Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-12-07
POWELL ON IRRIGATION
The Chief Officer of the Com
mittee on Irrigation Makes
a Lengthy Speech.
How the Arid Lands of the
United States May be
Irrigated.
From Fridays Daily.

From Fridays Daily.
NEW YORK, Dec. 5.-Major Powell. tbe
Chief officer OF the commission to r,port
upon he bsst method OF irrigation of the
ara lands OF the country, reported upon
| the sutlect before the chamber of com.
merce this afternoon.
he began with the statement that abeut
hall OF the lands OF the United States, OK.
elusive OF Alaska, are arid. These lands
he said, SO far as they can be brought
under cultivation by irrigation, are the
best lands in the country, because the
crops are certain. not being subject to the
chances OF extreme wet and extreme dry
seasons, as in the case OF the lands de.
pendent upon rain. OF 100000, 900
aces OF arid land in the United States,
about 100000 are now under cultiva.
tIon by irrigation, and about 12O, ,OOO. .OgO
altogether can be rendered arabic bv that
method.
Mr.. Powell estimates that the con.
struction OF reservoirs, canals and other
nee essaries will cost at the rate
OF $40 per acre, and assuming that
100, 600, 900 acres are to be reduced in this
way, the cost will aggregate $1,000, ,OOO..
600. The forests at the headwaters of the
rivers serve as catch basins and must be
preserved. There must be provision for con.
trolling and protecting the large bodies of
pasture lands not suitable for ,ult vation.
IN addition to these are the gret tt &C q of
mineral lands which should be q by the
until the mineral has ueep dis.
covered, when they should be parcelled out
IN quantities only large enough for econom.
ical working. When the storage reservoirs
and irrlgating canals are completed, vast
water powers will have been created suit
anle 1or manufacturing purposes. These
win exist at points on the canals higher up
than those at which the watsrs are to be
taken for irrigation. The government.
Major Powell Says, should not be allowed
TO furnish any money for the compilations
OF the great system. The works for the
preservation OF the forests and the Tar.
Ceiling out OF the water will necessitate a
great many thousand of men and to put
the matter in the hands OF the government
wonli be to build up bureaucracy and an
army OF officialism. The only thing the
government should do in this is to furnish
Eiss laws to control the operations for
this work in hand. The people would
basins, that is in the territory covered by
4 single stream and it's tributaries within
Jingle watershed. Courts should be estab.
lshed to.adludicate upon all the questions
arising from the condition OF affairs though
ihe government itself should apportion
he water among the different states in
Iuch districts.
Major Powell suggests that the money
o. OF rre,asre4 ease44insS s1 fha i-.-e.oo of community
'onds or other similar methods. For the
proper carrying out OF the work change
n the land laws are necessary. Where irri-
alton is necessary the land is cuiti.
rated by private institutions each
armer being able to raise his
rop in the entire independence
u his neighbors. In the arid countries
he cooperation for the distribution OF
water from it's source is essential. In
'umid countries the tendency is toward
mail holdings, while in arid countries it is
coward large holdings. Many large and
mail streams run through the arid belt,
'ut the amount OF water obtainable is not
srge enough to irrigate all OF the arid lands
which they traverse and thequestion arises
what portion OF them are entitled to use
;he water.
Major Powell holds that they should be
,sed at points where they would do the
most good. This point, he says, is where
jhe stream turns from the rushing crystal
torrent to low land stream
which mingles with the soil of the land
rom which it flows. II taken above that
point 1t would be Shere the chilly atmos-
ohere OF the high altitude would make it
esq useful in the production of crops. II
aiken below that point the water would be
200 much evaporated and wasted on the
way. Thus, taking the Arkansas river az
IN example. Water enough to irrigate
million acres in Colorado would be reduced
10 only enough to irrigate one or two hun
lred thousand acres across the line in
Kansas. The same rule, Major Powell
ays, applies to the waters OF the Upper
Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande del Norte
lad Columbia rivers. He estimates the
aggregate value OF the waters OF all these
ivers at SIS 900, 100000.