The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1903-09-02
STATE OF WASHINGTON'S
BIG IRRIGATION FUND.
The Evergreen" Leads Among All
the Irrigated States of the
Union.

following interesting data concerning
irrigation matters in the state of Wash
ington:
For irrigation the state of Washing
ton now has to its credit on the books
o. the federal government fully a mil
non and half of dollars. Yet the fed
eral reclamation act was passed by CON
gress only a little more than a year
ago. There is hardly a state in the un
ion-the exceptions may two or three
which has larger available fund for
the purpose of retaining arid and semi
arid lands under the great policy so
persistently championed by President
Roosevelt last year.
The first annual report of Chief Engi-
neer Newell, of the geological survey,
is now in preparation, This report will
discuss in Il volume of more than 300
pages the progress of the last year in
irrigation projects under the reclama-
ton act of 1902. Washington makes
wholly or in part in the arid belt. have
large funds to their credit already. but
the superior advantage of Washington
is directly due to the rapid settlement
of government lands within her borders.
The proceeds of the sale of public lands
are devoted almost entirely to the irri-
CATION fund.
Under this system Washington has a
credit of $251 $50 for the fiscal year
1905 $54l 800 for the fiscal year 1902
and an estimated credit of something
like 5000 900 for the fiscal period recent
ly closed-l9O3 Montana North Da-
kota and Oklahoma alone. probably.
have accumulated larger fund for the
irrigation of arid and semi-arid lands.
As to irrigation in Washington, Chief
Engineer Newell will say in his annual
report that the most feasible oportmi
ties for reclamation are those offered by
the Yakima river and its tributaries, the
principal obstacle being that much of
the land to be benefited is in private
ownership.
ALREADY steps have been taken" says
Mr.. Newell in this connection, ito util-
ize some of the storage reservoirs in the
Cascade mountains, and it is not desir-
able for the government to forestall
work which can be carried on by private
parties. The river measurements car
ried on through several years throw
light upon the possibilities of storage.
but thorough investigation of the en-
tire river is necessary before it can be
determined what projects will be of
greatest public Importance. Such an
examination is greatly facilitated by the
existence of good topographic maps Gov
| ering much of the drainage area, so
that i'm this respect Yakima river is
more favorably situated than some of
the other streams"
Mr.. Newell says there are many val
leys throughout the state where ari |
or semi-arid lands can be reclaimed in
the future, but each of these requires
special attention, and there has been lit
tie demand for development. the press
ing needs being evidently in the unwa-
tered portions of the Yakima valley.
There is some difficulty in retaining
the great arid plains of the Columbia
basin for the reason that the stream
although carrying large amount of
water, is far below the general level
of the country The Northern Pacific
land grant crosses the area, and as the
railroad owns the alternate sections of
land, the government lands form
cheekered pattern. Reclamation ON a
large scale is thus complicated by the
existence of alternate sections in pri-
waite ownership.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Newell says: "The
matter of chief interest in the center of
the state is the possibility of obtaining
deep or artesian waters over the dry
Columbia plains. Before determining
this very thorough study of the geo
logic structure must be made. Prelimi-
nary work in this direction has been