THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



133 



require about five feet depth annually for alfalfa, 

 while the best silt loams or light adobe soils scarcely 

 need four feet total depth. In this conclusion it 

 should be said that alfalfa is the water gourmand, 

 and requires much more water per pound of crop 

 produced than do our other crops. Corn, wheat, 

 barley, potatoes and cotton require much less water 

 than alfalfa, while kafir, milo, Sudan grass and millet 

 require still less than those named. 



During recent years much effort has been made 

 to obtain a higher duty of water, that is, to irrigate 

 the same land with less water, and thereby to make 

 a definite water supply suffice for a larger acreage. 

 It is well known that many irrigators apply more 

 water than is needed, in some cases even twice as 

 much, the excess being wasted by evaporation or 

 seepage. Records kept by the Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station of the quantity of water applied to 

 alfalfa in the vicinity of Tucson, showed as high as 

 108 inches total depth in one case, and as low as 

 14 inches in another. In the latter case the crop suf- 

 fered for lack of water, while in the former case, 

 needless to say, there was a useless waste, since a 

 large percentage of the water applied sank below the 

 reach of roots into the groundwater zone. 



Professor Smith would have proven a valuable 

 man on many of the projects developed since the 

 adoption of the Reclamation Act. 



Large areas in Utah, Idaho, Montana, in fact, 

 in all of the so-called arid states, are now proving 

 the correctness of the oft repeated warning about 

 using too much water. The trouble from seepage 

 arises mainly from ignorance on" the part of the 

 irrigator, and while this condition often seriously 

 affects the man 'who tries to hog the water,' it more 

 frequently works serious injury to an innocent 

 neighbor who may perhaps understand the science 

 of irrigation and who is sufficiently familiar with his 

 soil conditions to know just how much water each 

 field requires or will stand. 



The Weber Canal Company of Utah is now 

 confronted with several suits which involve this con- 

 dition of a neighbor's carelessness. Our readers are 

 requested to furnish us additional information on 

 this subject. 



Elsewhere in the issue we reproduce 

 Horse a copy of the resolutions adopted by 



Heaven the Horse Heaven Irrigation Dis- 



Irrigation trict. These resolutions explain why 



District the election called for June 6, 1916, 



that was to ratify the plan to make 

 a bond issue of $15,000,000 for the purchase of rights 

 and development of the great Horse Heaven project 

 was delayed to a later date. The many obstacles 

 encountered in the development of a project of this 

 magnitude caused the directors to take this step so 



that sufficient time could be given each interested 

 land holder to obtain knowledge as to the purport 

 and intent of this bond issue. There was fear 

 among the men active in this movement that the 

 entire project plans would be placed in jeopardy by 

 f'fc vote, which would result in refusal to put through 

 the bond issue. 



There is little doubt about this bond issue carry- 

 ing as soon as the majority of land holders under 

 the proposed plan are familiar with all the facts. 



This project will represent a larger outlay than 

 that of any other district organization within our 

 knowledge and the group of men who have developed 

 the plan are entitled to great credit. Their efforts 

 have required much work and patience and they 

 have been confronted by perplexing problems that 

 would have daunted the average group of men. 



The American Federation of Water 

 American Users is the title under which the 



Federation organization mentioned in our issue 

 Of Water of June, will be known, and the an- 



Users nual meetings that will take the 



place of the migratory irrigation con- 

 gress of past years will be conducted under its 

 guidance. 



It has been decided to hold an annual meeting 

 of the officers and members the 32 Water Users' 

 Association under the title the American Federa- 

 tion of Water Users, either at Salt Lake or Ogden, 

 Utah, and work is now going on to interest all 

 members, 90,000 in number, under Federal projects. 

 As soon as the work of organization is well 

 under way, a move will be made to interest water 

 users on Carey Act and private projects. Roughly 

 estimated, there are 300.000 irrigators in the arid 

 states, all of whom would be interested in a perma- 

 nently located annual meeting when all subjects of 

 interest could be gone into, and where also griev- 

 ances may be aired and resolutions passed to be 

 presented to our national congress at Washington. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE will keep its readers posted on 

 the development of this work. Any suggestions 

 that may help to strengthen the Federation move- 

 ment will be given due prominence in these columns. 



RENEW 

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