THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



905 



question is how to raise the water in the most economical 

 manner. Economy is wealth in irrigation more than in 

 any other business. Horace Greeley boasted that he 

 raised the finest potatoes in the country, but they cost 

 him about $2.50 each, and his milk cost him the same 

 price as the finest imported champagne wine. 

 (To be continued) 



WATER POWER OF THE CASCADE RANGE. 



The perfection of methods for transmitting electric power 

 over long distances 200 or even 300 miles which has been 

 attained during the last few years, and the reported rapidity 

 with which water-power properties all over the United States 

 are being acquired by corporations and individuals have 

 brought sharply to public attention the great asset which the 

 people of the country have in the undeveloped water powers 

 of the public domain. 



No area in the United States, it is believed by engineers, 

 presents more favorable opportunities for the development 

 of water power than that traversed by the Cascade range, a 

 large proportion of which is still owned by the government. 

 The general elevation of the summit of this great plateau 

 is from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, and many of its lofty peaks 

 extend into the region of eternal snow. Among these peaks 

 are Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, Mount Jefferson, and 

 Mount Shasta, all over 10,000 feet and two of them between 

 14,000 and 15,000 feet high. The streams draining the Cas- 

 cade range have steep slopes and are fed during the low- 

 water period by the many snowbanks and glaciers that mantle 

 the high peaks or by the liberal supplies of ground water that 

 exist in this region. The precipitation on the area is abun- 

 dant, although its distribution is by no means uniform. The 

 streams possess the features requisite for water-power de- 

 velopment rapid fall, abundant water, and comparative uni- 

 formity of flow and the almost unlimited resources of 

 timber, mines, and soil, as yet hardly touched, afford a prom- 

 ising market for these water powers and fix for them a high 

 potential value. 



The United States Geological Survey recently published, 

 as Water Supply Paper 253, a report on the water powers of 

 the Cascade Range in southern Washington, by John C. Stev- 

 ens. This is the first of a proposed series to be issued, one 

 each year, dealing with the water powers of the streams flow- 

 ing from the Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon. 

 The evident interest in the subject of the report resulted in 

 the almost immediate exhaustion of the edition, and it has 

 just been reprinted and can now be obtained by application 

 to the Director of the Survey at Washington. 



The streams considered in this report are Klickitat, White 

 Salmon, Little White Salmon, Lewis, and Toutle rivers, and 

 other streams in the drainage basins of these rivers, all of 

 which were surveyed under the direction of Mr. Stevens by 

 engineers employed by the United States Geological Survey 

 and by the State of Washington, acting in cooperation. 



These streams are all tributaries of the Columbia. The 

 most important of them, considered as a source of power, is 

 Klickitat River, which will furnish 154,000 horsepower at low 

 water. The survey of the Klickitat covered 73 miles and in- 

 cluded a total fall of 3,255 feet. The White Salmon, Lewis, 

 Toutle, and Little White Salmon take rank as sources of 

 water power in the order named. 



The entire system of streams surveyed will afford about 

 395,000 horsepower. The total water power available in the 

 Columbia River Basin has been estimated at 10,500,000 horse- 

 power, so that the region covered by this first report will 

 furnish only 4 per cent of the enormous aggregate, yet even 

 this small percentage is five times the amount of water power 

 already developed in the State of Washington. 



The report contains descriptions of the rivers named and 

 of their important tributaries, with tables showing stream 

 discharge, the result of an extensive system of stream meas- 

 urements, location of water power sites, and the amount of 

 power available at each site, annual mean and minimum dis- 

 charge of representative streams of the northwest Pacific 

 coast, and rainfall at numerous places in Washington and 

 Oregon, also a summary of the water laws of Washington. 



A valuable portion of the report is a series of plans and 

 profiles showing the course and gradient of each stream sur- 

 veyed. 



PUMPING WATER FOR IRRIGATION IN DELTA 

 COUNTY, COLO. 



By C. A. MERRILL. 



Information has come to us from a Delta, Colo., paper 

 and confirmed by the Delta County Business Men's Associa- 

 tion, telling of the advent of a new method of irrigation, 

 so far as Delta county is concerned. 



The plant is known as The Orchard Park Power and 

 Irrigation Company. It is located about seven miles west 

 of Delta on the north bank of the Gunnison river. The 

 plant has been running during the fall of 1910 and its suc- 

 cess exceeds the expectations of those most interested in it. 

 This system of irrigation is by no means in the experi- 

 mental stage, but has been in use for some time in the 

 Grand Valley of Colorado and other parts of the country. 



The plant consists of a 48-inch turbine water wheel in 

 connection with three stage pumps, and as it now stands 

 will irrigate 400 acres of land, the water being lifted to a 

 height of 200 feet. Water is taken from the Gunnison river 

 through a large canal, a little over one mile in length and 

 about 50 feet wide to site of the plant, where it falls through 

 the turbine wheel and furnishes power to lift water to 

 the mesa above. 



By installing additional machinery this water system 

 can readily be increased to irrigate the 2,000 acres of fine 

 land that comes under it, and at very little additional ex- 

 pense, as the plant was constructed with a view of its en- 

 largement. 



Practically all of the land is a red sandy soil and is 

 known as typical mesa fruit soil. Considerable land has al- 

 ready been fenced and sowed to fall wheat, and this entire 

 tract will soon become green fields and beautiful orchards, 

 the homes of a happy and contented people, in place of a 

 barren waste. 



These lands are favorably located close to Delta. They 

 are within one-half to one and one-half miles of the Denver 

 & Rio Grande Railroad, and the state highway between 

 Delta and Grand Junction also passes through this tract. 



It is the plan to dispose of 'part of the land in order 

 to raise sufficient money to enlarge the plant to irrigate the 

 2,000 acres. While the plant has been put in to reclaim 

 and irrigate the fine fruit land in that vicinity, it is quite 

 likely as its capacity is increased, power will be developed 

 and sold for other purposes. 



It is claimed the yearly maintenance of this new irri- 

 gation system will be considerably less than a great number 

 of reservoir and gravity systems now in use, the power being 

 the cheapest kind of power and supply unlimited, and no long 

 ditches to maintain. When enlarged, the revenue derived from 

 the sale of power for other purposes than irrigation will more 

 than cover the maintenance expense. 



As additional land is put under cultivation it is probable 

 a new town will be established. 



At the Colorado State Fair held this fall in Pueblo, 

 Delta county received the following premiums on fruit: 

 Thirty-ninety first prizes, 27 second and 20 third. And at 

 the National Irrigation Congress the Guggenheim cup for 

 the best display of fruit was captured. Delta county is noted 

 as one of the leading fruit districts. 



The sign of prosperity and progress is seen on every 

 Tiand in both city and country. The city of Delta has popu- 

 lation of 3,000. It is the county seat. During this autumn 

 the public buildings and business blocks constructed, or in 

 the course of construction, in the city, aggregate $200,000; 

 and this does not include the many fine residences building 

 throughout the city. The city's domestic water is unsurpassed, 

 being pure mountain water piped into the city, and school 

 facilities are of the very best. 



The Deerings of Chicago, formerly prominent as man- 

 ufacturers of harvesting machinery, have recently in- 

 vested in 24,000 acres of land in California, which was 

 acquired through D. W. Ross, at one time in charge of 

 the Minnidoka project in Idaho, and Thomas H. Means, 

 who was soil expert for the Department of Agriculture 

 and later in charge of the Truckee-Carson project. The 

 consideration is said to be approximately $1,000,000. 



It would seem from the above that some of the 

 reclamation officials have had their eyes open during their 

 term of service and have not been sleeping since that 

 time. 



