The Delta independent., 1918-02-01
"HoW ABOUT 1T, Mr.. WATER
USER" ASKS AL L. NEALE

the association.
During the past two years, the
Water Users board has spent most of
its time scrapping with the govern
ment. During the past year it has
spent more than five thousand dol
lars, nearly three times as much as il
has heretofore been in the habit of
spending. with the possibility of de-
ficiency an assessment of s cents per
acre against an assessment of cents
an acre heretofore levied.
What l have been asking myself
during the past few months is the
question as to whether our scrap with
the government has gotten us any
where. and has the more than five
thousand dollars we have spent dur
the past year been well spent?
In the first place. have we had
just cause for fighting the govern
ment? Has the government been our
enemy or has it been our friend.
What has the government done for
this valley? 1t has spent s6,921 .5S5. IS
without interest for the development
of our valley.
Who gets the money they spent for
labor here? Approximately one-half
of this entire amount or practically
S3.5OO,OO has been distributed among
us.
How much have they enlarged our
water system? More than double
How many new farms have they put
into cultivation? More than double
what we had.
How many old bitches did they buy
and enlarge? Fifteen.
How much money was paid to ditch
owners for old bitches? S344s-
24S.69. The Ironstone people receiv-
ed S12S, 900 or $4,000 more than they
had at one time offered to sell the
ditch for.
Who viii be asked to pay that extra
amount when the time comes? Every
water user whose land is subscribed
to the project.
Who asked if you wanted the Tay-
lor Park reservoir? The government.
Who sent in experts to handle the
water? The government
Who sent in experts tt help the
farmers secure seed, ETC.. The gov
ernment
Who sent Lindgren to help with
the live stock2 The government
How much money has the govern
ment distributed among our people
right here since starting work? Ap-
$4,000, 900.
How much money is the govern
ment spending now? Working 450
men by day, over $500 per day-over
S4S,000.00 per month.
What brought the state highway
commission in here to build roads
The government. And why? Because
we were progressive, because the
government made it possible.
What would happen should slide
come in one of the main bitches and
shut all the the water off? Who would
llN II! Inc government
Where would the money come
from? The government.
Only last summer little slide came
in just one of the main bitches. How
did we know it? That damn ditch
rider told somebody and hell was a
Crops below burning up right away
only half made. Everybody busy and
all the fine water running out through
a big crack in the Montrose &c Delta,
up by Happy Canon.
The first crack did not look bad. IL
was not bad The lower bank had
only slipped out about four feet. The
entire lower bank for a thousand feet
had slid. Did the government shut
off all the water? No. Only a part
of it, The farmers below needed the
water so they were running about one
half of head or all the ditch could
possibly carry at that point, hoping
to get men and teams the next day or
so to put dirt back on the lower bank
In four days they had seven teams
when they should have had one hun
dred. That was the way we helped
the government In three days more
all the upper bank caved in and shut
off most all of the water. Had they
been able to get plenty of teams and
men they probably could have kept
the wafer running so the naonIa nm
der the ditch could have saved their
crops. There must be some way pro
vided whereby whoever handles these
bitches can get help when needed.
AS I understand IT, that is what the
water users board is for, to work