38 BULLETIN 1177, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the States for the undertaking of drainage by irrigation districts. 
Up to the present time, however, comparatively few irrigation dis- 
tricts have done drainage work on any great scale. Very frequently 
only portions of districts have become affected by the rise of water, 
in which cases the general tendency has been to afford local relief 
only and to leave preventive measures to the future; for the possi- 
bility of future injury has proved to be a far less potent incentive to 
the expenditure of money for drainage construction than has the 
injury that has already become visible. 
In such sections as Yakima Valley, Wash., the numerous irrigation 
districts have been largely relieved from the consideration of drainage 
problems by the widespread existence of drainage districts. The 
important thing naturally is to get the land drained by whatever 
kind of district is most practicable. Without reference to the merits 
of either type of district in any given case, however, it is highly 
advantageous for an irrigation district to be allowed to construct 
drainage systems. In certain cases, for example, relatively small 
amounts of such work need to be done. Again, it may prove easier 
and speedier to accomplish such work by an existing organization 
than to organize another district to do it. Furthermore, with the 
knowledge of what has happened elsewhere, the simultaneous con- 
sideration of irrigation and future drainage problems by a new irri- 
gation district may result in an ultimate saving of money. Finally, 
as a matter of self-preservation the power of an irrigation district to 
relieve its own water-logged lands and make them valuable again is 
of the utmost importance. 
The Reclamation Service has cooperated with adjoining irrigation 
districts in drainage construction on Boise project, Idaho; Klamath 
project, Oregon, and North Platte project, Nebraska. Such coopera- 
tion, which has been in addition to drainage cooperation with irriga- 
tion districts on the projects proper, has consisted usually in the 
construction of drainage works for the irrigation districts as parts of 
the general project drainage systems. In other cases the right to 
discharge drainage water from district systems into the project ditches 
has been the subject of contract. 
Instances of drainage construction by irrigation districts, financed 
either by special assessments or by bond sales, are found in a number 
of the States, particularly Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon, and California. 
The plans of certain recently organized California districts have con- 
templated drainage construction as an integral part of the districts ' 
engineering plans and the use of the drainage water for the irrigation 
of other lands. 
ELECTRIC POWER. 
The development of electric power by irrigation districts and its 
use either within or without the districts are authorized in several 
States as a means of making the irrigation plan more effective. As 
yet, however, very little advantage has been taken of this authority. 
Several districts in Oregon and California propose to tide over the 
initial years of operation through revenue derived from the sale of 
power. A different phase of the subject appears in the operation of 
Yuma irrigation district, Arizona, which has fulfilled its sole purpose 
of organization by constructing a transmission and distribution 
system for the delivery of power purchased from a company for use 
by individual pumping plants within the district. 
