104 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



for irrigation would be considerably in excess of this 

 amount. 



The Sierra Nevada forms a range nearly 350 

 miles along the western border of these two basins. 

 The altitude of this range is from 11,000 to 14,- 

 500 feet, making an area of nearly 1,500 square 

 miles which lies within the belt of heavy snow 

 fall, and subject to more or less rainfall in the 

 summer seasons. The Mono Lake basin and Long 

 Valley at the headwaters of Owens River also lie within 

 the snow belt. These, together with the White Moun- 

 tains, and other ranges lying to the east of these valleys 

 gives another 1,500 square miles lying within the range 

 of moderate annual rainfall. All of these upper lands 

 are water bearing. The total area of the two great 

 basins aggregate upward of 2,500,000 acres. 



From this source of water supply, it was possible 

 for the government to have reclaimed upwards of 350,- 

 000 acres of as fine a body of land as is to be found 

 anywhere throughout the great interior basin, nearly 

 all of it lying below the 4,500 foot level, and capable 

 of producing any crop outside of citrus fruits. By an 

 extension of the system there could have been included 

 200,000 acres more land on the eastern slope of the 

 Sierras. 



The Reclamation Service also had within its con- 

 trol a large part of the main channel of the Owens 

 River, and several of the smaller streams. The fall 

 between Long Valley and the Owens Valley is over 

 2,000 feet. The power available and which could have 

 been applied to the pumping of water upon the lands 

 to the south and east would have been sufficient in itself 

 to have reclaimed 100,000 acres. 



These lands lie in the midst of the greatest mining 

 regions of the west. The streams furnish sufficient 

 power to make this rich and populous as the coal regions 

 in the east. 



The citizens of Owens Valley had developed by 

 their own unaided efforts a very great canal system, 

 aggregating nearly 200 miles in length of main canals, 

 with a carrying capacity of upwards of 40,000 inches, 

 and had in process of reclamation a large and fertile 

 body of land. They found during the dry years, eight 

 or ten years ago, that the natural flow of the main 

 river, both spring and fall, was inadequate to supply 

 the large volume of water required. They joined forces 

 and made application for a number of reservoir sites, 

 and had already begun construction on some of these 

 and only awaited the action of the department granting 

 them a right of way, to begin on the others. Their 

 irrigation system was almost free from indebtedness 

 and was wholly owned and controlled by the resident 

 landowners. The annual water rates were not as great 

 per year as is charged by the month or even by the day 

 in many parts of California. 



At this juncture the Reclamation Service came into 

 the field, and after doing a little investigating, laid 

 before these people a plan whereby the government 

 would take over their reservoirs, impound all the flood 

 waters and winter flow; give to each appropriator and 

 canal such volume as their measurements would show 

 they were entitled to, and provide all additional water 

 required at the regular government rates. This propo- 

 sition was submitted to the citizens in the form of a 

 petition and signed by nearly ninety percent of them. 

 They turned over to the Service all of their reservoirs 

 without compensation on the promise of the officials to 

 restore them in case they were not needed. It is stated 

 that the officials also agreed to allow the applicants 

 the use of the field notes and maps for all reservoirs 

 not required in the government project. 



Among the reservoirs thus turned over to the Ser- 

 vice was one having a capacity of 100,000 acre feet 

 which could be filled twice each season, making avail- 

 able 200,000 acre feet of water. At the request of the 

 citizens, and the applicants who filed in their behalf, 

 this site was tendered to the service directly in Wash- 

 ington by Mr. Newlands. At the request of the citi- 

 zens Mr. Leon H. Taylor, engineer in charge of the 

 Truckee-Carson project, was sent to investigate this 

 proposed reservoir. His report showed that it was feas- 

 ible; that it would not cost to exceed $300,000; that a 

 large volume of water would have been available in six 

 months, and that construction could proceed without 

 affecting its use continually; and that with the use of 

 the river at flood stage it would be possible to reclaim 

 nearly half the body of lands included within the proj- 

 ect previously investigated by the service, and that 

 the cost would not exceed $6.50 per acre for both reser- 

 voir and the ditches necessary to put it upon the land. 



The Act of April 16, 1906 (Publit No. 103), 

 amendatory of the Reclamation Act (Sec. 4), reads 

 as follows: 



"That the Secretary of the Interior* shall, in ac- 

 cordance with the provisions of the Reclamation Act, . 

 provide for water rights in amounts he may deem neces- 

 sary, for the towns established as herein provided . . . 

 and other towns or cities on or in the immediate 

 vicinity of irrigation projects, which shall have a water 

 right from the same source as that of said project for 

 the delivery of such water to some convenient point, 

 and for the payment into the Reclamation fund of 

 charges of the same to be paid by such towns or cities 

 . . . ." Section 5 of said Act provides for the re- 

 taining of sites for power plants on any reclamation 

 project, and authorizes the service to construct such 

 plants for use in the development of water by pumping, 

 etc. 



The citizens, by petition filed in June, 1907, just 

 prior to Secretary Garfield's trip to the west, acceded 



