184 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



Pumping for Irrigation. 



The large percentage of irrigable 

 land throughout the West lying at 

 heights too great to be reached by 

 gravity systems, presents a problem 

 which' can be solved only by the use 

 of pumping plants, and the engineers 

 of the Reclamation Service have been 

 making investigations and working up 

 estimates on several projects to deter- 

 mine the feasibilitv of their use in 



descend .suddenly to a lower level, 

 making the additional cost for the 

 power little more than the expense of 

 erecting the necessary buildings, water 

 wheels and generators. In many sec- 

 tions water power may be developed 

 in the mountains or at falls, and trans- 

 mitted electrically to lands some dis- 

 tance away where the water- is to be 

 pumped and used. 



The high rates charged for power 



Site of Proposed Dam, Gunnison Canyon, Colorado. 



connection with the Government irri- 

 gation works. The most important 

 and variable factor to be considered 

 is the cost of power and of operating 

 the plant. 



In many cases water power may be 

 developed as an incident of the con- 

 struction of dams for storage and di- 

 version, or in canals where the nature 

 of the country ro|tiir<.'s the water to 



by commercial electrical companies 

 have not been found prohibitive in 

 many sections of the West where the 

 value of the crops to be irrigated is 

 relatively high, or where the water to 

 be pumped is only to augment the 

 main supply during dry periods. In 

 the case of national irrigation works 

 minimum costs may be expected from 

 the fact that no interest is charged by 



