Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-30

l Inc IuuQ 10 De uSeQ TOT TIE new StoTd6
project which has been surveyed on the
Verde river, and still another on the ella at
San Carlos where the engineers say 200,0Od
acres can be reclaimed at the small cost OF
81 an acre.
| There is new feature in the Salt river
reservoir, the possibilities of which have
not yet been fully determined. The release
of the water from the reservoir into the
irrigating canals will generate at least
10O0O-horse power of electricity, which DR..
Newell says may be used to pump water
over 1900 acres more of the desert, and
cause II to blossom as the rose This fea-
ture has not yet been developed. but it con-
tains almost unlimited possibilities.
Passed the Canyon.
In Colorado the Gunnison river flows
through narrow canyon 1000 feet deep.
This canyon has always been regarded as
impossible because Of the swift current and
the rocks, which have crushed every boat
that ever struck them. But A. L. Felloes,
one of the engineers of the reclamation
service, and an assistant made the passage
py using their ordinary camp air mattresses
as rats. They carried their food and extra
clothing in rubber bags, and by floating.
swimming and climbing succeeded in get
tlng through the canyon and locating a
point where a tunnel twelve feet in dame
ter will be bored through the granite cliffs
Tor distance of six miles into the Uncom-
pahgre valley, on the other side of the
ridge. This will be the most remarkable en-
glneering feat that has been undertaken in
recent years
The water of the Gunnison river, being
conducted through this tunnel, will be
spread over 100000 acres of desert, which
Is now worthless but which will have a
value of $500 and $500 an acre as soon as it
can be irrigated. The contracts were let
october 5. Work was begun November last.
The entire cost of the undertaking will be
S25oO,OoO, which the owners of the land
thus irrigated will pay in ten years at the
rate OF 80 an acre in annual installments.
rms is the great horticultural district of
Colorado. 1t Is 1000 feet above sea level
and produces hardy fruits of all kinds and
of most excellent quality.
Snake river, in Idaho, is to be harnessed
at cost of 81 $40 600 about six miles from
the tracks of the Oregon Short Line rail-
road. near town called Minidoka. On No
Venber 10 work was begun upon an enor-
nous dam 1000 feet long and so feet high
which will back up the water so that it can
be brought out into the valley above and
given sufficient fall to reclaim about 20 OC0
acres of public lands. That tract is now a
desert without living thing except sage
brush and cactus, but soon as water can
reach it it will produce anything in the way
OF plants, trees, fruits and vegetableS-any-
thing that will grow in New York state or
ONO. The entire area to be benefited is
public land, and 1t is all open to homestead
settlement in tracts of forty, eighty, 12O
and lt0 acres without cash payment, but
It. must be paid for at the rate of $3.50 an
geological survey for the extension of this
improvement until the Snake river has been
made to redeem several hundred thousand
acres of desert.
In the Pecos Valley.
There is big project down in the Pecos
valley of New Mexico, which is fairly well
settled by farmers and ranchmen, who
have not been successful in their private
irrigation schemes because the soil is I'M
derlaid by soluble gypsum, which absorbs
the water and allows It to escape through
Underground passages. The owners of
these enterprises have fought the plans of
the irrigation bureau fiercely until a few
weeks ago. when a flood washed away their
dam and their bitches. Now they are beg
ging the government to hurry up and do
something Test they lose their Deacb and
apple orchards, which now cannot be
reached by water until the irrigation sys-
tenn is restored. If they do not get water
on that land before midsummer, hundreds
of thousands Of dollars worth of fruit trees
Will perish DR.. Newell and his men are
working as rapidly as they can and win
put In system that will reach about TO-
QUO acres to start with, at a cost of $3.50 600,
near the town of Roswell, on the Santa Fe
Railway. 1t will. be the first step of a com
prehensive system to include the entire
valley Of the Pecos, which resembles Salt
Lake valley In Utah. 1t has deep, rich
soil, capable of producing unlimited crons
of melons sugar beets berries. fruits of ali
kinds. root crops and alfalfa, and the cl-
mate Is one of the best in the United
states. 1t is a natural health resort, par
tfcularly for consumptiyes Nature nm
aided Will cure tuberculosis while Won
wait. About half the land is vacant. and
belongs to the government. 1t is open to
homestead entry. but will have to paw sos
an acre, in ten annual installments. for the
irrigation system.
Tor several years negotiations and sur
t,o nave been going on for an interna-
t,ohai Dam IN the Rio Grande river near
the city of Ell Paso, which is needed r.
store the water to irrigate about 80 O0O acres
on both sides of the Mexican boundary Rut
1t looks as IL the benevolent scheme womb
nave 70 De abandoned, as the engineers
cannot lind a foundation for the dam They
nave peen boring everywhere that a dam
could possibly be placed and have gone
Gown eighty-siX feet into the sand without
striKing bottom. They say that, even could
a dam be built the storage lake Womb he
so wide and SO shallow that more water
would be sucked up by the thirsty atmos
Phere than could be utilized for irrigation
They have recommended an entirely new
plan, with dam at Engel, about eighty
miles north of Ell Paso, where all the water
that falls within a wide drainage basin can
be stored and three times the area of aeri
cultural land can be reclaimed by it: that
Is, about 10000 above and $4,000 acres
below Ell Paso.
The DEVILS Lake.
A big dam is being built in the North
Platte river, at what is known as 1.-THE
Devils Gate" about twenty miles above
the town of Casper. Wyo, at cost of
$2.5Oo,O0O, by which about 1OO, 600 acres of
desert land In Nebraska can be redeemed
1t Is mostly public land open to homestead
seekers, and settlers are already going In
rapidly. The engineers expect to get water
on most of the land within two years at a
cost of $25 an acre, which must be paid by
the settlers In ten annual installments This
project illustrates the advantage of having
irrigation plants built by the federal gov
eminent. 1t would be impossible to find
water in Nebraska to reach the land in
question. while all that is needed can easily
be caught and stored over the border in
Wyoming.
These six projects have been commenced.
and rapid progress is being made upon
them. The seven similar projects in Cali
fornia, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon.
Washington and Wyoming, noted in the
table above, are still in the preliminary
stage. The surveyors at work and their
reports are beginning to come in. Thus far
1t appears that all of those contemplated
can be carried out without physical diff
culties, and before the end of next year 1t
is believed that the present work under the
Irrigation bureau will be doubled In extent
and Importance.