The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-05-15
ENGINEERS STILL ENGAGED IN
INVESTIGATING PALOUSE
IRRIGATION SCHEME
Secretary Of Interior Says That All
Depends Upon Their Final Report
to the Department

Citizens of Walla Walla and the sur
rounding country are greatly interested
in the final report of the engineers,
regarding the Palouse irrigation pro-
ject. The scheme has not been aban-
doned by the reclamation service by
any means, nor will it be until the en-
gineers now engaged in investigating
the probable cost, are convinced that
the outlay of money required to COM
plete the system will not warrant the
government going ahead with the
work. Walter E. Clark, Washington
correspondent of the Seattle Post In
telligencer, interviewed the secretary
of the interior last Saturday regard
ing the Palouse project, and writes his
paper as follows:
ut having appeared recently that
the reclamation service has no idea of
Immediately entering upon any large
work of irrigation in the state of
Washington, the secretary of the in
terror was appealed to for an express
sion Of fact or opinion in the premises
today.
after referring to the failure of the
conclusion on any project after the
lapse of nearly three years, your cor
respondent asked Mr.. Hitchcock re-
garding the details of the latest i'm
portant report made by the board of
consulting engineers.
1.-The report has recently come into
my hands, replied the secretary, land
1 do not wish to break the rule of not
publishing these reports until some
action is decided upon, as no good pur-
pose is to be served.
Project Not Abandoned
ct presume there is special interest
in the Palouse project. The report is
not so favorable as some of the prelim-
mary reports were, but this project
has not been abandoned, by any means.
Any assumption of that kind is entire
ly unwarranted.
:" The engineers are now going ahead
with very exhaustive examination of
the Palouse scheme. It was feared the
character Of the rocks underlying the
soil is such as to make the success of
the project doubtful, at least within
reasonable limits of cost. But borings
are being made with a view of reach
ing definite conclusions
"'Have they actually begun to dig
or not?"
They are at work now. We have
men on the ground, and when they
get through there will be no doubt re-
garding the practicability of storing
water with safety, and the possibility
or impossibility of preventing serious
seepage along the line of the canals.
81 know something about the state
of feeling in the state Of Washington.
This is to be said, however, private ia
terests in some parts of the Palouse
region have made charges against the
engineers, and are trying to get spe-
they have not the best interests of the
whole project at heart. This will all
be sifted out, but it will have no influ-
ence on the reclamation project which
we have under consideration. AS rapid
progress as possible will be made in
the work of expert examination
The secretary did not discuss other
projects in the state, but he is pre-
pared to talk intelligently about the
Palouse scheme, for that is the one
which received special attention in the
report lately made by the consulting
engineer
Newell Replies to Jones
Chief Engineer Newell of the recla-
nation service, has replied to the re-
cent protest of Representative Jones
against the possible abandonment of
the irrigation plans in the Palouse
district, but he gave the congressman
very little satisfaction.
Every possible effort" wrote Mr.
Newell, ''has been made by the respon
sible men connected with the rec1ama-
ton service to avoid discussing these
matters until they are submitted to
the secretary, and you may rest as
sured that whatever you see in the
newspapers is not authentic unless
given out officially.
"The statements made as to the
probable cost of the Palouse and other
projects were of necessity based upon
the knowledge then available, and
were recognized at the time to be in
complete. Later information has ma
terially modified the assumption made,
and increased the knowledge of the
\ a;o,,1tiac RI he overcome from an on