Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-06-30
A Great Irrigation Scheme.
New York Globe. |

Ma]Or Powell, Of the U. 5. GeOlOgl- cal Survey, has submitted to Congress scheme for damming the tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi, in or der to store their waters for the irri- gation of the immense body of arid lands lying east of the Rocky Noun tains, and he has asked an appropri- ation of $250,000 wherewith to begin the work.
 The arid lands of the United States which are now for the most part tree less deserts, embrace an area of 1900 900 square miles, or more than one third of the entire area of the United States. Major Powell believes that about 1, 100000 square miles of these deserts may be ultimately converted into fertile farming lands by means of irrigation, and that the value of the land thus reclaimed would be thereby raised from SIP an acre, their pres ent value, to $30 an acre.
 Of course this result is not attain able in the immediate future, but Maj. Powell says that it is possible to re- 150,000 square miles within compar- atively brief period of time The i'm portance of this statement becomes apparent when we consider that there are only about 300,000 square miles of land now under cultivation in the United States. Outside of and beyond this consideration is the further fact that the reclamation of 10000 square miles of this now desert region would add $3 900 000,0 900 to the money value of the national domain, sum nearly three times as great as the national | debt.
 The annual precipitation of moist ure throughout the whole desert area of l 100000 square miles, embracing mountains, valleys and plains, ranges from five inches on the dryest plains to thirty inches on the mountains, and even to seventy-fve inches on the highest mountain peaks, and the av- craze for the whole region is nearly fifteen inches. This would suffice to irrigate l 100000 square miles of arid lands; but of course to use all this water for irrigation purposes would de stroy the navigability of the rivers, and this is thing that must not even be impaired, but carefully protected. It is this fact which reduces the amount of reclaimable lands to 10000 square miles, an acreage which will be suf- ficient for the next half century.
 Major Powell says in explanation and support of his scheme:
 "The waters which ordinarily flow into the ocean through the Missouri and its tributaries, and through the Arkansas, the Red, the Rio Grande the Colorado, the Sacramento and the Columbia rivers are to be damned up at their foundation heads and stor ed in vast reservoirs. We will thus have a chain of storehouses in the mountains from the Canadian to the Mexican border, and the water can be utilized by letting it out upon the land through irrigating canals. This me thod of redeeming land is not new It has been practised for five or si, thousand years. The earliest agricul ture known by history was by irriga tion in the valley of the Nile, and a early, or even earlier, irrigation wa known in the valleys of China. II |, the region of the five rivers of India az riculture was wholly dependent upon 1T rigation, and the same can be said o , Peru and Mexico. Long before the hu mid regions of earth were cultivate' l the desert lands were redeemed by irri gation Already there are areas i'll Cali l fornia, Utah, Colorado, and other ari r states under irrigation, but only a yer, l smallportion of the water is used, an . consequently a small part of the land , redeemed. There are many advantage } in irrigation. The farmer does not de 3 pend on inconstant rainfall. He ha l to deal with no drought, no storms, n floods. The water is poured upon hi l land where it is wanted and only i ,. such quantities as are needed.
 "It will require at least two year to lay out the groundwork of tn enormous undertaking. The projec is perfectly feasible. Nature, in clea, ing the solid rock into canyons, hs already made two sides of our dan
 for us, and under no other circum
 stances could artificial reservoirs | contracted with such economy as
 possible in this case. The cost
 their erection and maintainanee wi
 be very small proportion of tf
 value of the land redeemed"
 So far from any injury bein
 wrought to the people living along tl
 Missouri and Mississippi by the sto
 age of the surplus waters of their trit
 utaries, the valleys of these rivers wi
 be greatly benefited, as Major Powe , clearly shows He says:
 The development of irrigation alor
 the base of the Rocky Mountains is
 double importance because of it's i
 fiuence on the agriculture of the low
 Mississippi. To store up the water
 the Missouri and its main affluents f
 the purpose of irrigation is to dimil
 ish the volume of that flood of Il
 lower Mississippi which is most
 structive by reason of it's occurring
 the heart of the farming season. Mor
 over the great difficulty of the proble
 of the lower Mississippi arises from u
 fact that the river normally makes
 deposit there, thus clogging its cour
 and giving to its channel an unstab
 position. The principal source of u
 sediment is the Missouri river, and
 carried forward chiefly during the foo
 With abolition of great Missouri foo
 thessedimentary load of the lower NJ
 sissippi would be diminished, and u ). securing power of the less-loaded foo
 from the Ohio and the upper Missi IS sippi would establish for the lower M 90 sissippi a lower grade and deep ID channel. For every acre reclaimed le agriculture in Montana another ac g will be reclaimed in Louisiana and, e. general, all lands redeemed by irrig t. ton on the great plains will be equ Id ed by the lands redeemed from foo IS in the great valley of the lower Mi K. issippi."
 of The terrible floods, which are nc