THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



337 



of irrigation water, -however, as the river rose gradually 

 after the 10th until the floods of the 18th and 19th. 



The Secretary of the Interior, who has just visited the 

 Umatilla irrigation project, Oregon, has modified his or- 

 der of December 27, 1907, which stipulated that the first 

 payment on account of building and operation should be 

 payable on or before March 1, 1908, to read as follows: 



The first payment on account of the charges for all 

 irrigable areas shown on the plats, whether or not water 

 right application is made therefor or water used thereon, 

 shall be due and payable at the local land office at La 

 Grande, Oregon, on or before December 1, 1908, the total 

 payment for building and operation and maintenance being 

 not less than $7 per acre. 



The instalments of the building charge, $6 per acre, 

 for subsequent years shall be due and payable at the same 

 place on or before December 1st of each year, and until 

 further notice the operation and maintenance charge of $1 

 per acre of irrigable land shall be due and payable at the 

 same time and place. 



No water will be furnished to lands in any irrigation 

 season unless all parts of instalment for operation and 

 maintenance for preceding years have been paid. The 

 terms of Public Notice of December 27, 1907, are to re- 

 main in full force and effect except as modified by this 

 order. 



A message received at the office of the Reclamation 

 Service this morning announced that the high pressure gates 

 in the outlet tunnel of the Shoshone reservoir have been 

 successfully installed and that water is now flowing through 

 the tunnel. This marks an important step in the con- 

 struction of what will be the highest dam in the world, 

 which the government is erecting in the canyon of the 

 Shoshone river in northern Wyoming, for the storage of water 

 to irrigate 150,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Cody. 

 These gates are placed in the outlet tunnel passing through 

 the solid granite cliff around the right end of the dam. 

 The elevation of the inlet of this tunnel is 230 feet below 

 the top of the dam and the reservoir capacity between the 

 mouth of the tunnel and the crest of the spillway is $500,000 

 acre feet. For the purpose of controlling the discharge of 

 water through this outlet tunnel, the three large cast iron 

 sluice gates have been installed. The body of each of these 

 gates is l l /2 feet long and 4J4 feet wide, closing a water- 

 way of 7 feet by 3 feet 8 inches in section. The total 

 weight of each gate is estimated to be nearly 10,000 pounds 

 and will have brought upon it by the immense head of 

 water above it a total pressure of about 440,000 pounds, which 

 with the weight of the gate will require an operating 

 machine capable of lifting approximately 120,000 pounds. 

 The gates are set in cast iron frames supported by large 

 cast iron bed plates and columns embedded in and attached 

 to the concrete piers and side walls of the gate chamber. 

 Many of these castings are very large, the heaviest being 

 the partition columns, each of which weighs 12,800 pounds. 



The Shoshone dam blocks a narrow gorge in the river. 

 It will rise 310 feet above its foundation. It is 108 feet 

 long on the bottom and only 175 feet long on top. The dam 

 will create a lake with a superficial area of about 10 

 square miles and an average depth of something like 70 

 feet. Twelve miles below the dam, a diversion dam has 

 been built in the river, turning the stream through a 

 tunnel 3J4 miles long into a large canal. The system has 

 now reached a point where water can be delivered to 15,000 

 acres and settlers principally from the Middle States are 

 now taking up their homes on this land. Alfalfa, wheat, 

 oats, barley, the hardier vegetables and fruits can be pro- 

 duced abundantly when water is applied. The land is trav- 

 ersed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and 

 there is an abundance of fuel in the coal mines in the. 

 vicinity and lumber in the nearby forests. Probably 10,000 

 acres for which water is now available are open to entry. 



The Secretary of the Interior has approved an increase 

 of stock in the Umatilla Water Users' Association from 

 9,000 to 22,000 shares. The association, which is made up 

 of land owners under the Umatilla irrigation project, Oregon, 

 was organized with a capital stock of $540,000, divided into 

 9,000 shares of a par value of $60 each. The project has 

 since been extended to include a total of 22,000 acres, and 

 in order that there may be one share of stock for each acre 

 of land, it has been necessary to increase the stock to $1,320,- 

 000, divided in 22,000 shares of a par value of $60 each. 



THE SANTA MARIA OIL FIELDS CALIFORNIA. 



The Santa Maria oil fields, the latest developed, are 

 already the greatest in the state, and in the line of be- 

 ing the greatest in the world, especially as more oil 

 territory is being continually developed. Recent devel- 

 opments show that there is a large field of fuel oil at 

 the eastern end of the valley in addition to the immenfte 

 production of light oils in the main field. 



It will supply to a great extent, not only oil for the 

 state, but for the foreign trade. 



The Santa Maria oil wells are situated in the 

 northern part of Santa Barbara county among gently 

 sloping hills of from 600 to 1,000 feet elevation, on both 

 the northerly and southerly side of the Santa Maria 

 divide, the main field from eight to eleven miles south 

 and the eastern field from fourteen to eighteen miles 

 southeasterly of Santa Maria City. The wells are so 

 situated that the oil gravitates from them in pipe lines 

 to Port Harford, an average distance of about thirty- 

 five miles from the main field, and by pumping the flow 

 of oil is still further increased. 



The oil well locations command a beautiful view of 

 a broad and fertile valley looking westwardly over the 

 ocean and as far northerly as Port Harford. 



The town of Orcutt, named after the Union Oil 

 Company's successful geologist, lies close to the main 

 field, where many of the Union Oil Company's large 

 tank-; are located; close by are also the Standard Oil 

 Company's tanks. 



The city of Santa Maria has the commanding sit- 

 uation of the valley and is a bustling center of activity 

 and trade. Aside from its oil fields it is the center of 

 a large grain, bean, poultry and butter producing sec- 

 tion. Six miles southwest lies Betteravia, the large 

 sugar beet plant, beets being grown by the company 

 upon its irrigated lands in different parts of the valley. 

 Santa 'Maria is- connected by an eight mile trolley lino 

 with the town of Guadalupe on the Southern Pacific. 



The population of Santa Maria is over 2,500, and 

 the tributary valley had an additional population, in- 

 cluding Orcutt, Guadalupe,' and Betteravia of over 

 4,000. 



While the first wells were discovered in 1902 in 

 the pioneer field (the Western Union at a depth of 1,500 

 to 1,800 feet;, it was not until late in 1903 that the 

 Graciosa Oil Company, adjoining, under the manage- 

 ment of A. Phillips, discovered that the main oil res- 

 ervoir was at a much greater depth. 



The Final Oil Company, in the fall of 1903, had 

 previously developed some shallow gushers, though 

 many of these wells have subsequently been deepened. 

 Since this time the average depths of wells have ranged 

 from 2,600 to 3,600 feet. The deep wells pass through 

 from 500 to 1,000 feet of oil shale, or oil-sand forma- 

 tions. The gas pressure at these depths is very great, 

 giving rise to flowing wells', frequently to gushers. The 

 production is often enormous, some of these well* 

 yielding from 500 to 1000 barrels daily, and being of 

 remarkable permanency with an occasional well exceed- 

 even these figures. Anything less than 150 barrels dailv 

 production in these deep wells is considered a poor one. 

 the average being much above that. Owing to the depth 

 of oil sands penetrated the production declines very 

 slowly, and when the natural flow from the wells does 

 decline, pumping is then resorted to. 



The average gravity of the oil ranges from 23 to 37 



