166 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



NORTH PLATTE IRRIGATION PROJECT AND 



ASSOCIATED UNITS 



The North Platte Project contemplated the stor- 

 age and diversion of the waters of the North Platte 

 River for the irrigation of lands lying in the North 

 Platte Valley in eastern Wyoming and western Ne- 

 braska. It comprises all of the work on the North 



portion the rainfall is at times sufficient to grow 

 crops, while in the western portion arid conditions 

 are found. According to the last census, within the 

 drainage basin of the Platte River is found the larg- 

 est area of land irrigable by one stream in the United 



1070 Irrigation Ditch, Fort Laramie, Wyoming 

 1071 Irrigation Ditch, Fort Laramie, Wyoming 



Platte River, extending from the town of North 

 Platte on the east, near the 101st meridian, to the 

 point where the North Platte enters the State of 

 Wyoming from Colorado, about the. 107th meri- 

 dian, a distance measured by the winding river of 

 about five hundred miles. The project, as con- 

 structed and contemplated, lies about 100 miles 

 northeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming. In the easterly 



1075 Whalen Dam, Wyoming 



1077 Headgates, Whalen Dam, Wyoming 



States and the value of the improved agricultural 

 land is probably as high as any other section, with 

 the possible exception of the fruit belt of California. 

 At the present time the building of the Inter- 

 state Unit of this project is completed, as is also the 

 Pathfinder dam and storage works. The building of 

 the Fort Laramie Unit, on the south side of the 

 river, was authorized during the summer of 1915, 



