IRRIGATION PROBLEMS OF HONEY LAKE BASIN. 73 



above it. The snowfall is mostly confined to the surrounding mountains, where it 

 accumulates to a great depth. That which falls in the valley is slight, and shades oti' 

 to nothing in the neighborhood of the lake. The spring .season is windy and showery, 

 and sometimes brings a belated snowstorm. The summer temperature occasionally 

 rises to 100° or a little more, but brings little discomfort, because of the dry air and 

 the invariably cool nights. The autumn is long and delightful, sometimes extending 

 well into December. As a whole, the climate must be regarded as ver}' favorable to 

 the development of the highest forms of civilization. While it will not permit the 

 production of the delicat« fruits raised in other parts of the State, the hard}- fruits 

 and vegetables gain here a perfection of flavor and color which should give them a 

 very large market when they can be shipped upon a suflScient scale. 



STTRBOUNDING BESOTTBCES. 



The natural resources surrounding Honey Lake Valley are both varied and valu- 

 able. One of the mo.st important of these is the wide expanse of public grazing 

 lands, bearing reliable crops of nutritious grasses and equal to the sustenance of vast 

 numbers of live stock. The climate is also favorable to the live-stock industry and 

 furnishes remarkable immunity from disease. The di'oughts which have sometimes 

 afflicted other parts of the State have seldom if ever done serious injury in this 

 locality. Live stock have sometimes suffered severely in hard winters, but Ihis has 

 occurred onlj' rareh*. Next to the grazing lands the large pine forests in the moun- 

 tains and plateaus west of the valley constitute the most valuable item of surrounding 

 resources. Th^se forests are principally yellow pine, but also include quite a per- 

 centage of the more valuable sugar pine. This timber supph' has thus far been 

 drawn upon onh- in the slightest degree, but must be a great source of wealth in the 

 future. Mineral resources are extensive and varied, but mostly undeveloped. There 

 are mines of both precious and base metals and the country has not been prospected 

 nearlj- as thoroughly as other localities. The two great needs of the region are an 

 intelligent development of the water supply for irrigation, and then a new railroad 

 outlet to coimect with navigation on the Sacramento River and ultimately with the 

 northern transcontinental i-ailwaj- lines and the Columbia River. With the develop- 

 ment of irrigation and the consequent coming of population, the railroad would 

 naturally follow, and the timber and mineral resources be brought into use. The 

 mountain streams furnish considerable water power which might be made available 

 at convenient points without decreasing the supply for irrigation. 



A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS. 



Taken as a whole, the Honey Lake Basin and its surroundings perhaps furnish 

 as good an example of the irrigation and kindred problems as any locality that may 

 be found between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Every phase of the 

 water question in arid lands is here exhibited, with the single exception of interstate 

 streams. Even this is escaped but narrowly by the chance which located the western 

 boundary of Nevada a few miles further east than many people thought it ought to 

 have been placed. This question ma\- even 3'et arise in the future from the necessity 

 of irrigating the eastern portion of the Honej' Lake Desert with waters originating 



