The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-11-14
WHAT GOVERNMENT HAS SO
FAR DONE WITH PROJECT
Senate Committee Following Recent
Inspection GiDes Out C0mprehensz
iOe Story Through M. Bartlett

Congressman Bartlett, who, as a
member of the house committee on
irrigation, accompanied the senatorial
committee to Lake Tahoe, secured a
volume of accurate and up-to-the-
minute data relative to the Truckee-
Carson project, of which the follow
ing is an excerpt:
The Truckee-Carson project was
commenced the year following the
passage of the reclamation act. Sur
veys were carried On over the basins
of the Truckee, Carson and Walker
rivers and the first project selected
for construction was the one now
known as the Truckee-Carson pro-
ject.
The original plans called for the
construction of an irrigation system
to water 100000 acres of land. The
work, naturally, vas divided into
units, permitting the completion of
certain parts of the project. indie
pendent of the remainder.
The first unit undertaken provides
an irrigation system to water the
Carson Sink valley, and when COM
pleted will water 100000 acres of
land. ALL construction work to date
has been confined to this unit, but
general surveys have been made of
the remainder of the units so that
the work can be done in the most
economical manner.
The main features of the work on
the Truckee-Carson project are A
canal to carry water from the
Truckee river over into the Carson
basin; a distribution system to de-
liver to 100000 acres of land in the
Carson sink valley; a storage reser-
voir at Lake Tahoe; a storage reser-
voir on the Carson river at the low
er Carson dam site.
At the present time the canal from
the Truckee to the Carson river is
completed, the distribution system
has been extended to W. $1,000
acres of land and a dam lis being
built at the outlet of Lake Tahoe.
The remaining features of this work
have not yet been started.
The main canals now constructed
are of sufficient capacity to carry
water for the remaining 100000
acres in the valley SO that compile
ton of the distribution system over
the Carson sink valley will be simply
a question of lateral building.
Future developments of the pro-
5ect will be the building of a storage
reservoir on the Carson river at
either the lower Carson Ian site or
at Alkali fiat, and the extension OF
lateral systems in the Carson sink
valley to use this storage water.
The Truckee-Carson project was
first operated in the season of 1906.
AS the construction work was not
completed at this time and the de-
livery of water to any large tracts
of land was attended with difficulty,
no charge was made for this years
water. Actual charges were assessed
for the first time for the year 1907.
bitches of the service we're primed in
the spring of that year, but on March
20 a heavy flood damaged the work
of the project to such an extent that
water could not be delivered to some
of the land between March 20 and
May 80.
The second season of operation,
1908, was an unusually windy one
and great difficulty was experienced
by many farmers in ~cultivating light
soil.
The third season of operation,
1909, was late in the spring, but the
fall has been long and the general
agricultural conditions better than in
any previous year in the history OF
the country. Throughout the period
of the operation of the system there
has been an abundance of water x
cept during the latter part of 1908
when owing to the incomplete nego-
tiations for the use of Lake Tahoe, a
shortage of water was experienced
curing the seasons of 1903 and 1903
no attempt has been made to secure
settlers or the project, pending the
settlement of the Lake Tahoe con-
tract.
The canals of the project are OF
three classes. The first class convey
800 second feet of water and are 104
miles in length. The second carry
from SO to 800 second feet and are
1926 feet long. There are $50 miles
of third class canals, which have ca
pacity for less than so second feet.
Tunnels number four and have ar
aggregate length of 2840 feet. Fifty
two thousand nine hundred feet OF
bikes and levees have been construct
ed. One hundred and thirty-three
bridges have been constructed, hav-
ing a total length of 3055 feet. Fifty
miles of roads have also been built.
Thirty telephones have been install
ed and 100 miles of wire strung.
Riprap work consisted of 1866
cubic yards. The work required the
use of 53,75O barrels of cement and
38,331 cubic yards Of concrete was
laid.
The total amount of completed
work aggregated a cost of $685.
1881, embracing the following
items: Buildings, $41,602.83; dis
~&ributing system, $1,876,667.62; ex-
Elimination of project $~141,746.23;