1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



541 



and then seeking to enjoin a canal 

 company from its endeavor to repair 

 the damages which high water had 

 caused to its canal system. The Colo- 

 rado River, which burst its banks last 

 summer, has been spilling over the 

 sunken desert known as Imperial Val- 

 ley. and has created a great inland sea 

 that threatens to overwhelm several 

 thousand homes, destroying millions 

 of dollars of property. Along one of 

 its flood channels it passes through an 

 old slough, and certain settlers not un- 

 aware of the source of the w r ater, but 

 mindful of its great value in the des- 

 ert, filed upon the slough, attaching 

 thereby to themselves in perpetuity, in 

 accordance with the laws of the state 

 of California, a prior right to the use 

 of these waters. 



Meanwhile the canal company has 

 been strenuously engaged in an effort 

 to restrain the boisterous river within 

 its proper banks. Every round thus 

 far has been in favor of the river. Re- 

 marking these efforts the settlers who 

 claim the slough have appealed to Un- 

 cle Sam to restrain the company, 

 claiming that their present efforts 

 threaten the supply of water in the 

 slough. 



Funds for The Secretary of the In- 



sum of $1,000,000 from 

 the reclamation fund for the construc- 

 tion of the Umatilla project in Ore- 

 .gon, and has given authority for pro- 

 ceeding with the project with a view 

 to its construction. 



The approval is based upon the fol- 

 lowing conditions : First. That a sat- 

 isfactory agreement or agreements be 

 obtained -from the owners of private 

 property for the acquisition of such 

 property as may be necessary or re- 

 quired for the proper construction of 

 the project, and that no part of the 

 moneys appropriated shall be expend- 

 ed for construction purposes or for 

 tne acquisition of any canals, laterals, 

 or other property until such satisfac- 

 tory agreement or agreements have 

 been obtained and approved by the 

 Secretary of the Interior. 



Second. That sufficient acreage of 

 land under the project be pledged to 

 the return to the reclamation fund of 

 the moneys appropriated. 



Montana A request has been re- 



Reclamation ceived by the Reclama- 

 tion Service through 

 Senator Clark, from the Red Lodge 

 Board of Trade, Montana, that an in- 

 vestigation be made of certain areas 

 tributary to Clarke Fork River, with 

 a view of ascertaining the feasibility 

 of constructing an irrigation project 

 in that section. Owing to the fact 

 that it is certain canal construction and 

 the necessary storage system would 

 involve a very large expenditure, the 

 settlers in the valley are extremely de- 

 sirous that the government should 

 take up the construction of the work, 

 as it is apparently beyond private capi- 

 tal. 



The area desired to be investigated 

 has already received the attention of 

 the Reclamation Service engineers, 

 and their report will appear in the 

 forthcoming Annual Report of the 

 Reclamation Service, which is now 

 being prepared for Congress. The 

 valley of the Clarke Fork River is con- 

 tiguous to that section in northern 

 Wyoming which is embraced in the 

 Shoshone project, and when the state 

 of the reclamation fund will permit 

 the construction of other works in 

 Montana, it is probable that the Clarke 

 Pork enterprise will receive further 

 consideration. At the present time, 

 however, the condition of this fund is 

 such that it will be impossible to con- 

 struct any portion of this or of several 

 other meritorious projects in Montana. 

 Nearly 9 per cent of the entire recla- 

 mation fund has been allotted for 

 works in that state, and from this time 

 the efforts of the Service must be con 

 centrated on the early completion of 

 the projects which have been selected 

 and approved for construction. 



Investigations in Montana up to the 

 present date show that the entire reela 

 mation fund of $30,000,000, if devoted 

 to Montana 'alone and not spent in am 

 other stale, would not be sufficient for 



