The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1911-06-29
VOL. XVIII.

Halioh vi tue district and the pre-
sentation by the district of the feas-
lbllity of its plans from an engi-
neering and financial standpoint.
the Department agrees that for a
period of one year no action will be
taken by the government that is
untavorable to the impounding and
delivering to such district, for irri-
CATION purposes, water to the ex-
tent of such 146, 900 acre feet.
In other words, the Secretary
has stated that, for one year, the
Department will withhold from all
other projects this amount of stor-
age so that the people in the Kitti-
tas project may put themselves in a
capacity to contract for this water
supply.
The am ount of 146, 900 acre
feet is the estimated amount ofstor-
age water necessary for 10000
acres. Of course, if the district
comprises less number of acres,
the amount of storage will be cor
respondingly decreased. In its es-
innate the Reclamation Service has
determined that one cubic foot of
water per second of time for each
one hundred acres is the amount
necessary to properly and econom-
icallv irrigate the lands within this
project. and that in addition to the
excess natural flow of the river
there must be storage for this
project of Il acre feet of water per
acre, which, as we have seen,
would make $4,000 acre feet for
10000 acres,
The cost of this storage water
must be fixed and determined by
the Reclamation Service as requir
ed by law, and, according to its
tentative plan, this cost has been
estimated at from $3.50 to $1,000
an acre. 1t is not probable that
definite estimates, when the district
is ready to contract with the gov
eminent, will fix this charge above
$1,000 per acre.
1t is the recommendation of
the committee that the district pro-
posed by the mass meeting of April
Is, 1911, be organized and be
known as the Kittitas Reclamation
District; and that as soon as such
district is organized and its officers
elected, such officers determine and
estimate the cost of construction of
the canal, ascertain the number of
acres within the district, and deter
mine the amount of water necessa-
ry, and enter into a contract with
the Secretary of the Interior for
such water supply. When these
things have been done there can
then be submitted to the voters of
the district the proposition as to
whether or not it will undertake
the project at the estimated ex-
pense for water aud construction
works, and issue bonds for such
expense.
The organization of the district
at this time is a necessary prellm-
mary step so that action can be
taken by the legally authorized
officers looking towards the carry
ing out of this project. No bonds
can be issued and no Indebtedness
incurred by the district until full
estimate has been made of the cost
of the project and such bonds and
Indebtedness authorized by vote OF
the people. The committee has
acted purely for purposes OF inves-
tigation and has involved this plan
of procedure; and now, in order
to advance further, there must be
a legally authorized body created.
1t is the judgment of the commit
tee that the total expense OF this
project, including water supply and
construction, will approximately
he $40. 90 an acre. This amount is
small as compared with the Teton
project at an expense of about s93
Eggs for Setting