The Parker post., 1914-03-21
RECLAMATION
SERVICE WORK
SUMMARY OF PROJECTS INITIA-
TED AND COMPLETED BY Gov
ERNMNT-8000 MILES OF IRRI-
CATION CANALS.

The United States reclamation SER
vice, organized on June II, 1902, has
expended to date about $81 900, 900 de-
rived from the proceeds of sales of
public lands in sixteen arid states.
The bureau has been actively engag-
ed upon the construction of twenty
eight projects, three of which are
on Indian reservations.
In a period of ten years of actual
construction the service has dug g.
900 miles of canals, many of which
| carry whole rivers like the Truckee
river in Nevada, North Platt river
Zona. The seventy-seven tunnels eX-
cavated have an aggregate length of
221a miles One of these in Colorado
passes through a mountain 1000 feet
high and six miles thick ,and one in
Utah penetrates the Wasatch range
for four miles. Both of these tunnels
change physical geography by trans
ferring streams from one drainage
area to another. 1t has thrown up
eighty-two miles of levees and dikes
to protect lowlands from overflow.
Among it's large structures are the
highest dam in the world in ShOshOne
river, Wyoming, and the second larg-
est storage dam in the world-the
Roosevelt dam in Arizona. The
have been built 697 miles of wagon
road in mountainous and heretofore
Inaccessible regions. 1t has in opera
ton 2513 miles of telephones, 351
miles of transmission lines carrying
electricity for use in construction and
power service to a dozen cities. The
total power development is 32,466
horsepower. It's bridges have to-
tai length of 10000 feet t,culvegts 12O,-
435 feet, fumes 1891 feet, and pipe
lines S30,9S7 feet 1t has mined 3d.
693 tons of coal from it's own coal
mine; it's own mill has turned out
$4,000 barrels of cement, and it's
plants have manufactured 1,533,544
barrels of sand cement.
The total excavation of rock and
earth amount to 99,245,76 cubic
yards. 1t has constructed fifty-One
miles of railroad and is today oper-
ating IA miles of standard guage
railway with regular daily service for
passengers, freight, express and mail
business, the only railroad built, own
ed and operated by the government
today AS a result of it's operations
ten towns have been established, 100
miles of branch railroads have
been constructed and approximately
10000 families have taken up their
homes in the desert. On it's twenty
eight projects the construction work
has advanced sufficiently to provide
water for 1,2OO,107 acres, of whi
GAL 1897 were irrigated in 1912.
The value of all crops in 1912 was
$14,479,3 1868, an average of $25 per ac-
re for the lands actually cropped.
These figurse are Illuminating when
it is recalled that the average crop
production for the United States
is $3.50 per acre and for all irrigat-
ed lands $25.0S per acre. This show
ipU oY, tho oovarD M ont nro;ootc ic +ba
settlers, when it is remembered that
a large part of the land is only few
years from raw desert. The govern
ment investment of $S1, 900, 900, is Sc
cured by first mortgage on 1890, ,107
AGREES, about one-half of which were
in cultivation, and produced a crop
valued at nearly $14,5OO,OOO Lands
having the productive capacity above
shown are certainly good security for
the governments loan.
Included in the present projects
and to be irrigated upon completion
of the works are 3,191,O acres,
area equal to 6S.5 per cent of the cul
tivated acreage of all New England.
To complete the necessary structures
and canal systems it is estimated that
an additional $1OO,OOO,OOO will be re-
quired, making total investment G
SITS, ,000,O 900. On the basis of the
1912 crops, the reclaimed area should
produce about $SO,0OO,OOO annually or
44.9 per cent of the entire cost of the
works.