White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-12
IRRIGATION ENGINEER
BEFORE FARM BUREAU

&c N1INUED FROM AGE cNE.)
lions, and only a careful study of
the conditions will permit of an in
stallation which will balance the frs.
cost and operating cost at a mini
mum. At a pumping depth of twenty
feet one make of pump may be the
best, while at thirty feet another
make would be the best.
The spo;ting of the well, the per
manence of the water supply as ad~
Judged from the. adjacent watershed
and the we'll test, the permissible
pumping depth under existing mar
ket conditions. transportation and
crops to be raised are all features
needful of study by an engineer II
the best results are to be obtained.
Nevada offers opportunity for .he
irrigation of thousands of acres of
land by pumping If the projects are
intelligently ana c~ompetently con-
structed.
Nevada is fortunate in having
thousands of springs which are ca
pable of development at a decided
profit. In this as in other lines of
water development expert advice is
needed Il the most gain is to be had
for the dollars and the labor invest
ed. Springs issuing from rocks. grav-
ell, side hills or flats and hot or cold
J springs all require different methods
of development. and the best method
/ can only be found by a careful and
experienced study of the existing con-
ditions. A thousand dollars spent
wrongly on a spring may bring no
results. where a hundred dollars
spent properly will net a large in
GREASE in the flow. As an example
of tile possibilities OF this line OF
work I will cite o the development
of two springs in the eastern part of
the state which | supervised last
year These springs we're warm and
of a constant flow, so constant. in
fact, that they had not changed dur
ing the thirty years they have been
In use. nor had the owners made any
attempt to increase the flow. The
spreading of propaganda for several
months was necessary before | could
convince the owners that they had
better than a gamester's chance to
make a good profit by spending a
little money. As a result we spent
S263.l0 and developed water to the
value of over $4,000. And this val
uaticn was a minimum under the ex-
isting selling price (the owners being
incorporated cooperative irrigation
Icompaniesl. There was an actual de-
mand for the water at much higher
prices These springs lying die for
all these years accent the fact that a
man will sometimes live his whole
life a%strad6le of a golden opportuni-
ty without knowing II, where a
stranger or a man familiar with The
particular work will readily grasp
and promote the opportunity. Spring
development Is a potential source of
, much water for this state and a here
! tofore neglected line which IL would
, be we'll for us to prosecute with dill
|, gence
/ We have in Nevada many fine
) streams along the slopes of our
mountains which reach the fer
J tile lands in the valleys below. or IL
they do reach these lands they do so
for a period insufficient to permit Of
! the raising of crops. Many of these
streams flow a large amount of water
in the mountains in the summertime
but not enough to reach the lands
one, two or three miles away. the
water being lost by seepage and eyap-
Grafton while crossing the interven-
! ing gravel slopes. The piping or fun
ing of many of these stream Is finan-
cially feasible and many are not feas-
! ible. Whether oil not this piping or
1uming will be profitable is a ques-
ton that can only be answered by
! careful study on the part OF a rep
} utable engineer.
! Drainage, while not primarily n
method of developing water. Is so in
many instances In addition to MAX
ing tillable lands otherwise worthless.
While this state is generally o
sldered a desert We In reality have
! thousands of acres which are swamps
! or so waterlogged as to be useless for
farming; also large areas. such as
Mason valley, are becoming waterlog-
I, ged to such an extent hat drainage
} Is absolutely necessary. Simply dig
I. ging a ditch on a grade through a
farm will not necessarily make effect
i've drainage. Effective drainage TO-
J quires a careful study of the subsur-
face conditions by borings in order to
J locate the strata of sand, gravel, clay
and loan which. with other things,
will affect the location, size. depth
and cross-section of the drains An
engineer Is the only one competent
to render a decision on the construc-
} ton of drains and determine whether
or not the cost will be desirable re-
lated to the benefits.
The education of the water user In
! the best methods of irrigation IL a
way to save water, which amounts to
the same thing as developing new
} water. The value OF correct water
measurements by methods both prac-
tical and economical for the farmer
cannot he overestimated. You are
all familiar with the never-ending
squabbIes over water which come
from lack of or poor weir installa-
lions. Few farmers know how to
build efficient. cheap and durable
h%endgates and checks. II Is safe tc
say that half the farmers buying wa