Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1890-05-20
- THE RIGHT TO TAHOE.

The Sacramento Union publishes
I o following: The people o
evada have very properly pro
ested against taking Tahoe FOL
he benefit Of California ranches
and cities. One OF our esteeme'
contemporaries says: "H tho
waters Of Lake Tahoe would b.
most useful il they were drawn OF
westwardly, and made to fertiliz'
Ell Dorado, Placer and SacIameI
to, Government engineers would
be justified in draining them il
that direction" Now, by a ties
of this kind, California has Gel
tainly lost all right to the LAKE.
Ell Dorado county cannot be irri
gated by the waters OF Tahoe.
Beside that she has .unlimitt d
quantities Of. water for irrigation
in the smaller lakes west OF Tahoe
and in innumerable streams Whit b
are available for that purpose.
Placer county has more water
running to waste through her
streams and at elevations making
them applicable to her lands,
than will ever be used. Sacra-
mento county has water in album
dance in theAmerican river, taker
at Folsom. in the Costumes or tn,
Mokelumne. SO that the waters
Tahoe are not needed in thef 9
localities for that purpose at all;
but even il they were, there Is
more irrigatable land along the
line OF the Truckee, from Tahoe
to Pyramid Lake, than in all Che
California counties named, and
when under irrigation, it Is equal
ly valuable with the land in Cali
fornia. Beside this, there is NJ
other water than that of Tahoe
available for the fertilization oil
these lands. The test, therefore,
stands strongly in favor Of Ne
vada. Take away the waters OF
Tahoe and you relegate the lands
Of the Truckee basin to perpetual
aridity; bring the waters OF Tahoe
to the Western side and reinforce
an already superabundance. From
the standpoint, therefore, OF the
greatest good to the greatest
number, and the greatest fertiiiza-
ton to the greatest possible acre
age, Tahoe should not be inter
fered with. Moreover, there is
neither the quantity Of water in
Tahoe nor the watershed area
around that lake to justify the be-
lief that the water can be brought
this way profitably. 1t is all well
enough for engineers, who have In
view great water schemes, to pos
tulate the existence of vast water
sheds, but the cachment area OF
Tahoe is already known. Besides
the surface Of the lake itself, its
Western shore Is as thin OF cache
ment area as a tin pan. Its East
ern line has about twelve miles OF
cachInent area, with about ten
inches Of precipitation to be de-
pended upon to fall annually.
With this ten inches on the East
side, and the cachment area once
ascertained, it very easy to de-
termine how much water the lake
affords. It Is simply a basin into
which the precipitation has fallen,
and it is at last question OF the
precipitation. There Is q vast &C
cumulation Of water in Lake Ia
hoe. and il. it were emptied today
there would be nothing left but
the precipitation upon its each
ment area, and that would not be
sufficient to fill it again for
many years. Estimates Of this
kind have already been made,
and while they win not be, presen-
ted here and at this time, they are
entertainments which satisfactorily
prove that there Is not. taking
one year with another, sufficient
precipitation enough on the each
ment area Of Lake Tahoe to sup
ply, as Mr.. Won Schmidt claims,
sixty million gallons a day, the
amount which win be necessary
for, economic use in this State.
The people Of Nevada should be
sustained in their opposition.
There Is natural easement OF
that water through the Truckee.
They have the first and the best
right to that water. Their oppo-
sition to having Tahoe interfered
with will receive the commenda-