Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1911-07-20
PROBLEM OF WATER
Few Farms Provided by Nature
With Exact Amount Needed.
II Will Be Found There Is often Too
Much or Too Little-Only Remedy
Is to Drain the land-Gravity
System Most Favored.

There is hardly a farm anywhere
which is provided by nature with just
the exact amount of water for the
production of the most satisfactory
crop. There is just as often too much
as there is too little water; moreover,
at times of the year when the precipi-
tation is at its maximum the water
bench rises in the soil until it actually
browns out and destroys the vegeta-
ton it is supposed to feed; the only
way to cure this is TO drain the land
so rs 10 draw the level of water down
to point where it will do no damage.
This work is done either by bitches
or piping and care must be taken not
to draw the water off too much. Diff
ferent crops require of course differ
ent amounts of water, but as general
proposition the water should not be
drawn any lower so the roots of plants
are able to reach 1t and draw it up
for their nourishment, says the 1rriga-
ton Age. Such drainage water should
be made use of again for land lying
at lower elevation as it has many
rich salts in solution necessary for
plant food which 1t took up while
standing in the soil; thus the water
drained from one farm may be used
10 irrigate and enrich another farm.
A gravity system of drainage is nat
urally preferable as its operation cost
Is practically nothing. There are how
ever, localities where there is no nat
ural drainage and in such case the sur
plus water must be pumped. In such
case the cost of pumping must be con-
sidered, and if it can be worked so as
to store the water in a reservoir so
as to use it when the ground needs
irrigation the pumps are doing double
duty as their work in draining the
land is the first step toward irriga-
ton as we'll.
1t may be truly said that the arts of
irrigation and drainage are just now
beginning to be developed, and that
the next decade will see a tremen-
dous advance in this direction.
The time will come when all the
land that can be irrigated by gravity
plan will have been taken up, and then
the reclamation of further land will
necessarily depend on the ability of
raising water from the deep. This
will also include such lands as are
now watered by artesian wells which
deliver water under head at present,
but the time will come when the
pressure diminishes and that water
will also have to be pumped. The ques-
ton whether 1t will pay to irrigate
land by pumping the necessary water
will depend on a good many circum-
stances which should be carefully con-
sidered. AS a general proposition the
government should be first consulted
regarding the geological formation,
quantity and quality of ground water
supply in the region under considera-
ton, next the condition of the soil
should be established, which is best
done by taking samples at different To-
calities and depths and have them an
alyzed in the various experiment sta
lions. From this information an APP
proximate estimate of the cost of
pumping can be made. But the propo-
slt1on is always one of more or less
uncertainty, as no one can definitely
! state whether a subterranean water
supply is permanent, like an under
| ground river, or whether it Is lust a
pocket. For this reason the govern
ment should devote more work and
money to the establishment of n.y.
| iraulic information in the various
states, especially in the arid and semi
! arid regions.