Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1916-01-06
GIGANTIC UNDERTAKING
vo,ement ON Foot to Better Con.
serye the Waters of the
Lower Snake River.
Huge Irrigation and Power Project
IN lie Built by Cooperation.


,ornorations ever ON the alert 10
uake use OF as great "a portion OF the
v,ters OF the Snake river as possible.
have had their heads together for
,ome time to devise some means of
uutting into practical use the thou
,nds OF acre feet OF water that is
xasted along this great river. which
not only ranks seventh In size WIN
the great rivers OF the country but
At the present time is furnishing
more water for irrigation purposes
than any other river In the world
The building OF big cam at
American falls has been under con
siderat.on for some time. and the
shortage OF water the past year has
brought about renewed action along
this line. when IT has been seen tha'
with facilities at hand for impound-
ing the waters OF the river NJ flood
time, there would be sufficient
amount available TO furnish water
for the irrigation OF thousands OF ad
ditlonal acres OF land adjacent there
TO.
In the event OF the plan outlined
below being carried out. 1t Will pro
badly result in the waters OF the riy-
er from it's source 10 the American
Falls dam. and s.ill farther down the
river, being placed under the super
vision OF the state and government
and then water hogs along the river
Will become relic OF the past The
plan is outlined as follows, which Is
taken from reliable source.
Within the present month details
OF the most gigantic irrigation and
power project In Idaho will be per
fected to an extent sufficient to en-
able the Interests behind # TO formu-
late their plans for cooperation. 1t
Involves the construction OF "a dam
about 80 feet high at American
Falls; the storage OF three million
acre feet OF wafer; the irrigation OF
500. acres OF land between the
Salmon and Bruneau rivers. aud the
generation OF a tremendous amount
OF electric power. II VIII solve for
all time the irrigation and power
problems on the lower Snake river.
providing. as It will. an abundance
OF water for both. Its construction
Will necessitate cooperation between
the United States government the
state OF Idaho, the construction com
pany and the settlers. This is gradu-
ally being brought about. The iei-
eral government will be- ready Ia
submit its proposal before the end OF
the present month. The other inter
ests are ready to proceed with the
preliminary work now.
The condition OF the national treas
ury and the preparedness program
will probably make 1t difficult to Sc
cure the immediate cooperation OF
the federal government. but the pro
lect has been so thoroughly engin
eered and its feasibility so fully dem
onstrated that free cooperation u
confidently expected.
Another important factor Is th'
rural credit bill now before congress
Should Il become a law. II would dc
much to assist in the financing, set
tlement and development of irriga
tion projects.
Titanic Undertaking.
The American Falls. Twin Falls
Bruneau. or whatever the big projec
Will be called, is of titanic proper
tions. The first move will NATURAL
be the construction of dam a
American Falls. Surveys for TN
dam and reservoir have been com
pleted by three different agencies an
they are practically alike. The dar
will be between 80 and 80 feet higi
1t will back the water up for dis'
ance of about 90 miles, submergin
10000 acres of land and storing 3
100000 acre feet of water. Only
small portion of American ran
townsite will be submerged by Dac
water. There are only a few farn
ers on the lands which will be SUI
merged.
The water will be taken down IN
Twin Falls main canal on the sou'
side of the river to the forks OF III
canal. From that point new an
higher high line canal will be bui
and lined with cement. This cam
Will take I'm a small portion OF III
irwin Falls Salmon tract. estimate
varying from 5000 to 10000 acre
Crossing the Salmon.
The great barrier will be the eros
Ing of the Salmon river canyon.
the proposed crossing point the "a
mon canyon is about 400 feet dee
and 500 feet wide. 1t will be clos'
py a number of steel siphons at
estimated cost of one million dollar
Three good storage reservoir SIT
have been located west of the Saline
river. They will store 100000 ac