Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1919-09-26
BIG BRUNEAU PROJECT
AGAIN COMES TO LIFE
INVESTMENT OF s65,Oo0,oo0 WILL
WATER 10000 ACRES IN
OWYHEE COUNTY


wealthy men, among whom are E. Fl.
Dewey, Judge j. H. Richards. /. b.
Perrine of Idaho and f. T. Merrideth,
of Des Moines, Iowa.
Below is a brief history of the Bru-
neau project by Archibald c. Miner,
of Salt Lake City and published in the
New West Magazine for August Mr..
Miner is the presideit of the company
which has already spent some $i51 00)
in preliminary survey and engineering
work on the project. He says. in
effect
Engineering work on the BruneaI
project was started in 1908 by the
Twin Falls Land and Water Co. which
company constructed the original South
Side Twin Falls project. comprising
100000 acres of land. After over two
years of engineering work, segregation
lists were filed in Boise and at HALEY
Idaho, on November IS and November
28, 1910, respectively, covering i7l.GS7
acres of land. On September }, 1910,
reservoir filing was made in the United
States Land Office at Blackfoot, Idaho,
for the American Falls reservoir com
prising 1850 acres of land
During the period from 1908 to 1910
Governor Goodi1g and other state Of
ficials assisted the company in col
laboration with the Idaho members of
Congress in increasing the original mil
lion acre allotment under the Carey
act to each of the various Western
states, an additional two million
- acres-making a total of three mill !
lion acres for the state of Idaho. This
was accomplished and an appropri-
alton of 100000 was also made for |
he of making dpriled
vey of the land composing the pro- !
posed project The company engi1- |
GERS were ssisted by the engineering |
and legal department of the state and !
by the various governmental depart |
mentS in obtaining i great deal OF de-
tailed information necessary to estab-
fishing water supply, character of
lands soil, etc, to the end that the
feasibility of so large aoproject should
be unquestionable-
The land is located in Twin Falls
and Owyhee counties, Idaho, lying
south of the Snake river between the
Salmon river on the east and the Bru-
neau river on the west. Water will be
taken from the Snake river The nat
ural flow of the river is already over
appropriated. 1t is, therefore, neees-
sary to furnish the requirements of
the tract enlIGly lIOIn storage MiLSu
viii be impounded in a reservoir I'M
mediately above American Falls, Idaho,
through constructing a dam 80 feet
high across Snake River at that point,
which dam will create a storge capa-
city in the reservoir of three million
acre feet of water. The wter viii be J
dropped down the river to the Miner :
dam, constructed by the Twin Falls >
Land and Water Company and new /
canal of 5000 cubic feet per second ca a
pacity will be constructed Immediately +
above and paralleling the original high q
line canal on the South Side system
to the Salmon river canyon, a dis r
tance of 80 miles. At this point steel +
syphons are to be constructed to carry o.
the water across the Salmon river can r
yon and the Devil Greek canyon, i'm
mediately west of which lie the land 9
included in the project. Supplemental r
reservoirs, having a storage capacity T.
of 100000 acre feet are available on the [
land itself making the total reservoir II
of the project 3,340O0O acre II
feet, or over so per cent of the total
water now running in the Snake river n
These lands cannot be watered from ci
any other source than the Snake river
nor by any other method than that @,
fOlkCi OuL ny tit tbLtpdilF Us lilttiSf
and by such firms as Field. Fellows & o.,
Hndieleider of Denver. Sandersm il
and Porter of New York. j. G. White
& Co. of New York City and w. l.. 81
Church Of the Amburson Hydraulic cr
Co, of Boston and New IN
York. The project is probably the el
argest as well as the best, taking all m
into consideration, remaining
in the United States. pr
The engineering ON this project re- al
luired five years Of continuous work ON
II very elaborate detail. reaching an fe
expenditure OF some Sf50,000.
There are many reasons why this bv
'roject should be developed now NJ.
!. At no time since the year 1910 ID
ave conditions been such as TO cause b,
apital to feel that the time was ripe ip
0 begin the construction of so large fai
project, although numerous parties
lmihar with the project admit its tai
feasibility and the desirability of going sta
head with the project as soon as emf
when seem TO be such as Of
) assure the complete success of 50
rge an undertaking
?. The 8runeau segregation is the
rge and finest body of continuous eI
nd susceptible of irrigation in the
tate of Idaho. if not in the West. 4
3. Unless this particular traat y to
the construction of the VIII
merican Fails reservoir and the con- wa.
.rvation Of over three million acre not
ct OF water, al present going to waste rep
ould not be warranted. Mr.
4. The construction of said reservoir Dire
Ould add at least $4,000 horsepower est
the hydro electric capacity Of the
iake river at American Falls eau
5. The development of the Bruneau The
act would result in an extension of wit