284 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Reclamation Notes 



COLORADO. 



The division of engineering of the Colorado 

 State College is unable to supply the demand for 

 graduates in mechanical, electrical, civil and irriga- 

 tion engineering. Many of the graduates have 

 already left the college and gone with the United 

 States Reclamation Service. 



That the water users themselves will shortly 

 have an opportunity to handle the irrigation proj- 

 ects under which they operate is the conclusion 

 drawn by Colorado newspapers from a letter re- 

 cently received from Director Newell. That the 

 government is growing tired of its established 

 policy of endeavoring to administer irrigation 

 affairs from a distance is indicated by the Newell 

 letter. 



It is estimated that 10,000 farmers on reclama- 

 tion projects throughout the west will be affected 

 by the supreme court's decision recently that they 

 must pay the government the cost of maintaining 

 and operating the various reclamation projects pend- 

 ing their completion. This decision was in the suit 

 of one D. P. Baker and other tenants on the Sunny- 

 side unit of the Yakima, Wash., project to have 

 the reclamation service enjoined irom cutting off 

 the water supply to enforce collections of such 

 charges imposed under instruction from the secre- 

 tary of the interior in 1902. Nearly $1,000,000 have 

 already been collected by the government and $500,- 

 000 more is about due. The Colorado irrigation 

 people are much interested in this subject. 



Considerable interest has been aroused by 

 owners of the water rights in Pueblo county, Colo., 

 in appealing a case which came before the district 

 court in Trinidad recently by attorneys represent- 

 ing the owners of the water rights, stating that if 

 the contention of the plaintiffs who have asked the 

 court for an injunction prevails, it will seriously 

 affect the quantity of water which the irrigation 

 ditches in Pueblo county will receive from the 

 Huerfano river. 



The outlook for crops in Colorado is reason- 

 ably good, so our Colorado exchanges state. There 

 seems to be plenty of water all over the state, and 

 the area of irrigated lands has increased consider- 

 ably. Farmers there are satisfied that they will be 

 able this season to pay off all indebtedness, and 

 have substantial sums as nest eggs. 



The new order issued by Secretary of State Lane 

 will have its effect on the construction of reclama- 

 tion projects in Colorado. The order is to the effect 

 that henceforth the eight-hour law must be ob- 

 served by contractors on government irrigation 

 works. 



OREGON. 



The farmers and fruit growers have just or- 

 ganized a bonded irrigation district under the state 

 laws of Oregon, which will cover approximately 

 30,000 acres near Hood River in that state. 



Insisting that a decision on the case by the 

 supreme court was necessary for the guidance of 

 the future legislatures, State Treasurer Kay at a 

 meeting of the Desert Land Board recently won the 

 fight for an appeal of its state board by L. A. Mc- 

 Mahan to enjoin the state treasurer and secretary 

 of the state from paying out any part of the $450,- 

 000 appropriated at the last session of the legisla- 

 ture for the reclamation of land in the Columbia 

 Southern Irrigation Project. 



E. \V. Barr, local examiner for the United 

 States reclamation service, held a conference re- 

 cently with J. A. Mahan and the city council of 

 Ellensburg relative to the water contract to be 

 signed for the municipal plant of that town. The- 

 Ellensburg papers state that the reclamation service 

 has made many important concessions to the city, 

 and the propsed contracts will be of great benefit 

 to local interests. 



The Hall Construction Company has begun 

 work on the South Drews canal near Lake View, 

 Ore., and it is announced that the project will be 

 completed within a year and many thousand acres 

 of land on the west side of Goose Lake Valley 

 will be under irrigation. 



State Engineer Lewis of Oregon has approved 

 a number of applications for water for the Harney 

 Valley Reclamation Company. This project em- 

 braces about 54,000 acres, and it will require from 

 four to six large reservoirs to impound water for 

 this quantity of land. 



NEVADA. 



Governor Oddie, in an address at Salt Lake. 

 City, cited the fact that the Canadian government 

 instead of asking the settler for money to start the 

 farms is advancing them money to develop their 

 holdings. He believes that the American states 

 could follow the example to great advantage, as 

 the average settler is short of funds, and that con- 

 dition retards development. 



In speaking of the vastness of unirrigated areas 

 of Nevada, the governor said Nevada has 40,000,000' 

 acres of stock range land on which 500,000 head of 

 cattle and 1,500,000 sheep find sustenance winter 

 and summer from the neutral flora. He stated 

 further that Nevada has 12,000,000 acres of alkali 

 deserts and verdureless barrens and 18,000 acres of 

 rich, arable valley lands which . can be reclaimed 

 at a modest expense. 



William Weaver, a farmer near Reno, Nev., 

 has been experimenting with winter vetch, mam- 

 moth red clover and alfalfa, and showing the 

 contrast between these plants. The winter vetch 

 is a trailing, vine-like plant, and the sample shown' 



