The evening herald., 1918-03-25
DRAINAGE QUESTION
IS ABLY DISCUSSED
BY ENGINEER HART
Ranking Drainage Expert of In.
vegtigating Service Speaks to
Interested Audience OF Cham.
Der OF Commerce.


u. \. Hart, rnnt.ug eng nccy of tho
drainage investigating service I'd.
dressed more than 80 interested citizens
~ the Chpmhcr of Commerce Saturday
night. llc has hccu IN close pcrsnnal
touch with drainage in the west for ten
years. III, address showed him 90 hc
possessed of vast fund Of technical
information along drainage and irriga
iion lines.
Tho drainage Investigating scfvirc.
he explained. has supervision over %
per cent of the irrigated lands Of Tho
west aud the reclamation service has
supervision over only per cent of ir.
rigntcd lands
Much Watcr.logged Land.
There are more than three million
acres of Vatrt.luggcl lands west 0f She
Tooth meridian ~ west longitude. whore
the grid region begins These arc gen.
crnlly owned hv people who once cul.
iivated them. u is vastly cheaper 90
drain such lands than ~ construct new
irrigation systems to reclaim moro ucv'
lands. Again these water logged lands
nre generally nearer or more convrnicn'
to market and in the 'hiri ulacc crn
bc restored quicker md with loss work
aud not SER lusly interfere with the pros.
cnt war program.
Drainage a War Measure.
e. :. TrcesaroI McNdno hns asked
the drainage investigating service for
prompt reports ON number Of these pro.
iects. intimnting that those promising
ha luVnugt IN H.. ta1g 4.
ard ~ the least expense may be 70.
claimed ~ n war mvosure. 80 as 10 in
crease the area of food products. Those
which can hc developed within two
years viii receive first attention
Explaining drainage NJ war measur.
II wns shown that farmers, who are the
hcn"RrinricS under the drainage systems.
do not pay for such work in money out
of their pockets, bu, the terms are ~
adjusted that the increased farm prod.
ucts. ~ q result Of the bcitcrmcni, ar.
tuallv pay for such improvements.
Again, before the war u took IS bushels
of wheat go pay for rcrlaimine AN ncrC
of ground 10y drainage Now The gov.
crumcnt has fixed the price Of vhcn,
so that i' only takes 10 bushels 10 paw
for the same work
Rio GranGe Valley.
Coming 10 the Rio GFnndc valley
drainage question Theoretically !,
would be- better to treat II ns O whole
unit from the head of the Rio Grande
io its mouth Practically that Is inn
possible Once therr were only ~
states; now theirs are -. II the people
had waited to establish % government
until there were - states. they would
never have had government
SO iu this drainage OF the Rio Gfandc
valley. drainage units must hc cstnh
hshcl Three of such drainage district,
hny, been established ~ Brownsville
one in ihe rccos valley aud another now
iu process Of promotion; one IN the san
luis valley and another now being
formed there. There are about GO0.0Oe
ncrrs 20 drain iu the San Luis valley,
up ia the edge of Colorado.
Government Work Here
The government hnn begun 10 iuvcs
tgatc the Rio Grnndr valley six years
ago, II has spent considerable money,
nli told. in its Investigations, soundings
tests. ctr. 7, has put down lla wells
up and down tho river in the vicinity
of Alhuqucrgue and many extending
'''H NV lAN'N " lN' f'tANls w Nf''' '
table licrcnhouts has been found to In
uuly about tNo feet below the surface
IN places the water table slopes east
nnd FROM the river. and IN other places
II slopes west and tu 1hr river. Tho av
orngc cost per acre for drn mage before
the Vnr was about 400 The Rin Grtrdc
valley owing 10 its composition, con
tour aud general geology, can hc
drained at cost which will be- below
the general average
Local Interest Necessary.
The government will not become IN
tcrcstcd IN amy drainage problem until
IA community has shown an organized
demand for such drainage district
The people must get together and pctl
tion the state district court for permits
sion to create drainage district OF
unit This petition must bc signed by M
least half of the land owners to be ben.
oGtcd and the signcTs must represent
~ least onc.third of the land 20 bc
drained within the district
How 10 Establish District.
Thi. much accomplished. ihey then
have first preliminary hearing before
the Judge, t. which an interested par
ties are invited and will have on uppor
tuuitv to make complaints, state thciI
objections and ASK fur information
Then second hearing follows. aud fin
ally q third hearing. II the Judge hud'
the law complied with he will author
we the drainage unit and appoint thre,
drainage commissioners, representative
men ot character who own land IN th,
proposed drainage district, who. togcth
cr with the judge, viii work out The DO
tails Of financing the project aud plan
ming the work.
Assessments will bee -xcd ou land uc
rording % proportionatr benefits tn h,
derived from the drainage. II IL II
shown that man : land has been m
iurcl and produces less, then he will b,
awarded damages, which are 30 bc pai,
In pro rata proportion hv an the bcuc
hcinrirs.
Federal Land Question.
The speaker touched upon the prob
a l. 4 a. - 4. ...s