Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-11-02
8 ACRE-FEET OF
WATER NEEDED
SAY The USERS
Talk Things Over
at Meeting
COMPROMISE PLAN
rs SUGGESTED
Can Users and Company Get To-
gether?-Money Needed to Put
System in Condition to De-
liver Needed Supply

liver Needed Supply
The future of the Mountain Home
project depends upon the delivery of
three acre feet of water per acre to
! the land. This was the consenses
of opinion of those who met to talk
over the water situation Monday
night at the office of O. e. NOrell.
S. e. Brady, one of the officers
the Mountain Home Cooperative Ir
rigation Company, was in town and
was invited to the meeting. Mr..
Brady said that he could not speak
officially for the company or those
interested in the bonds outstanding
against the company or the holders
of the mortgages of the settlers but
he felt sure that if an irrigation dis
trict was formed a plan could be-
worked out whereby the water users
and the irrigation company and the
others interested could agree upon
a plan whereby the water users could
take, over the system and deliver
More water to their lands. The cost
Of this would have to be determined
by a competent engineer as well as
the amount of additional water that
IS available. Several engineers have
gone over the storage system late
iy and it is thought that 100000 to
100000 would be required to put
the system in shape to deliver all
the water that could be stored.
Alex Mcpherson, bond man from
Twin Falls, was present and ex-
planned to the meeting the different
steps necessary to form a district.
He said that attorneys would have
to be employed to see that all legal
steps were followed out so there
gwould be no question of the bonds
not selling if the district decided to
vote them and buy the irrigation sys
TEN. He also explained that al |
though the district was formed that |
the bonds would not have to be vot-
ed and the water system taken over
unless a satisfactory arrangement |
could be made with the irrigation |
company for the purchase of the
system.
Arrangements can be made, it is |
quite sure, whereby there will not |
be any expense to the district for |
the cost of the preliminary work |
and the holding of the election un-
less the district is formed. The at
torneys can be secured as well as
the engineer upon the agreement |
that they will receive no pay unless
the district is formed.
Mr.. Mcpherson put three ques-
tiOns to the meeting:
How much water is necessary to
irrigate this land? The general
opinion was three acre-feet.
Is the water available? After
some discussion all seemed to feel
that if Long Tom dam was raised
enough to hold all the runoff of Can
yon creek, which would require the
raising of the dam about fifteen feet
and the enlarging of Camas canal,
that enough water could be stored
to successfully irrigate the land un-
der the project.
How much can the water users
pay? There was considerable dis
cussiOn on this point, and consider
able talk of things of the past. Mr.
spoke up here and said:
Gentlemen, are you going to 90 on
over the past or are you
going to get together and do some-
thing? That is the thing to decide,
and unless you get together and for
get the past and let bygones be by
cones and sit down and figure this
hing out in a business-like manner
you will continue as you have in the
past and not get anywhere. Let's
get together and talk this thing over
md work out some definite plan for
he success of this project"
Mr.. McEachern said: with two
lcre-feet we can just make living
But with three acre-feet we can make
iome money and we can afford to
,ay something, how much / cannot I
ay, but we will have 10 do some /
hing to get more water or quit"
Mr. Heimbaugh said: I'VE have
o do something and do it quick, and
district seems to be the most feas-
bic plan"
The question of how the improve |
nents would be paid for was dis
ussed and ii was suggested that a
,ond issue be voted for the balance
-ue the irrigation company and sold,
he necessary money spent to put the
ystem in shape TO deliver the three
Icre-feet, and the balance paid to /
he irrigation company. After some d
discussion it was shown that this s
would not be possible, as the irriga- .
ion company does not guarantee to {
eliVer three acre-feet, but only two e
.cre-feet; also the paid-up rights y
yould be just as much benefited as
hose that were not paid, and there I
ore should pay their share. The d
onds would have to be assessed t
gainst the property benefited and d
My in such amount as the actual
enefit amounted to. If a man owes 4
10 on his water mortgage he would {
only be assessed this amount to pay e