330 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



upbuilding of the arid West? This beautiful city is 

 located almost in the heart of the great valley of the 

 Snake river, which furnished more water for irrigation 

 than any other stream in the arid belt, and with a 

 system of reservoirs now in course of construction, more 

 land will be put under irrigation in the Snake river 

 valley and its tributaries than in any other state in the 

 Union. Although a great work has aready been accom- 

 plished by your organization, as yet you have only made 

 a beginning. It is in your future work that the hope 

 of the West lies. 



"Again, ladies and gentlemen, I want to assure you 

 that the hearts of the people of Idaho are with you. I 



effectiveness. Construction is already well advanced on 

 t went y- three great enterprises in the arid states and 

 territories. Over 1,000,000 acres of land have been laid 

 out for irrigation, and of this 200,000 acres are 

 now under ditch; 800 miles of canals and ditches and 

 30,000 feet of tunnel have been completed ; and 16,000,- 

 000 cubic yards of earth and 3,000,000 cubic yards of 

 rock have been moved. Detailed topographic surveys 

 have been extended over 10,000 square miles of country 

 within which the reclamation work is located, and 20,000 

 miles of level lines have been run. Three hundred 

 buildings, including offices and sleeping quarters for 

 workmen, have been erected by the Reclamation Service, 



Hon. Motitie B. Gwinn, Chairman Executive Committee, Fourteenth 

 National Irrigation Congress. 



sincerely trust that your visit here will be a pleasant 

 one, and that it will give you much encouragement in 

 the great work you have before you in the development 

 of the arid region of our country." 



Senators Dubois and Carter addressed the congress. 



The message of greeting from President Roosevelt, 

 which follows, was then read. 



To the Officers and Members of the Irrigation Con- 

 gress, Boise, Idaho : Operations under the Reclamation 

 Act, which I signed on June 17, 1902, have been carried 

 on energetically during the four years since that date. 

 The Reclamation Service, consisting of over 400 skilled 

 engineers and experts in various lines, has been organ- 

 ized, and it is now handling the work with rapidity and 



and about an equal number by the contractors. Over 

 10,000 men and about 5,000 horses are at present em- 

 ployed. 



The period of general surveys and examinations for 

 projects is past. Effort is now concentrated in getting 

 the water upon a sufficient area of irrigable land in each 

 project to put it on a revenue-producing basis. To bring 

 all the projects to this point will require upwards of 

 $40,000,000, which amount; it is estimated, will be 

 available from the receipts from the disposal of public 

 lands for the years 1901-1908. 



We may well congratulate ourselves upon the rapid 

 progress already made, and rejoice that the infancy of 

 the work has been safely passed. But we must not 



