1096 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Irrigation in The Northwest 



By R. Insinger 



Chairman Board of Governors, Nineteenth National Irri- 

 gation Congress. 



I 



Keen interest is manifested throughout the Northwest in 

 the 19th National Irrigation Congress in Chicago, and indica- 

 tions are that the Pacific slope and intermountain country will 

 be well represented at the sessions, December 5 to 9. Dis- 

 tricts in Washington, Orgon, Idaho and Montana, where 

 large areas of land, at one time thought to be worthless for 

 agricultural purposes, have been reclaimed, are arranging to 

 send delegates and make exhibits of their products at the 

 United State Land and Irrigation Exposition in the Coliseum. 



I feel confident there is more genuine interest in many 

 parts of the Northwest today in the National Irrigation Con- 

 grss than there has been at any other time since its organiza- 

 tion. The reason for this becomes apparent when it is under- 

 stood that while the development and progress of the country 

 has been rapid and substantial since the introduction of irri- 

 gation, the problem now confronting the people is the neces- 

 sity of attracting ambitious workers to the land by inducing 

 them to invest some capital and labor in an industry that pays 

 satisfactory returns for intellectual and persistent effort. 



The coming congress means much to the entire western 

 country, and its influence in directing the attention of thrifty 

 men and women, seeking profitable openings, to the vast areas 

 of undeveloped land and the opportunities and advantages 

 presented for mixed farming, fruit-growing and truck garden- 

 ing is a matter that merits the best thought and efforts of 

 the officials and members of the organization. Moreover, as. 

 I pointed out in a previous article, this gathering will afford 

 irrigationists the opportunity to present their projects to the 

 investing public, as well as to the heads of financial houses. 



The eastern investors, formerly large buyers of irriga- 

 tion securities, have been holding off of late, owing chiefly 

 to misleading statements published in certain magazines that 

 irrigation generally is a gambling proposition. In other words, 

 that it is in a precarious condition. The writers of these state- 

 ments have, however, in nearly every instance refrained from 

 mentioning the fact that every financially responsible project, 

 designed to reclaim land by irrigation, whether by pumping, 

 gravity or syphon, constructed under the direction of compe- 

 tent engineers, is today successful in doing its work and 

 paying adequate returns on the investment. 



The economic value of the science of supplying the land 

 with moisture by artificial means is no experiment ; it has 

 become so thoroughly established in the western country 

 that the vast expanse, once called "The Great American 

 Desert." is bound to become the home of the highest agricul- 

 tural civilization on this continent. Where the pioneers toiled 

 in the sagebrush country, when not fighting off hostile Indians, 

 there is today a crop-producing, home-supporting area of 

 inexhaustible fertility, greater in extent than the cultivated 

 lands in the New England and several adjoining states and 

 capable of supporting a larger rural population. 



Irrigation has developed the most scientific farming, 

 which, in turn, has produced large profits on small areas of 

 land, thus creating great wealth and making a dense popula- 

 tion. That which is possible is actually coming to pass, 

 as the well-developed country districts in the Northwest, 

 especially those in the states of Montana, Oregon, Wash- 

 ington and Idaho, are so thickly populated they appear much 

 like the suburbs of cities. Here the apple, unequaled any- 

 where for flavor, color, size and uniformity, has created 

 nine to ten tons of freight to the acre where thirty bushels 

 of wheat produced less than one ton, also made tonnage 

 where only sagebrush and tall pines and other trees grew. 



It has been demonstrated in Washington, Oregon, Idaho 

 and Montana that under irrigation these former sagebrush 

 wastes and cut-over timber lands will produce paying crops 

 of anything which grows in the temperate zone. The products 

 are noted for their brilliant coloring, unusual size and excel- 

 lent flavor and they command the markets of the world. 

 Vegetables and root crops in almost endless variety and tree 

 and vine fruits follow each other in rotation and fill out the 

 season. 



Several hundred private projects are in successful oper- 

 ation in the Spokane district. Where soil and water condi- 



tions, engineering requirements and financial responsibility 

 have been properly considered there has never been a single 

 failure. The most important of these works is in Chelan 

 county, Washington, which has the Wenatchee, Chelan and 

 Entiat valleys. There are also modern works in the Spokane 

 valley, where large crops of apples, berries, sugar beets and 

 other vegetables were harvested this year on irrigated land. 

 It is estimated that 90,000 acres of land in the valley is adapted 

 to irrigation. The Spokane river, nearby lakes and an under- 

 ground stream, flowing through the valley, are used by these 

 plants, one of which raises the water by means of electric 

 pumps from wells, ranging from 97 to 140 feet. The capacity 

 of this apparatus is sufficient to water 3,000 acres of land. 

 There are also large plants along the Columbia river and in 

 the Kettle Falls, Bitter Root, Snake river and Clearwater 

 valleys. 



Scores of gravity, syphon and pumping plants are in suc- 

 cessful operation in various parts of the district. The extent 

 of operations on irrigated lands in the Northwest will be bet- 

 ter understood when it is known that the value of the apple 

 and other fruit crops in the Spokane district alone amounted 

 to $20,000,000 last year. It should treble that sum in a few 

 years, by which time several million trees set out in the last 

 three years will come into bearing and others planted prior 

 to 1906 will have reached maturity. 



The largest of the United States government's works in 

 Washington is the Sunnyside project, in the Yakima valley. 

 This covers 90,000 acres. The cost is estimated at $1,600,000. 

 There are sixty miles of main canals and 100 miles of laterals. 

 The Tieton canal, twelve miles in length, in the same valley, 

 is designed to water 30,000 acres of land. The estimated cost 

 is $1,800,000. The combined length of the three main laterals 

 is twenty-five miles. 



The Wapato project, also in the Yakima valley, will 

 eventually cover 120,000 acres at a cost of $1,500,000. The 

 original works cover 40.000 acres, with twenty-five miles of 

 main canal and fifty-five miles of laterals, built at a cost of 

 $250,000. Its extension provides for twenty-five miles of 

 laterals in three sections. This means that 240,000 acres of 

 land will come under the government canals. The estimated 

 cost of the work is $4,800,000. 



The Okanogan project, in the county of the same name, 

 in north central Washington, will water 8,000 acres at a cost 

 of $500,000. In addition to these, the government has author- 

 ized the Kittitas and Benton projects, in central Washington, 

 covering several hundred thousand acres. The Indian Serv- 

 ice estimates that $25 or less will cover the cost for water 

 rights on the reservation. This is about 50 per cent of the 

 cost of watering land under other canals in the valley. There 

 are also numerous successfully operated private irrigation 

 projects in the Yakima valley. 



Government officials report that eventually more than 

 $50,000,000 will be expended by the Reclamation Service in 

 the state of Washington in reclaiming 1,500,000 acres of land, 

 now entirely or partly waste. Fifty thousand acres are in 

 the Ellensburg district, 200,000 acres in the Rattlesnake and 

 Coal Creek districts and 10,000 acres in the valley of the 

 Okanogan. 



The government projects in southern Idaho are the Mine- 

 doka, with an area of 160,000 acres, completed at an estimated 

 cost of $4,000,000, and the Payette-Boise, 200,000 acres, costing 

 $3,000,000. The Payette-Boise project covers at present the 

 largest single tract in the United States. Oregon has the 

 Umatilla project, 18,000 acres, costing $1,100,000 and the Kla- 

 math. part of which extends into California, 120,000 acres, 

 cost $3,600,000. 



Montana has the Milk River, Saint Mary, Lower Yellow- 

 stone, Huntley, Sun River. Blackfeet, Flathead and Fort Peck 

 projects, which contemplate the watering of 949 acres. There 

 are also several hundred thousands acres to be irrigated by 

 private projects. 



There is nothing problematic about the projects in oper- 

 ation or under construction in the Northwestern states. We 

 have soil, climatic and other conditions, and the lakes, rivers 

 and creeks in the Columbia basin alone, estimated to contain 

 fully 3,500,000 electrical horsepower available for develop- 

 ment purposes, afford ample water to irrigate a hundred times 

 the acreage now under cultivation and provide homes for from 

 30 to 35 per cent of the population of America. As it is, the 

 modern method of intense cultivation is building new com- 

 munities and adding millions of dollars of new wealth annually 

 to the nation's assets. 



