THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



55 



drop for the South canal and for the headgates of the 

 Tunnison tunnel All outside work suffered considerably 

 rom the unprecedented snow storms, and it is reported that 

 many thousand dollars worth of fruit which still remained 

 on the trees was ruined. 



The summer campaign of the Reclamation Service is 

 practically over, and the organization of field forces is being 

 readjusted to suit the winter work, except in the extreme 

 southern portion of the arid region where climatic condi- 

 tions favor the continuance of field work throughout the year. 

 Although but little more than four years have elapsed since 

 the passage of the Reclamation Act, the work has progressed 

 so rapidly that one or more projects are now under way in 

 each arid state and territory, and on fourteen of these pro- 

 jects the work has reached a stage where it is expected 

 water can be supplied to a portion of the lands under them, 

 amounting to nearly 400,000 acres, next season. This means 

 the addition of 5,000 homes to the West, and the return of 

 nearly $1,000,000 per annum to the reclamation fund to be 

 used again for the reclamation of more land. It is not prob- 

 able that this entire acreage actually will be irrigated next 

 season. Under a few of the projects a small portion of the 

 land is still public domain. In some sections the settlers 

 will not have fulfilled their part of the work by preparing 

 the land to receive the water, and constructing the lateral 

 ditches for conveying it over their fields. It is expected, 

 however, that the major portion of this area will receive 

 water from the Government systems in 1907. It is believed 

 that with the practical demonstration which the irrigation of 

 the first units of the projects now under way will furnish, 

 by the time the systems reach completion there will not be 

 an acre of available land under them. The operations of the 

 Reclamation Act have stimulated development in the West 

 in many lines. Private enterprise is already engaged upon 

 similar irrigation works, and new lines of railroad are ex- 

 tending into the most remote sections of the inter-mountain 

 country in order to reach the large tracts of land under the 

 irrigation projects which will support a dense population in a 

 few years. This development has resulted in a woeful 

 scarcity of labor, and unceasing efforts are necessary in order 

 that the irrigation works may not be seriously delayed from 

 this cause. Inquiries as to the location of irrigation systems 

 and local conditions are received every day at the office 

 of the Reclamation Service in Washington from mechanics, 

 and others who desire to locate in the West. 



The Secretary of the Interior today executed a contract 

 on behalf of the United States, and approved the bond of 

 Contractor F. Nelson of San Antonio, Texas, for the con- 

 struction and completion of a diversion dam and canal, Rio 

 Grande irrigation project, New Mexico. The contract calls 

 for the construction of 6 miles of canal, with 321,000 cubic 

 yards of excavation, the furnishing and driving of 35,000 

 linear feet of round piles and 170,000 feet board measure of 

 sheet piles, and 2,600 cubic yards of concrete for the sum of 

 $100,187.50. The letting of this contract launches the Gov- 

 ernment on the great work of constructing the Rio Grande 

 project, one of the largest and most expensive of the irriga- 

 tion works of the Reclamation Service. 



This project contemplates the construction of a huge 

 dam near Engle, N. M., to store water for the irrigation of 

 180,000 acres, 110,000 of which lie in that territory. The 

 ost of the entire system is estimated at $7,200,000. The 

 ain item of cost is the dam, which will require 300,000 

 arrels of cement, a large amount of machinery, gates, etc., 

 ntailing a heavy outlay for freight. It is estimated that the 

 dam will cost approximately $5,300,000. It will be 225 

 eet high, 180 feet thick on the bottom, and 20 feet on top. 

 It will be 1,150 feet long on top of crest. The reservoir thus 

 reated will have a capacity of 2,000,000 acre-feet, or twice 

 hat created by the Assuan dam in Egypt, and will be the 

 argest artificial lake in the world. Owing to the great de- 

 nand made on the reclamation fund in other localities, the 

 rioney for this entire project is not yet available. Recognizing 

 he importance of early action in this section, however, the 

 Secretary of the Interior, on December 2, 1905, allotted the sum 

 of $200,000 for the immediate construction of that portion of 

 he project known as the Leasburg diversion. It is this 

 with canal to connect it with the old Las Cruces system 

 or which contract has just been let. Work will be pushed 

 apidly during the winter, and it is hoped that water can 

 supplied to 15,000 acres in Mesilla Valley during the irri- 

 ating season of 1907. 



An important conference of members of the Reclama- 



tion Service will be held in Oklahoma City, Okla., December 

 5th, 6th and 7th. Chief Engineer F. H. Newell, Assistant 

 Chief Engineer A. P. Davis, and C. J. Blanchard, Statistician, 

 will probably be present from Washington, and will meet a 

 number of supervising and project engineers from the South- 

 west. As the conference occurs during the first annual 

 session of the National Drainage Congress, the subject of 

 national drainage will undoubtedly receive careful attention. 

 In the four years which have elapsed since it was formed, the 

 Reclamation Service has demonstrated in a thoroughly prac- 

 tical way that the Government can reclaim successfully broad 

 acres of desert and create therein prosperous and happy 

 agricultural communities. It is but natural, therefore, that 

 the advocates of national drainage works for the vast swamp 

 land areas of the United States should look to the Reclama- 

 tion Service to take charge of the work. Irrigation and 

 drainage go hand in hand. Most of the large irrigation pro- 

 jects now under construction by the Government provide for 

 elaborate drainage systems, so that the problem of draining 

 the swamps of the country can be solved without difficulty 

 whenever Congress in its wisdom shall authorize the begin- 

 ning of the work. Much of the preliminary work in the 

 several states has been done already. Detailed surveys of 

 vast areas of submerged lands have been made and maps 

 and other data are on file in the office of the United States 

 Geological Survey. The engineers and topographers who 

 have been preparing these maps of partly submerged areas, 

 and who have been measuring the water which flows into or 

 away from them, are entering heartily into the plans for 

 reclamation and are greatly pleased at the awakening of 

 public interest in the matter. The drainage congress will 

 find in the well organized body of men in the Geological 

 Survey and the Reclamation Service willing assistants to any. 

 general plans that may be proposed. 



A board of consulting engineers which recently made a 

 thorough field examination of the lands under the La Plata 

 irrigation project has submitted a report to the Chief Engi- 

 neer of the Reclamation Service in Washington. The La 

 Plata project is located along the northern side of the San 

 Juan River in northwestern New Mexico, the greater por- 

 tion of the land lying along the La Plata River, a tributary 

 of the San Juan. Farmers in this valley formerly received 

 an adequate water supply from the La Plata River, but recent 

 appropriations in Colorado divert all the normal flow before 

 it reaches New Mexico. The normal flow has been greatjy 

 decreased in late years by the deforestation of the mountain 

 slopes of the drainage basin, so that the river in this section 

 is now practically dry after the spring run off except during 

 passing storms. As a result orchards are dying and many 

 farms have been deserted, and the settlers who remain are 

 receiving a very inadequate water supply. When the atten- 

 tion of the Reclamation Service engineers was called to the 

 situation in 1904, it was thought possibly the water supply 

 might be regulated by storage reservoirs, or supplemented 

 by a diversion from Las Animas River, which lies just to 

 the east of the La Plata drainage basin. A feasible reser- 

 voir site was located on the La Plata River at the state 

 line. An investigation of the Las Animas valley disclosed 

 a good reservoir site just above the town of Durango, but 

 the site is traversed by a railroad, and the heavy cost of 

 moving this railroad would fall upon the irrigators. The 

 diverting canal would have to be carried through town lots 

 and very valuable mining property, making the right of 

 way through Durango alone an expensive one. Then the 

 dividing ridge between the two drainage basins presents an- 

 other obstacle, and a tunnel three miles long through the 

 mountains would add further to the expense. The soil in 

 the La Plata Valley proper and on the various mesas which 

 could be irrigated is unusually well adapted to the successful 

 growing of all kinds of grains, grasses, vegetables, deciduous 

 fruits and melons. The yield in all cases when sufficient 

 water is properly applied is large, and the products of fine 

 grade, but the engineers have found the cost to be in excess 

 of anything that the limited area with its present lack of 

 transportation facilities could bear. In view of the limited 

 fund available and the many more attractive schemes which 

 are being presented for consideration, the engineers have 

 recommended that this project be abandoned for the present 

 at least. 



F. H. Newell, Chief Engineer of the Reclamation Service, 

 has returned from an inspection trip, having examined the 

 condition of construction work in North Dakota, Montana, 

 Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New 



