Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-08-08

i'eu through such a ditch TO this
great tract of land-nearly 2,O0O.-
Vco aeres-iS break should occur
IN canal in earth carrying from
sixteen to twenty thousands second
teet of water very serious conse-
Qeences would result. Such a break
would in all probably damage the
growing crops many millions of dol.
iars Consequently, the commission
8 recommending concrete lined
canal and minimum Of side Hill
construction. Where long side hill
detours can be replaced with short
tunnels, the commission is recon-
mending tunnels, because they rem
resent the safer construction.
1t was thought at one time that
considerable power might be de-
velped along this canal system. How
ever, to maintain q small sectioned
ana nigh velocity requires all the
drop that it is possible to secure.
l
in all probability drope in distribut-
ing canals near Providence and Con-
nell will be utilized for power de-
yelopment for pumping water on
high or isolated areas, but it is not
anticipated that any commercial
power will he developed.
consequently, no power can be de-
yeloped. 1t is also thought that local
storage could be provided in the
Grand Coulee and some of the other
lesser coulees, but the surveys so
far have shown that very little stor
age can be provided The real
storage that can be relied upon is
in the soil itself which possesses
excellent water holding capacity and
can be irrigated during the fall and
! winter; thereby reducing the amount
OF irrigation water to be supplied in
the months of July and August.
Everyone is interested in knowing
what the cost of this great project
will be, but costs can not be deter
mined until more detailed surveys
are completed. / This project will
call for something like 40 miles of
tunnels to get the water from the
Pend Oreille river to. Hillcrest be-
yond Cow Greek on the Milwaukee
railway, at which point the distribu-
ton will commence. At Hillcrest
| the main canal will be divided; one
/ branch running north and west to
supply the Quincy project lands in
Adams and Grant counties and pos
sibly Eureka Flats and other lands
in WaIIa Walla county.
The commission has frequently
been asked about the adequacy of
the water supply, A study of the
records of the u. S. geological re-
ports from 1908 to 1910 shows that
the water supply is ample. If the
! low. water run off of the river were
not to be maintained, only half
million acre feet of storage would be
/ necessary. If the low water of the
river is maintained, storage of two
million acre feet must be furnished:
/ This amount of storage can easily
be provided in the three lakes tri
butary to the Pend Oreille river;
namely, Priest lake, with 23,040
acres of surface; Pend Oreille lake,
with 70, 260 acres of surface area;
Flathead lake, with 120,029 acres OF
surface area. From these figures
it is seen that 100000 acre
feet of water can be stored in these
lakes with very low dams.
The water will likely be taken
from the Pend IOraille at Albany
Falls at a level of 1000 feet, and
viii be delivered to Rock lake al
q level Of 1900 feet
People should know that this is
very large project. When construct
ed it will cover more than six times
the area now irrigated in the state
OF Washington. According to the
latest T. S. reclamation service re-
port, $118,0000OO have been eX-
rended in the United States on fed
elal reclamation projects. The value
of last years crop from the lands
reclaimed was $SO,O00,000. In this
state the John Day lake bottom lana
in the Okanogan and Sunnyside r.
rigation projects, according to aYan-
able figures, last year produced from
STOP TO $136 per acre in farm crops
Having in mind such figures aS
these. one can see that increasing by
six times the irrigated area of Wash
ington will mean very much to the
future of the state and to the enlire
Northwest.
However, in estimating what Il
nancial load the Columbia basin