152 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Placing the Cart Before the Horse. 



Since the break in the west bank of the Colorado River 

 in Mexico began to attract attention there have been almost 

 innumerable communications sent to the President and prom- 

 inent officials in Washington from persons with more or less 

 vague knowledge of the subject, and from genuine cranks. 

 Many of these suggest that the Salton Sea should be allowed 

 to fill up because of its supposed effect upon the rainfall, 

 and point out the fact that during the last year or two there 

 has been a notable increase in precipitation throughout the 

 arid regions and even farther east. 



Their reasoning, however, is defective in that they attrib- 

 ute to the Salton Sea an effect on precipitation whereas as a 

 matter of fact it is the temporary increase in rainfall upon 

 watersheds in Arizona and New Mexico, hundreds of miles 

 away from the Salton Basin which has given rise, in large 

 part, to the flow of water into this basin. The large and some- 

 what unusual floods of the past few years have caused the 

 river to maintain the break through its west bank, and to this 

 fact is due the difficulty of closing the break. Under ordinary 

 conditions the break might have been closed with relative ease. 



The temporary increase in rainfall throughout the central 

 part of the United States is by no means unusual, and a study 

 of rainfall records, extending through several years will show 

 that there is a more or less swinging of the pendulum in this 

 connection, some years being of excessive moisture and others 

 of excessive dryness. It is to be inferred that the present 

 years of moisture above the average will be succeeded in due 

 course of time by other years with rainfall below the average. 



The effect of the Salton Sea on the climate is almost 

 infinitesimal. As shown on map of the United States it is 

 merely a dot. When we compare this with the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia or with the Pacific Ocean, or even with Great Salt 

 Lake, we see the incongruity of the assumption that this little 

 puddle of water can have anything to do with the climate. If 

 the lands along the Gulf of California are arid and those 

 around Great Salt Lake are equally dry, it is hardly to be 

 supposed that the Salton Sea will change the climate of the 

 country. 



Lowest Bid Too High. 



Authority has been granted the Reclamation Service to 

 prosecute the work involved in the construction of structures 

 for Division 1, main canal, Shoshone irrigation project, Wyo- 

 ming, by force account. About 180,000 cubic yards of grad- 

 ing will be required, 1,800 cubic yards of concrete, and 127,000 

 pounds of steel reinforcing bars and other incidental work. 

 Proposals for this work were opened August 23, 1906, and the 

 lowest bid received was considered too high and rejected. 

 Further effort was made to secure proposals and circular 

 letters were sent out announcing that bids would be received 

 up to February 1, 1907, but no response was made. 



It is necessary to complete this work during the coming 

 field season, and the Secretary of the Interior has accordingly 

 authorized the Reclamation Service to proceed with the work, 

 the estimated cost of which is $56,000. 



I. 



Steel Bars North Platte. 



The Secretary of the Interior has' awarded contracts for 

 furnishing about 125,000 pounds of steel bars for reinforce 

 ment of concrete, about 16,000 pounds of structural steel, and 

 about 50,000 pounds of cast iron gates, guides, stands, etc., 

 for the North Platte irrigation project, Nebraska-Wyoming, 

 as follows : 



Schedule 1, structural and reinforcing steel, to the Min- 

 neapolis Steel & Machinery Company at $4,880.88, f. o. b. 

 cars at Whalen, Wyo., and 



Schedule 2, cast iron gates, guides, stands, etc., to the 

 Vulcan Iron Works, Chicago, 111., at $4,161.37. 



Proposals are being solicited for the construction of sec- 

 tions 2 to 8 of the South Canal with appurtenant structures, 

 in connection with the Belle Fourche irrigation project, South 

 Dakota. 



The work involves approximately 900,000 cubic yards of 

 canal excavation, 7,200 cubic yards of concrete, and 1,295 

 linear feet of tunnel. The bids will be opened at Belle 

 Fourche, S. D., April 10, 1907. Plans, specifications, etc., 

 may be obtained from the supervising engineer of the Recla- 

 mation Service at Crawford, Neb. 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract 

 on behalf of the United States with the S. R. H. Robinson 

 & Son Contracting Company, of St. Louis, Mo., for the con- 

 struction and completion of diversion dam and headworks in 

 connection with the North Platte irrigation project, Nebraska- 

 Wyoming, for $217,850. 



The work involves the excavation of about 90,000 cubic 

 yards of earth and rock, furnishing and placing in structures 

 about 10,000 feet B. M. of lumber, and the construction of 

 about 8,000 cubic yards of concrete masonry. The dam will 

 be used to divert the waters which flow down North Platte 

 river from the Pathfinder reservoir into the Interstate canal. 



The Reclamation Service has been authorized to construct 

 the levees on the California side of the Colorado river, Yuma 

 irrigation project, by force account. This action was neces- 

 sary by reason of the fact that if advertisement was made 

 for bids and contracts awarded in the usual way the work 

 would be delayed until after the spring floods. The estimated 

 cost of building the levees is $115,000. 



ELSEWHERE in this issue will be found an article 

 entitled "The Reclamation of Our Arid Lands." This 

 article was written by an Elgin (111.) school girl, and 

 shows that the subject of irrigation is one that appeals 

 to all classes of people, and one that is being discussed 

 in our homes. The urgent need of reclaiming our arid 

 lands is now apparent to the American people. 



Gifford Pinchot of the forestry bureau is likely to 

 be made Secretary of Agriculture on the retirement of 

 James Wilson, whose skidoo is expected along about the 

 4th of March. As a politician he will look like a pin- 

 show to a great circus as compared with old man Wilson 

 and he will have to take lessons in the manly art of 

 boxing to hold his own when it comes to striking Con- 

 gress for a lot of fancy appropriations. Pinchot is to 

 be in Denver next week and will probably deny all asso- 

 ciation with his aspirations to sit at the President's 

 official board. He is an active young man, with a good 

 deal of personal magnetism, but we never admired some 

 of his public policies nor his snobbish ways. Denver 

 Field and Farm. 



Send $2.50 for the 

 Irrigation Age one 

 year and the Primer 

 of Irrigation. 



