The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1924-06-26
UPPER VALLEY TO
DONATE WATER TO
SAVE NORTH SIDE
Canal Companies Turn
Back Water for Use
of Dry Area

has been facing a crop failure fol
want of water for one irrigation al
about the last of June. They have
planted and got their crops along as
far as they could, and were shut out
completely. They had not even wat.
! er to run through their bitches foI
domestic use, for watering the COWS
and chickens nor for the kitchen. 1t
has been considered too expensive to
drill wells so deep through lava,
and they have been using cisterns,
and now when cisterns go dry they
take tank wagon and haul it from
the nearest canals, store 1t in the
cisterns and draw it from there to
use. That includes the celebrated
Jerome country, nicknamed Joyful
Jerome, always optimistic and in
dustrious--the Jerome country that
faced failure and got their hackers,
the bonding company, to ship in
dairy cows and receive the pay on
the installment plan from the milk
checks and for two or three seasons
they have been rebuilding their shat
tered fortunes on that plan. Now
comes the season of 1924 with a
knockout blow due to having no wat
er to finish off the crops that are
in the making.
Comes now the Upper Snake River
valley, through some OF its thought
full men and leaders and they said
that what had been done among
neighbors in 1915 and 1919 to save
crops by loaning or donating water
to those who we're short, might be
the way to save the Twin Falls North
Side tract in 1924. The upper val
ley is short of water too, but nearly
everybody has economical on water
by taking better care of it in irri-
cation than ever before, and 1t was
found that crops were never in bet
ter condition as to moisture than in
June, 1924, 80 some Of the leading
spirits wired representative men OF
the Twin Falls North Side tract to
come up and see II something could
not be arranged by which to hand
them a canalful of water for eight |
days. They came running.
A meeting of canal directors was
held at Idaho Falls and it was pro-
posed to pool the water of all canal
companies for eight days, using the
channel of Snake river for the pool,
each canal donating it's flow for two
days and thus holding the pool steady
from day to day and from night to
night, and tells Joyful Jerome to
take drink on us.
On roll call many canals reported
their lands we'll watered and in con-
dition to spare the water for two
days, and some of them said 1t would
do the canals good to dry them up
two days to kill the moss growing in
them, and people could clean their
laterals of trash and distractions,
and clean their branch bitches and
get better efficiency when the wat
ar started again. One canal after
another responded with the gift, and
1t the close of the session X. E.
Shepherd, the chief irrigator and
larry cow advocate of Jerome, was
.ushing around with tears in his
Eyes thanking directors for saving
he homes of his people. He said
many of them were packing up to
cave, and he would wire them to
lold on, to stay with their crops, to
emember that they had some big
,rothers two hundred miles up the
alley.
Some of the directors said they
would call meetings of their stock )
lOlu0I6 anu 6c0 WAdL W 90 thOAA WAo~A :
nd the possibilities for making the
Donation without gripping them,
ut in most cases the crops were 9
retty well watered and the pros I
ect was good.
The BlackfoOt Meeting.
On Saturday afternoon similar I
1eeting was held at Blackfoot, and 2
he whole situation was gone over. '
ohm E. Kelley of Shelley, repre- Q
ented the Idaho Irrigation district,
nd he spoke at considerable length. Il
V. o. Cotton and ]. c. Jacobson of $
daho Falls, added their observa- v
ions, and ]. r. Williams, G. A. En- a
lie, Ed. Kirwin, Louis Felt, j. G. r
'ond, w. G.. Sollenberger, N. P. e
Byrd Trego, Lewis Rob- y
ms, F. T. Halverson and others =
'ent over all phases of the subject, =
hiding heavy preponderance OF
easons why the upper valley should "