THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



4G3 



Judge Gamble of Greeley has granted a temporary man- 

 datory injunction against the Bijou Ditch Company on the pe- 

 tition of the Green City Irrigation district. The order is of 

 particular interest to water users in Northern Colorado, 

 the case raising the question of whether a ditch company 

 can disregard priority rights during a dry season, when there 

 is insufficient water in its ditch to supply all water users. 

 According' to the injunction the Bijou Ditch Company must 

 provide the Green City 16.32 cubic feet of water per second 

 or as much as there are available, or carry to the district 

 a volume of water equivalent to the amount the district has 

 stored in the Riverside reservoir until a final hearing of the 

 suit takes place, even though the other stockholders in the 

 company remain without water. 



Directors of the Omer Irrigation district met in Fowler 

 early in June to perfect plans for building a mammoth reser- 

 vor for the Omer canal. A dam 60 feet high and 400 feet 

 across the top will be constructed. The reservoir which will 

 cover 50 acres of ground will hold 14,000 acre feet of water. 

 As soon as the Omer district secures a settlement from the 

 Omer Ditch Company ' for water rights, an election will be 

 held to vote bonds to proceed with the plans. The project 

 will cost about $450,000. 



The Bent County Irrigation Company has secured its 20,- 

 000 acres of land signed for and a temporary dam is under 

 construction. Work on the main reservoir will start in the 

 near future. 



Farmers of Bent county are practicing irrigation by the 

 use of pumps. They are also using the seepage water to 

 irrigate their lands. C. A. Challgren and D. L. Johnck who 

 own farms east of Las Animas have installed pumping systems 

 and report that they have an unlimited water supply. They 

 have a small reservoir in some seepage land on the Arkansas 

 river, and on this they have placed a twenty-horsepower 

 engine and a pump which pumps 1,190 gallons of water per 

 minute. 



Maps for the reservoir and ditches of the San Isidore 

 Company have*been filed with the county clerk. The land to 

 be reclaimed comprises 3,000 acres in the vicinity of Abeyta, 

 25 miles south of Trinidad. Water will be taken from Rito 

 Seco creek. It is estimated that the project will cost $75,000. 



Four of the largest irrigation companies in the west are 

 contesting before the state land board and the department 

 of the interior at Washington for the privilege of taking up 

 and carrying to completion the White River irrigation project 

 which the government abandoned because of lack of funds 

 to complete the work. This project embraces 288,000 acres 

 of land situated in Rio Blanco county and the cost of the 

 canal and reservoir system is estimated at $4,000,000. The 

 companies who are stated as trying to gain possession of 

 this project are : The Magenheimer Syndicate, White River 

 and Trappers' Lake Reservoir Company, the Northwestern 

 Canal '5r Reservoir Company and a fourth one represented by 

 E. J. Kindred. 



Preparations to water dry land lying north of Pierce are 

 being made on a large scale by farmers in that vicinity. 

 Water will be obtained by pumping, and wells with electric 

 power are being operated. 



The secretary of the' interior has authorized the execution 

 of a contract between the United States, the Uncompahgre 

 Valley Water Users' Association and the Denver and _Rio 

 Grande Railroad Company outlining the terms and conditions 

 upon which the United States may bulid a wasteway channel 

 under the tracks of the railroad >mpany near the outlet of 

 Gunnison tunnel. This channel Vill carry water into the 

 bed of Cedar Creek, and is necessary in case of accident 

 to the South Canal, so that water may be cut out of the canal 

 at that point. 



IDAHO. 



The Grasmere Irrigation Company has made segregation 

 of 55.000 acres of land which has been approved by the state 

 land board. Over 3,000 acres previously segregated for the 



Owyhee Irrigation Company will be covered bv the Gras- 

 mere canals. The tract to be irrigated is located in Owyhee 

 county about 90 miles south of Boise and 65 miles from 

 Mountain Home. Water will be taken from Sheep and 

 Mary's creek. The aggregate filing of the various permits 

 held by the company is 1,525 cubic feet per second. Among 

 the streams covered by these filings are : Nannie creek, Wicka- 

 honey creek, Pinkston creek, Snow creek, Bull creek and Rat- 

 tlesnake creek, China creek, Crab creek. The estimated cost 

 of the project is $1,000,000. The enterprise is backed by Seat- 

 tle, Spokane and Tacoma capitalists. Following are the offi- 

 cers of the company : C. B. Haraden, of Seattle, president ; 

 J. M. Hawthorne, of Seattle, secretary; John Hampshire, of 

 Tacoma, treasurer; Albert Daub and U. M. Dickey, of 

 Seattle, and John W. Twohy, of Spokane. 



The machinery for the pumping plant of the Payette 

 Heights Irrigation Company has been installed, which will 

 force water from the lower Payette ditch up the hillside 133 

 feet to the intake of the High Line ditch which will supply 

 water to 4,000 acres of fruit land adjoining the city of 

 Payette. 



Work on Snake River Irrigation Company's project which 

 will reclaim 14,000 acres of land on the Dead Ox flat is pro- 

 gressing rapidly. The company has its office in Payette. 

 Mr. E. M. Housh of that company in a recent interview 

 stated that they expected to have their pumping plant in- 

 stalled some time in September. He also stated that the 

 pumping plant will be located on their own land near the 

 Applegate ranch. 



The Crane Creek irrigation project which will place 

 under cultivation 22,000 acres of land in the vicinity of 

 Weiser, had a land opening and sale on June 14th. A con- 

 tract has been let to the Slick construction company for the 

 construction of the dam, ditches and laterals of the company. 

 The contract price is $950,000. Water is to be on the land 

 by May 1st, 1911. The dam will form an artificial lake about 

 five miles long by four miles wide with an average depth of 

 25 feet and will impound more than 70,000 acre feet of 

 water. The dam will be constructed fifteen miles from 

 Weiser. It is on the south side of the Weiser river and as 

 about half of the land to be covered is on the north side 

 of the river the water will be syphoned across the river at 

 a point about ten miles from that city. 



The Darlington, Taylor and Rodgers ranches, situated 

 on the Big Lost river in Blaine and Custer counties were sold 

 recently to a company of eastern capitalists for $200,000. 

 The combined area of these ranches is 5,500 acres. The pur- 

 chasers will incorporate as the Darlington Land and Irri- 

 gation Company, and will sell their holdings in 40 and 60 

 acre tracts. The office of the company is located at Hailey. 



The Blackfoot North Side Irrigation Company of Black- 

 foot will place on the market in the near future 35,000 acres 

 of choice land which can be taken up under the Carey act. 

 The company is now at work surveying the land and the en- 

 gineers are running the lines for the canals and irrigation 

 ditches. The land is tributary to the new town of Pingree 

 and will be traversed by the new branch railroad that is 

 being built from Moreland. 



Contracts have been executed with the Oregon Short Line 

 Railroad Company by which the company grants to the 

 United States the right to cross the right of way and pass 

 underneath the tracks and roadbed of the railroad company 

 with various canals near the town of Burley on the Minidoka 

 irrigation project in southern Idaho. Negotiations are being 

 made for the acquisition of right of way for canals and later- 

 als through deeded land. 



The Reclamation Service has been conducting an in- 

 teresting experiment on the Minidoka irrigation project in 

 Idaho, to drain small bodies of land which have been sub- 

 merged as the result of irrigation. At one point a lake cov- 

 ering about 80 acres had formed. A well was sunk near the 

 lake to a depth of 100 feet, the last 30 feet penetrating the 

 lava rock which underlies the whole project. A six-inch 



