182 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



RECLAMATION AND IRRIGATION IN THE SAC- 

 RAMENTO VALLEY. 



The snowball keeps rolling and growing as it rolls. 

 Our modest efforts in stirring up interest in this all- 

 absorbing proposition have already been crowned with 

 considerable success. The most progressive journals of 

 California: are now devoting columns to the subject 

 where formerly they grudgingly doled out an occa- 

 sional paragraph only. Even conservative publications 

 like the Sacramento Bee, Sacramento Union and Sacra- 

 mento News have considered the pneumatic pipe dredge 

 of sufficient importance to the ever present reclamation 

 problem of Central California to give considerable space 

 to accounts of the work that has already been, done by 

 this ingenious device in the Sacramento City park, and 

 to speak of it in the most friendly ways. But to us the 

 pneumatic pipe dredge is only a means towards accom- 

 plishing a greatly to be desired end a means that we 

 favor because we see through it the possibility .of eco- 

 nomically producing results of permanent reclamation of 

 the 1,500,000 acres of low lying valley lands now sub- 

 ject to overflow, that must be accomplished before the 

 other 2,000,000 acres of higher land in the Sacramento 

 valley which is suffering equally, though not from a sur- 

 plus of water, but rather from a lack of it, can by irri- 

 gation be brought into profitable cultivation. 



The following letter from one of our subscribers, 

 with the pamphlets that accomplished it, has been read 

 by us with much pleasure : 



Calusa, Cal., March 25, 1908. 

 D. H. Anderson Pub. Co., 



Chicago, 111. 



Gentlemen: I have read with interest your article 

 on the reclamation of lands adjacent to the Sacramento 

 River, and have also read most all matters published dur- 

 ing my residence here of 30 years on that subject. I am 

 led to believe that you are not aware of the data gathered 

 by the Hydrographic Bureau, assisted by the state for 

 many years, of which the main excerpts are given in a 

 pamphlet containing the speeches made at the 'Red Bluff 

 Banquet.' I am forwarding you this pamphlet, which will 

 no doubt be read with much interest, and also inclose here- 

 with my views as expressed under date of June 1, 1907, on 

 the matter of correcting the evils now and always existing 

 on our river. I might have included the Iron Canyon 

 reservoir site, but I picked out what promise the largest 

 results, as that should be the starter, which then could be 

 followed up by the others. The Red Bluff people are now 

 agitating the Iron Canyon project and trust that they may 

 succeed in furthering the scheme. Trie'Orland project 

 now about to be started is too small to deserve mention, as 

 you will note from the pamphlet, that its contents are 

 small. But after some of the large reservoirs are built, 

 and the flow of the river regulated thereby, let us use the 

 increased flow during the ordinarily low stages of the river 

 to correct the course of the same, and in that way use 

 nature to do what it has undone before, i. e., to straighten 

 the channel wherever necessary, by the aid of wingdams, 

 the same as has been done in Europe for over 100 years. 

 As the river invariably takes the dirt from one side, forms 

 an eddy opposite and deposites that dirt just opposite that 

 wash or excavation, it shows us that, by directing the cur- 

 rent against that "point," "projection," or quarter or half- 

 moon or horse-shoe bend, that it will take that dirt and 

 put it back again to the place where it took it from. It is 

 that straightening on the other hand which will cause an 

 increased flow in the river and consequently deepen the 

 channel, when that time comes. And at that time, when 

 the reservoirs shall be operating, there will also not be the 

 amount of silt in the water which the river carries now, to 

 again fill any excavating done now, by dredger or other- 

 wise, because the reservoirs will act as settling basins, and 

 stream regulators both. 



I do not think that my treatise would do for publica- 

 tion now, because it is unwise to do anything that might 

 be antagonistic to any enterprise started, having in mind 

 the Iron Canyon movement of the Red Bluff people at 

 present. But I do believe that my argument is only a plain 

 exhibit of the facts, and along s-trictly business lines. 



and will, if carried out, save many millions of dollars, that 

 is bound to be frittered away by going at it in a round* 

 about way, to get finally the same results. Everybody 

 would save money, the city of San Francisco, the state, 

 and the land owners all along the river, and we may in- 

 clude all the larger cities north of San Francisco, as their 

 growth will soon cause a shortage of water for them also, 

 only they cannot as yet see it. I am one of your sub- 

 scribers, and it is the interest I take in your publication as 

 well as the valley which causes me to write this. 



Very truly, 

 JOHN C. MOGK. 



Mr. Mogk's letter is a sample of many we are re- 

 ceiving, showing the intense interest that exists among 

 the land owners in California, who of course have the 

 most at stake, and through whom, as we stated in a 

 former article, must come the action that will start the 

 good work going. We can take no exception to the 

 views expressed by him in the pamphlet enclosed with 

 his letter, though our understanding is that the govern- 

 ment engineers who have most thoroughly investigated 

 this whole subject have decided that the Sacramento 

 Kiver must first be restored to its original level before 

 any permanent reclamation and irrigation of lands 

 should be undertaken. It goes without question that 

 the main sewer must be cleaned before any work is done 

 on the laterals. Hence we feel it the part of wisdom to 

 concentrate all efforts on that part of the work and with 

 that once done thoroughly and for all time, the second 

 section will naturally be the utilization of the water to 

 bring about the cultivation through irrigation of the 

 largest possible acreage of arable lands. 



We have also received a number of inquiries for 

 detailed descriptions of the pneumatic pipe dredge, and 

 have endeavored to supply the information, fw this 

 dredge promises to work marvels in the reclaiming of 

 land, since its low cost of construction and its efficiency 

 make it possible for one or two property owners to club 

 together to reclaim their own land. 



The dredges ordinarily used in reclamation projects 

 cost from $75,000 to $150,000 to build. This is too great 

 an outlay for the average property owner, and conse- 

 quently the dredging is usually carried on by dredging 

 companies who charge a high price for their services, so 

 that very little independent reclamation work is carried 

 on by small property owners. 



It is to the small property owners, therefore, that 

 the pneumatic dredge will appeal, for a dredge that will 

 handle from 1,000 to 2,500 cubic yards of soil per day 

 can be built in a few weeks for from $5,000 to $10,000, 

 and when its work is finished the machinery, which is all 

 standard machinery, can be sold for a large percentage 

 of the original cost. Of course, if the state and federal 

 governments should take up reclamation on a large 

 scale, say in the Sacramento Valley, large pneumatic 

 dredges will do the work with greater dispatch than any 

 other type of dredge and small independent reclamation 

 projects would not have to be undertaken, but reclama- 

 tion on so large a scale is not a project that is likely to 

 be undertaken immediately. The pneumatic dredge, 

 therefore, seems to have come as the poor man's friend, 

 for with the expenditure of a few thousand dollars, and 

 under low operating expense, a property owner can re- 

 claim and protect his land without the necessity of 

 waiting for concerted action on the part of his neigh- 

 bors. It is this feature of the pneumatic dredge that 

 appealed strongly to us the first time we saw it in opera- 

 tion, and its importance to the welfare of districts that 

 require reclamation, and protection from flood waters 

 cannot be over-estimated. 



Next month we will endeavor to procure cuts and 

 photographs that will give a good idea of the operations 

 of this remarkable device. 



