1070 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Reclamation Notes 



CALIFORNIA. 



Within the next ten days actual construction work on 

 the Oakdale and South Jpaquin irrigation systems will be 

 started and before the winter rains set in it is planned to 

 have the big dam across the Stanislaus completed. 



A gang of men are now at work on the irrigation 

 canal that is to be run through Thornton and the Pat- 

 ten Land Company's ranch. Its completion means irriga- 

 tion to thousands of acres of land that only need the 

 water to make the "pocket section" one of the most fertile 

 and productive spots in the state. 



A new impetus has been given the Riverbank townsite 

 and other lands by the commencement of irrigation work 

 in the Oakdale district. It is expected to get water ov the 

 land for use next summer, and have it all placed there by 

 March, 1913. 



Announcement has been made of the launching of a 

 big irrigation project for Butte and Yuba counties by 

 which it is proposed to place 70,000 acres of the lands of 

 these two counties under a ditch system. The water will 

 be delivered at a point in the foothills just before the val- 

 ley is encountered and will be carried north through Yuba 

 into Butte County. 



The siphon for the Butte County canal, by which wa- 

 ter can be carried under the Cherokee canal, is finished. 

 The siphon is 500 feet long, of reinforced concrete and 

 has a carrying capacity of 250 cubic feet of water per sec- 

 ond, or, in other words, it is large enough to drive an 

 automobile through. The canal is used to furnish the 

 people of Richvale with water for irrigation and it was 

 necessary to pass under the Cherokee canal to reach them. 



O. E. Hotle, a well-known realty and bond broker of 

 Oakland, is launching a big irrigation project in Butte 

 and Yuba counties, by which it is proposed to place 70,000 

 acres of the lands of these two counties under a ditch 

 system. It is reported that the Fleishhacker interests are 

 behind the project, although Mr. Hotle has authorized a 

 statement to the effect that the Fleishhackers are not the 



owners. 



People in the Dry Creek country are ascertaining the 

 possibility of annexing a large part of that section to the 

 Oakdale Irrigation District. Surveys are being run from 

 near the Williams House to Warnerville. 



Wonderful growth of the sugar beets in the irrigated 

 districts of Glenn County indicate the greatest crop in 

 years. The farmers have learned to get better results by 

 scientific cultivation. 



COLORADO. 



Nine thousand acres of fertile land are to be watered 

 from the Hevemeyer or Grand Valley irrigation district. 

 Lumsden & Gordon of Grand Junction received the con- 

 tract for this piece of work. The canal will be completed 

 and water will be turned on the land by the first of next 

 Mav. 



The Standley dam, near Denver, the largest of its 

 kind in the world, is completed. Announcement is made 

 that with the exception of the "trimmings," which will 

 increase the height of the dam to 140 feet, the Standley 

 Lake irrigation project, which will furnish water for 210,- 

 000 acres of land north and east of Denver, is finished. 

 To build the reservoir 3,000,000 cubic yards of earth were 

 excavated. 



The Fountain Chico Irrigation System, through its 

 attorney, John T. Barnett, appeared before the State Land 

 Board and asked for the temporary segregation of 15,000 



acres of public land in El Paso and Pueblo Counties. The 

 segregation was granted. 



Work on the Big Park project, the largest on the 

 western slope this year, has been started and will be 

 rushed to completion. Water from the Little Dolores and 

 East Creek will be conveyed in a canal 17 miles long to 

 the 20,000 acres of dry farming land in the Big Park sec- 

 tion. Water will be flowing on the land in time for crops 

 next summer. 



The Gunnison tunnel, and all irrigation systems in 

 connection with it, are to be finished at once, according 

 to reports given out by Engineer C. P. Pease, Secretary 

 J. J. Tobin of the Water Users' Association, and District 

 Engineer Walter. The largest construction work to be 

 undertaken is the West canal, which covers all the high 

 mesa land on the west side of the Uncompahgre River. 



MONTANA. 



The Winnett Irrigation Company, at a meeting held 

 recently in Lewistown. awarded a contract for the con- 

 struction of the intake lake, which is to be completed this 

 fall. The tract of land to be reclaimed lies north of Win- 

 nett and contains about 15,000 acres, something like 10,000 

 of which has been filed on under the desert act and is 

 controlled by individuals. 



The Huntley irrigation canal is to be extended, which 

 will include the installation of a lateral system in the 

 vicinity of Bull Mountain and Anita. 



Surveys, in accordance with the plans of the Three 

 Forks Land Company, to construct a series of reservoirs 

 in Boulder Canon for the purpose of storing water to re- 

 claim a vast tract of bench lands lying to the east and 

 north of Twin Bridges, have been completed. If carried 

 through to completion the project will be one of the larg- 

 est of its kind yet undertaken in southern Montana. 



About 60 men are employed working on a big irriga- 

 tion project just east of Thompson, operating a sawmill 

 for the manufacture of lumber for the flume, excavating 

 grade for flume-boxes, building roads and preparing for 

 the erection of the dam. The project, when completed, 

 will bring under cultivation something over 4,000 acres 

 of land. 



NEW MEXICO. 



Sixteen reclamation engineers are camped at Vado en- 

 gaged in completing the survey of the distributing laterals 

 along the foothills east of the valley from the point where 

 they dropped it a month or more ago. 



A tract of mesa land consisting of 25,000 acres near 

 Las Cruces was recently sold to a party who contemplates 

 entering the fruit business on a large scale. It has long 

 been conceded that the sandy mesa lands are excellent, 

 but the question of irrigation has been a drawback. Not 

 until the valley lands became so high did people turn to 

 the mesas. 



OREGON. 



As a result of the favorable action taken by the board 

 of engineers, the construction of the Poe Valley exten- 

 sion of- the Klamath project by the Reclamation Service 

 seems assured. When this extension is completed 7,000 

 acres more will be under ditch. The included territory is 

 in North and South Poe Valleys and along the southeast 

 side of Lost River. 



Plans are being perfected to irrigate another 10,000 

 acres of arid land near Ontario and an electric pumping 

 plant is to be installed in Snake River, some four miles 

 north of the town, to supply water to a portion of Dead 

 Ox Flat. 



The Chicago-Rogue River Company is repairing the 

 Ament dam for the purpose of furnishing irrigation for the 

 land in the vicinity of Grant's Pass and is now using the 

 ditches already constructed. This winter they plan to ex- 

 tend the ditches so as to take in thousands of acres for 

 the season of 1912. 



