The Fallon standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1920-1958, 1924-05-14
Reno Meeting Reviewed
By DIRECTORS to New Unit
Water Board Committee Submits Its
Reply to Proponents of Spanish
Springs Reservoir

On Tuesday evening, May 9Th, we
as appointed representatives of the
Truckee-C Carson irrigation district OF
the Newlands project, attended a
meeting held in the rooms of the
chamber of commerce at Reno, pre-
sided over by Governor Scrugham,
supposedly a get together meeting on
common plan for further develop
ment of irrigation on the Newlands
project This meeting, no doubt, was
called at the instance OF John f.
Richardson, superintendent of ditch
es of the Newlands project, an office
of the u. s. bureau of reclamation,
and Governor Scrugham. Mr.. Rich
ardson announced In Reno that II
was up to him to get people together
on a common plan OF deveopment.
The call of the meeting in the press
of Carson City disclosed the disturb
ing fact that the get-together feature
was omitted. The call was for those
opposed to Spanish Springs storage,
evidently intending to put those de-
string real flood storage, actual ex-
tension of irrigation and power on
the defensive. The proof of 1t seems
to be the boast of the Nevada State
Journal in its editorial of May s. The
assumption upon the part of the
Journal that the burden of collect
ing data would rest upon those op-
posing Spanish Springs is in line with
its usual policy of fairness. 1t is in
line with the duties of the bureau of
reclamation to at least collect the
necessary data for storage sites and
if they have the authority to spend
thousands of dollars investigating
worthless sites that the water users
ere opposed to, they should at least
be able to collect sufficient data to
establish the worth of any site that
the water users may look upon with
favor.
At this meeting of the 9Th the
roponents of widest extension of ir-
rigation and power for all Nevada
showed that the U. s. reclamation
service by its official annual reports
committed itself to the reclamation
of $4,000 acres of and in the val
leys of the Truckee and the Carson
of which $4,000 acres we're to be in
the valleys north of Reno itself
Neither the presiding officer nor any
other proponent of Spanish Springs
offered to explain the desire to deny
he he, &c fn o.. =,
by the extension of its irrigated area
by over 800 per cent. 1t was further
shown by these annual reports that
the reclamation service had been
committed for 19 years to upstream
storage on the Truckee, to Alkali
Flat reservoir on the Carson and to
further upstream storage on the Car
son be determined later Extracts
were read from these official reports
showing progressive abandonment of
features though no explanations were
given nor any reports of consulting
boards quoted to authorize such.
The complete debacle of abandon
ment was reached in one of the last
reports announcing without explana-
ton or report the Spanish Springs
reservoir plan that permits of prof.
ect of only 100000 acres instead OF
the originally proposd plans of the
engineers for $4,000 acres.
The meeting was entirely con-
struetiye for it was proposed to go
ahead with necessary studies that
would disclose the possibility of go-
ing through with the original plan
for full development instead of the
plan of abandonment proposed by
the Spanish Springs advocates. In
spite of the early studies 1t was even
shown that two great reSeI voirs cap
able of controlling and storing the
widest floods of the Truckee still
remain to be surveyed and reported
upon. These are the Boca-Proseer
site capable of a million acre feet of
storage and of the Lennon valley
site just north of Reno that could
hold up to 100000 acre feet. The
came out that the costs of these
works could be largely betrayed by
the development of $1,000 to 10000
horse power Of electric energy, so
tightening the burden of charges that
would have to be met by the irriga-
ton farmer. Like possibilities on the
Carson were not so fully gone into
yet 1T Is officially admitted that all
these plans of the service on that
river now stand as abandoned mere
" because some private parties OBJ
jected to the government using Its
priorities of 1902 and carrying
through the proposed works for the
Newlands project.
In view of the announcement Of
the U. S. reclamation service for 19
years of the intention to construct
upstream storage both on the True