Arizona republican., 1915-08-24

during the extended time, water can be soaked in the land so as to enable the ranchers to mature a profitable crop before spring. This coupled with the fact that it is practically certain the lake will be filled by winter additions, makes it appear that the 32,0O0 acres some time to come, if 'ot actually and formally made a part of the project It will be remembered that these 32,00O acres were let in on condition the res ervoir reached a storage mark of a mil lion acre feet, although, oddly enough, the order does not mention that con dition. still, the argument on which the order was based is plain enough on this point.
 But about 5000 out of the 32, 900 acres have been cropped under this order Of the uncultivatcd area, some is expected to be signed up before October I, m order that they may participate in the benefits of this time extending order It will be necessary to sign up before october l in order to be classed With the fortunate one-
 Will Project Open?
 Whether the project is formally opened on December 1 or not depends on the ability of the reclamation ser vice to get around two big barriers One is the failure thus far of the central board of review to report on the cost report for this project
 In a letter received from President Orme yesterday it was stated that General Marshall. a member of the central board had said no report would be rendered on any project until all re- ports had been considered. Some of the project reports are so well tied up that it is impossible to say when all the data will be accumulated. MT Orme believes it cannot be within the present year
 A clause of the time extension bill makes it necessary for the secretary of the interior to name the project-eest as finally determined upon in his formal notice of opening. It was suggested yesterday that Lane might open the project, naming a sum as it's cost which might be amended after the central board of review had reported
 But talk of warm fight by the wa ter users against the opening of the project is not wanting. On the ground that the project cannot be opened until 1t is completed. and claiming that u.fttl water is developed to care for the ad- ditional 32. 900 acres on permanent basis, Legal Advisor Joseph H. Kibbey | has advised the water users to contest | the opening in 1915 of the Salt River | project By it's own act in accepting | the report of the board Of survey, with | the recommendation that water be de- | veloped for the additional 3200O acres, | the reclamation service has admitted | the project is not complete it is said
 Development of water resources to | complete the project may fall under | three heads:
 l. Additional Storage. Example the | Verde reservoir.
 ?. Pumping Plants There are 21 | plants, included in preliminary plans | that have not yet been built
 3. Lining the Canals. Water saved | from seepage is the same as water de- Lining of canals and Iaterals will save in some cases as high as 80 | per cent of water. and this can be a1p- piled on new lands. e~1sA
 While there IS no talk of repudia- tiOn among the very large majority of | water users, it is admitted that open ing the project during these uncer- tain times will provide an incentive for values to tumble. Opening the project will involve new obligations that some land owners will be loath to take up. And. although there is little or no disposition to drop the work of reclaining the desert at this time, it | is understood that some ranchers will be persuaded to relinquish their lands and these new burdens if such are imposed before better times come.