The Bingham County news. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1918-1930, 1923-01-26
RESERVOIR WILL BE ONE OF IR.
RIGATION WONDERS OF WORLD
COST ESTIMATED AT ABOUT
$9,O0O,0O0.
(By GUY FLENNER)

Falls north and south side tracts as
the dominant acreage. The district
was formed to aid in financing the
reservoir project, which is to be car
ried on comparatively by the govern
rment and this and other districts and
companies that will contract for stor-
age water.
The theory behind the effort to date
is to utilize through storage whatever
may be necessary Of the present
waste water in the Snake river to give
an ample supply to cultivated tracts
first of all After they have been sup
piled to the extent of their needs, to
prevent periodical water shortage
and crop losses any surplus water will
be available for new tracts.
Much of the storage in the reser
voir as present contemplated will be
used to supplement the present water
supply of cultivated tracts.
The governments interest is in
what is known as the Minidoka extern
sion of $4,000 acres for which it will
take $4,000 acre feet of storage in the
RESERVOIR.
immensely of Work
The immensely of this reservoir may
be visualized in the statement that
it will be among the worlds wonders
as a means of water storage.
There will be only three comparable
reservoirs, one on the Euphrates, one
on the Nile and one created by the
Gatun dam at Panama, which is not
an irrigation project.
The American Falls, or Idaho, res
ervoir will, therefore, attract not only
national but international attention.
The floor of the reservoir will con-
tain $4,000 acres when the project is
extended to the full capacity Of g.
600, 900 acre feet All preliminaries are
based on the maximum reservoir.
A valuable contrast is made posi-
BILE by the statement that the maxi
mum storage at Arrow Rock is 270,-
900 acre feet
Cost of Construction
Government engineers have uni
formly estimated reservoir costs high
er than the actual cost. Arrow Rock
reservoir was estimated at $6,OO0,O0O;
the cost was $4,600,000. A somewhat
relative spread occurred as to the
Jackson Lake reservoir. 1t is felt that
estimates on the American Falls are
higher than the actual cost will be.
Based on these estimates and using |
round numbers for convenient arith-
metic, the cost of the American Falls |
reservoir, as to the first unit of l.
100000 acre feet will be 100000 or
Sc, an acre foot. This cost includes
all the preliminaries, including foun-
dalton, moving the town of American
Falls, the railroad, ETC., for the pres
emit town will be submerged for the
most part.
For such a reservoir storage the
height of the dam will be rs feet Ad-
lition of 20 to rs feet will double the
or make the reservoir 3,000,-
100 acre feet at a relatively small cost
around three to four million dollars.
In order to equalize the cost, and
,lace present and future contractors e
or storage water on the same cost l.
,asis all contracts will provide that n
hose coming in later, and getting top t
lights in the reservoir must pay the t
anne acre foot charge. However, the
Inference between these payments T.
nd the actual cost of the added con- L
truction will be refunded pro rata to e
he contractors, including the govern IL
lent
MANY careless and misleading state q
lents have been made as to the cost p
f this reservoir. l read one recently q
hat it would cost S4o,0OO,0o0 and II
rould serve $50, 900 acres. That would
epresent charge on the land Of ov- II
r $3.50 an acre for storage water m
lone, quite as absurd as it is impos- II
ble. u
Benefits of Project Fl
The benefits Of the undertaking CT
it'll special emphasis to the Snake
ver valley, whose previous water w
lortages have been terribly costly. al
nough has been lost through water
lortages in that valley alone to build
lree or four American Falls reser- to
,irs to the maximum capacity OF
900, 1000 acre feet.
A general stimulation Of business in
] lines, notably agriculture, will re- ID
lit.
The organization of the district just
rmed has already exerted that in
lence to an extent hardly expected
soon by putting new life into the
,ople, embuing them with the old
aho spirit, getting them headed out er
the rut
With an ample water supply to meet Nj
shortages, values will be stabil-
I'd and land sales at a profit made
ore possible than at present because
an existing handicap, quite as dam Sh
ing as faulty title.
This means more population, more
more wealth, and in con- We
quence, lowering of taxation. FIR
Cap Stone of the Arch tw