The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1915-11-23
land BOARD MEETS SETTLERS
Situation on the Salmon Given Investga-
ton by Governor and Officials
Meeting Saturday Attended by Large Number Of Water Users
No Decision Reached by Board, Although Impressed
With Serious Condition.

lne state OF Idaho, through its land
board, will get behind the settlers on
the Salmon River project and force
the earliest possible adjustment of the
projects difficulties. This is the
gratifying assurance left with the en-
trymen at the hearing in Hollister,
Saturday afternoon, which was at
tended by every member of the state
board of land commissioners and over
two hundred entrymen.
The hearing opened with a state
ment by Attorney C. O. Longley, rep
resenting the entrymen on the pro-
ject, who brought under review in a
very brief but clear statement, all
the material facts involved in and
throwing light upon the situation,
from the time the scheme of an irriga-
ton project watered from the Salmon
river first came into the minds of the
promoters, through the stages of pro-
motion, construction and sale of water
rights under the auspices of the state,
down to the present time.
That the members of the present
land board board might know OF the
promises and guarantees made by that
body and it's representatives at the
time the company unloaded its water
rights prior to the commencement of
the construction of the irrigation sys-
tenn. Mr.. Longley called particular at
tention to the role played by the
state in the promotion of this enter
prise. The state of Idaho, through
its board of land commissioners, had
accepted the proposal of the promo
tiOn company to reclaim tract of
In NJ of T.,
Falls county, embracing some 131 900
acres, according to Mr.. Longley, with
only the most meager information
available as to the sufficiency of the
waters of the Salmon river to irrigate
that amount Of land or any substan-
tial portion thereof. At that time no
data or information was on record in
the office of the state engineer except
two reports by engineers, neither of
whom were connected with the state
engineers Office. One ofthese engin-
eers, a Mr.. Wiley had estimated the
flow Of the river without basing the
estimate on any actual measurements,
at between five and six hundred thou
sand feet, the other report, by Mr.
Hays, estimated the flow at approx
mately 100000 acre feet. Both were
guesses of the commonest character,
and the distance they fell short of be-
ing reliable is attested by the fact that
the flow of the river has averaged
annually during the past eight years
about 10000 acre feet, this average
being the result Of actual measure
ments maintained during that period
On the basis Of such information,
which Mr.. Longley pointed out was
no information at all, the state board
of land commissioners accepted the
proposal of the company; obtained the
segregation Of 127, 900 acres from the
government; and conducted, few
months later and before any work had
been done on the system, sale of the
land and the water rights At this
sale, which was widely advertised, a
representative of the land board made
the announcement that the state of
Idaho stood back of the enterprise,
had done and would do all things
needful for the protection Of the en-
trymen. The statement of this repre-
sentative assertions made individually
by the members OF the land board, and
the fact that the state was acting
for and on behalf of the entrymen In
the entering into OF the contract for
the construction of the system, was
accepted by the entrymen at its face
value and was represented In the COM
pany's extensive advertising campaign
as conclusive evidence that the state
was behind the project and the entry