New-York tribune., 1900-12-27

up The country soon becomes desert anu oil
vegetable life departs. The purpose OF the slor-
age reservoir is TO hold the foodwaters IN d
great artificial tank, allowing the water sraouai-
ly to flow away in the dry season. and thus Keep
| all natural str~ams alive throughout the year
From these streams canals can then be aug II
which water is carried to the farm for various
uses at a time when it is most valuable and, in
| fact, absolutely necessary.
The guarantee of living stream in the west
means more than it's mere value as raiser OF
| crops. It means water for live stock, homes
| for people, towns, railroads and development OF
| all kinds In many sections of the West It
means the working of mines where the ores ars
of low grade, needing cheaper supplies and
more elastic labor supply than is now possible
In its widest significance irrigation means the
support of a denser population than is found
in the agricultural sections Of the humid States
II is the most powerful and effective expansion
and civilizing agent known to the West The
general principle governing the selection OF
reservoir sites is that all works should oesin
at the headwaters, and be followed IN course
of time by utilization of the resources further
down stream II is a well established fact tnat
a large percentage of water used for irrigation
finds its way back lower down to the stream
whence it is originally taken. Hence 1t is that
In many places the entire stream may be d.
NerteQ at a given pUiIts anu yet 49, --O
not far from where its bed has been entirely
depleted.
MANY SITES ALREADY SURVEYED.
over two hundred reservoir sites have been
surveyed and passed upon by the Government
engineers. Nearly all Of these are in Colorado,
Montana, Arizona and California. About TWEEN
ty of them are considered as without possible
flaw. They have been chosen as likely to perform
the greatest service in return for the invest
ment in the reclamation Of the land, the re-
vivifying of streams and the general beneht OF
the country. The thoroughness with which this
work has been done is illustrated in Govern
ment report, which will shortly appear giving
the results Of investigation as to the cause
of the breaking OF the dam at Austin. Tex The
building of each of the proposed reservoirs
means an expensive and formidable dam, and
the disaster at Austin has been used as time
ly object lesson in construction 1t woulo cost
about S1000o.000 to build the twenty reservoirs
mentioned. The waters from the artlhcial lakes
thus created would make permanent the now
OF adjacent streams and irrigate about one
million acres of land. which would directly and
indirectly support population of at least one
million people.
ter upon so large a scale it will be urged that
at least two of these plans be carried out, re-
ouiring an appropriation of less than S2oOoOOO.
One Of these is the building of a dam across
the ella River, in Arizona The other is the
turning Of the st. Mary River in Montana, from
lts natural course toward HuuSon bay, tHu
adding its flow to the usually dry bed Of the
tributaries Of Milk River which empties into
the Upper Missouri Thus the water of the st.
Mary, which originates in the United states,
would be retained for the benefit Of Americans
instead Of passing into Canada.
The Gila River enterprise is urged for the
reasons that the Papago Maricopa and other
Indians are now without water for their 10000
acres of farm land, and therefore entirely de-
pendent upon Government rations, while at the
same time at least 100000 acres of additional
public land could be irrigated, thus affording
an illustration of the working of the general
scheme of Government reclamation. The St.
Mary plan is considered particularly valuable
as an illustration of the power of the Govern
ment to render a large area habitable by re-
newing many small streams from each Of which
many thousand acres could be irrigated.