East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-06-18
cARrY RESERVOIRS
(Continued from page l.l

Ntc~h. III tHfS amount 100000 al
pronounced by soil surveys as fiji
sandy loan; $4,000 as smooth sanc
land and sa.0oo an rough sandy Ian
OF which latter area at least. rs pt
cent Will prove profitable for irrigs
lion with a good water supply and SUI
10 rounding increased values.
10 The present ownership of thes
Is lands are as follows: 6s, 700 non-pat
% ented and subject TO homestead unde
the Reclamation act (now in reserve)
Northern Pacific Railway company
$1,000 acres; Oregon Land and Watei
Company, l5,6O0 acres and the re
mainder as follows: 26,500 in II
noidings tsheepmen) running from
iVoo to 5000 acres each; s45O acres in
Roidings from 500 to go acres and
.he remainder in about 40 holdings
running from ten to 500 acres
The public lands would be opened
10 settlement, under government con-
strnction. to settlers free of cost ex-
cept the water right charge. The gov
ernment regulated the price of the
large private holdings under the West
extension and the Northern Pacific
and oregon Land & Water COMPANY
holdings were sold at prices ranging
from $500 to $4,000 per acre, on ten
and 20 years time at per cent inter-
est 1t Is assumed that these condi-
tons would prevail under the John
LAY. This is one of the important
features. 1t enables the settler to get |
cheap land which is prerequisite 20 the
rapid and successful development OF |
any project.
The South Unit ~i7
The second great unit of the John
DAY Project is confined to the lands
iYins between the $50 foot and the
1000 foot contours. This area Is o
strip 20 miles long lying IL to 20 miles
south OF the Columbia in Morrow ana
umatiila Counties, The soil is classed
as loan and will not require the
amount OF water t"~ producing crops i
as the Carly reservoir unit. Vt ~on.
tains about 3s5 sections Of which 15s..l
700 acres are irrigable. The owner 1
ship of these lands has not been tabu ,
ated .f4t u .ak 9
Z 1t will probably be feasible to irri- ,
sate up,to the 1900 foot contour which
you'd add around 10000 acres, ,
hopgh, the irrigable area OF this tract
1as not been surveyed. Reconnaissance !
has been made of higher levels and of },
mail tracts adjoining the larger units 7
nat in course of development would !,
,ecome a part of the general project.
he total area would exceed $4,000
lcres. Part Of this land is now in cul- ! !
ivation and in seasons of good rainfall ),
PRODUCES fairly profitab bile rye and ! I
Wheat but its productivity would be J.
increased 100 fold under irrigation
'ruttier flats and adjacent lands in the :,
fcinity of Cecil. lone and north of
lexington. and west of the Thompson
anch on Butter Creek are similar, all .
{ which may be covered by gravity -
low from the John Day. "
81 Water Supply
The water supply for the John Day
roject is from the River from which ;s,
derives it's name. Measurements n,
ere made monthly OF the flow of the 4,
ohm Day river from 1906 TO 1915 in fs
usive. The smallest run-off in acre ~
,et was in 1915 which was 729, 400 ",
ere feet. The largest volume of wat .
: was in 1912 which was 2,41O 900 ~
ere feet. The average for 10 years NJ
ln-off was 1,422.00e acre feet. The -,
matilla Projecst was adjudicated 9,
ere feet per acre by the courts of the 20
tate and on this basis the 800, 900 =,
cres of the John Day project would ~
eed 100000 acre feet or 100000 =,
re rect less tnan the average run -orf .;
sr year. Several small streams have, -.
at been considered which would add -.
aterially TO the general supply for =.
le district and drainage from the 80
gher to the lower levels is now a
rge factor in the economic develop -,
tent of arid lands Frequently so -
Ar cent of the water may be used the ~ ~
'cond time. Without any doubt the 49,
Ipply Of water can therefore be con- r.
cred abundant. =
Reservoir Sites
The water shed of the John Day a.
yer is approximately 7s08 square ~,
lies and many tributaries draw their -
lpply from the high peaks and deep =.
lows OF the Blue Mountains which p
rnish an almost continuous flow. The -
ountains are not high and are with -
1t perpetual snow Chinook winds
the spring are common and owing 1
the character of the mountain soils r
Ie melted SHOWS are not stored by 1
lture. A large part of the water is
erefore carried off in spring freshets
Id mountain springs soon go dry.
rtificial storage is therefore neoes-
ry and big reservoirs must be pro-