Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-25
NEW IRRIGATION PLAN
Proposed to Take Water From
the Ground in Kansas.
RAINS ARE UNRELIABLE
Pump and Well Operated by Elec-
trieity.
DR.. NEWELL'S UNDERTAKING
Proposes to Tap a Subterranean Res
ervoir-Automobiles for Trans
porting-Rare Gratitude.
I. NEwELL's UNDERTAKING
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

an entirely new irrigation proposition in
Kansas for the purpose of pumping up
from the earth enough water to irrigate
5000 acres. There is a pump operated by
a wind mill upon almost every farm west
Of the Missouri river, and each Individual
farmer gets his water supply that way. 1t
Is not a new undertaking, but the govern
ment engineers propose for the first time
to apply the same principles upon a large
scale to irrigate a tract of semi-arid land
on the edge Of the arid regions near Garden
City in southwestern Kansas. The people
in that section have tried dry farming and
have raised fair crops Of sorghum and
macaroni wheat when there has been
twenty inches of rain in season. But the
clouds unreliable. They cannot be de-
pended upon. The farmers have also tried
irrigation from the Arkansas river but
they claim that they cannot get water
enough; that the entire supply Is absorbed
by the farmers west of them in Kansas and
Colorado. For this reason. an irrigation
company, in which Rochester parties have
invested two three millions of dollars,
has gone out of business. They complain
that the river fails them at critical times.
Hence the government proposes to help
them out with pumps driven by electric
power, and DR.. Newell, chief of the recla-
nation service, expects to get sufficient
water to irrigate 5000 acres of sugar beets.
a miner who has recently made a fortune In
Colorado, will erect a sugar mill upon their
faith in the success Of the enterprise.
DR.. Newell proposes to erect a central
pump at Garden City and series of others
at intervals of from two to five miles cross
ing the Arkansas valley diagonally and
operate them by electricity from central
plant power. The water will be pumped
directly into the bitches Of the irrigation
company. .
The Kansas-Colorado Suit.
The failure of the irrigation plant to sup
ply sufficient water is one Of the principal
grounds for the suit of the state of Kansas
against the state of Colorado to prohibit
the farmers in the latter state from con-
Stunning the contents of the Arkansas river
This suit is now pending in the Supreme
Court of the United States. More than
1900 pages of testimony has been taken ny
commissioners appointed for that purpose,
voluminous briefs have been filed by the
attorneys Of the two states and the fedora!
government. and arguments Will De nearo
at the regular hearing next fall. Millions
of dollars and, indeed, the entire agrlcul-
tural and fruit industries of southeastern
Colorado depend upon the dec sion Oh tie
court The Arkansas river. which rises IN
the Rocky mountains somewhere nea.
Leadville furnishes water Tor the 1rul'
orchards beet sugar farms, melon FARMS
strawberry patches. five beet sugar mills
and other important industries along Tue
Arkansas valley, and several mi inrt1at,on
dollars have been invested In lrrlgatioh
plants. The people of Kansas assert tnat
during the summer season the water IN the
river is all absorbed before 1t reaches the
Colorado boundary and that t ther t G1eps sre
of thirst. They complain that tney are
deprived of their just and legal rlsnts, anu
therefore ask the Supreme Court TO protec'
them and prohibit the Colorado people from
Their irrigation bitches. If the court should
do This southea stern Colorado would re-
lapse into a desert ,..s
The federal government has inIerVensu
m tho ground that Kansas and Colorado
ora ouarreline over what does not oelons
to either of them and that the general gov
eminent has control OF lnterstale Sri .an s
and that the waters are being iaWiuty u n
nv persons to whom 1t has sold land Inc
General government Is still further interest
ed being theOwner of large areas OF vacant
Land which is dependent upon the AIhan-
sas river for irrigation ana nence mas i -.
that must be considered rms aoos Inter
est and importance to the SUIT.
subterranean Flow Of Water.
The reclamation people are prepared to
settle the question IN a practical manner
without troubling the court. They feel
able to supply the farmers Of western Kan
sas all the water they will ever need
for irrigation without interfering with the
farmers of Colorado. A considerable pof-
tion Of the Arkansas valley in Kansas is
underlaid by what some people have called
a. subterranean river. although 1t can De
more accurately described as vast nat
ural reservoir. covering an area ten mics
wide by 100 miles long, filled with loose
gravel carrying large quantities OF water
which never fail This reservoir is fed by
the rainfall and by the seepage; the sur
fee drainage and the water that per-
coIates through the soil. 1t has no direct
connection with the Arkansas river, and Is
not dependent upon 1t. but when the river
is low, feeds it with water. The two
streams do not run parallel. The reservoir
crosses the river at an angle twenty or
thirty feet below its bed. In other places
the reservoir rises above the bed OF the
river and water may be reached by boring
fifty or sixty feet from the surface OF the
rolling prairie on either side Of the Arkan-
sas Anybody who chooses to take the
trouble to bore a well can get all the water
he wants. although until recently that part
of Kansas was supposed to be hopelessly
dry.
It will cost about $4,000 to set up the
proposed pumping plants, and DIR. Newell
hopes to get them In working order IN
time to water next years crop. but the
engineers are having difficulty in getting
machinery and material. Manufacturers
and contractors will not bid on the work
with a time limit. Everybody is so busy
that contracts are going begging, and Or
ders for machinery and construction sup
plies have to wait their turn. This Is true
particularly Of manufacturers of electri-
than they can do. The whole world is
adopting electrical power and setting up
electrical plants. and 1t is impossible to
supply everybody at the same time. 1t Is
equally difficult to get cement. The manu-
facturers have sold their product several
months, and, in some cases, a year in adj
vance. They are running their mills to
their full capacity and yet are not able
to fill their orders. They cannot enlarge
their mills because they cannot get the
machinery. Solid concrete construction
work has been revived from the ancients
for bridges, railway abutments, sea walls.
breakwaters, the foundations of buildings
and even for the walls Of buildings. which
has increased the consumption Of cement
enormously. There is an unprecedented
amount of building throughout the country,
and that itself would absorb the normal
supply. The largest consumers Of cement
at present. however, are the Panama canal
commission, the Milwaukee and St.. Paul
railroad and Goulds Western Pacific road
Both of them are building across the Rocky
Mountains to the Pacific coast The de-
mand for cement and electrical machinery
and supplies will doubtless be greatly In
creased by the rebuilding Of San Fran
cisco.
Because Of their inability to obtain ma
terials the work of the reclamation service
everywhere Ia likely to be delayed except
down at Phoenix. Ariz., where the govern