El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-18
IRRIGATION LAWS AND DRAINAGE
DISCUSSED 1T MORNING SESSION
Storing of Storm Waters utlined by Head of State
Water Engineers Board; Seattle Man Explains the
Jones Bill; Separate Sc ssiOns Engineering
and Legisa tive Problems.

/ reclamation for Missouri spoke upon
| The National Drainage Congress.
= which he declared an offspring of the
/ international Irrigation congress.
bue OF the first steps taken by the
. National Drainage congress was to in
{ duce che legislatures of the various
I states TO enact simplified. complete and
effective laws that would enable the
J l-uu owners 10 form districts for the
I Training and leveeiug of their swamp
! and overlooked lands. and 10 make
these state laws as nearly uniform as
B possible. he said I'm order TO assist
, and encOura &c the legislatures in do
ing this. the National Drainage con-
@ress. through legislative committee.
drafted a model drainage and levee
law in the early part Of the year 1912.
and supplied copies to legislators and
/ all persons interested. This work has
! resulted I'm six states in which are 10
Gated large areas OF swamp and over
( flowed lands. adopting laws almost
. identical 10 the model law while three
forms Of it. Bills are being drafted in
Other states 10 revise their laws along
similar lines.
Bonds in Demnnd
cone of the greatest benefits de-
rived from these statutes has come
from the increased demand i'm financial
ceuters for the bonds issued by districts
organized and operated under these
ING paid for these bonds. The bond
buyers are eager TO purchase them
and have recently. 10 the speakers own
personal knowledge. paid p liberal pre-
MUM for bonds bearing five and one
Eai percent interest and are willing
10 pay as high as par for five percent
bonds
The existing demand FOR these bonds
and the prices they bring have greatly
stimulated land reclamation in the
states adopting these efficient laws In
addition 10 bringing about the adoption
OF these laws i'm several states. she Na-
tional Drainage congress has created
considerable sentiment i'm favor OF fed
eral legislation that viii give assist
ance. encoura cement and supervising
i'm the reclamation of the swamp and
oVerflowed lands in manner similar
10 the work heretofore and now being
given i'm the irrigation of the arid
lands.
Urges Joint Session.
I'm conclusion permit me 70 suggest
that this congress consider the tdvisa-
nlHty OF joint meeting OF the Inter
national Irrigation congress and the
National Drainage congress i'm the near
future. 10 be held for the purpose Of
considering matters OF mutual interest
and cOumonaLtE. especially pertain
ing 10 national Legislation and aid. The
area 10 be brought under irrigation be
ing loca ted almost entirely in the west
ern part Of this country and the
fc-lAt'N ana thtElloMe0 lHu4S nelDE
principally in the central and southern
states neither interest can obtain &C
ion from the federal congress without
the aid Of the congressman in the ter
riJory OF the other"
Gives StereOpticOn Lecture.
D. ". Murphy. or Denver. Colo. eugl-
Deer IN charge OF DRAINAGE United
States Reclamation service. delivered
e lecture. illustrated with stereopticon
slides. upon Drainage OF Irrigated
Seepase waters generally reach the
surface soil through an upward move
menr from pervious underground
strata Generally the first appear
ances of seepaEe are on small. isolated
areas or spots on different portions of
an irrigated section Frequently the
liIst appearance is on low areas. or
immediately below canal fills From
the small isolated areas where seep-
age first appears IL generally spreads
ara sFaduallL affects adjacent areas
No Definite Rules
There are no definite rules which
can be laid down relative TO where
seepage may first be expected to ap-
pear or what VIII be its action as
irrigation progresses \ study of soil
conditions may furnish an explanation
Of why seepage has appeared in a Ger
tain place or why ii has advanced in
this or that direction II is seldom.
however. that what viii actually hap
pen can be foretold in advance of
placing water on the land on account
# above conditions. il is impracticable
generally 70 plan and construct drain
age works on irrigated lands in ad-
vance of actual irrigation on those
lands. 20 this statement there are
some exceptions.
Large Yield Needs Watching.
THE effect of the rise Of ground
water on irrigated lands is generally
FIRST 10 produce increased crop Yields.
y pheuomenally large yield is fire.
quenJiy danger Ignal. not needed by
tie farmer. himself. The only safe
way of guarding against seepaee
reaching a stage which viii cause crop
losses is to keep systematic record
OF the movement of the elevation OF
the ground waters through the use of
observation wells BY observing the
rise i'm the water table IL is possible
20 foretel somewhat IN advance what
may be expected TO happen. This sat
Hratiou of the top soil is frequently
followed by the appearance of free
wafer on the surface. The next stage
Is the destruction of all useful veGe-
tauou. and i'm regions where alkaline
salts is prevalent in the soil. the rise
CT these salts TO the surface
Engineers Problems.
The problems with which the
drainage engineer is confronted upon
conditions and restore the land to its
original condition of fertility
The remedies for relieving seepase
lands may he summarized as follows.
-First- Water proofinC canals
second; The drainage of the lands
themselves
Third; The cutting off of the under
ground water supply before n reaches
the area upon which damage is beiu-
done
The work Of drainage Of irrigated
lands. if taken up at the proper time
involves more than the relief of the
areas upon which seepage first ap-
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