Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-16
WATER READY FOR THE LAND
Pathfinder Project Able to Supply Twenty
Thousand Acres Next Year,
AMOUNT TO Be DOUBLED BY NEXT FALL
Work on Belle FOUrche Dam stopped
for the Winter by Cold weather.
Project to BE Completed In
Another Year.
AMOUNT TO Be DOUBLED BY NEXT FALL
Trom a SAD corregpondent.l

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.-(special 1.-THE
condition of the work on the North Platte
irrigation project at present is well ad-
vanced," said Engineer Field. Storage
facilities at the Pathfinder reservoir are
sufficient for the demands which will be
made on 1t during the coming season, and
the contractors are in a position to keep
up the estimated progress on construction
and will be able TO meet the demands for
the seasons of 1903 and 1909. The interstate
canal Is completed and ready for use on
the first fifty miles and will deliver water
to some 10000 acres in 1907. This land is
entirely in Wyoming. The settlers on the
tract are now preparing for full season
and the entire tract is taken up.
THE second fifty miles will be furnished
early in the spring of 1907 and the lateral
system, covering some $1,000 acres, will be
completed by fall. At least 10000 acres
should receive water for beneficial use and
the entire tract should be ready in 1908
for a full seasons irrigation. All the land
on this sO0OO-acre tract is now either decided
or has been filed upon and substantial i'm
provcments are being put on the land,
such as fences, buildings and wells. Con-
siderable Of the land is being broken, some
Of which will be dry farmed during the
coming season.
"The particular crops at present are
oats and wheat alfalfa Is being put in and
in a short time the planting Of potatoes
and sugar beets will begin.
During the season Of 1906 under exist
ing bitches some 1900 acres of each Of
these crops were grown, the beets being
in quality and yield equal to the tested
districts in the intermountain country
which is noted for its yield and quality.
The system at present consists of the
Pathfinder reservoir, the capacity Of which
is 100000 acre feet, and the interstate
canal which will be 10 miles In length
and serve about 10000 acres OF land. one
million dollars per year is being spent on
the project, involving at times the en-
ployment Of more than 1000 men and teams
THE future development embracing the
Fort Laramie and Goshen Hole canals at
a cost Of more than 100000 and the re-
clamation Of $4,000 acres of land will
make the project the largest and most
compact irrigated district in the intermoun-
tain region and one Of the largest in the
United States"
Cold stops work.
Owing to the cold weather work on the
dam embanllment, Belle FOurche irriga-
ton project South Dakota, has been dis
continued and probably win not be taken
up again before April The total progress
on this embankment 10 date Is 2l9000 cubic
yards. The closing down Of work on the
dam made available large force Of men
for other work The men employed by
different contractors as well as those
under direct supervision Of the government
engineers, have been placed on canal ex-
cavation, finishing structures, etc, as soon
as unfavorable weather made concrete and
embankment work impossible.
In many respects this is one Of the most
remarkable irrigation projects yet under
taken by the government. 1t involves the
construction OF one Of the greatest earth
dams IN the world, a structure over one
mile long 100 feet higS In the highest
place and twenty feet wide on top. It's
cubieal contents yin be nearly half that