THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



271 



GOVERNMENT IREIGATION PROJECTS. 



The great bulk of the arid lands of Washington 

 susceptible to reclamation lie in the western and south- 

 ern part of that broad plateau which has the Columbia 

 river for a boundary on the north and west and the 

 Snake river on the south. By reason of the fact here- 

 tofore mentioned that said streams have cut their chan- 

 nels far below the surface of the adjacent country they 

 are not available on any large scale for the reclamation 

 of the lands referred to. The sources of water supply 

 must be sought therefore at long distances from the 

 point of desired distribution involving expenditures 

 which are at present and probably will be for a long 

 time to come beyond the resources of private capital 

 seeking such investment. Therefore the irrigation in- 

 vestigations of the Government have been in the main 

 wisely devoted to this field. 



Big Be-nd Project. This is the largest irrigation 

 project which has so far received the attention of the 

 Government in the entire arid West and in magnitude 

 will range among the greatest irrigation projects of 

 modern times. The work has not yet advanced beyond 

 the preliminary stages of investigation but it is esti- 

 mated will cost $20,000,000 and reclaim perhaps 1,500,- 

 000 acres of arable lands. It is proposed to use the 

 great Coeur d'Alene lake in Idaho as a storage reser- 

 voir and to divert the water from the Spokane river. 



Okanogan Project. The Okanogan project con- 

 templates the irrigation of about 35,000 acres of lands 

 on the benches of the Okanogan river in Okanogan 

 County, which is outside the arid district proper. The 

 estimated cost of construction would make the cost of 

 water about $35 per acre, which is probably higher than 

 the value of the lands will warrant at the present time. 



Yakima River Storage Reservoirs. The Govern- 

 ment lands surrounding lakes Katches, Kitchelos and 

 Cle Ellum, at the head of the Yakima river, have been 

 withdrawn from public entry and preliminary investiga- 

 tions made with a view to Government use of these lakes 

 for storage reservoir sites. This is a desideratum among 

 all interested in the water supply of the Yakima river 

 and with the practice of proper economy in the use of 

 water by the irrigators would render possible the rec- 

 lamation of every acre of land in that valley which it is 

 practicable to supply from that stream. 



PRIVATE IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 



Klikitat River. Within the past year or two sur- 

 veys have been made with a view to diverting the waters 

 of the Klikitat river and conducting them by a canal 

 about one hundred miles in length to the Horse Heaven 

 plateau in the eastern part of Yakima and Klikitat 

 Counties. So far as the writer is informed it has not 

 been determined as yet whether or not this project would 

 be practicable from an economic standpoint. 



Snake River Project. A canal is now under con- 

 sideration having in view the irrigation of several thou- 

 sand acres of land in the western part of Walla Walla 

 County in the vicinity of Wallula. The source of sup- 

 ply will he the Snake river, from which it is proposed 

 to raise the water by pumps from the ditch itself. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 I year, and The Primer of Irrigation 



Sunnyside Canal Extension. This project will be 

 hereinafter referred to. It may be stated here in brief 

 that the consummation of the project will about double 

 the irrigated area_ of the State. 



YAKIMA VALLEY. 



This valley comprises approximately nine-tenths 

 of the present irrigated area of the State as heretofore 

 shown. The Yakima river, one of the largest in Wash- 

 ington, rises in the Cascade mountains near the center 

 of the State and flows in a southeasterly direction to its 

 junction with the Columbia fifteen miles above the 

 forty-sixth parallel which separates this State from 

 Oregon. During the last eight miles of its course it 

 flows in a wide valley which was once a part of the great 

 lake which the Columbia drained when it broke through 

 the Cascades and out to the ocean and the beds of the 

 valley being silt the silts remained in place when the 

 lake receded and the present water courses were estab- 

 lished. 



The cultivated valleys of the Yakima consists of 

 ancient lake beds. Ellensburg is near the center of the 

 upper one. The second includes the Natchez, Wenas 

 and Selah valleys. The next one includes the Cowiche, 

 Ahtanum and Moxee valleys, the present thriving city 

 of North Yakima being about the geographical center. 

 The fourth comprises the Sunnyside, Reservation and 

 Prosser districts. The lower valley comprises a part 

 of the older Columbia lake bed. The elevation at the 

 ' mouth of the river near Kennewick is about 350 feet 

 above sea level; at Prosser 674 feet; the Sunnyside dis- 

 trict from 700 to 900 feet; North Yakima 1,078 feet; 

 the Ellensburg district from 1,500 to 2,000 feet. 



Areas. The Yakima valley forms a part of the 

 two counties of Yakima and Kittitas. The former 

 county contains an area of 5,784 square miles and the 

 latter of 2,414 square miles. Comparatively, the area 

 of Yakima County is larger than Connecticut, nearly 

 twice that of Rhode Island and Delaware and nearly 

 two-thirds that of Massachusetts. Professor Waller, 

 of the State Agricultural College, estimates on the basis 

 of very careful investigations that 660,000 acres can 

 be reclaimed by irrigation, assuming a sufficient water 

 supply. This is equivalent to about 18 per cent of the 

 entire area of Yakima County in which the. great bulk 

 of the irrigable lands lie. 



Soils. An analysis of the soils of the Yakima val- 

 ley made by the department of chemistry of the State 

 Agricultural College shows that they are especially rich 

 in lime, potash and phosphoric acid, the three constit- 

 uents most essential to plant life. The soil deposit be- 

 ing of disintegrated basaltic rock is of great fertility. 

 It is sufficiently porous to readily absorb the water and 

 allow a free penetration of plant roots. At Zillah, in 

 the Sunnyside district, where the river has cut down its 

 banks, the soil is eighty feet deep and where wells have 

 been sunk it has been found to be from sixty to two 

 hundred feet in depth, which would seem to be sufficient 

 assurance of its permanent fertility. In this it is in no 

 way exceptional to other basaltic soils, notably those of 

 Italy, southern France, Arizona and Mexico, where 

 lands which have been under cultivation for centuries 

 still maintain their marvellous fertility. 



Climate. The climate varies of course with the al- 

 titude and as there is a difference of some 1,500 feet be- 

 tween the elevation of the lower and upper portions 

 of the valley it will be interesting to note the differences 



