THE I E El G ATI OX AGE. 



241 



The Truckee-Carson Project, Xevada, is the first 

 project to be completed under the Beclamation Act of 

 June 17, 1902, far enough to permit the delivery of 

 water. Water has now been delivered for three irri- 

 gation seasons to part of the land and a part of the 

 sum spent by the Government has already been returned 

 to the Treasury. We have here the first fruits of the 

 Eeclamation Act and it is of much interest to see how 

 this great movement has progressed so rapidly. 



The Truckee-Carson . Project has been considered 

 .as a possible irrigation scheme for over fifteen years. 

 Private companies and individuals had gone so far as 

 to run preliminary surveys, but the cost of the work 

 proved so great that private means were insufficient 

 ;and it was not until the passage of the Eeclamation Act 

 by Congress that Government aid was possible. 



So prompt were the' Federal officials to recognize 

 the merits of the Truckee-Carson Project that fifteen 

 days after the signing of the law by President Roose- 

 velt the land within the limits of the proposed project 

 was withdrawn from entry, except under the homestead 

 law. Survey parties were organized at once and in less 

 than a year advertisements were out for bids for the 

 first construction work. Construction started in the 

 fall of 1904 and was pushed to the fall of 1907. 



The project as originally outlined provided for the 

 construction of a number of storage reservoirs on the 

 headwaters of the Carson and Truckee Eivers, a ditch 

 from the Truckee to the Carson and a storage reservoir 

 on the Carson to catch the floods of the Carson and to 

 store the waters diverted from the Truckee. Distribu- 

 tion canals were to be built covering about 200,000 acres 

 of land in the Carson Sink Valley. Other extensions 

 of the project were planned, such as the Lovelock 

 branch, to irrigate the lower part of the Humboldt Val- 

 ley; the Pyramid branch, to irrigate land in and around 

 Pyramid and Winnemucca lakes, and other similar sub- 

 projects. These extensions provided for the irrigation 

 of an additional 150,000 acres of land, making the total 

 of the project about 350,000 acres. 



The first unit of the project or the 200,000 acres 

 in Carson Sink Valley is so far completed that ditches 

 and structures are ready for delivery of water to 100,000 

 acres of land. The canal from the Truckee to the Car- 

 son is completed. Lake Tahoe is the only reservoir so 

 far utilized, but when the land now ready is settled it is 

 planned to build a reservoir on the Carson River and 

 extend the lateral system to include as much land as can 



be supplied from the reservoir; and when that is set- 

 tled build more reservoirs and extend the laterals. 



So much has been written about the engineering 

 features of this project that it is hardly necessary in 

 this article to enter into a detailed statement of the 

 engineering problems, but just to point out a few of 

 the more important matters and devote more space to 

 the farmer and the interesting results he is bringing out. 



Two important matters were established before ac- 

 tual work was commenced, the first was that all con- 

 struction work should be of the most substantial charac- 

 ter, built so that the smallest possible expense would be 

 called for each year in maintenance; and, second, that 

 main drains should be built at the start in order that 

 each farm could get a drainage outlet for more exten- 

 sive underdrainage, if such ever proved necessary. Fol- 

 lowing oiit these plans, concrete, steel and rock were 

 iised in all important structures and drains were dug to 

 within one-quarter of a mile or less of each farm. Farm 

 laterals, in the majority of cases, take water to the farm, 

 but in a few cases the farmer will be required to con- 

 nect with his takeout by means of his own ditch for a 

 distance of one-quarter of a mile or less. This means 

 that practically everything the farmer has to build is 

 entirely within the boundaries of his farm. 



Public land is cut up into 80-acre farm units, with 

 a few 40-acre farms, to supply the demand for small 

 homesteads. Land in private ownership is not cut up 

 into farms. The only restriction on private land being 

 that the maximum amount of land for which one owner 

 can apply for water is 160 acres. When the Reclama- 

 tion Service entered the valley a small amount of land 

 had been farmed for many years. The vested right to 

 water for this land was recognized by the Government 

 and the owners of this land have secured rights in the 

 Government system by agreeing to pay the annual main- 

 tenance cost. 



The water charges are $30 per acre of irrigable land, 

 payable one-tenth in advance, and the balance in equal 

 annual payments. The second payment is due on De- 

 cember 1 of the year subsequent to that in which the 

 filing is made. 



A great many well-meaning men, attracted by the 

 newspaper accounts of free homesteads in the irrigation 

 projects have come West, expecting to make a successful 

 farm out of a desert eighty without capital. Such men, 

 however well meaning, are nearly all doomed to failure, 

 for the reclamation of a desert homestead requires capi- 

 tal. Few men with less than $1,000 succeed and many 

 with $2,000 do not make a success. It is impossible to 

 say how much any one man should have, because indi- 

 vidual tastes are so different, but it certainly should be 

 recognized that the capital should be adequate to carry 

 the family through two years, and leave enough over to 

 meet any unforeseen emergency. 



The soils of the Truckee-Carson project are desert 

 soils; the climate is one of the driest in the West; con-, 

 sequently the amount of vegetable matter in the soil is 

 small. Where the soil is sandy, the wind causes trouble 

 until a stand of some crop is secured. The country is 

 not windy, compared with the majority of irrigated val- 

 leys of the West, and when once a stand is secured no 

 further trouble ensues. 



The lack of organic matter in the soil necessitates 

 the planting of some crops which will leave organic ma- 

 terial among the soil grains. The majority of farmers 



