THE RECLAMATION SERVICE 



Progress of National Irrigation During the Past Thirty Days 



_ _. Plans and specifications 



pS/ect Y f o r th e machinery for 

 the Garden City Project 

 in western Kansas were approved by 

 a board of engineers which met at 

 Garden City, Kan., recently. Bids will 

 he opened at Chicago on May 28. 



This irigation project is not one of 

 the large enterprises which the Recla- 

 mation Service is developing. It is, 

 however, attracting considerable at- 

 tention on account of the numerous 

 novel features involved in its construc- 

 tion. The water for this project must 

 "be recovered from the underflow 

 waters of the Arkansas valley, which 

 lie in gravel deposits existing below 

 the bed of the river. It is therefore 

 necessary to sink several hundred 

 wells, from which the water will be 

 pumped and discharged into a collect- 

 ing conduit. The wells are scattered 

 along the line nearly five miles long. 

 The power is generated at a single 

 central plant situated on the railroad 

 and then is distributed by electricity to 

 the wells. 



This is the first reclamation project 

 to be authorized in which it is neces- 

 sary to pump the water, and is the 

 only project in which the water must 

 be recovered from wells and not from 

 a flowing surface stream of water. On 

 this account much interest is taken in 

 the project by settlers in western Kan- 

 sas and Nebraska. They believe that 

 the demonstration to be made will be 

 of value to many other communities 

 situated similarlv to that at Garden 

 City. 



Applications for water under this 

 project have been made by the owners 

 of more than 12,000 acres of land to 

 be benefited, and the community is 

 very enthusiastic concerning the future 

 success of irrigation in the Arkansas 

 valley. Very large crops of wheat can 

 be grown on the lands under the pro- 

 ject if a small amount of water is 



available in the fall and spring to in- 

 sure the starting of the seed. Garden 

 City has long been famous as an alfal- 

 fa center. This location seems to be 

 especially well adapted to the maturing 

 of the seed crop of alfalfa which has 

 always paid well here. A sugar fac- 

 tory is being constructed at Garden 

 City where those who desire to raise 

 sugar beets will find a market for their 

 crop. 



Appoint- Mr. J. C. Stevens, hy- 



ments and drographer at Washing- 



Assignments T-^ r r* , 



ton, D. C, has been or- 

 dered to report to Supervising Engi- 

 neer D. C. Henry, Portland, Ore., to 

 take charge of the hydrographic work 

 of the Geological Survey in the states 

 of Oregon and Washington, with head- 

 quarters at Portland. The growing 

 demand for more complete and accu- 

 rate data concerning the flow of 

 streams in Oregon and Washington 

 has made necessary the selection of a 

 hydrographic exepert who is familiar 

 with the methods of the division of 

 hydrography. Mr. Stevens has shown 

 technical and executive ability in the 

 performance of his duties during the 

 last three years in the Washington of- 

 fice. 



Mr. Wilbur H. Fisher, engineering 

 aid of the Reclamation Service, who 

 has been on furlough, due to lack of 

 work on account of climatic conditions 

 in the West, has been assigned to duty 

 at Cody, Wyo. Mr. Fisher while ab- 

 sent from the Service has been em- 

 ployed by one of the large cement- 

 manufacturing companies of Califor- 

 nia, where he has gained valuable ex- 

 perience in this line of work. 



Mr. C. E. Slonaker, observer, and 

 Mr. Ernest R. Childs, assistant engi- 

 neer, of the Reclamation Service, have 

 been transfered to Portland, Ore., for 

 field duty. 



Mr. Carrol Paul, engineering aid of 

 the Reclamation Service, who has been 



