The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1905-02-17

| the expenditure, in northern Idaho, for
| the dam and diversion works at Post
| falls, $4,000 for the deepening and
widening the outlet to Lake Occur
d'Alene. s3,0O0,0OO for canal line and
| headworks 10 outlet tunel. $500, 600. for
IA miles Of tunnel, within the state Of
Idaho. tributary to Lake Occur
dAlene. s2,500,000. That the part of
the expenditure required for the Big
Bend project is within the area readily
accessible to Lake Occur d.Alene and
all business connected with this expen-
diture would have to originate or pass
through the town of Occur dAlene.
This is the limit Of the written re-
port which have received. Mr.. Noble
has handed me in connection with this
report ii map which shows the tunnel
in broken red lines from Lake Occur
dAlene TO Rock lake. This tunnel is
twenty-one miles long: the estimated
cost is $4,000. 900. 1t will. together
with the dam proposed to be construct
ed at Post falls. lower the level OF
Occur dAlene lake from II to % feet,
1t being 16 feet below low water mark.
1t win be necessary to keep the lake
at this level. consequently all water
power and mills both on Occur d Alene
lake and a, Post falls will be left at
least 1t feet above the present low
water mark. This would create a large
area of new land between the present
of ho Ia ply nd
proposed stage of the water level. 1t
would drain tn greater part of the
south end of Occur d'Alene lake and
would leave Occur dAlene city far
back from the waters edge, and high
above it's level. 1t would, of course,
render useless all present Expenditures
and investments based upon the exist
ing water level. 1t would in addition
thereto decrease the flow OF water in
the Spokane river and over the Spo-
kane falls by permanent flow of 1000
cubic feet per second. AS stated by the
engineer, the natural flow of the Spo-
kane river at Spokane falls will aver
age 5000 cubic feet per second, but
much of the year it is very much less
than that. The withdrawal of 1000
cubic feet per second by means of the
tunnel which carries the water away
from the Spokane river would render
that river dry for considerable por-
ton Of the summer and fall season of
each year. thus destroying not only the
power at Post falls and Spokane falls,
but the water supply of the city of
Spokane.
ut would take away from the rec
lamation fund $30.0OO,0 00 to irrigate
possible million acres of land in the
Moses lake country in the state of
Washington. This land might or might
not be taken up by settlers within the
next generation. And the benefits
enumerated to north Idaho would some
of them be real and some Of them inn
aginary purely. The drainage Of the
st. Joe and Occur d'Alene bottoms
would be affected to some extent. but
the trouble with those lands is caused
more largely by the inadeQuacy Of the
river channels to receive the water and
not to discharge it. In other words,
the water comes down from the noun
tains so rapidly that the chanel of
these rivers Ii not sufficient to carry
it off and it thus breaks out over the
sides from the vest head Of the valley
before the mouth OF the river is filed.
Then again, the bottom of those rivers
is practically level from the mouth
back to the head Of navigation and the
proposed reduction of the surface of
the lake would not change the grade
Of the river bottoms.
Much more could be said upon this
subject, but IL it is not apparent to the
people Of Spokane, Post falls and Occur
d'Alene city, and Idaho generally, that
this extravagant proposition for the
ABSORPTION of more than ten times the
amount of money that has been applied
to reclamation service in Idaho, from
the foregoing statements, that this in
terests would certainly not be adj