Show KINGS HILL irrigation PLANT WRITTEN FOR THE MINING REVIEW BY R E L COLLIER the enterprise being carried on by the kings hill irrigation power company and its the kings hill extension irrigation company is in my opinion one 2 4 jr ot r 4 4 I 1 dyphon crossing snake river photo by R E L collier of the most flaring daring ever undertaken in this western country viewed from a financial standpoint and for these reasons the main canal is sixty miles in length with as many miles of branches and later als the main canal extends twenty miles before a body ot of irrigable land of any magnitude is reached the land as a general thing existing in a narrow strip between the canal and the snake river which it parallels fourteen miles of the main line consists of flume and dyphon the maintenance of which will lequire a constant expenditure of money water for the canal is taken from the malade river a tributary ot of the snake the point of diversion being about five miles southeasterly from the town of bliss in lincoln county idaho although the land is limited in point of acreage it is very fertile being a sandy loam covered by a growth of heavy sage brush the head works of the canal consist of a concrete and rock dam with iron gates for water control the river has a constant flow of 1200 second feet this flow being owner jointly by the two kings corn com panics and the telluride power company the former owning one fourth and the latter three fourths the kings companies have a contract with the power company by which the latter is to deliver second feet of water at a point feet from the head works to the kings canal to carry out this contract the telluride company has constructed a well built flume sixteen feet wide and twelve feet deep with sufficient fall to carry 1200 second feet A short distance from the division point the water goes from the open canal into an inverted dyphon six feet in diameter at the upper end while the lower end is enlarged to eight feet four inches inside measurement through this dyphon the water is conveyed over the snake river supported by a steel bridge this dyphon is one mile in length the general cross section of the canal is twenty two feet on the bottom with side slopes varying maryin from 23 21 to 25 to 1 with sufficient grade to carry second feet of water there are five siphons on the main canal one of which is at glenns ferry and which again takes the water across the snake river this dyphon is more than a mile and a half in length in addition there are three long siphons on the branch lines this canal was constructed three years ago but owing to the looseness of the soil and the nature of the ground in many places it was found necessary to reconstruct the canal make it larger concrete certain portions where the loss of water was great and caulk many miles of flume in order to prevent unnecessary loss of water this reconstruction was begun on february of this year the contract calling for its completion within sixty days the contract was undertaken by the slick bros construction company of idaho with the proviso that if the contract was not completed within the specified time a heavy forfeiture would be imposed the contract however was finished within the time limit the vast amount of work performed in compliance with the terms of the contract would certainly startle the ordinary contractor as the whole system including main line branches and laterals literals late rals was enlarged from beginning to end in order to comply with the specifications it was necessary to knock down and rebuild feet of six foot dyphon lion construct feet of new 8 foot 4 inch stave dyphon with pressure box rebuild much of the bluming flu ming caulk ten miles of flume with congo lining rind and to perform a great deal of other work incidental n c ci to the system to hold the congo lining in place over miles of strips were werd required today the whole system is work ing like a charm the cost of the reconstruction was more than or a daily expenditure of 2500 under this segregation there is 20 ceres of land and possibly two thirds of this is now under cultivation it is the intention of nearly all of the settlers to make this an ideal apple growing section and thousands of apple trees have already been planted and are doing well the principal farm products are alfalfa wheat potatoes water melons etc most all of the small fruits seem to thrive and do well the cost of water per acre under this segregation is 65 fifty cents additional for the land makes a total cost of per acre and it is plainly to be seen that this must be made a fruit growing region as showing section of pip pipe line photo by R E L collier t the water is too costly for common farni farm products there are three pumping stations on the kings hill system operated by water power which raise the alie water to higher tracts which cannot be reached by the canals within a period of five years this system will be a great factor in the ing of the towns of bliss king hill genns ferry and hammett |