The Fallon standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1920-1958, 1924-02-13
The Nevlands Irrigation Project

Or do you want him to get the Fact
Finding Commission to find out the
facts and tell you the truth Of what
Is the best to do?
Returns from Power and Pasture
Should Reduce or Entirely Elim-
mate Our Operation and
Maintenance Charges
The Salt River project has paid all
its o. & M. charges from its power
returns and has a quarter of mil
lion dollars in reserve in the bank.
Our charges are excessive We should
reduce them at once by managing our
own project and cutting off all gov
ernment overheads as Salt River has
done. But even so, charges will re-
main relatively high under continu-
ing high costs of present conditions.
Our relief Is to develop our power
and to develop our 20,000-acre pas
ture as first proposed and urged up
ON us by DR.. Elwood Mead himself of
the Fact Finding Commission. The
far sighted vision of DR.. Mead point
ed out that the Carson Lake Com
munity Pasture could become the
backbone of our stock interests. The
rapidly developing waste waters of
our deep drains provide us supply
of our own Immediately at hand and
steps should be taken at once to de-
velop this resource and reduce our
| charges.
We cannot say how much power
| will be at our command under a
proper project extension but the De-
partment of Agriculture Report
showed that thousands of horse
power are available. but as to that,
we must depend upon the skill of
reliable engineers in devising the
best scheme. Heat as we'll as light
end energy, will be available to us II
we develop our own power and there
is no doubt from present available
reports that there is sufficient for
project four or five times the size of
ours.
Our Demand for Extension of the
Project Both In Land and Power
for Costs Feasible to
the Settler
The Reclamation Service first pro-
posed to reclaim $50. 900 acres un-
der the Truckee and Carson rivers.
but II winds up with a proposal for
only 100000 acres. Could the cost
| do anything else than rise from $50
to 1925 per acre? VIII the Bureau
of Reclamation assume the RESPONSE
bility without investigation of put
ting this load and curse upon our
shoulders for generations to come?
OR will 1t live up TO the hopes put In
our hearts of the great possibilities
before us as shown us by the splendid
vision of Secretary Work?
We Demand Flood Storage
We still have the $4,000 acres of
land; we still have the water in the
rivers. We have dozens OF reservoirs
on the Truckee and the Carson to
hold the floods. to generate power
and to lrrigate the lands. The pos
sibilities are still there.
Up to the Fact Finding Commission
We believe we are entirely proper
in demanding the Fact Finding Com
mission, the Bureau of Reclamation
and Secretary Work that a complete
study be made of the feasibility of
restoring the old Truckee-Carson
project to its original estimate of
$4,000 acres TO the end that feas-
ible cost to the settler be made pos
/ arf 80
ject may be carried out as contracted
for with us. that the benefits of
power may be made available to us,
and that we here and those still to
come may be assured of a project
on which we will be able to return
to the revolving Reclamation Fund
all the funds expended.
We have stated our position for
our critics and we would now like to
have 1t as frankly and publicly met
by our Project Manager and some of
| the Board who are so firmly COM
mitted now to SO small scheme as
the Spanish Springs proposal that
they refuse to investigate or to en-
tertain the possibility of any better,
bigger plan from among the wealth
OF our storage and power sites for
protecting us in our welfare and the
state in its birthright to the develop
ment of its arid land and the revolv-
ing Reclamation fund in its returns
under the law.
We feel secure In our own position
and that the Fact Finding Commits
sion and Secretary Work will give
the original plans OF development of
this project and the State of Nevada
thorough investigation and complete
surveys and reports by capable engi-
neers eager to develop our resources
to their full actual possibilities.
I. II. KENT,
F.. M. WIGHTMAN,
THOMAS COLF,
GEO. d. ERNST,
]. w. FREEMAN CO.,
BY Geo. II. Chester.