11KI4 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



561 



cessfully on portions of this strip, and 

 there is no doubt as to the fertility of 

 the soil when properly irrigated. The 

 land being rolling and having a good 

 drainage, very little of it will be in- 

 jured from seepage water. Within 

 this area are a number of sand rock 

 buttes, ranging in size from one-half 

 to 1 60 acres, and extending over the 

 entire strip between Big Wind River 

 and Muddy Creek. With the excep- 

 tion of that portion lying within the 

 Big Bend of Big Wind River and com- 

 prising 20,000 acres, these buttes make 

 it difficult to determine with any de- 

 gree of accuracy the amount of irriga- 

 ble land, and until a topographic map 

 has been made only an approximation 

 is possible. It is believed that the_ es- 

 timate of 230,000 acres, however, is a 

 conservative one. 



In the big bend of Big Wind River, 

 extending north and west, are about 

 20,000 acres of fine bottom sage brush 

 land sloping toward the north and east. 

 North of Muddy Creek, a small stream 

 flowing east through the irrigable land 

 a distance of 20 miles and south to 

 Owl Creek Mountains, are 40,000 

 acres of fine sage brush land with a 

 slope to the east and south. Between 

 the Big Wind River and Muddy Creek 

 is the' largest body of land, 190,000 

 acres. South and east of Popo Agie 

 River are about 10,000 acres of rolling 

 land sloping to the north and east, 

 which, it is believed, will be difficult to 



water. 



WATER SUPPLY. 



The source of water supply is the 

 Big Wind River and its tributaries 

 which have an approximate drainage 

 area of 2,000 square miles, 

 urement of this stream was made on 

 October 19, 1904, at which time the 

 headwaters had begun to freeze and 

 its flow was retarded. The discharge 

 was 406.3 second-feet. This meas- 

 urement was made at a point abpi 

 two miles above the mouth of 

 Lake Creek, and about seven mil 

 below the point of diversion of 

 proposed canal. 



In the event that the water sup- 

 ply should prove insufficient to irri- 

 gate the land without storage reser- 

 voirs, there are three reservoir sites 

 above the head of the upper canal 

 which have a combined capacity of 

 121,000 acre-feet. These are in three 

 lakes : Brooks Lake, 25,000 acre-feet ; 

 Troy Lake, 26,000 acre-feet, and Din- 

 woody Lake, 70,000 acre-feet. The 

 last mentioned lake is in the diminish- 

 ed strip of the Shoshone Indian Res- 

 ervation, but cannot be used for stor- 

 ing water for Indian lands, nor will 

 its use in any way be of damage t<> 

 the Indians if utilized for storing wa- 

 ter for the proposed ceded strip. If 

 water is stored in it. it will not flood 

 any grazing land, as the surface area 

 will be increased but little. Dinwoody 

 Creek flows from this lake- and meas- 

 urements taken on August 29, 1904, 

 show that it had a discharge of 425.6 

 second-feet. Bull Lake is on the di- 

 minished strip and a dam 50 feet high, 

 which could be constructed at little 

 cost, will store 120.000 acre-feet. Bull 

 Lake Creek was measured on August 

 22, 1904, when it had a discharge of 

 498.0, second-feet. A portion of the 

 water of this reservoir might be used 

 for watering about 20,000 acres of 

 the diminished strip, but as the bluffs 

 along the river are very high and bro- 

 ken "the cost would be probably $30 

 per acre. This reservoir will not in 

 any way damage the Indian lands 

 should it be necessary to use it fin- 

 storage purposes. 



That portion of the land lying south 

 and east of Popo Agie River will 

 probably have to be irrigated from 

 stored water, and there are numerous 

 lakes on this stream in the mountains 

 which may be utilized for this pur- 

 pose. Shoshone Lake on the South 

 Fork of the North Fork of the Popo 

 Agie River has a capacity of 10,000 

 acre-feet with a forty-foot dam across 

 its outlet, and the volume of water 

 would be ample to fill it as the head- 

 waters of this stream are in a region 

 which has a heavy snowfall. The Big 

 Popo Agie River below its junction 



