The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-03-30
Population May B
to Ten thousand
to One thousand

The proposed American Falls
reservoir is storage project and one
of the largest in the world. It's To-
cation is to the eastward Of the
American Falls Carey project COM
menced thirty years ago and reach
ing more or less definite state Of
completion after ten, twelve or
fifteen years.
Description of Reservoir
NJ The American Falls storage reser-
voir is to, be created by building a
dam across the Snake river at Ameri-
can Falls and backing the water up
to fill valley for distance of about
forty miles up and down the river
and varying in width from mile to
eight or ten miles. The area covered
being about 1875 square miles, or
somewhere between 10000 and S0,-
900 acres of land. These Dimensions
are modified again by the number of
canal companies or the number Of
people who make application for
storage rights in the reservoir, there
being about three different sets of
plans that may be acted upon in con-
struction work, namely to build it to
a capacity of 100000 acres, 2,000,-
600 acres or 100000, which is the
greatest that could be used.
If it is built to it's maximum size
of 100000 acres, it would store all
the waste water of the Snake river
drainage system above American
Falls. That is to say, If the dam was
closed at the end of any given season,
with no water in the reservoir, and
all the flow Of the river from that
time until the close of the food sea-
son in June of normal year the
reservoir would be about filled. This
contemplates that all the water users
along the stream should be drawing
their water during the spring and the
food season, so that If larger dam
were built there would be no addi-
tional water. II the reservoir were
full the water would be backed up to
within few miles Of Pocatello along
the Portneuf, and to within about
ten miles of Blackfoot, to a point
which is known as the Ferry Butte,
on the left bank of the Snake river
below Blackfoot. 1t would cover
about all of Fort Hall bottoms and
the Springfield bottoms lying be-
tween Springfield and Sterling. 1t
would submerge about $4,000 acres
Of Indian lands that are used for
grazing purposes and about $4,000
acres of other land on the right side
Of the Snake river not on the reserva-
tion. 1t would submerge great
belt of islands more or less covered
with cotton wood timber. Broken
lines of timber about twenty-five
miles long comprise good many
thousand acres.
Must Move Town
The construction of the dam and
reservoir would necessitate moving
most of the village of American Falls.
About four-ffths Of the town stands
within the reservoir site and Sec
tion of the Oregon Short Line rail-
road track. For couple of years
buying the rights-of-way has been in
progress, but only small percentage
of the property has been purchased.
The total population of the town is
1850 and the number of residences to
be moved is 344; the number of
business houses, forty-six besides
three hotels, two schools, five
churches, one hospital, six grain ele-
vators, one auur mill, and some
sheds and shacks. The railroad has
to be moved back a distance of 1900
feet and $40 acres Of land has been
bought to provide for the new town
or removal of the old town to the
new location on high ground to the
eastward of the present town. The
new railroad track is to run along
Continued on page eight
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