HE Reclamation Service was created by law of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat., 388), authorizing the survey and construction of irrigation works for reclaiming the arid lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, from the proceeds arising from the sale and disposal of public lands; the operations of this law were extended to portions of Texas, by Act of Congress, February 25, 1905 (33 Stat., 814).

The Reclamation Service is under the jurisdiction of Honorable E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, who approves all matters and signs all contracts.

These matters are brought to the attention of Mr. Hitchcock by Charles D. Walcott, Director of the Geographical Survey and of the Reclamation Service. Mr. Walcott initiates action in all cases, and reports to the Secretary on all matters relating to the Reclamation Service. Mr. Walcott, while a scientist of great repute, and one of the most able executives that has ever served the Government, is not a civil engineer, and must trust to others for such details as bear directly upon the civil engineering problems. His principal reliance for such information is C. E. Grunsky, Consulting Engineer in the Reclamation Service. Mr. Grunsky is most eminently fitted for this position. Being a man of thorough education, and extensive engineering practice, his chief function, during the last few years, has been that of Consulting Engineer for va

neer for Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

The interests of California have been wisely and safely guarded by J. B. Lippincott, who has also had charge of the Yuma and Klamath projects.

As this article is written, Mr. Lippincott resigns from the Reclamation Service to devote his attention to municipal engineering in Southern California, particularly the Owens River project.

B. M. Hall, Supervising Engineer for New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma; Morris Bien, Supervising Engineer in charge of land and legal matters; Chas. E. Wells, Supervising Engineer for Nebraska, Southern Wyoming and South Dakota; L. C. Hill, Supervising Engineer for Arizona and Southern California; L. H. Taylor, Supervising Engineer for Nevada; D. W. Ross, Supervising Engineer for Idaho.

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I INDICATES PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

2 INDICATES PROJECTS APPROVED, ALCOTMENTS AUTHORIZED.

SHADED PORTIONS INDICATE PRINCIPAL IRRIGIBLE AREAS. INDICATES RESERVOIR SITES.

RIVER GAGING STATIOS.

D. C. HENNY.

GLANCE at the maps
of the States of Wash-

ington and
and Oregon

shows that of their total area of 165,000 square miles, twothirds lie east of the Cascade Mountains. This vast stretch of territory, 490 miles long and 220 miles wide, is deficient in rainfall, most of it being arid and all requiring irrigation for full production. It may be estimated that at the present time nearly one per cent of this area is under either partial or complete irrigation, which is about

one-fifth the proportion of the entire arid West which is capable of ultimate reclamation owing to the limitation of water supply. Such limitation exists to a degree. in the interior basin of Central Oregon, but in the Klamath basin, and especially in the Columbia River watershed, Washington and Oregon possess a supply unsurpassed anywhere in arid regions.

The various branches and tributaries of the Columbia River enter these states with an aggregate run-off of 155,000 square miles from mostly mountainous watershed. These waters all enter at the eastern and northern borders, traverse the entire arid sections of the states, being swelled meanwhile by the drainage from the Blue Mountains and the interior plains, and finally break through the Cascade Mountains at The Dalles in a volume which varies from 50,000 cubic feet per second during the late summer to 1,000,000 cubic feet per second during the flood season. Two days minimum flow from the Columbia River produces more water than the total annual surface runoff of all streams in the famous section of Southern California in which lie Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Santa Barbara.

With such quantities of water available and the thirsty soil immediately adjoining, there exist at first sight immense possibilities for irrigation. Nor is the land when water is placed upon it of questionable value. Great bodies of it far inland lie no higher than 1,200 feet above the ocean and have the benefit during the growing season not only of almost perpetual sunshine, but owing to their far northern latitude, of long summer days.

Transportation facilities are generally good, three transcontinental lines traversing this region from east to west. The

Columbia River itself also forms a main artery upon which stern-wheel steamers ply as far north as Brewster.

The extent to which irrigation in the Columbia basin in these states may be practiced is, therefore, not limited, as is the case elsewhere, by a lack of water supply. It is, however, narrowed by the position of the river system relative to the irrigable lands.

The Columbia River in attaining a balance from the ocean backward has cut its bed far below the adjoining lands, rendering ordinary diversion by means of gravity canals generally infeasible. This unfavorable physical condition is still further emphasized by very flat river grades due to the magnitude of the stream itself.

It can hardly be doubted that in the future a large part of the flow of the Columbia River will be lifted to adjoining lands by pumps operated by water power, which can be obtained at various points along the river either at rapids or from side streams. This means of irrigation, however, is relatively expensive, and it is for this reason that present irrigation has been confined to the use of tributaries of the Columbia River, such as have steep gradient and low lands adjoining upon which to flow the water.

Favorable conditions of this kind obtain to the best advantage in the Yakima, Valley, where irrigation on a large scale has thus far reached its highest development in the Northwest. On a smaller scale similar conditions are found on the Wenatchee, Umatilla and Deschutes Riv

ers.

The advantage of utilizing the water from the Columbia River itself or from some of its main tributaries, not yet levied on by private enterprise, appeared highly attractive because of avoiding all interference with established systems and overlapping water rights. Extensive surveys were commenced for the utilization of water from the Spokane River upon lands in the Big Bend, covering portions of Douglas, Franklin and Adams Counties, but it was soon found that the acre cost of gravity diversion from this source, if undertaken on the scale permitted by the limitation of the reclamation fund, was excessive.

The Palouse River, practically free

from water right complications, was next taken under consideration with a view to the irrigation of a portion of the lands above described situated in the vicinity of Pasco. Stream measurements showed that the low summer flow in this river rendered the construction of storage reservoirs necessary, and investigation showed that no reservoirs could be located free from serious objectionable features; that the cost per acre was comparatively high and that the total cost of the smallest feasible project depending upon this source would still greatly exceed the portion of the reclamation fund that could be alloted for many years to the State of Washington.

The Reclamation Service was thus driven to the consideration of projects depending for their water supply upon other steep gradient tributaries of the Columbia River, and it was due to the high development of irrigation which had been reached that it found these tributaries already used to their full summer capacity by private enterprise, and that even above the existing ditches practically all the government land had been taken up and was in private ownership, both of which conditions introduced complexities and difficulties in the working out of irrigation projects which required laborious. and patent adjustment and necessarily made progress slow.

The preliminary result of this work is shown by the approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the following projects, with authorized allotments and acreage for each as indicated below:

private irrigators, and require the construction of storage reservoirs to hold back the spring floods.

And all projects require the consent of practically all the owners of the private lands to be irrigated, insuring their compliance with the requirements of the Reclamation Act, which consent has to date been obtained satisfactorily in all cases. except under the Sunnyside and the Yakima Indian Reservation projects.

Okanogan Project.-The Great Northern railroad crosses the Columbia River at Wenatchee. A day's journey up the river by steamer takes the traveler to Brewster, situated just down stream from the mouth of the Okanogan River. Another day's Another day's journey by steamer up the Okanogan River or by stage, when water is too low for navigation, brings him to the small town of Alma, where the Salmon River discharges into the Okanogan River.

Immediately to the north of Alma lies a fine body of land 12,000 acres in extent, which although within forty-five miles of the British Columbia boundary, has an elevation of less than 1,300 feet above the ocean. Nearly two thousand acres of this land have been irrigated for many years from the Salmon River, the summer flow of which had been completely appropriated and a small storage reservoir containing two thousand acre feet situated sixteen miles from the Salmon River in the vicinity of Conconully, the county seat of Okanogan County, had been built by raising the waters of Salmon Lake.

This reservoir has been donated by its owners to the Government, and the numerous claimants to waters from the Salmon River have by agreement defined their claims. Thus the field was made clear for government action.

An additional large reservoir to contain sixteen thousand acre feet will be built by throwing a dam across the Salmon River a few miles below Conconully, whence the water will be liberated to flow down stream and to be diverted from Salmon River at a point three miles above Alma, from there to be spread over some 8,700 acres of land at present dry. Construction work on the canals has been authorized by the Secretary of the Interior and will be commenced this fall and the 82 foot earth dam forming the reservoir

will be constructed next year between two flood seasons.

The quality of the irrigable lands is indicated by the highly successful irrigation which has been carried on in the past, producing deciduous fruits, garden truck, corn, grain and alfalfa. The entire area will be subdivided into fortyacre tracts, each of which is deemed amply sufficient for the support of a family.

Transportation facilities, as above indicated, are not satisfactory, Okanogan River navigation to the Columbia being possible only during a short period each year. It is not unlikely that the impetus given by government irrigation will result in the construction by the Great Northern Railroad Company of a connecting branch from Wenatchee north, surveys for which are understood to be in progress.

Yakima Project.-The Yakima Valley is too well known to require a description here. Private enterprise has developed irrigation along the Yakima River so that at present 120,000 acres are irrigated in the disconnected valleys around Ellensburg, North Yakima and Sunnyside. The water is diverted by some sixty canal companies and individuals from the Yakima River and its branches. During recent. years the gradual expansion of many of these canal systems caused the aggregate quantity of water diverted to approach more and more closely to the summer flow, upon which all were dependent, and finally during 1904, and especially during 1905, a shortage was felt, and a clash between conflicting interests seemed inevitable. Water litigation was commenced and the entire valley seemed upon the verge of plunging into interminable legal disputes.

At this point the Reclamation Service. stepped in, obtained an option on the Sunnyside Canal, the largest canal in the valley, and thereby made possible a mutual agreement of all water users defining their respective water rights.

By virtue of a liberal state law permit-ing the withdrawal of waters by the Reclamation Service control was secured of flood flow and of storage basins throughout the valley, and a firm foundation wasthus laid for government work.

The Yakima Project in its entirety includes about 350,000 acres which when