214 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



River for about ten miles, to a point where last year a con- 

 crete diversion dam and headgate were constructed. From 

 this point it is but a short distance to the irrigable lands of 

 the project. 



"Most of the work of the main canal was accomplished 

 during the past year, and the remainder will be completed 

 during the current year. All the minor canals, laterals, and 

 structures have been staked out and will be finished during 

 the summer and fall. 



"The Government engineers have been gratified in being 

 able to have this work under construction by local people at 

 reasonable price. If the plans can be successfully carried out 

 the project may be considered finished and ready to do busi- 

 ness in the spring of 1908, when the entire tract of nearly 

 11,000 acres, inclusive, however, of about 1,700 acres privately 

 irrigated, will be put under irrigation. 



"The climatic conditions under this project are in a cer- 

 tain sense ideal. The latitude is relatively high, and yet the 

 elevation is comparatively low, most of the project being 

 below an elevation of 1,300 above sea level. The summers 

 are not excessively hot, nor are the winters very cold, and 

 as a rule the climate can be considered as attractive and 

 healthful as any to be found in the United States. The lands 

 are adapted to the raising of hardy fruits which, by reason 

 of numerous mining camps surrounding the project, and the 

 scarcity of irrigated lands in the vicinity, should command a 

 high price. 



"The land will be divided up in forty-acre farms, and a 

 great influx of the best class of farming people has already 

 taken place during the last year, so that the full settlement 

 and immediate cultivation of the soil are practically insured. 



"The readiest way to get to the project is to proceed to 

 Wenatchee by rail on the Great Northern Railroad, and there 

 take a steamer on the Columbia River to Brewster, which 

 is about a twelve-hour trip up stream and about four hours 

 down stream. During a few months in the spring a steamer 

 plies from Brewster to the small towns of Alma and River- 

 side, on the Okanogan River, both very near to the irrigable 

 lands under the project. A stage runs from Brewster to the 

 above named points throughout the year, and the trip to 

 Alma requiring about eight or nine hours. 



"The usual water users' association has been formed, and 

 by addressing the secretary of the same at North Alma, 

 Wash., further information regarding the lands can be ob- 

 tained." 



TIETON PROJECT. 



"The Tieton project, Washington, will irrigate about 

 24,000 acres lying due west from the city of North Yakima, " 

 said Supervising Engineer D. C. Henny, who has been in 

 Washington for a few days. "Some of the land lies within 

 five miles of the city, and none of it is over fifteen miles 

 distant. The water will be taken from the Tieton River, and 

 in order to get water to the land it is necessary to build a 

 twelve-mile canal along the steep sides of the beautiful Tie- 

 ton canyon. 



"This work will be both slow and expensive, as it involves 

 the construction of numerous tunnels aggregating over two 

 miles in length, and practically all of the open canal requir- 

 ing lining with concrete. The land itself is also very rolling 

 in character, which renders the construction of a distribution 

 system unusually expensive, so that the entire acre-cost of 

 this project will be relatively high. On the other hand the 

 lands themselves will be immensely productive,, as is best 

 illustrated by the present value of the lands immediately sur- 

 rounding, which range from $300 to more than $1,000 per 

 acre. Land owners consider the lands under the project as 

 even more valuable for fruit raising than those now under 

 irrigation, and they believe that though the cost of irrigation 

 works be high, there is a very much larger margin between 

 it and the value of the lands actually irrigated than on any 

 other project under construction by the Reclamation Service 



"In addition to the main canal and distribution works 

 referred to it will also be necessary to build storage works 

 in order to replace in the main Natches River and in the 

 Yakima River the waters taken from the Tieton River, so as 

 not to interfere with prior water appropriations. To this end 

 an earth dam 40 feet high will be built at the outlet of Bump- 

 ing Lake, on the Bumping River, whjch flows into the Natches 

 River, and a part of the storage will be derived from dams 

 at the outlets of the upper Clealum lakes at the headwaters 

 of the main Yakima River. A temporary dam at the outlet 



of Keechelus Lake has already been completed. A crib dam 

 at the outlet of Lake Kachess, originally built by private par- 

 ties, has passed into the control of the Government, and will 

 be strengthened and raised, and construction has been com- 

 menced on a smaller dam at the outlet of Lake Clealum. All 

 these dams will ultimately serve as temporary diverting works 

 for the construction of high earth dams by which the actual 

 storage in said lakes will be very largely increased, but this 

 work will not be done until further lands in connection with 

 other projects in the valley require storage water. 



"In connection with the Bumping Lake dam a road has 

 been constructed by the Government in co-operation with the 

 state and county to the dam which, it is expected, will be 

 completed during the summer. This work was advertised, 

 but as no bids were received new proposals will be asked for 

 during the coming summer. The intention is to have all pre- 

 paratory work done during the present year, and to have the 

 dam itself completed during next year, when it is also ex- 

 pected that the main canal in the Tieton canyon will be com- 

 pleted and much of the distribution system will have been 

 built. 



"A portion of the project will probably be under irriga- 

 tion during the year 1909, and it is hoped that the entire 

 project will be under irrigation in 1910." 



Truckee-Carson Flood. 



Reports from the engineer on the flood of March 20th, 

 which passed down the Truckee and Carson rivers in western 

 Nevada indicate that it was the most serious flood which has 

 ever been experienced in that part of the West. The maxi- 

 mum flood ever recorded in the Truckee River was about 

 9,000 cubic feet per second, but the flood of March 20 prob- 

 ably carried over 20,000 cubic feet per second. The maximum 

 flood ever reported in the Carson River was about 6,200 cubic 

 feet per second, but the flood of March 20 carried over 20,000 

 cubic feet per second. 



This tremendous volume of water thoroughly tested 

 the irrigation works built by the Reclamation Service for 

 the reclamation of the lands lying in the Carson Sink Valley, 

 known as the Truckee-Carson project. So far as can be 

 learned at this writing the only change sustained by these 

 works is the breaking of earth banks in the canal lines. No 

 concrete structures have been injured. Districts Nos. 2 and 

 7, aggregating 80,000 acres of irrigable land, had practically 

 no damage done to them, and water can be delivered to the 

 irrigable lands of these districts within ten days. The ir- 

 rigable lands of district No. 1, aggregating 26,000 acres, a 

 large part of which had already been settled, will probably 

 not be irrigated before May 1. Every possible effort will be 

 made to deliver water to this district at that time, and no 

 serious damage will result to Jarms in this district. 



Settlers entering the country this spring will find many 

 excellent farms awaiting settlement in districts 2 and 7, and 

 those who come in at this time will find the water ready 

 for their use in the remainder of the districts before they 

 are able to prepare any amount of land for irrigation. 



Floods of this character are almost unknown in this 

 part of the world. According to the memory of the oldest 

 settler there has never been a flood like this in western Ne- 

 vada. The nearest approach to a flood of this height was 

 that of the early sixties, at a time when there were almost 

 no white people there and few to give accurate reports. As 

 soon as the storage reservoirs are built in the mountains 

 there will be no further floods of any character which can 

 damage the farms of the valley, for in these will be stored 

 the flood waters which will be let down during the latter 

 part of the summer for the irrigation of the lands. There 

 are ten such reservoirs planned, and construction will com- 

 mence at an early date. 



Instructions to Service. 



The Secretary of the Interior has issued the following 

 general instructions to the director of the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice: 



1. Concentrate on and give preference to the works 

 upon which construction is nearly completed and where the 

 projects will soon be producing revenue. 



2. Discontinue further expenditures for general investi- 

 gations. 



3. Arrange wherever practicable for the reduction or 

 suspension of work on projects which are so located that 

 favorable bids for construction have not been secured. 



