IRRIGATION PROBLEMS OF HONEY LAKE BASIN. 107 



water is to say that an arid land shall remain a wilderness or that its people shall bear 

 the yoke of servitude. The one result would be destructive of industry and commerce, 

 the other of the best ideals of civilization. 



All the evils of the California practice enumerated at the beginning of this 

 section may be speedily cured by a proper system of administration, but the more 

 fundamental evils arising from the vicious doctrine of private ownership of water can 

 be reached only by heroic treatment. The only remedy suggested by the supreme 

 Qourt of the State is the assertion of the right of eminent domain, under which riparian 

 titles could be condemned and taken for public uses upon payment of just compensa- 

 tion. While other methods might be suggested, a remedy even as costly as this 

 would prove a good investment. 



THE LARGER IRRIGATION PROBLEM OF THE BASIN. 



While a good sj-stem of administration would eliminate nearly all friction and 

 litigation among water users in Honey Lake Basin, and to that extent furnish 

 encouragement for future enterprises, it would not of itself solve the large irrigation 

 problem of the vallev. There are now about 20,000 acres in cultivation under dit^-hes. 

 This is practically the limit of the area that may be reclaimed by small works depend- 

 ing upon the perennial flow of streams. The larger problem is concerned with the 

 reclamation of a great area of sagebrush lands extending from the foothills of the 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains to the neighborhood of Pyramid Lake, in Nevada. This 

 district includes more than 200,000 acres of arable land. What portion of it would 

 be actually susceptible of irrigation, in case the water supplies of the region were 

 developed to their fullest capacitj', has not been definitely determined, but the_ area 

 which might be reclaimed under these conditions would make homes^ for many 

 thousands of people and support a very considerable railroad and commercial traffic. 



THE FAlilTRE OF PAST ENTERPRISES. 



The opportunity which exists here for large enterprises has not failed to attract 

 the attention of the public in the past. There have been several periods of active 

 effort during the past twenty years. This is the significance of the vast claims which 

 have been noticed in earlier pages of this report. The scene of these efforts has 

 included all the large sources of water supply — the headwaters of Susan River, Eagle 

 Lake, Balls Canyon, Long Vallej' , and Skedaddle Creek. A conservative estimate of 

 the investment represented by all these undertakings would be $500,000, and perhaps 

 double that sum would be no exaggeration if the interest accumulation were included. 

 For all that expenditure not more than 5,000 acres are actually irrigated from the 

 systems which were begun, so that it might be said that for each acre irrigated by 

 these undertakings from $100 to $2Q0 was spent in cash. In view of the fact that 

 the average first cost of irrigating land throughout the arid region, as shown by the 

 census of 1890, was $8.15 per acre, this would argue that there have been serious 

 miscalculations or unusual disasters to contend with in Honey Lake Basin. Such is 

 the actual fact. Of the many large enterprises projected or undertaken only one 

 has anything substantial to show for the results. Even this is far fi'om completion 

 and groaning heavilj' under the burdens imposed by unfavorable conditions. 



