El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-08-08
DRAINAGE WORK
BEING HELD Up
Washington Advices to
Reclamation Service Say
More Money Necessary.

Work on the FL Paso valley drain
age project viii be stopped imme-
'diateIy and VIII be indefinitely post
! roned. pending the raising Of faan-
ciaI means by the water improve
ment district for the prosecution of
+ the work or the changing Of the
. appropriation bill for the drainage
work by congress. according to in-
formation received by l. ~ Lawson.
reclamation project manager. from
Washington.
The action was taken 10y the rec
lamaticn service because Of the lack
OF money. due TO the exhaustion Of
the temporary fund advanced by the
directors of the water district and the
inability 10 use the government
appropriations. because Of the clause
inserted ia the recent BIN providing
that in the future all new water
districts should assume the Liabilities
Oh their projects TO date
Says Provision Unfair.
"ThiS provision in the bill is un-
fair, as the Improvement district in
tine FL laS1 valley cannot afford To-
assume the Liabilities OF the entire
RIO Graude project which is the spirit
OF the law. said j. A. Smith. pre~i-
dent OF the water users This would
mean that the district would have TO
take over the entire debt of the
project, Including she water. dam, and
water canal debts amounting TO about
$40 per acre for the $4,000 acres i'm
the project"
Two Methods Feasible.
at present there arv only two
feasible methods for the continuation
ot the work. said Mr.. Smith. The
first is TO issue short time bonds
which has been suggested by the
officials OF the department OF the in
terror, and the second is To change
the law or to eliminate the provision /
OF the two methods the latter would
require the smaller amount of time, /
providing congress acts Immediately. +
Davis Author OF Bill.
a. T. DAVIS, chief engineer OF the .
reclamation service. drew up the bill
and when he inserted that particular
clause he was under the Impression /
that it would not affect the III IasoI
valley and that they had already
formed an Organization. which was
not the case DO was reported. The
statement was made 10y an ID Fas8|
water user that recommendation Ell|
been made 10 congress by secretary I.
Franklin lane providing for re-.
consideration of the bin and the
elimination Of the uhstructiuE clause
The department OF the interior.
realizes, IL is said. that the members
of the Improvement district desire toll
continue the work and 20 push 10 as
rapidly as possible. Whereupou the
bond issue was suggested. The iu-
terest on the short time bonds. it was
pointed out would Doe "a comparative
small amount ass compared with the.
loss Of time i'm the drainage wOri,
and would only continue until such
time as the mist1. was remedieI uy.
o change Of the bill
VIII Meet thursday.
1t is understood that the state laws.
OF Texas viii permit the directors OF.
the Improvement district 20 assume D
only limited liability. which U.s. far ,
below S6,-0U,pUU. the approximate
debts of the project and would make $
The literal enforcement of the law o.
impossible. The recent decisions of d
The government are not iu accord s.
with the understanding which was q