Show A GIGANTIC irrigation PLAN ninety thousand acres of arid land in belle fourche valley will be made to bear when work Is completed belle fourche S D As the work of the government irrigation scheme north ot this city progresses people egan to realize the great difference it will make not only in the character of the country but also in the charac ter of settlers who will be attracted by these lands this belle fourche irrigation broj act as it Is officially known will re claim 90 acres of practically arid land lying north of the black hills and 2 has been appropriated by congress tor the work the work Is under direct supervision of the gov eminent but eventually will become the property of the water users asso elation which will be composed of all the people holding land under the project the most interesting feature of the work being done here 1 the big dam known the owl creek reservoir the water taken from the belle fourche by the diverting dam is brought through a canal 6 miles long to this reservoir it is built in a natural basin and the earthen dam 1 miles in length and feet high at the deepest point 1 considering both length and height the largest earthen dam in the united states the embankment will contain 1 cubic yards of earth and will be BOO feet wide at the widest point at the bottom 63 feet wide at the water service and 20 feet wide at the top the entire embankment will be faced with concrete blocks weighing 3 pounds each and the outer sur face will be arranged in terraces and seeded down to grass the greatest depth of the water will be feet and the average depth from 25 to 30 feet As the diversion dam and the inlet canal are practically completed the first water to be used in this scheme will be the water from the johnson lateral leading north from the inlet canal where the water will be turned on some time next spring so far out of the 13 large projects which have been started the govern ment has completed one the carson in nevada where the water was turned on in june 1905 the reclamation act was passed on june 17 1902 and the work on this scheme was begun the very next day the problem which the government will have to meet Is that of sediment it Is generally stated that the success of an irrigation scheme is in inverse proportion to the amount of sediment carried by the river or streams aiom which the water Is taken it was this very matter that forced so many vate companies to the wall and finally made it necessary for the government itself to take up the matter it 1 es mated that these 13 schemes will reclaim about 1 acres As there Is a considerable cost at cached to the taking up of land dundei these projects a cost varying from to 3 per acre yearly tor ten years it will be readily seen that nel ther the very poor nor the very shift less will be attracted by these the immediate effect of irrigation upon the values Is shown as well in the belle fourche valley as any place in the world on the south side of the river tor a short distance a number of farms are under irrigation from a private ditch known as the redwater ditch this alanl now sells for 75 an acre just across the river where there Is as yet no irrigation land of identically the same character sells from 8 to 12 beope are rush ing into the country by the hundred to embrace the opportunity of up and along the line of the projected ditch and the next ten years will see a wonderful change in this northern country |