The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-01-28
TUESDAY NIGHTS MEETING PRETAIN-
ing T0IRRICATION AROUSED ENTHUSIASM
Would be Practical to put Discarded War Machines
to Work Constructing Canals and Reservoirs.
Convet Whole Valley Into Reservoir
THERE WILL BE PLENTY WATER FOR ALL

On Tuesday evening about forty
or fifty men met at the court room
and listened to addresses by w. F..
Dillon of Dubois, ]. H. Andersen of
Blackfoot and c. e Harris of Black
foot, relatives to the work of reclaim
ing the Snake river plains.
Many Soldiers Homesteaders
Mr.. Dillon explained that of the
hundreds of settlers already on the
land in the Dubois project, BIT of
them are soldiers, either present on
the land or with the colors, and re-
turning as soon as they can. Most
of the settlers have tried farming the
land on the dry farm plan while
awaiting for the construction Of the
irrigation system SO fully surveyed
by the government in past years. and
they have not been successful with
crops, altho they have raised some.
Reducing the Cost per Acre
WoIh Oil LILO lIIlSdIlOu SySI0u has
never really gone past the prelim-
inaries and surveys and while it is
only suspended, the project has
neither been abandoned nor any fixed
plans or policy adopted. To build
reservoirs and canals to water their
half million acres made it rather ex-
pensive, and now that the Blackfoot
men propose the addition of another
half million acres in what may be
termed the Taber extension, that will
greatly reduce the cost per acre for
the whole project, and the Dubois
men gladly join forces with us to
push the preliminary work in the
hope of getting plans adopted and
actual const- t-uction started while the
government is seeking to find en-
ployment for the disbanding armies
and others thrown out of work by
the changes from a war footing to a
peace footing.
Billions of Springs
Mr.. Dillon explained that men in
terested in other projects down the
valley, notably the Bruneau and Sun
nyside projects, are asking for the
use of the few reservoir sites avail
able on the upper reaches of the
Snake, and that If they are permitted
to appropriate the water it will stop
our further development, while If we
secure the reservoir sites and store
the water, a large amount of it will
go on down to them after using it
In the upper valley. This is what
engineers call the return flow, or
seepage, coming back into the river
from the country under irrigation.
As the waters of Lost river seep and
travel thru and under the Snake
river plains, so the waters that are
first stored in lakes on the head
waters and afterwards used to irri-
gate the great plains, will In its cwn
sweet time, reach the channel of
the river and go on down where IL
can be used again. Water that runs
OF in June and July during the
freshet, soon reaches the ocean, but
IL 1t is stored In lakes till August and
then spread upon the plains, 1t may
reach the river again by the next
August and swell the volume of the
river below. !
Whole Valley q Reservoir
It will be remembered that when
the river was dry at Blackfoot dur
ing our water famines, there was
large stream q few miles down the
river. Mr.. Dillon said he had seen
the river dry just below the Miner
dam and two miles below there It
would swim q horse, all due to the
return flow. This condition is
thought to exist thruout the length |
of the river bordering the great
plains, and the more water there is |
stored in the plain by irrigation the |
more steady will be the supply in the |
river at all times, including the per-
iod Of drouth in midsummer. Some |
of the water gets back into the river |
in week or q month after being |
used for irrigation, and some in a |
year. The more 1t is used, the more |