The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1905-05-12
. RE-CONQUEST OF NEVADA
Irrigated Area Of the State will Soon
BE Doubled.


Has Nevada always been an arid and
desert region? Its geological records, as
indelibly carved in sandstone and gram
lite, showing the shore lines of ancient
lakes, proclaim that it has not, but that
at one time a vast body of water, as great
as Lake Erie, covered a portion Of the
state, says the Silver State. Today,
however, the aridity of the country is
unquestioned and the $4,000 acres, to
part of which Uncle Sam is about to APP
ply water, will practically double its
well-irrigated area and its agricultural
population.
Nevada's ancient inland sea is known
as Lake Hontan; it was one of several
great prehistoric lakes, distributed over
the Great Basin of the arid region,
among them Lake Bonneville, of which
the Great Salt Lake was the deepest por-
ton. Its area was nine times greater
than the Great Salt, or almost as large
as Lake Michigan, and much deeper.
The contracted remains OF Lake La
Hontan in Nevada are found in Pyramid
lake and a number of other small en-
closed lakes which were the deepest por-
tions of the ancient lake. Since these
large prehistoric lakes were land-locked
and did not overflow, it follows that the
rainfall which fed them was much heav-
Ter than it is today.
SIn,,lI ,n,l;+;n~s roxart manu- of tho
important points situated in the Great
Basin would be hopelessly flooded, such
for instance as the great Mormon tenn
pie, which would stand in $50 feet of wa
ter, while 700 miles of railroad would be
submerged.
These prehistoric lakes are said to be
of very recent origin-that is, recent by
the biologists count-perhaps 1900 or
$1,000 years old. Fossils have been
found showing the presence of primitive
man along their ancient shores and en-
bankments. which, in many instances,
are as perfect in contour and as distinct
as if the waters had receded only a few
years since. These lakes included such
arid and fear-inspiring localities of today
as the Black Rock desert, Skull valley,
Death valley and a score of other places
where the bleached bones of man and
animal attest to an awful lack OF water.
This first irrigation work of the ma
tional government, which is to be cele-
brated by the turning OF the water into
the gigantic bitches this month, is the
largest project which has been definite
lv outlined and approved under the irri-
CATION act-known as the Truckee-Car-
son project. When completed it will
involve the expenditure of approximate
ly 80, 900 900 and will reclaim 100000
acres OF desert land. That portion of
the system now completed consists of a
canal 81 miles long to take water from
the Truckee river and convey it to the
Carson river, where a large storage res
ervoir is projected. Just below this res
ervoir site the waters of the two streams
will be led out upon the plains by two
canals, with a combined capacity Of l 900
cubic feet per second. Some 50 900 acres
are to be irrigated this spring, for which
200 miles of small distributing bitches
have been dug.
The secretary of the interior has set
aside 81, 100000 of the reclamation
fund.- for the initial work, and by the
time this has been expended about 1907
600 acres will be under canals, and the
settlers will be returning in annual pay
ments the original investment. The
money thus received will he used as a
revolving fund for the completion of
this project. The land has been divided
into farm units of so acres, and the cost
Of reclamation will be $26 per acre.
Work is being commenced this spring
on regulating gates at the outlet of Lake
Tahoe, located in California, but whose
waters will be used to reclaim the fertile
Nevada soil. Future plans involve the
draining of Carson sink, 5000 acres in
extent, which overflows in years of heavy
rainfall. and the reclamation of lands in
the upper Truckee and Carson valleys.
As these large ares are gradually brought
under irrigation a greater water supply
will be required and nine additional res
ervoirs will be constructed, with a COM
bined storage capacity of over a million
and "a quarter acre-feet Tan acre-foot
equals one acre, one foot deep.