The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-02-03
THE IRRIGATION PROBLEM.
An Engineer Throws Some Interest
ing Light on This Important
Subject.
And Holds That There is Water
Available for All
Our Needs.

other day a THIBuNE reporter asked him
what he thought of the state irrigation
scheme. In reply the senator said: ut
is, in my opinion, desirable that the state
should handle this question and that the
organization of a commission Tor the
purpose under a suitable law would be
the way of approaching it. am not
prepared to say what | think of tho bill
now pending as | have not had time toex-
anime it closely. But | fully appreciate
what the law ought to be, and | believe
that it will require more consideration
than can be given it at this session"
There is little doubt that others in the
senate and house take this view, and ON
the whole it is not likely that anything
will be done to settle the states policy
on the subject of irrigation this year. In
formation of a practical kind is needed
which makes the following letter from
II. l.. Mcintyre, the well known engineer,
OF special interest at thus time. Writing
to the editor he says:
81 saw in one OF the Great Fails papers
not long since that a number Of northern
Montana bench lands especially in this
vicinity could not be irrigated or water
Ell from our natural water sources, and
that arteslan wells were the only mcthud
10y which these lands could be watcrcd.
This statement is far from the truth and
should be corrected.
II have spent some years and not a little
money investigating the problem of irri-
cation in northern Montana and have
made MAPS, surveys and estimates of the
cost of bringing water onto nearly every
bench land tract of any extent between
the south line of Cascade county and the
Canadian line. In every instance | have
found the supply of water ample, the
route for canals feasible and the cost to
range from $50 per acre for the tract
watcred to 30 cents per acre. These es-
Inmates are from actual surveys made
upon the ground. Every acre of north
ern Montana's p~rairies, except perhaps d
few "island benches of small extent,
can and will yet be irrigated for lees
money per acre than were the lands Of
California and Colorado. There is no
country that offers better advantages
for storage reservoirs than northern Mon
tana.
"Surface storage reservoirs will in a
few years become a common method of
securing water for high prairie lands.
by surface storage IS meant Il reservoir
receiving its supply of water from the
natural drainage of a water shed or
basin. all the waters from spring floods,
melting SHOWS and heavy rains being dl
verted to one point and stored for future
use.
Those who know little or nothing
Of this mode Of irrigation may question
lie success, but to the irrigation engineer
1t is no novelty. The reservoir system.
both live storage and surface storage.
will become the key to irrigation in this
bench land country. The annual cvapo-
ration IN Montana is four feet per an
mum, In gumbO soils or even loans
with a clay mixture. the secpage is less
than one per cent; 100 cubic feet of
water will Urigate one acre one season in
this section. Thus it will be seen that
the amount Of lana any reservoir will
water can be closely estimated. \ book
could be written on the feasible irriga-
ton enterprises ia Cascade and Chotcau
counties alone. Belt creek, Smith river.
Hound creek, Bird creek, Sun river, the
north fork of Sun river, Teton river.
Marias river, HighwOOd creek and Milk
river aud it, various branches in the
Sweet Grass hills can all I've carried onto
the bench lands at the cost named above.
st Mary's lake | know little of. but Inv
asking vhatothrr water supplies we hav1
we do not need St. Mary's lake. Sinai
bitches from small streams. live and
storage reservoirs take less nmc and cost
less money. Nature has dome notify far
Us. All we need ia u little capitni and
enterprise 70 nut northern Nlontoma's
bcnch lande under wafer.
"Immigratiou is n nroblnm for thouobt
and study. \ field for inyr.ti~,tinn 9nI
rrrirccrinn ekiu nrd , errn nnL nrnf
td''' 'itiu i"i cdpltdI 10 embark ~. II
~ Mclu or'.'r "il,rrs'o""' IL WoH'h nave
H4 ~ ,niet", ~ ''r't 'I'cI''S' '"t-
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