The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1911-03-03
EXPERT REPORT ON
DRAINAGE PROBLEM
GOVERNMENT EXPERTS IN
VESTIGATE DRAINAGE PRO-
BLEM IN BOISE VALLEY
Land Between Nampa and Caldwell
Susceptible of Easy Reclamation
Drainage Is One of the Big Prob
lens in All Irrigated Countries, and
This Is No Exception.

The tract of land for which this re
port offers suggestion for reclamation
lies between Caldwell and Nampa
Idaho, and is typical of some $4,000
acres of land in the Boise valley, SO
that the proposals made are applica-
bic generally throughout that area
| The examinations, from which data
! concerning general surface conditions
are obtained, were made in December,
1910, at the request Of a committee OF
the interested landowners of the To-
cality. The subsurface data was OBJ
tanned, for the most part, from the re
port of the bureau of soils, from tho
examinations made in 1910. Much
general information was also OBJ
tanned from Messrs. Blisset, Miller
and Johnson. Mr.. J. Ed Miller is
Engineer of the proposed irrigation
project.
1t is to be understood that the re-
concentrations herein offered are only
preliminary and general to a degree,
and that neither the boundary of the
| propos d district, nor the proposed
system of canals are intended to be
outlined in the form and extent in
which they will eventually exist. The
| purpose of the report is to outline
| briefly what may be done toward the
reclamation Of the lands in question,
and the best methods of procedure,
with a rough approximation Of the
costs of the work. Before well de-
fined plans may be formed and an adj
equate system designed, a careful
typographical survey and series of
thorough subsurface examinations is
| necessary.
The proposed district forms an If
regular area, comprising approx
mately 1900 acres of land lying on
the south side of the Boise valley,
we'll down toward the Boise river,
The slope of the country is good and
fairly uniform, being toward the river
and also in the direction OF flow of
the river. It's uniformity is broken
up by fiat swales which traverse all
! parts of the district These swales
gradually converge toward the north
and eventually enter a single water,
which discharges into Indian Creek,
a tributry of the Boise river. The
system of swales forms a veritable
tree, and marks out plainly the proper
location for the main outlet system
for the drainage of the tract Al
though little or no drainage has been
done in the proposed district, and the
swales are shallow and INSTRUCTED, a
flow of approximately seven and one
half feet of seepage water was being
discharged into Indian Creek at the
time the Investigations were made
which was some three months after
irrigation ceased The flow is con
sidered a gratifying indication of the
readiness with which these lands will
respond to artificial drainage.
Two distinct soil types are recog-
nizable. The first is. loan, found
throughout the elevated Portions OF
the tract; the second, sandy loam
is confined to the swales and nat per
tons. The former presents about
six inches of sandy loan, underlala by
loan, which sometimes shades into a
clay loan, and is underlain at about
two feet with sandy loan or fine
sand, The latter is sandy loan tc
depth of two feet, having a subsoi
of loan or clay loan about the same
depth, followed by sandy loan Of
sand, with gravel making its appear
auce in the depresSions Both types
show large percentage of very hn'
sand and silt. The percentage de
creases with depth in the swales
however, and it is thought that drain
age canal banks will stand we'll if Civ
en- a suitable slope. Most of th'
country is underlain at depth will
coarse sand and some gravel, so it i
anticipated that a drainage canal viii
have a far-reaching effect.
Hardpan is distributed quite gener
ally, but it is not thought that it
presence will have any serious intiu
ence on the efficacy of drainage sys
TENS. 1t is true that this hardpal
caused "A great deal of difficulty in tn
construction of the irrigation canal
and that in some instances it wa
found 1t expedient to blast it away
when trees were to be planted, bu
due to its calcareous nature. the ap
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