264 



The National Geographic Magazine 



streams, the Uncompahgre and the Gun- 

 nison, flow in nearly parallel courses 

 about 10 miles apart and separated by a 

 mountain range 2,000 feet high. The 

 Uncompahgre flows through a broad val- 

 ley containing several hundred thousand 

 acres of fertile land. Its volume is suffi- 

 cient for the irrigation of only a small 

 part of the irrigable area. On the other 

 hand, the Gunnison River, a stream of 

 much larger discharge, flows in a pro- 

 found canyon and in its valley there is no 

 considerable area of land to be watered. 

 To augment the insufficient flow of the 

 first stream the greatest underground 

 waterway in the world is being con- 

 structed — a tunnel 6 miles long, with a 

 cross-section 10^ by 12 feet, under a 

 mountain 2,000 feet. It will bring into 

 the valley a part of the waters of the 

 Gunnison River. The history of this 

 project is replete with danger, daring, 

 and heroism, and the men who initiated 

 this work and those who have carried it 

 forward furnish proof enough that all 

 of Uncle Sam's heroes do not wear uni- 

 forms. 



The topographers who followed to 

 complete the original survey encountered 

 almost unheard of trials. Many times it 

 was necessary to lower them by ropes 

 hundreds of feet into the canyon. The 

 location for the tunnel was determined at 

 a point where the canyon was more than 

 a half mile deep. It was necessary then 

 to construct a road into this frightful 

 gorge, a remarkable road, 16 miles long, 

 with grades out of the canvon 23 per 

 cent in places. Heavy machinery was 

 brought in and a power plant installed. 



The difficulties encountered have tried 

 the heart of those engaged upon the 

 work. Gas, cave-ins, and subterranean 

 springs have all interposed obstacles re- 

 quiring the utmost care in the prosecu- 

 tion of the work. At frequent intervals 

 heavv flows of water have been encoun- 

 tered. This has required the installation 

 of complete pumping facilities. At the 

 present time pumps are discharging 

 about 250,000 gallons per 24-hour day, 

 and the quantitv pumned has been as high 

 as 750,000 gallons during the same pe- 



riod. More than four miles of the tunnel 

 have been excavated to date. While the 

 tunnel work was going on many miles 

 of canals were dug, some of which were 

 in exceedingly unfavorable country and 

 necessitated cement lining. 



Irrigation from this project will begin 

 in 1909, and 140,000 acres of land, much 

 of which is adapted to the growing of 

 deciduous fruits, will be ready for settle- 

 ment. The Denver and Rio Grande 

 Railway traverses this section. 



STRAWBERRY VALLEY PROJECT, UTAH 



This project provides for the irrigation 

 of about 60,000 acres of land in central 

 Utah, situated from 5 to 15 miles south 

 of Provo, and on the eastern shore of 

 Utah Lake. Water supply will be re- 

 ceived from a storage reservoir to be built 

 on Strawberry River, about 30 miles east 

 of the irrigable area. By means of a tun- 

 nel ^y 2 miles long stored waters will be 

 carried under the divide and emptied into 

 Spanish Fork, from which a canal from 

 18 to 20 miles long will convey them to 

 the irrigable area. The lands have a 

 mean elevation of 4,500 feet. 



YAKIMA VALLEY PROJECTS, WASHINGTON 



On the eastern side of the Cascades, in 

 Washington, are a succession of valleys 

 in the drainage of the Yakima River. 

 Comprehensive plans have been worked 

 out by the Reclamation Service and con- 

 struction is well under way for the re- 

 clamation of the largest project yet un- 

 dertaken. The irrigable area is nearly 

 a half million acres and the cost will prob- 

 ably exceed $15,000,000. The work is 

 being taken up in divisions, each involv- 

 ing the irrigation of specified areas. 



Storage is provided by erecting dams 

 at the outlets of several mountain lakes, 

 the capacity of which will total 804,000 

 acre-feet. On the Sunnyside Unit the 

 government purchased a large canal, en- 

 larged it and rebuilt the diversion dam in 

 the Yakima. Last year this system sup- 

 plied 40,000 acres, and a crop census 

 showed that the yields amounted to 

 $2,000,000 or $50 per acre. 



No section of the United States eives 



