The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-02-07
REVIVAL OF THE
DUBOIS PROJECT
Trust Company Makes
Attractive Offer
......s to Settlers

Some interesting features have
cropped out in the attempt to reclaim
the Dubois project. The first At
tempt was by using water stored on
the upper reaches of Snake river and
conducting it across that country in
q very large canal tapping the river
above st. Anthony. The government
found that was too great an under
taking, the settlers could not handle
1t and later on the seepage waters
coming into Mud Lake were taken up
by pumping system and canals and
spread upon large piece of territory
around Mud lake. Every effort that
was made to revive the irrigation Of
the Dubois project by the gravity
system has failed and now they are
working on WHAT'S called shallow
well means of irrigation. 1t has been
found that there is a large area that
has water standing at a depth of
sixteen TO twenty feet below the sur
face and in such quantity that by
sinking shallow wells and putting
electrically operated pumps, they can
lift irrigation streams directly on to
the land to be irrigated.
Now comes the Guarantee Trust
company of Idaho with offices at
Idaho Falls, offering an equipment
that can be installed at the shallow
we'll and irrigate eighty acres of land
at cost of less than $4,000 for wells,
pumps, motors and everything. OF
course, they would have to add to
that the operating expense from
year to year of keeping the pump
going. 1t would be necessary also to
maintain and operate the lateral
bitches on that eighty acres. The
Guarantee Trust company offers to
the settlers in that territory, the in
stallation of the pumping plant for
$1,000 and the settler needn't sink
the we'll or if the settler hasn't the
money he can give them eighty acres
of land in payment for the pumping
plant on the other eighty. Assuming
that each settler has 160 acres of
land and that it Is no use to him in
the present condition, he very readily
agrees to give up half of it to get
means of irrigating the other half.
This is very different from waiting
for the construction of canal system
and reservoir which he has been con-
templating. 1t makes it possible for
him to sink his well and start to ir-
rigating in the coming spring. 1t is
necessary for the trust company to
extend another power line from the
generating plant above Ashton to the
distributing lines over the tracts to
be served, install the machinery and
then they are ready to throw eighty
acres of land to be watered.
The trust company considers that
this land in its present condition is
probably not worth more than $40 an
acre and has a very doubtful market
to command any price. Taking a
strip of 10000 and expending $40O,-
600 for the pumping outfit and add
ing that to the value of the land, then
allowing something for the transmits
sion of the distribution cables, makes
an investment Of about million dol
lars. They figure that the land will
easily be worth two million dollars
with the water on it and they regard
1t as a perfectly safe and profitable
transaction If they can get enough
of the settlers interested in the plan
so that they can handle the quantity
mentioned.