The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1921-01-27


estimate that water can be put on the
lands of the Kennewick project two
years after construction begins, and
mot five years as enormously charged
by the writer of your special articles.
The wild statement of your writer to
the effect that lands in this project
are $50 feet above the nearest water
is SO far from the truth as to be alb
solutely absurd. Page 1, Section 2, of
the U. S. reclamation report contains
this statement: "The elevation of the
lands ranges from 400 to 700 feet
above SEA LEVEL Does your cor
respondent mean to say that to irri-
gate these lands it will be necessary
to pump water from a point so feet
below the level of the sea? This
statement is but typical of the loose
maner in which your writer has hand
led salient facts in connection with
this project.
IF the board pursues its past policy
it will pay the present owners $50 an
acre for this SIS land" says your writ
er. Nothing could be further from the
truth. We wish to refer you to the
contract between the Kennewick Irri-
cation district and the state reclama-
ton board, copy of which may be had
from the secretary of the district,
from the state board, or from this club.
The contract speaks for itself. No.
where does it contain so much as an
inference that the state will purchase
any lands at any price. It does pro-
vide that before the project is under
taken every land owner must sign an
agreement fixing the maximum sale
price of lands within the project at $50
an acre. This precaution was taken
to protect the prospective settler
against the land SPECTATOR. /.
The first article in the Spokesman
Review contained a statement that the
state board had guaranteed the inter-
est on the districts bonds to the ex-
tent of 100000. Not only is this
statement false, but nothing of the
kind was ever contemplated or thought
of. Such guarantee was not even
discussed except to the extent that
when negotiations were first opened,
the state board informed the district
that it would be impossible for the
state to legally guarantee the inter-
est on the bonds of this or any other
irrigation district, and so far as this
district is concerned this question was
not given a second thought.
Under the contract the state is not
obliged to expend one dollar on the
Kennewick project without full reim-
bursement from the district. The
state is not obligated to finance the
project nor to purchase the districts
bonds, nor was it ever understood that
the board would do so. The contract
is merely q cooperative agreement
between the two boards in which the
state undertakes to assist in financing
the district. That is, it was thought
that through the cooperation of the
safe board the districts bonds would
be made more saleable on he open
market. The districts motive in en-
tering into the contract with the state
was to hasten the construction Of the
project rather than to further wait
upon the slow processes of securing
appropriation. The
states board motive obviously was to
become identified with project of
known merit and feasibility, one
backed by the best engineering talent
Of. the nation.
In closing we wish to again en-
phasize:
1. The Kennewick project is not an
irrigation scheme of doubtful merit
Matched by the state reclamation
board. It is one of the uncompleted
units of the U. S. government Yak
ina project.
2. The method of irrigation, plans,
soil classifications, cost es-
Inmates and other data, is not the
work of the state reclamation board
but of the U. S. reclamation engi-
neers.,
8. That the state board did not
guarantee any interest on Kennewick
bonds, and it was not considered.
4. That the state board is under
no obligation to purchase any of the
irrigation districts bonds and it was
never understood that it should be so
obligated.
5. That is state board is not bound
by any contract with the district which
will require the use of state funds,
other than small amount for the
completion Of the survey for which
the state will be fully reimbursed.
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