The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-02-05
THE IRRIGATION PROBLEM.

With a bill before each branch or con-
gress providing for the irrigation Of the
arid lands of the far West the subject at
tains an importance which makes some
thing like accurate estimates valuable.
Congress will nave before it any amount
OF that misinformation which those who
have a personal interest in a great project
are able to present in such volume that
the real facts may be lost sight Of. In the
current number of the North American Re-
view Colonel Chittenden, u. S. A, has an
article which seems to contain valuable in
formation. AS an officer in the corps of
engineers he has been i'm charge Of the gov
eminent works in the Yellowstone Ma
tional Park and on the Missouri, Ohio and
other Western rivers, as well as of reser-
voir surveys in the arid regions. That is,
he is scientifically informed regarding the
government construction of reservoirs in
the arid regions.
A few of his statements are entitled to
consideration. Colonel C~hittenden. after a
canvass OF the conditions and the water
supply, says it is capable of sustaining ag-
riculture on about seventy million acres.
Some claim, he says, that the water sup
ply will irrigate 19O.OO 900 acres, but his
mathematical demonstration limits the
area to seventy millions. This means that
of the arid territory. which is equal in area
to ten or a dozen Indianas. only about
as much as will make three States
the size OF Indiana can be irrigated
with the present water supply. The next
statement of the writer is the cost of the
reservoirs TO store the water. This he puts
at $50, O0, 900, but this estimate does not in
clude the expense Of waterways to carry
the water from the reservoirs to the lands
to be reclaimed. Thus it will be seen that
any system for the irrigation of the arid
lands will call for a large outlay OF money,
a fact which Congress should fully realize.
The construction of the reservoirs, Colonel
Chittenden holds. must be assumed by the
general government, since the water stored
by one reservoir may be used in several
States. The carriage of the water to the
places where it is needed must devolve
upon States or private capital.
One point of special interest presented
W NbC NAlAO Ia NAAoN "A LC "oNNAo VI III
great rivers and their tributaries. which so
frequently cause widespread devastation in
May and June, are held back for irriga-
ton by vast reservoirs there would be no
floods in the Ohio, the Missouri and the
Mississippi. He declares that all the money
that has been expended on the Missouri
river alone to improve it's navigation has
Ill. - a;.-~.ol - l-oo~;-r 49,, tIa
banks of the river so as not to overflow the
valuable bottom lands. If the river and
harbor appropriation bills should be made
to describe the purpose for which the
money has been expended on rivers, 1t
would be to maintain the banks, since river
navigation is of less and less consequence
with the passing years. There is probably
a great deal in this, and If some system
for the storage of water could be devised
by which the vast volume of water which
carries destruction by overflow during the
~high-water season could be held back, as
it must be by any plan of irrigation, the
country would hear much less of the neces-
sity of improving the navigation IF the
great rivers. Now those who live along
small rivers. never designed for even fiat
boat navigation, are always asking Con-
gress for appropriations to make such
rivers ~navigable. unable to see that the
Maker of all things never intended such
rivers TO float the OF the coun-
try. If such people. so long mistaken,
could but grasp the suggestion of this en-
gineer officer and declare to Congress that
they want money for dams TO hold back
these waters, they would display an ap-
probation of the situation. If there were
high dams at the outlets of all the lakes in
Indiana. and its rivers were damned so as
to hold back the flood waters of April, May
and june until wanted in August, a large
part OF the State might be sure of a good
corn crop every year.