The Fallon standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1920-1958, 1922-09-27
Want Irrigation District To Get
$150,OO0 Profit From Ten-Year
Lease of Lahontan Plant
CITY OF FALLON CLAIMS
PREFERRED RIGHT TO POWER
Water Users Demand Further As
surances of An Adequate Supply
of Water for Irrigation

A growing sentiment among wa
ter users OF the project against the
contract leasing for a ten-year peri
cd to the Canyon Power Company
the power plant at Lahontan, is in
dicated by expressions OF opinion
from all parts of the valley. The
Canyon Power Company holds a wa
ter right and dam site on the Truck
ee river near Vista and a relinqnish-
ment OF these rights is the principle
consideration agreed to in the con
tract for the lease of the Lahontan
plant The federal government Will
not undertake any work towards the
construction of the Spanish Springs
reservoir until the rights of the
Canyon company are disposed OF.
At the regular meeting Of the
Board of Directors of the Newlands
Irrigation District a motion was reg
ularly made by True Xeneili second
ed by A. A. Towle that the people
who object to the endorsement OF
the contract with the Canyon Pow
er Company put their objections in
writing SO the Board can thorough
ly understand such objections and
that the objections of the City OF
Fallon should be segregated SO they
can be considered separately. Up
on a roll call vote being taken by
the Secretary all of the Directors
voted in the affirmative on the mo-
ton.
In compliance with the request
of the irrigation district board,
prominent water users and officials
of the city OF Fallon submitted their
objections in the following com
munication which will be considered
and acted upon at the next regular
meeting OF the board:
To the Honorable Board OF Direct
ors, Newlands Irrigation District,
Fallon, Nevada.
Gentlemen: In reply TO a resolu-
tion asked by your honorable board
At recent meeting that the people
who object 10 the Endorsement OF the
contract with the Canyon Power
Company put their objections in
writing and the objections of the
City of Fallon be segregated so they
can be considered separately, the
following statement is respectfully
submitted:
AS preliminary statement we
wish TO say that we fully realize
that only through the Board of Di-
rectors can any official action be
taken or any agreement be reached
with the Reclamation Service. We
do not wish TO usnrp any of the au-
thority of the Board of Directors;
we recognize that you were selected
by a majority of the water users to
represent them in dealing with the
Reclamation office, and we wish to
10 deal with the Reclamation Office
through our Board of Directors and
we assure you that we are extreme
ly anxious to have the kindest feel
ing exist. We wish to state that
we are not necessarily opposed to
the construction of the Spanish
Springs Reservoir System. On the
contrary, we wish to go on record as
unequvoeally in its favor; provided
however. that questions OF rights Of
ownership. benefits and obligations
necessary to its construction, and
questions of the most vital import
anee to all water users supplied from
the waters of the Lahontan reser-
yoir are determined before such step
Is undertaken. The so-called ob1ee-
tors feel that they have been very
uniustly criticized for their actions
which, we assure your board were
only taken after we considered that
interests of the most vital import
ance were about to be placed in
jeopardy, that this lease with the
Power Company was the opening
wedge of a radical change in the ad-
minlstration of our affairs, that we
were railroading through a PROPOSE
tion and committing ourselves ire
voeably into what might, eventually,
lead to our losing what rights we
already possess, and to become obli-
gated to assume burdens that would
be more than we could bear.
Now to reply to your resolution
in detail, would say:
First-That taking over the oper-
alton and maintenance of the New
lands Irrigation District at as early
date as practical is probably the
most important and desirable action
that the water users can do. The
higher Reclamation officials and the
Secretary of the Interior are very
favorable to this movement and
there is no question in the minds OF
those who have given much serious
thought to the subject, that it would
be to our great advantage. Leasing
this power plant for an additional
ten years would defer this desired
object for a period of twelve years
in all probability.
Second-Although we are not dis
posed to seriously entertain the
question of disputing the title of the
Canyon Power Company to this right
on the Truckee river that they claim,
1t is an absolute fact that the valid
ity OF their claim seems TO be in very
great doubt. Mr.. VIM M. Kearney,
who was State Engineer for several
years previous to the administration