the irrigation enterprises referred 

 to, which are confined to the arid district proper, it 



Desert bjfoiv the ditches are dug. 



in springs and small streams, tributary to the river, 

 the waters of which are often conducted by the individ- 

 ual farmer, in flumes, for miles along the almost per- 

 pendicular wall of the canyon to his small orchard or 

 garden, forcibly illustrating the truth of the saying 

 that in an arid country water is land. In the aggregate 

 these various areas probably comprise several thou- 

 sand acres. 



Wenatchee River. The Wenatchee valley, next to 

 the Yakima valley, is the scene of the most important 

 irrigation enterprises in the arid portion of the State. 

 The larger canals are as follows: 



Length Area 

 miles. covered. 

 Wenatchee Water Power Company. . . 6 1,500 



Peshastin Ditch 8 2,000 



Wenatchee Canal Company (high 



line) 18 7,000 



Mission Canai Company 1,500 



Total 12,000 



Yakima River. The Yakima river canal system, 



should be mentioned that in the humid and sub-humid 

 portions of the State irrigation has been resorted to 

 in many instances for the purpose of supplementing the 

 natural moisture during the drier portions of the year. 

 Throughout the wheat districts of eastern Washington 

 it is not an uncommon thing to see where some small 

 stream has been diverted from its course to irrigate 

 the farmer's garden or orchard. Even in western Wash- 

 ington, where the annual rainfall exceeds fifty inches, 

 some of the market gardens resort to irrigation in pe- 

 riods of summer heat and drouth. 



However, the most notable instances of irrigation 

 in a sub-humid climate are to be found in the vicinity 

 of Spokane, where several thousand acres hare been 

 brought under ditches having their source in the moun- 

 tain lakes of Idaho and northeastern Washington. By 

 these means lands which were formerly held for $10 

 to $20 per acre have been advanced in value to $100 

 per acre and more. It is believed that the water supply 

 is sufficient to irrigate the entire basin, comprising per- 

 haps 50,000 acres of arable lands and that companies 

 now organized will consummate the work. 



