148 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



Uncompahgre Valley Project: 6th P. 

 M. Section 24, T. 14 S., R. 83 W. 



Kansas 



Pumping 



Project 



Secretary Hitchcock has 

 executed a contract on 

 behalf of the United 

 States with the Finney County Water 

 Users' Association, whereby the asso- 

 ciation guarantees to repay to the 

 United States the cost of the irriga- 

 tion works which may be constructed 

 in connection with the Garden City 

 Project, Kansas. 



This project contemplates the re- 

 covery of ground water in the Arkan- 

 sas Valley by means of pumping, and 

 its distribution over about 10,000 acres 

 by the use of an existing canal known 

 as The Farmers' Ditch. The proposed 

 pumping plant involves the construc- 

 tion of 23 separate pumping stations, 

 each driven electrically from the cen- 

 tral power station located on the main 

 line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 

 Fe Railroad. 



The annual rainfall in this part of 

 the Arkansas Valley is about 20 inches, 

 the larger part of which falls during 

 the summer months. This portion of 

 the high plains is peculiar in that there 

 is an almost complete absence of run- 

 off, practically all of the rain-fall sink- 

 ing into the ground. An investigation 

 of conditions was begun in 1904 by 

 Prof. Charles S. Slichter, of the U. S. 

 Reclamation Service, and a project of 

 sufficient promise to warrant detailed 

 study was then outlined. 



The value of land in this part of 

 Kansas in its natural condition is from 

 $5 to $10 per acre. When reclaimed 

 by irrigation it is easily worth from 

 $100 to $150. The soil is similar to 

 that in the well known wheat belt of 

 Kansas, very fine grained and fertile, 

 requiring the application of only a 

 small amount of water for irrigation. 

 The principal crops suitable for these 

 lands are sugar beets and alfalfa, con- 

 siderable quantities of which are al- 

 ready under cultivation. Sugar beets 

 are already located at points within 

 easy shipping distance from Garden 

 City. Back of the lands to be watered 



are wide strips of excellent grazing 

 lands which will grow cane and forage 

 plants without irrigation. 



The western portion of Kansas ap- 

 pears to be underlaid with inexhausti- 

 ble quantities of underground water at 

 no great depth, and the successful ini- 

 tiation of a government pumping sys- 

 tem will undoubtedly encourage pri- 

 vate capital to take up the work in 

 other sections. 



Payette- 

 Boise 

 Project 



The Secretary of the In- 

 terior has awarded the 

 folowing contracts for 

 certain schedules for the construction 

 of dam, canal, and embankments in 

 connection with the Payette-Boise 

 Project, Idaho. 



Schedule No. 1, for the dam and di- 

 verting works on the Boise River, 

 $158,950, to the Utah Fire Proofing 

 Company, Salt Lake City, Utah. This 

 contract calls for 15,000 cubic yards 

 concrete masonry, 5,000 cubic yards 

 concrete, 10,000 pounds of steel for re- 

 inforcing, 325,000 feet B. M. common 

 lumber, 20,000 pounds drift bolts, 

 2,500 cubic yards fill in crib work, 

 14,000 cubic yards wet excavation, 

 12,000 cubic yards dry excavation, and 

 1,000 cubic yards of rip rap. 



Schedule No. 3, for the main canal 

 from Indian Creek to Deer Flat reser- 

 voir, to Conway and Wilhite, Star, 

 Idaho, $95,400. The requirements of 

 this contract are for 414,800 cubic 

 yards of excavation. 



Schedule No. 4, for structures on 

 canal from Boise River to Deer Flat 

 reservoir, including bridge structures, 

 turn-outs, culverts and drops and di- 

 verting works from Indian Creek, 

 $48,855, to Page & Brinton, Salt Lake 

 City, Utah. 



Schedule No. 3, for lower Deer Flat 

 embankment and diverting works, 

 $256,550, to Hubbard & Carlson, 

 Boise, Idaho. This schedule includes 

 950,000 cubic yards of material for 

 embankment, 50,000 cubic yards of ex- 

 cavation in foundation, 1,500 cubic 

 yards of concrete, and 20,000 pounds 



