FEBRUARY, 19 1 1. 2s7
narrow and consequently deepen the niain channel by forcing it to scour itself out. It lias been decided to have the niacliiiie ant1 repair shops retained at Fort Stevens. on the Oregon side. because of the heuvy espenditures involved in their reniovul to tlie Washington shore.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Many of the observers reportetl that the iiionl,li was very bright and colcl, with but 1itt.le moisture, most of
which fell in the forin of snow, so t.lint in ninny localities t.he de th of SnOW on the ground is g.reaf.er t.linn usunl, no twi t. P is t antling the. clefic.ienc,y in prec ipi t. ;I t.ion. During the first five days of tbe month n severe st,orni prevailecl in west,ern hhntunn wliicli blocked t,he t.raf€ ic on t.lie Great Nort.liern Railway between Esses iiiid Summit., immedintely west of t.he C’onthent.al Divide. Hail and
sleet occiirrecl in inany places west of the Cn.sc,ndes on various clntes. Solw 1iaIm were reconled tLt n few pliwes on the ’7th. nncl lunar halos were observed in nii~iy pluces on tbe Gt.11, 7t.11, St,h, niid Mh. Tli~uitlerst,t.,riiis ciccurred
at C’orvnllis, Oreg., iin the 11th. nlid at. Port Oifortl,
Oreg., on tlie 13t.h. The following high winds were re- corcletl : Nort.11 Head, Wash., S4 miles sout,lienst., on t.lie 13th; Tatoosli Island, Wash., G2 miles southenst,, on t,lw 13th; .Peatt.le, IVnali., 4s miles sout.li. on the 1311; P I ~I - t.ello, ldalio, -E miles sout.liwest,. 011 the 211; Wnlla Wdln, Wash., 39 niiles sout,licast, uii the 1Wi; a n c l I ~c ~i s t o n , Iilaho, 34 miles west, on t,lie 3il. The premiling ilirect.icm of the wind was from t.lie soutliwest.
IRRIGATION IN IDAHO.
By S. H. HAYS.
Idaho during t,he last five years has prolmbly been the scene of greater irrigation development thitn m y of the other Western States. Owing to special ntlvnntnges in t.he way of water supply, privAt,e inrest,ors as well ns the Government have been attracted to the southern port.ion
of the f3t.at.e. The Boise-Payetle nntl llinitlolia wojec.ts
nohble of those undei-taken by t.he Government. The so-called Carey Act. which lins been largely respon- sible for Idaho irrigation clevelopment,, was first. enncted in 1S91, ancl provided tlint 1,000,000 acres of land shoulcl he grant,etl to each of the States .in the arid region con- ditioned upon their securing the irrighon and recltinin- tion of these lands. In 1896 it was provided t.hat t.he State niight c.rente a lien against. the sepnrntt lepd sub-
divisions of land to be reclainied for the cost and espenses of reclamation. Originally the act expired by a 10-year limitation, which prevented any large use being made of
it, but by tlie act of March 3, 1901, it was yroviclerl that the 10-year period of time should be so estendecl t.liat the State might have 10 years in which to reclaim each project. In order to cariy out tlie terms of the act, it was provided by St.nte legislt1,tion t.liat t,he ,- ’it. ate Board
of Land Conimissioners should consider the proposnls of
private persons or corporations for t.lie constmct.ion of the necessary irrigation works, that t,liey sliould fis t,he amount of the lien upon the lniicl ant^ s!iould provide for the construction of t.he works under St.ate supervision and the u1tiinat.e turning over of the works to t.he set.t.lers. This plan provided Rate supervision, const.irict.ion 1)s a
private corporation, and ult,imnte niunicipa.1 ownership. The St,at.e statute being broad in its t,eimis perniitt.ed t,lie St.ate Land Board a wide 1itt.itude in nialiing contrnct.s
so that the board might make each contract to fit tlie particular conditions in each case.
in the southern portion of the St.nt.e are. ainong t. 1 ie iiiost
T\VIN FALLS SOUTH SIDE PROJECT.
The most estensive of the earlier works to be con- structed under tlie terms of this act in the State of Idaho
was the project of the Twin Falls Land & Wator Co. This
coiiipany entered into a contract with trlie State of Idaho in t’lie year 1903 for tlie construction of the irrigation sys- teni now covxed by wliat is generally known ns the Twin Falls South Side Project. The contract called for tlie construction of n clam in Snake R.iver a t the resent town
nn elnborate system of laterals. C’onstruction was rushed
as fast n?,possible, a.iicl wster wits first turned into the canal Maic i 1, 1905. The clam by which mater is diverted froiii S n :h H.iver is a.pl)rosiiiintely 3,000 feet long and
SO feet high at its highest, point. It, is of the type known as rock-filled, being conat,ructd of Iwge bowlders with ertrth and grn.vel sluiced in. The width up and down strenm of t,he rock sectioii is approsiniat,ely 100 feet, the tot,til width wit11 t,he eorth facing being 450 feet,. The
clnni lins been in use for fire years and 110s given escellent satisfnction. Two siiinll rocky islniicls in the center of the stream form ii part, of t,he dnni. On t.op of one of these islands nre 99 ga.tes, foriiiing the principn.1 spillway. On top of the other d t i i l i l a c0ncret.e weir wit,li flashboards furnishes
mi adilit~ionnl spillway for est,reiiie high water. The entire irrigation syst,eni called for untler t,6e contract wit.li t.he Stn.te was const.irict.er1 wit.liin the five-year period, and
the \f-orlis were in the fall of 1909 turned over to tlie set- tlers, a corporntion composed of the settlers having been organized for that purpose. These works cover an area of 315,000 acres, approsinintely 150,000 acres of which are already in cultivn tion. The growt>li of towns has been rapid. In colonizing tlie tract it. wa.s soon fount1 that unless towns were estab- lished the settlement of t,he country would be greatly retmdetl. The town of Twin Falls, the wincipal town on t,lie
l h r c h , 1905, now has a popula.tion of over 7,500. It has electric. lighte, telephone system, wnterworks, a.11 escellen t sewer spteni, mil is now paving n considerable portion of its st.reets. A court.Iiouse, costing$150,000, is in t,he course of constiiiction : two hotels, costing to esceetl $100,000 each, are already built nntl open to the public: and at the last session of Congress %10,000 was a pro riatecl for the
t,o each farm. Tlie average Iand1ioldin.g is now GS acres,
a change t4hat necessarily results from the fact t,hat irri- gation calls for intensive cultivation. There are now living in towns OR this tract in t,he neighborhood of 10,000
of Milner, n ni2iin cniial approsiinntely SO mi .T es long, and
tract, which had less t.han 200 inha A itmts on the 1st of
purpose of nircha.sing a she for a Fei P \ era1 uilcling. Original f andholdings on t,he tract averrgecl 120 acres
pcople.
TWIN FALLS NORTH SIDE PROJECT.
Tlie nest in point of time and the greatest in niagnitude is the project of tlie Twin Fnlls Nort,li Side Land & Water Co. The works of this compnny t’nke water from the north end of the llilner Dam above tlescribed through a
caiial exteiitling in a northwesterly direction a distance of 97 miles nncl having also a lateral qysteni covering severnl hundred miles. The area under this cannl is approxi- mately 230,000 acres. Very heavy work WRS encountered in building tlie fiist 4 miles of tmlie main canal on this proj- ect, and in order to secure efficient service this section of tlie cannl was lined with concrete, giving it a capacity of
3,350 cubic feet per seconcl. Tlie normal flow of Snake River in ordinary yeais is G,000 second-feet up to the 15th or 20th of July. In order to supplement this supply,
288 MONTIILT WEATHER REVIEW. FEBRUARY, 1911
160,000 acre-feet of water is to be hpoundecl in reservoirs for use on this project. Water waa h t turned into the canals on this project during the season of 1909, and figures as to the acreage under cultivation are not yet avalable. Like the South Side Project, the original landholdings averaged about
120 acres, but the average present size of fnilns is not in excess of 80 acres. rincipal towns on the project are Jerome and Wendel , each having a opulation of between tl thousand and fifteen hundred. ach of these towns has hotels costing from $60,000 to $70,000, electric lights, water- works, and telephone service. They have railroacl con-
nection over tlie Idaho Southern Railroad with the Oregon Short Line a t Gooding, a t~hriving t.own of 1,500
eople 'ust a t the edge of the project, and the Oregon [hort J h e is now building an atlditional line of r o d through the tract extending from Bliss to Rupert. The towns of Bliss and Hagerriian, with a population of 500
each, were already established before the building of the irrigation works. The company construct.ing this project has a corn letely equipped agricultural department in charge o P experts whose business it is to study the local conditions and advise tlie fnrniers as to the best methods to be used in the cultivation of cro s. Obser- vations as to weather conditions a.re also tagen in con- nection with this department.
The
E P
SALMON RIVER PROJECT.
The main feature of this project is the great Salnion River Dam, a concrete masonry structure rising to a
height of 220 feet above the rock fouiidrttion upon whicli it stands. Ita upstream face is curved in plan to R ra.dius of 225 feet, thus forming a horizontal arch with abut- ments in the solid rock sides of the canyon. It is so
constructed that an aniple factor of safety is obtained. The site is partic.darly adapted to this type of clam. A dike of especially hard lava crosses tlie canyon a t this point. The Salmon Falls River, from wliich the water
IS taken, flows through a bos canyon with lava sides. Above the dam there IS a widening o f this canyon so tlirtt the reservoir will have a superficitd area of 3,500 acres when the water level in it is a t the mrt-simuni flow linc. The outlet from the reservoir is a concrete-lined tunnel having a sectiona.1 area of 110 square feet and n cnpncity of 1,250 cubic feet per second. The mouth of the tminel is so located that 1S0,OOO acre-feet of the waters ini- pounded in the reservoir can be utilized when the reser- voiris flled. The outlet tunnel turns immediately beyond the portal and extends approximately 1,300 feet parallel with the canyon. Beyond tlis tunnel is 2,243 feet of open canal that terminates in the second tunnel 2,258 feet
long.
Tlie main canal lias a camcity of 1,350 cubic feet per
acres of this jr0jec.t. Seventsy per cent of the dam at Water WRS furnished for the use of settlers during tlie mst season. Eighty
settlers. This iiiost interesting work lias been in charge of F. C. Horn, constructing engineer, and A. J. Wiley, consulting engineer, both of whoin have heretofore been employed in similar capacities by the United States Reclamation Service.
second. The canals alreac I y conutructed cover 100,000
this time is a f ready constructed.
tliousand acres of tlie land have a. I ready been taken by
TWIN FALLS OARLEY PROJECT.
The const.ruct,ion of this project calls for the building of a clam across Goose Creek at a point about 3 miles above the town of Oakley. There is an unusually fine body of land in this locality, and the building of irrigation works to cover this tract has been under consideration by various persons at different times for the last 30 ycnrs. The clam now under construction is of the earth type with a concrete core wall. Its tot,al length along the top is a little over 1,100 feet. The da.m litis n total height at the highest point of 149 feet, being the highest daiii of t,liis type in this country. The canals in connection with this work mill cover rn area of 60,000 acres. With tlie esception of probably 5,000 acres, the land is already taken. The plans for this project call for one of the most effective and up-to-date irrigation plants yet constructed in tlie State. Tlie worlrs are particularly designed to procure a high duty of water. The general character of the soil on all of the projects nanieil above is what is common1 known as volcanic nsh,
for alfalfa which when planted acts as a fertdizer and atlds the necessary humus. The water right on tliese projects to which tlie settler is entitled varies from one-hundred th to one-eightieth of a second-foot per acre, but this is a masimum only, the sett.ler being entitIec1 to so much water only as his crops require under a rotation system. An economical and efficient use of water is provided for. The duty of water varies with tlie nature of tlie crop and the c.liaracter of the. soil. An escellent crop of oats has been raised with one irrigat-ion, but in a iiinjority of years probably two irrigations would be required for grain crops. Alfalfa ancl other grass crops require more mater. On most of the area included in these irojects tliree crops of alfalfa are annually obtained. Tke Oakley Project lias been found specially valuable for sugar beets. All of the tracts are suitable for general farming. rojects are notable for speedy construction,
a pa.rtkmlnrly fert,ile and vduab f e soil especially suitable
These rapid sett P enient, and quick and efficient reclamation. .