364 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



project engineer, says that during the present season 

 there are 57,000 acres of crops under the Inter-State 

 unit, and that he figured 2}/ 2 acre-feet of water per 

 acre of land. This would require a total of 142,500 

 acre-feet of water for use this year on the Reclamation 

 project; and for which the government officials filed 

 water appropriations in Nebraska and Wyoming. The 

 Reclamation officials have also contracted for im- 

 pounding rights in this reservoir with the owners of 

 private lands for 

 88,500 acres of 

 land in Scotts 

 Bluff and Mor- 

 rill counties, 

 Neb., which Mr. 

 Weiss says will 

 take an addi- 

 tional 143,500 

 acre-feet of wa- 

 ter. On these 

 latter contracts, 

 the government 

 is to receive 

 about $750,000. 

 Under these 

 contracts the 

 govern ment 

 merely turns the 

 water loose 

 from the reser- 

 voir and the pri- 

 vate ditches are 

 c o m p e 1 1 ed to 

 rely upon the 

 State Board of 

 I r r i g a tion of 

 Nebraska t o 

 have the water 

 turned into their 

 ditches. 



When the 

 government is 

 applying water 

 upon all of the 

 129,270 acres 

 under the Inter- 

 State unit it will 

 not require i n 

 excess of 300,- 

 000 acre-feet 

 from the reser- 

 voir. The R e- 

 clamation offi- 

 cers are charging $5.00 per acre-foot for the water in 

 the reservoir and if they are permitted to sell the bal- 

 ance of the capacity of the reservoir, or at least about, 

 750,000 acre-feet, the government will receive an addi- 

 tional sum of about $3.750,000.00, which will be clear 

 profit on this project, if the government is permitted 

 to collect the full sum of $55.00 per acre from the 

 farmers on the Inter-State unit. In addition to this, 

 after the agitation was started the present year, the 

 service started to sell temporary water from the canal 

 for this season at 30 cents per acre-foot, which will 

 still more increase the profits to the government. 



The appropriators of water for irrigation pur- 

 poses from the North Platte River extend from the 



made up of 



Small irrigation plants, in Idaho ard Utah 587GC is a pumping plai 



9 H. P. Vertical Oil Engine and 3-inch Vertical Centrifugal Pump. This pump is iii a 60- 

 foot pit. Plant at Lehi, Utah. 591GC is a plant located at Springfield, Idaho. This consists 

 of a 3-inch Vertical Centrifugal Pump being driven by a 2 H. P. engine, delivering 350 gallons 

 per minute into the irrigation ditch. The engine is mounted on a farm wagon and can easily 

 be moved to other wells or used for other power purposes. 584GC is located near Bountiful. 

 Utah, and consists of a 4 H. P. engine with walking beam operating a 6-inch cylinder at a 

 depth of 72 feet. 564GC is located at Layton, Utah, and consists of a 5 H. P. Motor driving 

 a 5-inch Centrifugal Pump which delivers about 800 gallons per minute into the flume. 

 Courtesy of Fairbanks-Morse & Co. 



Wyoming line on the west for a little more than 300 

 miles east along the river, and it requires some time 

 for the water to flow from the reservoir to the east 

 end of the irrigated territory at Kearney. This is 

 variously estimated at from 12 days to a month, accord- 

 ing to conditions of the river and the volume of the 

 water. The records show that by reason of the im- 

 pounding of water by the government in its canal as 

 late as July 9, 1914, the river in Nebraska went 



dry at Kearney, 

 on July 14, 1914, 

 and the Kearney 

 Canal had no 

 water although 

 it had the sec- 

 ond right on the 

 Platte river, and 

 the company 

 was compelled 

 to operate their 

 power plant 

 with coal. The 

 records of the 

 Kearney Power 

 Company show 

 that d u ri n g a 

 period of 1,406 

 d a y s, covering 

 irrigation s e a - 

 sons of seven 

 months each, be- 

 t w e e n July 1 , 

 1901, and May 

 1, 1905, this 

 company was 

 operated but 51 

 days on steam. 

 However, since 

 the construction 

 of the P a t h- 

 finder reservoir, 

 this company 

 has been d e- 

 prived of water 

 as long as five 

 months at a sin- 

 gle time, cover- 

 ing the months 

 of the irrigating 

 season, when the 

 river, prior to 

 the construction 

 of the dam, had 



never before been known to go dry. These are facts 

 beyond dispute. 



Until the year 1910, the Reclamation officials per- 

 mitted enough water to flow in the river in addition 

 to the natural flow to furnish water for the irrigation 

 ditches and made no attempt to collect compensation 

 for the water. Since that time the government has 

 refused to turn down any water during the irrigating 

 season except what the people would pay for, but after 

 the irrigating season was over, the Reclamation officials 

 have each year permitted the water to flow down the 

 river and go to waste. They claim this was done be- 

 cause they had to empty the reservoir in order to per- 

 mit repair work on the gates. 



