568 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



December 



Montana-North Dakota line to about 

 four miles east of Williston, a total 

 distance of 28 miles. The larger of 

 these, that at Buford, extends from the 

 state line eastward about nine miles 

 and covers 18,000 acres, which is the 

 extent of the Buford-Trenton project. 

 The next flat, that at Trenton, is 15 

 miles long and contains 4,000 acres. 

 The area of the Williston flat is unde- 

 termined, as it depends upon the height 

 to which it is deemed advisable to raise 

 the water. It may be roughly taken 

 at 7,000 acres. 



Of these the Buford-Trenton flat is 

 the most important. From the river 

 these flats extend north from two to 

 four miles to where they meet the hills. 

 At the base of these, runs the Great 

 Northern Railway. These hills con- 

 tain the local supply of lignite coal in 

 veins from two and one-half to four 

 feet thick. Several small creeks run 

 onto the flats from the hills, and it is 

 claimed by local residents that these 

 will furnish water enough, if properly 

 dammed, to supply the first irrigation. 

 It is proposed to dam all of the creeks 

 or coulees and store as much of their 

 spring floods as possible, this water to 

 be used for the first irrigation and to 

 be distributed by gravity. The main 

 supply, however, will be furnished by 

 pumping. About two miles west of 

 Buford railroad station there is a cou- 

 lee called Garden Coulee. It is pro- 

 posed to dam this at its mouth, and to 

 erect the main pumping station just 

 west of it and fill the reservoir thus 

 formed by pumping into it with a 25- 

 foot lift. As nearly three-fourths of 

 the Buford flat is below this elevation, 

 the low line canal for watering it can 

 be taken out of this reservoir by grav- 

 ity. 



With some excavation the reservoir 

 on Garden Coulee will allow the water 

 to extend north for 2,000 fet to a 

 point where a nearly vertical lift may 

 be made of about 30 feet for an inter- 

 mediate canal and 60 feet of high line 

 canal. These canals will cover all the 

 remaining land. They will also cover 

 the flat east of Trenton, and if carried 



on would cover nearly all of the Wil- 

 liston flat. 



The Bismarck Project. 



Commencing near the bridge of the 

 Northern Pacific Railway just west of 

 Bismarck and extending south along 

 the east side of the Missouri River to 

 the vicinity of Glencoe lies a series of 

 flats covering 20,000 acres of land. By 

 lifting water from the Missouri River 

 25 feet at the railway bridge and de- 

 livering it to a canal running along the 

 upper or eastern part of these flats, 

 this whole area may be covered. Above 

 this lie another series of flats. These 

 are somewhat rolling and their extent 

 is indefinite, depending largely upon 

 the lift to which it is economical to 

 pump. The survey now being made 

 indicates that a lift of 150 feet above 

 low water in the river will cover all 

 the area, including the city of Bis- 

 marck. 



Surveys so far made indicate that 

 an eighty-foot lift will cover most of 

 the flat at Bismarck, will pass through 

 the high divide southeast cf Apple 

 Creek at a point near Magnus, and 

 will cover a large tract to the south, 

 the area of which is yet to be deter- 

 mined. The same lift will carry water 

 to McKenzie, where there is a larg 

 low meadow called McKenzie Slough. 

 It is possible that the water may be 

 run by gravity from here onto large 

 flats south of Dawson, where a lift of 

 75 feet more would cover another 

 large flat. 



It is proposed to place a pumping 

 plant about three-fourths of a mile be- 

 lov. the Northern Pacific bridge at 

 P>i:- ,.rck, and there lift water for 15,- 

 o')O acres into a main canal 25 feet 

 , b.ovc the river. This canal will fol- 

 low the top contour of the first bench 

 or bottoms, and from it water can be 

 distributed over about 75,000 acres of 

 bottom lands. At a point on this main 

 canal about two miles below the main 

 pumping plant an auxiliary plant with 

 a lift of 25 feet will cover 7,000 acres, 

 and one of 40 feet will cover an addi- 

 tional 1,000 acres. 



An investigation will be made as to 



