Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-25
ARID LANDS.
OUTLINE OF THE SCHEME FOR THEIR
RECLAMATION.
The Senate Committee of Inquiry-Whai
1t Has Done, and the Great
End in View.

The Committee on Arid Lands and Irri.
cation, appointed by the United States Sen
ate to visit and investigate the condition OF
the Grid sections of the country, arrived at
Truckee on Friday night, having reached
there by way of Carson City and Lake Ia
hoe. The party was met at Truckee yes
terday morning by SUNDAY UNION repre-
sentative, whose purpose it was to learn
! the results of the committees investigations
| thus far, especially as regards the probable
ity OF retaining the vast sage-brush plains
| OF Nevada. now devoted chiefly to cattle
grazing. But three members of the COM
mittee came as far as California Senator
| Stewart, of Nevads; Senator Jones, of Ar
kansas, and Senator Reagan, of Texas
Accompanying the committee, and assist
ing the members thereof in their investiga-
| ton, are the following-named gentlemen !:
Major Powell, Director of the Geological
Survey; Mr.. Warman, his Private Secre-
tary; r. ]. Hinton, Irrigating Engineer, as
signed to the committee; Lyman Bridges.
Civil Engineer of the Irrigating Survey, in
charge of the La Honta (Nevada) Division:
Sergeant at-Arms Eugene Davis; Assistant
ergeantat-Arms, DR.. Hines, of Washing.
ton; Clerk of the Committee G. j. Kappell:
Official Reporter, r. A. Boswell Senator
Plumb returned to his home after the trip
through Washington Territory and Idaho,
but will rejoin the committee east of the
Rocky Mountains on their return.
The committee has been on the road
| twentyfou days, has travelled upward of
6 600 miles and the members of the party
are all travel-worn and weary. Hence,
they did not rise very early yesterday morn
ing, and it was after o'clock when thew
finished their breakfast and emerged from
their cars. When the reporter found them
they were all marshaled in a row, with
their sleeping-car for a background, while
the photographer of the party was engaged
in taking picture of the group. The CEN
trail figures were Senators Stewart and
Jones, whose tall forms lowered above
those of their comrades. The former was
dressed in a light grey suit, and wore a
broad brimmed white felt hat, which gave
him the appearance of well-to-do farmer
or cattleman, while the latter wore dark
business suit, and was prim enough for any
ordinary occasion. All were well tanned,
and appeared in excellent health, although
evidently greatly fatigued from their ardu-
Gus labors, U. S. Land Register Hetzel
and wife-old friends of the Nevada Sena-
tur-now joined the party, having come to
Truekee for that purpose. While the Sac
ramentans were being introduced to the
different members of the party, the photog-
rapher prepared his camera for another
picture on larger scale. the newspaper
man was edging off out of range of the in
strument, when Senator Stewart called
out:
'Helloa there Mr.. get in here and
| have your picture taken with the rest of us
mo stealing off in that way !"
The reporter moved up and took DO
sition alongside the sturdy form of Senator
Reagan, the center of the group being gal
lantly accorded to Mrs. Hetzel. There was
| momentary hush; each person tried to
look unconcernedly at the lofty pines that
| adorned a neighboring mountain-top; the
| photographer cried "All over!" and the
| living statues broke rank and dispersed.
The visitors were cordially invited into
the cars of the committee, and at 10 o'clock
| the special train pulled out OF Truckee and
| started for Sacramento. The Senators and
| engineers of the party freely answered the
many inquiries made of them, and much
| information was obtained concerning the
| movements of the committee, the scope of
their Investigations and the vast benefits
| expected to be derived from the great irri-
| cation scheme inaugurated by Congress.
Colonel Hinton was fonnd most at leis.
| ure, while the Senators and Major Powell
| were consulting regarding the utilization of
| the waters of Lakes Tahoe, Bonner and
other mountain bodies of water, and from
his well-stored fund of information the re-
porter CLEANED the following facts:
GREAT ARTEsIAN BELT.
'The first important fact" said he, "that
struck the committee was the water re-
sources of the great artesian belt of the
plains east of the Rocky Mountains, as
| shown by the wells already sunk in James
| town valley, South Dakota. In this region
| one wet season out of three is sufficient to
| make the land produce well, and storage
| basins on a small scale will do there. This
artesian belt extends from the British pos
sessions on the north to the Gulf of Mexico
| on the south. In general terms, this belt
| comprises the first division of the great
| irrigation system that is to restore to man
kind what is now known as the arid region
| of the Union.
"The second division embraces the great
valleys of the Yellowstone, Spokane, Upper
Snake and Columbia. The committee went
through these sections and back into Idaho
| through Snake valley. There is an abund-
ance of water in all the rivers and streams
coursing through these valleys. The only
! question to be solved is the one of the con-
struction of suitable engineering works to
control these waters and conduct them to
TO the arid plains. Major Powell is of the
| opinion that in Montana alone
THIRTY MILLION ACRES
Can be reclaimed. Yellowstone valley
| will be the center of this branch of the ir-
rigation system. In Northern Idaho and
the eastern portion of Washington Terri
! tory the waters of the Upper Snake, Spo-
kane and Columbia rivers can be made to
reclaim immense areas of land now practi-
cally valuless for agricultural purposes.
| Coming eastward again, we find that
Southern Oregon and Eastern Idaho, above
the Dalies and in the Snake Basin, will be
! great feature of the system. Below Sho-
! shone Falls there is now running 222 900
cubic inches of water, and the streams are
| lower than ever before known. The tribu-
taries of these rivers are generally large,
| and will be used before the great storage
works of the future will be necessary.
| RECLAMATION OF sAGEBRUsH LANDS.
1.-THE reports of the engineers who have
| examined the Snake river basin prove that
| ii will be of vast benefit to northwestern
| Nevada. A great portion of the drainage
| flood of that section will be diverted
through the Owyhee river to the uses of
/ that now sterile portion of Nevada, which
will be made to blossom as the rose. >
1 There Is vast area OF arid land in that sec
ton, now quite valueless, that needs only
water to make it as fertile and valuable as
| any on the continent. 1t would surprise
any person unacquainted with these sage
brush plains if their future wealth, under a
comprehensive system of irrigation, could
now be foretold
Coming down into the Utah country,
the committee found that Utah and Bear
lakes could be made the centers of the
large storage reservoirs of the future for
| that section. Some testimony was taken
by the committee as to the possibilities of
reclamation IN southeastern Utah by util-
izing the waters of the San Juan river. Not
much direct information was gained by its
researches there, but the scheme looks feas-
| ible enough. Colorado valley, in that sec
ton, is already looked upon as one of the
possible irrigation districts.
WHAT UTAH HAS DONE.
utah furnishes an illustration of the
simpler forms of irrigation. The Mormon
farmers have been irrigating on a small
scale, but they have come to the end oil
their rope. They have been confronted by
the issue of storage reservoirs, but don't
know how to handle the subject They
waited upon the committee and presented
clear statement of what they had done
1t was d remarkable exhibition of what