THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



373 



COST OF WATER PER ACRE. 



C. J. Blanchard, Statistician U. S. R. S. 



1. The cost per acre of water rights or of water 

 for irrigation in the arid region, under the present 

 conditions of construction, is far higher than is 

 usually appreciated. During earlier decades, before 

 any considerable number of large irrigation canals 1 

 had been built, it was a relatively simple and in- 

 expensive matter for farmers to join together and 

 build small canals that could be enlarged as the 

 demand for water increased. All such easily avail- 

 able opportunities, however, have been utilized and 

 development has proceeded to a point where on 

 most of the recent irrigation systems it has been 



M. K. D. Owings, Recently Elected Vice-President The Rumely Co., 

 La Porte, Ind. 



necessary to provide storage, thus adding materially 

 to the cost. 



2. There has also been a notable increase in 

 the cost of labor and of materials used in construc- 

 tion. This condition has been pointed out in various 

 hearings before Congress, notably in the series be- 

 fore the Ways and Means Committee of the House 

 of Representatives at the time of the granting of 

 the $20,000,000 loans. It is there shown, notably 

 in a statement submitted by Representative Mon- 

 dell that one of the arguments for increase of the 

 reclamation fund was in the fact that common labor 

 had advanced from the time of the preparation of 

 the plans for works in 1903 and 1904 from 20 per 



cent to SO per cent, and that the efficiency of such 

 labor had fallen off in greater proportion. Costs 

 were also affected by the increased price of ma- 

 terials and equipment. 



3. The following table gives in condensed 

 form lists of some of the recently constructed and 

 proposed larger private projects and Carey Act 

 projects. These figures, obtained from printed re- 

 ports of state engineers and public data show that 

 on over 90 modern irrigation systems being built 

 by private or corporate capital the cost per acre 

 averages nearly $53. This cost does not include the 

 annual cost for operation and maintenance. 



4. The cost to the settler is increased by the 

 fact that payment is made on most of these projects 

 in installments bearing interest at 6 per cent or 

 even more. The total payments made for such a 

 water right with simple interest at 6 per cent would 

 be about $70.50 per acre on the basis of ten equal 

 annual instalments of the principal as compared to 

 $53 without interest : 



COST OF PRIVATE IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 



Cost of water 

 Acreage right charge 



Name of project or company. in project per acre (a) 



Colorado: 



Amity Canal 80,000 $100 (b) 



Beaver Land and Irrigation Co. 20,000 175 (b) 



Catlin Canal 25,000 100 



Colorado Cooperative Co. . . '. . . . 5,200 60 

 Denver Reservoir and Irriga- 

 tion Co 200,000 45 



East Palisade Irrigation District 645 63 



Fort Lyon Canal 70,000 100 (c) 



Grand Valley Canal 40,000 60 (d) 



Greely Poudre Irrigation Co... 125,000 45 



Mesa County Irrigation District 2,568 73 



Orchard Mesa Irrigation District. 9,122 119 



Otero Irrigation District 20,000 40 



Palisade Irrigation District 6,000 41 



Paradox Valley Irrigation Co.. 30,000 45 

 Pueblo-Rocky Ford Irrigation Co. 100,000 150 (e) 

 Redlands Irrigation & Power Co. 5,000 100 (f) 

 Routt County Development Co. 39,000 45 

 South Palisade Heights Irriga- 

 tion District 700 127 



Montana: 



Conrad Land and Water Co. ... 40 

 Great Falls Land and Irrigation 



Co 36,000 50 



Nebraska: 



Belmqnt Canal and Irrigation 



District 20,000 25 (g) 



Tristate Canal 60,000 42 



New Mexico : 



French Land and Irrigation Co. 40,000 50 



Oregon: 



Bonanza Project 20,000 39 



Eagle Valley 21,700 80 



Turnish 6,000 60 (h) 



Paradise 100,000 60 



Willamette Valley 20,000 50 



South Dakota: 



Red Water Irrigation Ass'n.... 4,000 40 



Utah : 



Provo Reservoir 12,000 80 



Utah Lake Pumping 8,000 40 (i) 



Washington: 



Cascade Canal Co 10,000 50 



Congdon Canal Co 4,200 121 



Kenewick Canal 14,000 163 



Lower Lakima Irrigation Co.. 12,500 129 



Selah Moxie 7,000 86 



Selah Valley Development Co.. 10,000 150 



Union Gap Irrigation Co 5.000 135 



Washington Irrigation Co 50,000 4G 



(a) Engineers' estimates where project is proposed 



or incomplete. 



