THE IKKIGATJON AGE. 



1101 



DATA ON IRRIGATION IN CANADA. 



Less than a score of years ago big areas of Saskatche- 

 wan were spoken of as a continuation of the American 

 desert. No end of land in that province and Southern 

 Alberta could have been purchased for one dollar an acre, 

 but few were willing to exchange even that price for 

 farms in the dryer sections. Since then the irrigator has 

 come along and put another face on the situation. Large 

 companies have secured wide stretches of land and to 

 these they are applying water with a result that land 

 carrying water rights is selling readily at from $20 to 

 upwards of $30 an acre. 



The same thing is happening in British Columbia, 

 where extensive valleys lacked only an evenly distributed 

 rainfall to make them ideal for fruit growing. To many 

 of these irrigation is being applied and we find orchard 

 h-.nd selling for hundreds of dollars an acre. Whereas in 

 the province east of the Rockies almost all irrigation is 

 applied to field crop culture, in British Columbia fully 90 

 per cent of the watered land is growing or planted with 

 fruit and vegetables. 



When irrigation was first practiced in Western Can- 

 ada, there was no law regulating the use of water, and he 

 who wished took from the nearest stream what he thought 

 he required, without permission or without making any 

 record of the quantity taken. As settlement advanced 

 the attention of the governing bodies was drawn to the 

 confusion that was certain to result as the practice be- 

 came more general. In due time, legislative measures 

 were passed at Ottawa and at Victoria, the former to 

 govern the irrigation practice of Alberta and Saskatche- 

 wan, while the latter applied to the Pacific province. Sev- 

 eral water acts have been enacted in British Columbia, 

 the earlier ones being designed to control the use of 

 -water in mining. These were found inadequate for irri- 

 gation and in 1909 a more complete measure was passed 

 by the legislature. This consisted really in a consolida- 

 tion of former acts with some additional provisions. In 

 the earlier acts water was measured in the terms the 

 miner's inch, while the present measure provides for a 

 d'scharge of one cubic foot of water per second, flowing 

 water, and the acre-foot the unit of measurement of quan- 

 tity. The miner's inch was one-half the quantity of water 

 passing through as orifice one inch wide, two inches 

 high, under a continuous pressure of seven inches. For 

 purposes of irrigation this measurement is impracticable. 

 The terms of the present act are self-explanatory. 



According to the British Columbia Water Act priority 

 cf purposes for which licenses should be granted are, 1st, 

 domestis; 2nd, municipal; 3rd, irrigation for agriculture 

 or horticulture; 4th, steam for power; 5th, cold water 

 power except for mining; 6th, mining: 7th, clearing 

 streams for driving logs. 



The Dominion Act bearing the title "The Northwest 

 Irrigation Act" controls water rights for irrigation pur- 

 poses in Saskatchewan and Alberta. 



Each applicant for water rights is required to file 

 with the Commissioner of Irrigation a memorial and 

 plans showing clearly the source of water supply, the 

 point of diversion, the character of the proposed works, 

 and the land to be irrigated. He is required to own or 

 control the land to be irrigated, or to enter or submit to 

 the government agreements for the supply of water to 

 lands not owned by him. When it has been satisfactorily 

 established, by actual inspection on the ground, that the 

 project is feasible, not only from the engineering stand- 

 point, but as a commercial proposition, authority is given 

 for the construction of the works, and a date fixed for 

 their completion. 



Upon the completion of the works the law requires 

 -that they shall be inspected by a competent engineer in 

 the employ of the government. If, after such inspection, 

 the works are found to be constructed in accordance with 

 the plans filed, the Commissioner of Irrigation so cer- 

 tifies and a license is issued authorizing the applicant to 

 divert a sufficient quantity of water, at the rate of one 

 cubic foot per second for each 150 acres, to irrigate the 

 irrigable land shown on his plan. The water then be- 

 comes appurtenant to such land, and may not be trans- 

 ferred or used upon any other land without the written 

 consent of the government. The license remains in effect 

 for as long as the works are maintained in good condi- 



tion and the water is used for the purpose for which it is 

 granted, but provision is made for the cancellation of the 

 license for abandonment or non-use. 



While irrigation is applied to many small areas in 

 British Columbia the chief irrigation projects in that prov- 

 ince are confined to the valleys of the Okanagan and 

 Thompson rivers with their tributaries, embracing an 

 area of about half a million acres of land. These valleys 

 are located in what is termed the dry belt of British 

 Columbia, but are otherwise admirably adapted for crop 

 growing. To reclaim this vast area, systems, which will 

 water some 100,000 acres, have already been constructed 

 or are under way. So far much of this has been done 

 by private enterprise. Much of this area is already grow- 

 ing alfalfa, vineyards and orchards, and is valued at $20,- 

 000,000. The cost of irrigation systems, when completed, 

 wiL be about $3,000,000. 



Apart from the private concerns introducing systems 

 there are two land companies taking up the work. The 

 Central Okanagan and Belgo-Canadian Land Co. and the 

 White Valley and the Okanagan Centre Land Co. have 

 purchased extensive areas of land, and to enhance the 

 value of this they are putting in modern systems, using 

 steel and concrete to a large extent. At Kelowna, in 

 Southern Okanagan, a complete pressure pipe system for 

 both irrigation and domestic water has been installed. 

 This method insures the highest duty for a given unit of 

 water, and will be largely followed elsewhere in British 

 Columbia. 



In the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, be- 

 sides the larger projects under construction by companies 

 there are 390 separate irrigation schemes. 



The larger projects being developed are those of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the Alberta Railway 

 and Irrigation Company, and the Southern Alberta Land 

 Company. These three concerns control an irrigable area 

 of about 2,000,000 acres of land. 



The Canadian Pacific Railway Company's project is 

 the largest of the three. It controls a block of about 

 .".,000,000 acres, extending 150 miles east of the city of 

 Calgary and between the Bow and Red Deer rivers. This 

 company has been given permission to divert sufficient 

 water from the Bow river to irrigate from 450,00*0 acres 

 at low water to 2,700,000 at flood water. 



This company has been given fifteen years from 

 April 21, 1904, within which to complete their works and 

 secure license for the water, but are permitted to use 

 water during construction. Lands are sold at from $15 

 per acre for non-irrigable to from $25 to $30 per acre for 

 irrigable lands in most parts of the tract now for sale. 

 The irrigable area on each parcel is determined by survey 

 before sale is made. The purchaser agrees to pay to the 

 company 50 cents per acre annually as water rates for the 

 irrigable portion. This contract is perpetual, and the 

 water right is appurtenant to the land sold, and to no 

 other land, and may not be sold, or transferred separately 

 from the land. 



The estimated cost of these works is $5,000,000, and 

 jhe total length of the canal system, including distributing 

 ditches will be in the neighborhood of 2,900 miles. 



The Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company is the 

 pioneer company in irrigation in Canada. In 1899 author- 

 ization was granted this company to divert water from 

 the St. Mary river and other sources for irrigation pur- 

 poses. In 1902 rights to additional water were secured 

 and in December of the same year they were permitted 

 to purchase a tract of half a million acres lying to the 

 east of their land grant holdings. They were given a 

 period of fifteen years within which to complete their 

 irrigation system. Their privileges entitle them to l.GCTO 

 second feet of water during low water, and 3,500 second 

 feet during high water and flood. 



The company at an early date took steps to colonize 

 the lands tiibutary to their projected ditches. The towns 

 of Raymond. Magrath and Stirling are the direct results 

 of this irrigation enterprise and colonization scheme. 



Lands are sold by the company at $5 per acre, with- 

 out water rights, and from $30 per acre with such rights. 

 An annual charge of $1 per acre is made for water, in ad- 

 dition to the price of the water right sold with the lands. 

 The water rights are apputenant to the lands sold out, 



