380 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The tunnel of the Strawberry Irrigation project has 

 now a total length of 7,000 feet, according to the report of 

 J. L. Lytel, engineer in charge. There is a distance of 

 12,000 feet yet to be driven before the tunnel is com- 

 pleted. This work will probably take two and a half 

 years more. 



Chicago capitalists have secured a tract of land con- 

 sisting of 164,000 acres in Washington county in the south- 

 western part of the state. This project is to be developed 

 under the Carey Act and is known as the "Dixie land of 

 Utah." Robert I. Fischer of Mendota, 111., is heavily 

 interested in the project. The company will build a rail- 

 road 140 miles long, contract for which has been let to 

 McArthur Bros, of New York City. 



The application of E. Warren Stees, made on April 

 6, 1910, for a tract of land near Woodside in Emery 

 county along the Price river, has been approved by the 

 general land office at Washington. This project embraces 

 4,959 acres, and is to be irrigated under the reservoir 

 canal system. It is proposed to construct a reservoir near 

 the Price river and extend the water through a canal to 

 the land. 



F. C. Grayden of St. George has filed six separate 

 applications with State Engineer Caleb Tanner to use 

 public waters in Iron county for irrigation. He asked for 

 water from Rush lake, Little Salt lake, Center creek, Red 

 creek and Summit creek. He intends to irrigate 2*1*200 

 acres of land. 



The Geyser reservoir on the La Sal, from which 

 several thousand acres of land in Paradox valley were to 

 be irrigated this year, broke recently and the greater part 

 of the dam was washed out. The reservoir is located 

 at the head of Rock creek. It is estimated that at least 

 2,500 acres of valuable farming land will be without water 

 this year. The flood was caused by a defective spillway. 

 The pipe used for the purpose was set in dirt instead of 

 concrete. The dam was also narrower a,t the top by 

 twenty feet than the plans approved by the state engineer 

 called for. A representative of the state engineer's office 

 inspected the reservoir some time in March and disap- 

 proved the construction of the dam and forbade the com- 

 pany to fill the reservoir with water. 



James S. Emmett, of Annabella, has made application 

 to State Engineer Tanner for the use of waters of Norton 

 creek in Sevier county to irrigate 160 acres of land. 



The Secretary of the Interior has awarded contract 

 to the Union Portland Cement Company of Ogden for 

 furnishing 9,000 barrels of Portland cement for use in 

 connection with the Strawberry Valley irrigation project, 

 Utah. 



WASHINGTON. ' ; 



Owners of 20,000 acres watered by Wenas creek, near 

 North Yakima, met -recently and protested against an 

 order of the Department of the Interior, allowing the stor- 

 ing up of the flood waters of Wenas creek for the use 

 of a private irrigation company. Parties having prior 

 water appropriations or riparian rights claim that under 

 conditions of ordinary snowfall there are no flood waters 

 to be stored, and that the purchase of land under an 

 irrigation scheme which would have water to supply only 

 in time of unusual snowfall would be working hardship 

 and privation upon innocent buyers. 



A large force of men are at work on an irrigation 

 project sixteen miles northeast of Husum, in what is 

 known as the Camas Prairie county. The waters of the 

 Klickitat river will be diverted, and 20,000 acres of land 

 brought under cultivation. The approximate cost of the 

 project is $2,000,000. 



From 500 to 2,000 acres of semi-arid land near Star- 

 buck will be placed under irrigation, according to plans 

 of President Bryan, of the State College of Washington, 

 and others. 



Work on the Tieton reclamation project has been 

 completed, and water was turned through the tunnel into 

 the canal on June S. This water is for 8,000 acres of 

 the first unit of the project by which the government 

 has reclaimed 35,000 acres. 



Engineer Anderson has made the preliminary survey 

 of a high line ditch, which will water 220,000 acres in 

 Kittitas and Yakima counties, and furnish the power to 

 water the Benton project of 100,000 acres. The plan is to 

 construct a high line ditch, which will have a big drop 



east of North Yakima. It is proposed to build a power 

 house and there generate power to lift water from the 

 Columbia river below Priest Rapids for the Benton proj- 

 ect. Under this plan the water of the Yakima river in- 

 tended for the Benton project will be saved for other projects. 



The Chelan & Okanogan Water Users' Association 

 has dissolved, and in its stead the Methow-Okanogan 

 Water Users' Association has been organized. This 

 association will proceed with the irrigation project, water- 

 ing approximately 20,000 acres on Brewster and Tarheel 

 flats near Malott. 



United States Senator Wesley L. Jon^s has advised 

 the Irrigation Committee of the Spokane Chamber of 

 Commerce that the government high line project in the 

 Kittitas district, covering 62,000 acres in central Wash- 

 ington, will cost $3,937,000. The cost of the diversion 

 works is estimated at $3,100,000 and the storage system to 

 be about $837,000. 



The Hanford Irrigation and Power Company, having 

 an irrigation project near Priest Rapids, has disposed 

 of its holding to some eastern corporation. Plans of the 

 company, which contemplate the expenditure of $3,000,000, 

 include the enlargement of the present power plant and 

 a big reduction of the price of land and water charges 

 and the irrigation of all lands under the 287-foot level. 



The state board of land commissioners have agreed 

 that R. G. Strahorn's Columbia Valley Reclamation Com- 

 pany must pay the state $25,000 for shore lands of the 

 Columbia river at Priest Rapids. This company must 

 also pay from $25 to $100 per acre for such lands in that 

 vicinity as are desired by the company for rights-of-way and 

 for storage purposes. The reclamation company will 

 install a power plant near Priest Rapids with a capacity 

 of 40,000 to 50,000 horse power, to elevate the water for 

 irrigation. 



Plans have been made to construct a dyking system 

 to reclaim 3,000 acres of waste land near Mount Solo. 

 This system will be conducted on a co-operative plan by 

 a number of Finlanders who own large areas of overflow 

 lands in Cowlitz county. The estimated cost of the im- 

 provement is $50,000. 



The Secretary of the Interior has rejected as unsat- 

 isfactory all bids received for the excavation of forty 

 miles of sublaterals on the Cowiche-Yakima branch of 

 the Tieton unit, Yakima irrigation project, and has author- 

 ized the Reclamation Service to undertake this work by 

 force account. 



WYOMING. 



Joy Norton of Chicago, president of the Wyoming 

 Central Irrigation Company, and nine other officials and 

 stockholders of the company, visited Cheyenne recently 

 and conferred with Governor Brooks, Clarence T. John- 

 son, state engineer, and members of the state land board 

 relative to the company's state grant of the water avail- 

 able for the reclamation of lands in the ceded portion 

 of the Wind River reservation. This meeting w;is in 

 connection with the state's demand that the company 

 utilize this water right or make way for a concern that will. 



The Routt County Development Company, whicli pro- 

 poses to reclaim 50,000 acres with water from the Snake 

 river and tributaries, has resumed work after a protracted 

 shut down. This land lies on both sides of the Colorado- 

 Wyoming line. Extensive plans for colonization have 

 been taken up and it is expected that settlers will be on 

 the ground during the present summer. 



The Billings Sugar Beet Company has made arrange- 

 ments to cultivate a tract of land containing about 

 eighteen acres -within the Powell Townsite, Shoshone ir- 

 rigation project, during the present season. Their primary 

 purpose is to demonstrate for the benefit of the settlers 

 on the project several different methods of successfully 

 growing sugar beets, alfalfa, and allied crops. These 

 experiments will be carried on at no expense to the gov- 

 ernment other than the use of the land and the water 

 and a few tools now in stock for which there will be 

 no other requirements this season. 





MISCELLANEOUS. 



Russell Bros., southwest of Boise City. Okla., have 

 installed a gas engine with which to irrigate. It is esti- 



