The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1904-02-11
POWER DEVELOPMENT
MENACES IRRIGATION

, eer o. the |. ). Reclamation Ser
vice, who has just returned L
Washington from an extended tri1
through the West says:
1t is doubtful if any state pres
ents a better field for operation,
under the Reclamation Act thar
Idaho.
The arid portions Of that State
are favored with a fine climate,
plenty of good irrigable land large
streams whose discharge can be
easily controlled. All that is nee
essary to insure material develop
ment of this arid region is the
bringing together under proper
relations of two of these resources,
land and water, which can be done
at comparatively small cost per
acre. There is all earnest desire
on the part of the citizens of the
state that irrigation development
by the national government be
pushed forward on broad lines.
The people, however, are singu-
larly blind or strangely Indifferent
to the manner in which their inter
ests are endangered by certain pro-
motion companies.
irrigation development at it's
very inception in the Snake valley
is threatened by the proposed CON
struction of power plant, the
promoters of which claim the right
to use the only supply Of water
available for irrigation. Already
more than four times the low water
flow of Snake river is claimed for
the development Of power. The
two large Carey Act projects now
well under way i'll the Snake river
valley, together with the two feast
bic projects recently investigated
by the Reclamation Service will,
when carried to completion, reclaim
more than 635, 200 acres of land.
practically double the area now
irrigated i'll that state. These lands
lie in large bodies, which insures
the building up of important cen
tiers of wealth and population. All
this splendid development depends
upon overcoming the condition of
aridity, for without water these
lands must forever remain in their
present state.
1.-The theater Of this future act
ivity lies comparatively remote
from any large town or settlement
being 80 to 200 miles distant from
the most important centers of popu-
lation i'll Utah. Today these bodies
of land form part Of the vast unbro-
ken wilderness of sage brush which
stretches across the state from east
to west, a desert scene never TO he
forgotten by even a western travel
CT. provided with water for irri-
alton, orchards and meadow
villages and towns, and in few
years even cities would greet the
eye. The increment to agricultural
wealth III the state following the
irrigation OF these lands would aq-
gregate more than sixty millions
OF dollars, and several hundred
thousand people would be added TO
the population of the state. Irri-
CATION must come first, and in
order to irrigate these lands the
right to use the waters of Snake
river must, of cousre, be unques-
toned.
The prospects Of early irriga- :
ton and settlement Of these large
areas have excited interest in the
possibilities Of power development
n that region, and few promoters
nave been quick to take advantage
u imperfect laws and have obtain
ID power rights ont the stream.
these power plants are to be locat-
d at Shoshone Falls, point where
he river makes a vertical drop Of /
more than 200 feet. The choice Of /
site for this enterprise is most J
ntortunate, as it is below practi- /
ally all The irrigable lands in Snake /
ver valley. Il would require the I