The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1922-03-25

The surface waters OF the State of
Nevada are today entirely appropri-
ated as far as diversion Of our
streams. springs and lakes is con
cerned. A small portion of our pos
sible storage water is also appropri-
ated and in use. These waters r
used for irrigation purposes. We r
not favored with rainfall in suffcient
quantities nor proper distribution
throughout the year to permit of sue
cessful farming. II we are to build
up our cultivated area we must re-
sort to the development Of more wat
err, and our State is fortunate in hav-
ing wonderful opportunities for de-
veloping more water by pumping,
storage and spring development. OF
lesser but definite Importance in this
problem is the matter of education of
the water users as to transportation
losses and best methods of applying
irrigation water. This is rather a
conservation of water than a develop
ment, but achieves the same result
in making more water available for
additional lands.
No attempt is made In this article
to explain the technical details of
pumping plants or operation, which
subject will be handled in a subse-
quent article.
The rains of Nevada fall for the
most part in the hills and mountains,
either missing the valleys entirely or
striking them lightly. While W have
not sufficient rain for the raising of
crops without irrigation, nature is
supplying us with water to irrigate
many times the acreage Of land which
we now do, but she has arranged 1t
that we must work for this water. Ne
vada has many fertile valleys of
thousands of acres which are under
laid by gravel strata which form un-
derground reservoirs for the precipi-
| tation draining from the sourround-
ing hills and mountains. The per-
| centage of the rain water falling in
the hills which drains to the valleys
below is dependent on several physi-
cal characteristics of the hills and on
the rate and duration of rainfall. In
hills having gentle slopes, deep soil
and much vegetation and timber only
a small percentage of the rain ever
reaches the valleys except in the case
of exceptionally heavy rains. Most
of the water is absorbed by the soil
and plant life and thereby lost to the
lower country. Nevada hills and
mountains are for the most part
steep. rocky and with a very small
amount of vegetation, and these con-
ditions promote a rapid run-off of the
waters falling on them.
The valleys below such hills are
usually underlaid by gravel strata at
shallow depths which have been
formed by the erosion Of the rock for
nations in the hills. Many suchsval-
leys exist in Nevada, where soil con
ditions, climate and accessibility com
pare very favorably with our present
cultivated areas. These conditions
are favorable for pumping and offer
our largest possible source of pump
ing water available. Water may be
successfully pumped from under
ground stream channels in certain
places, as the Humboldt river, where
the water will not rise to the surface
to permit of diversion. Large appli-
cations of irrigation water, as in the
Mason valley, create underground
reservoirs of limited size, which also
offer an opportunity for pumping. In
stallations in such localities must
however. be made with caution and
under expert advice on account of the
danger of interfering with the exist
ing irrigation.
Pumping under favorable condi-
tions has several advantages over the
normal gravity systems as seen In
Nevada. chief of which is that OF
water right or title to the water
Most of our opportunities for pump.
ing are so situated that any water
taken from the ground will not affect
in any way surface waters used fol-
irrigation purposes. This insures the
pump owner of immunity from the
prevalent disputes over water rights
Nevada has so few pumping plants
to-day that we have not yet been ser,
iously troubled with the in~terfernecs
of n pumping plant with another
which condition prevails In Califor.
mia. Colorado and other States where
pumping is extensively practiced
Court decisions in these States tend