138 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



LANE CONFERENCE, APRIL 9 



Western Governors and Others Will Meet to Stim- 

 ulate Irrigation 



Secretary of the Interior Lane's plans to stimu- 

 late the growth of new irrigation projects in the west 

 and to place existing irrigation securities upon a sound 

 basis is bearing fruit. At his suggestion, a conference 

 to be attended by the Governors of the arid states, 

 by delegates they may select, others interested in irri- 

 gaton and by representatives of the Secretary will be 

 held in Denver on April 9. The governors of Ari- 

 zona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, 

 New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washing- 

 ton and Wyoming have all practically agreed to be 

 present. Many men prominent in irrigation affairs 

 in these states will also attend. 



In his letter to the arid state governors, Secre- 

 tary Lane emphasized that irrigation development has 

 reached a stage of stagnation in the West through 

 faulty promotion, where future prosperity demands 

 drawing upon state or national funds. 

 Mr. Lane's letter says in part: 

 "A review of the progress made in irrigation de- 

 velopment during 1913 and of the relative stagnation 

 both in the construction of new works and in the set- 

 tlement and utilization of lands already irrigated in 

 part by old works shows that it is important that well- 

 conceived efforts be made toward remedying existing 

 difficulties and stimulating growth by irrigation, so 

 essential to continued prosperity in the West. 



"It is now fairly well recognized that while some 

 of the large irrigation enterprises have been success- 

 ful agriculturally, nearly all, especially those requiring 

 water storage or other extensive works, have been 

 failures financially. 



"Owing to this fact, there are large amounts of 

 stocks and bonds held by Eastern and foreign in- 

 vestors upon which interest is defaulted. Thus there 

 is at this time little hope of securing additional capital 

 for similar developments. 



"A study of the entire situation shows that ex- 

 penditures in large irrigation works can hardly be 

 made with a view of obtaining safe or adequate finan- 

 cial returns to the investors. 



"It is true that large profits are reputed to have 

 been made by promoters from time to time in the or- 

 ganization and floating of some of these large schemes, 

 but the men who actually put in money and those 

 who ultimately purchased the stocks and bonds to a 

 large extent have lost their investment. 



"It appears therefore that no further large de- 

 velopment can now be expected unless it is (a) by the 

 use of public funds, state or national, upon which no 

 profit or interest is required, or (b) by the use of 

 funds procured by taxation, as in the case of irriga- 

 tion districts, and where, also, the question of profit 

 and interest on the works themselves is the increased 

 land values and productivity of the soil. 



"These statements cover in a broad way the pres- 

 ent irrigation situation. The commissioner of the gen- 

 eral land office in a report recently has called atten- 

 tion to another phase of the subject, saying: 'There 

 seems to be a growing tendency among states to co- 



operate to the end that there may be uniformity of 

 procedure in this branch of the work (Carey Land 

 and Irrigation act).' 



"Three or four prominent persons authorized to 

 speak in this connection have suggested that a Carey 

 act convention or conference be arranged under the 

 auspices of this department, to meet either in Wash- 

 ington or at some central point in the West, to take 

 up and consider carefully the whole situation, espe- 

 cially as it may relate to the uniform practice along 

 certain lines by the states. 



"It is evident that there is a great need for, a full 

 understanding of the present situation, whether it per- 

 tains to the Carey act projects or to other large en- 

 terprises, such as those initiated under the terms of the 

 Reclamation act. 



"With this in view, I desire to suggest to you and 

 to governors of other states containing arid lands the 

 desirability of holding a conference in the near future 

 at some convenient point at which may be present 

 persons representing you, and also officials of the state 

 land boards or other state officials having to do with 

 the Carey act or related work. 



"It may be also desirable to have present men 

 who represent the contractors who have entered into 

 arrangements with the state to build one or more of 

 these Carey act projects and representatives from the 

 Water Users themselves wherever there is an organ- 

 ization which' can properly designate such persons. 



"If such a meeting can be agreed on, persons rep- 

 resenting myself can be present, together with offi- 

 cials from the bureaus under my charge, notably the 

 General Land office, the Geological Survey and the 

 Reclamation Service. 



"It is believed that the outcome of a full, free 

 discussion of some of the larger problems will be of 

 very great advantage in the comprehension of these 

 matters and will lead to beneficial results in the de- 

 velopment of the West in irrigation." 



IRRIGATE WITH WINDMILLS 



The first experimental irrigation plant to be estab- 

 lished in Kansas under the new provisions of the law 

 enacted by the last legislature is in operation two 

 and a half miles north of Leoti, Kan., in Wichita 

 county. The plant is under the direction of the State 

 Board of Irrigation. The legislature appropriated 

 $125,000 for experimental irrigation work. 



The Wichita county plant is a windmill proposi- 

 tion. Six improved windmills furnish the power that 

 pumps water from underground, lifts it 74 feet and 

 throws it into a reservoir 100 by 150 feet in size and 

 six feet deep. 



The cost of the plant complete was only $1,000. 

 It will irrigate a farm of 160 acres which the state has 

 leased for the experiment. The reservoir will be kept 

 full of water all the time by the windmills. It is ex- 

 pected that the cost of the plant will be returned to 

 the state in one season by the sale of crops from the 

 irrigated land. 



If this plant is successful it will result in thou- 

 sands of such plants being built in Western Kansas, 

 as the underground water exists almost everywhere. 



