| Show IRRifiATION IN ARID AMERICA Abstract of the Very Able Paper Prepared by Elwood I Mead in Pursuance of Work Done by Him Under Appropriation Secured by Senator WarrenUtah the I Pioneer of Modern Irrigation Cheyenne TTyo July 7 Two years rslnce Western members oC Congress led by Senator Warren secured a Gmall appropriation to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to begin a study of the problems of irrigation The Secretary intrusted this work to Elwood Mead at that time State Engineer of Wyoming Wyo-ming and made Cheyenne the central office The results secured were of such practical value that the first appropriation appropri-ation of 10000 was followed by one of 35OOO and that by 550000 One result has been to awaken an interest In-terest in this subject in the East and to stimulate the construction of irrigation works The results obtained show that the ability to apply moisture when needed is one of tho most effective aids to success East as well as West The great field of irrigated agriculture however is In the West where It controls con-trols the social and industrial future of more than onethird of the United States In the last year book of the Agricultural Agricul-tural department the commanding importance im-portance of irrigation as the basis of Western development is set forth by Mr Mead in an article of great clearness clear-ness and interest entitled the Rise and Future of Irrigation an abstract of which is given below RKMAINS OF ANCIENT IRRIGATION IRRIGA-TION WORKS The earliest pathway of civilization on the American continent led along the banks of the streams In various parts of the Southwest notablv in the Salt River valley of Arizona in northern I north-ern New Mexico and along the southern south-ern borders of Colorado and Utah are wclldellncd remains of irrigation works which have outlived by many centuries the civilization to which they belbngctl In at least one instance the bank of an ancient canal has been utilIzed util-Ized as a part of modern works Riding up the valley of the Rio Grande In the first half of the sixteenth six-teenth century Spanish explorers found In the midst of arid surrpund Ings beds of beautiful roses not unlike un-like those In the gardens of Castile as they noted in their diaries They also found Pueblo Indians irrigating I the thirsty soil as their forefathers had I done for centuries before them and as I their descendants are still doing today In this valley and along the tributary streams and at other places in the 1 desert wastes of the Southwest Spanish icttlemcnts sprang up and maintained themselves by means of these lifegiv I pulse by the establishing of homes among the early Spanish explorers BEGINNINGS OF MODERN IRRIGATION IRRI-GATION For the beginnings of AngloSaxon irrigation In this country we must go to the Salt Lake valley of Utah whereIn where-In July 1810 the Mormon pioneers turned the clear waters of City creek upon the sunbaked and alkaline soil in order that they might plant the very last of their stock of potatoes in the hope of bringing forth a crop to save the little company from starvation Utah is interesting not merely because be-cause It is the cradle oC our modern Irrigation industry but even more so as showing how Important are organizations organ-izations and public control in the diversion di-version and use of rivers Throughout Through-out tho pioneer period oC their history the settlers of Utah were under the direction di-rection of exceptionally able and resourceful re-sourceful leaders who were aided by the fact that their Collowers were knit together by a dominating religious Impulse Im-pulse These leaders had the wisdom to adopt their methods and shape their institutions to conform to the peculiar pecu-liar conditions and environment of a land strange and new to men of English En-glish speech They found that irrigation irriga-tion was necessary to their existence in the home that they had chosen and that the irrigation canal must therefore there-fore be the basis of their industrial organization or-ganization which was largely cooperative cooper-ative hence the size of their farms which are less than thirty acres upon the average the nature of their social relatfons which are close and neighborly neigh-borly That thc > great material results which ciuicklv followed could have been realized rea-lized without the cohesion which came from an association dominated by religious re-ligious discipline and controlled by the superior Intelligence of the head of tho Mormon church is doubtful but that the character of institutions in the valleys I val-leys of Utah both industrial and social so-cial was chiefly due to the environment in which they were placed is beyond dispute Cooperation became the dominant domi-nant principle simply because tho set tlors were In a land without capital and it was beyond the power of the individual I Indi-vidual to turn the mountain current I from Its course and spread it upon his I lands Only the labor of many individuals i indi-viduals working under organization I and discipline could make the canals or distribute the waters A small farm I unit was chosen not because men were less greedy for land than In all other new countries but because it was quickly seen that the extent Qf the wa ter supply was the measure of production produc-tion and their ability to provide this was small Diversified farming which I is one of the leading caUles of the re j markably even prosperity of Mormon I I cat and richest New England community commu-nity The highest methods both of Irrigation ir-rigation and cultivation were sought out through numberless experiments until Grceley and its potatoes grew famous fa-mous together Tho home and civic Institutions In-stitutions of the colony became the pride of the State and the hard won success of tho community inspired numerous nu-merous similar undertakings and furnished fur-nished an Impulse which resulted In the reclamation and settlement of northern Colorado Boulder Longmont Loveland Love-land and Fort Collins were the outgrowth out-growth of success at Greelcy and each adopted many of the Ideas and tendencies I tenden-cies of the parent colony Twenty years subsequent to the beginning 1 be-ginning of Utah and contemporaneously with the settlement of Colorado similar simi-lar Influences began to make themselves them-selves felt In California especially In its southern part Anaheim is called the I mother colony This was cooperative In Its Inception and Its principal Irrigation I Irri-gation system has ever remained such Riverside followed a few years later i und represented a higher ideal hut the spirit of speculation In which California Califor-nia civilization was born soon fastened itself upon Irrigation as it had done In the case of mining and ran a mad race through soul I hern California Irrigation Irriga-tion III this State became corporate and speculative Where Utah and Colorado Colora-do had depended only upon their hands und teams for the building of Irrigation works California Issued stocks and bonds and so mortgaged Us future Men began to dream of a new race of millionaires mil-lionaires created by making merchandise I merchan-dise of the melting snows by Belling rights to tho renting of water and collecting annual toll from a new class of society to be known as water tenants I ten-ants WATER RIGHT PROBLEM OF THE ARID REGIONS After this brief sketch of the beginning I I begin-ning of American irrigation some of the lessons of which will be considered 1 at a later point J In this article we may appropriately turn to the great arid region as a whole and tho complex legal le-gal economic and social pioblems with which Us agriculture will vex the fu ture tureMount Mount Union rises In solemn grandeur In the Wind River mountains of Wyoming Wyo-ming south of Yellowstone park From this peak flow three streams which with their tributaries control the in dustrial future of a legion greater than any European country save Russia Rus-sia and capable of supporting a larger population than now dwells east of the Mississippi rIvet These streams are the Missouri the Columbia and the Colorado The first waters the mountain moun-tain valleys on the eastern slope of the Rockies and the semiarid region of the great plains tho second the Pacific Northwest Including part of Montana all of Idaho and the major portions of Oregon and Washington the third the Southwest embracing much of Utah and western Colorado parts of I New Mexico and California and all of Ari zo n aIn a-In this vast district when reclaimed homes may be made for many millions of people To effect this result Is a task Inferior to no other In the realm of statesmanship or social economics It is the Nations farm It contains practically all that is left of the public domain and Is the chief hope of a free home for those who dream of enjoying I landed independence but who have but little besides industry and selfdenial with which to secure it As it Is now this land has but little value In many I 7 I c < J z L I I I I I J1 I i7 V I Flume in Provo River Canyon Utah ing waters The ditches at Las qruces I N M have an unbroken record of 300 years of service the history of which is written Iii the banks of the canals I and in the fields Irrigated This is due to the sediment with which the waters of the Rio Grande are laden Year after year this has slowly added layer on layer to the sides and bottoms of these ditches until from being channels chan-nels cut below the surface of the soil they are now raised two or three feet above It is here that one can yet find ngriqulture almost as primitive as that of the days of Pharaoh where grain Is reaped with tho sickle and thrashed by the trampling of goats EARLY IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA CALI-FORNIA From these settlements and from the conquered cities ofMexico adventurous missionaries pushed their way still farther I far-ther westward until they came In sight of the Pacific leaching the Indians the crude art of Irrigation which they had learned either In Spain or of the simple inhabitants of the interior and ma king oases of bloom and fruitage ampng i the hills and deseits of thC coast So came the early churches and gardens I of California and the first small Im juso toward the conquest of Its fer I tile Boll which must always he grate fully associated with the memory of the mission fathers Measured by their cost or the skill required to construct them the small rude furrows which watered these gar I dens arc now of little Importance Compared Com-pared to the monumental engineering works which have succeeded them they possess today but little Interest The best preserved of these mission gardens Is now an Insignificant feature in a landscape which Includes miles on miles of qementllned aquqducts scores of pumping stations and acres on acres of orange and lemon orchards cultivated culti-vated with thoroughness and skill not surpassed in any section of the Old Vorld or the New It was far different at the end of the eighteenth century when the thirty or more of these gar dens which were scattered along the coast between the Mexican border and San Franclsc0 were the solo resting places of weary travelers and their fruit and foliage tho only relief In 1 Bummer from the monotonous land ficupe presented by the brown and arid hills which surrounded them on every Bide They wore under Uios9 condl ons not only successful centers of InlUicnco from which to carry on the Christian izing of tho Indian tribes but forces I tending to break up the migratory V agriculture was resorted to because the I Territory was so far removed from other settlements that it was compelled to become absolutely selfsustaining The small farm unit made near neighbors I and this advantage was still more enhanced en-hanced by assembling farmers homes in convenient village centers One reason rea-son for adopting this plan in the first place was doubtless for protection against the Indians but It has become a permanent feature which Is still ad hered to Imnaking new settlements because I be-cause most satisfactory to the social Instinct In-stinct COOPERATIVE COLONIES IN COLORADO COL-ORADO AND CALIFORNIA The discovery of gold In California created the Overland Trail which wound its tortuous course across the hitherto trackless wastes of the arid domain do-main Its stations were usually along the banks of the streams In the neigh borhood of these settlers had established estab-lished themselves and by means of simple furrows turned the waters of the streams upon the bottom land This was the extent of the Irrigation throughout the vast region it traversed outside of Ulan bcforo the Union Colony Col-ony at Gteelcy Colo became tho second sec-ond historic Instance of the beginning of the present system and one which furnished a different standpoint for a study of the subject As Utah Is the result of a religious emigration so Greeley is the creation of the Ufwrt meeting Its founding marked the beginning of a now and dif ferent industrial development In Colorado Colo-rado Before this It was the wealth of the mines or tho migratory and adven turous experience of the range live slock business which had attracted set tlement Greeley on the contrary rep resented an effort of homemaking peo ple both to enjoy landed Independence and social and Intellectual privileges equal to those of ths towns and cities lhay had left Among Us first buildings was Colony hall and among Its first or ganizations the Lyceum In which all the affairs gf the community were de bated with a fervor and fearlessness quite worthy cf Horace Greolcya fol lowing QopeQ lon was adopted In the construction and management of public utilities of which the Irrigation canalwps the first and most Impor I tant The wisdom and justice of male ing common property of the townslte the beauty and value of which could only be created by the enterprise and public spirit of all was recognized and put Into practice with satisfactory re sults Tho only deliberate extrava gance was the erection at an early day oi a school buildinG worthy of the old places a township would not support a settler and his family and a section of land docs not yield enough to keep a lightfooted and laborious sheep from starving to death This is not because the land lacks fertility but because it lacks moisture Where rivers have been turned from their course tho products which have resulted equal In excellence and amount to those of the most favored district of ample rainfall There are only 0000000 acres of cultivated culti-vated land along the Nile It Is all Irrigated Ir-rigated Where there Is no irrigation there Is desert This little patch of ground has made Egypt a landmark In the worlds history 11 supports over 6000000 people and pays the Interest on a national debt half as large as our own The Missouri and Us tributaries can be made to Irrigate three times the land now cultivated along the Nile The essence of the problem to be m Lat L-at the outset Is the control and ells tribution of the water supply since not only the enduring prosperity but the very existence of the homes created will be conditioned upon the ability to use Iheao rivers for Irrigation The diverse di-verse Interest of individuals and com muntics and even of different States will all be dependent on streams How InS from a common source To reclaim all the land possible will Involve the spreading of water over a surface as large as New England with New York added Standing now at the birth of things and looking down the vista of the future wo can see In the course of these livers the dim outline of a mighty civilization blest with peace and crowned with a remarkable degree Of prosperity In case wise laws and Just policies shall prevail In the years of tho Immediate future while Institu lions are forming But If It be other wise If green and Ignorance are al lowed to govern and we Ignore the ex perience of older countries than ours there will remain to us only a gloomy forecast of legal economic and possi bly even civil strife APPEARANCE AND RESOURCES OF THE ARID REGION In discussing this phase of the sub I ject let us follow the Missouri Colum I bia and Colorado rivers In their lone some course through mountains plain and desert to the place whcto one Joins the Mississippi I whero another mingles its waters with the Pacific and whore a third flows Into the Gulf of Cnllfor I nla For It Is not only Interesting but Important to see in thd lldi3l of what 1 surroundings so large a future population popula-tion must dwell and upon what other resources than water and land It will rear Its economic edifice Tho climate of the western half of the United States takes its chief characteristic char-acteristic from its aridity or dryness I The heat of Its southern summers and the cold of Us northern winters are alike tempered and mitigated by lack of humidity Neither the humid heat which prostrates nor the humid cold which penetrates to the marrow Is known In the arid region The Western West-ern mountains and valleys are a recognized recog-nized natural sanitarium where thousands l thou-sands of Invalids are sent each year by physicians to regain their health Tho dominant feature In the physical appearance of the arid regions Is its mountain topography On every hand a rugged horizon meels the view From north to south from Canada to Mexico Mexi-co the Rocky mountain range makes the backbone of the continent Along tho Pacific coast the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges lift their barriers to intercept in-tercept the moisture and condense it into snow Between these two principal princi-pal chains with their connecting ranges and outlying spurs are many minot systems so that the whole country t coun-try Is a succession of mountains and I I of forests and deserts of valleys o raging torrents and sinuous rivers winding to their sinks upon the plains or making their difficult way to the distant ocean The tar West Is thus a land of the greatest scenic beauties and widely celebrated as such The cultivable lands lie in the valleys val-leys rising with gradual slope on either side of the streams to meet the foothills Narrowing to the mountains these valleys widen as the river loses I grade and approaches the sea or Us confluence with a larger stream There are valleys which will accommodate hundreds others thousands or tens of thousands and a few like the Sacramento Sacra-mento In California here millions may dwell < In the eastern portion of the arid region and In high altitudes farther west the land Is covered with nutritious nutri-tious natural grasses which furnish ideal range for live stock But the characteristic badge of the region Is the sagebrush This brave plant of the desert Is commonly helJ jn derision by those who behold It for the first time and until they learn to know it as the shelter and dependence of range livestock live-stock when the terrible blizzard sweeps from the north and as the sure Indication Indi-cation of good soil and the humble prophet of the field orchard and garden gar-den Thus It happens that to the casual traveler tho appearance of the region Is forbidding It Is only in localities lo-calities where the work of reclamation has been In progress long enough to permit the growth of trees with farms and homes that the value of the soil and climate can be appreciated There are such Instances in till the seventeen Stales and Territories of the far West One of the most striking Is the Salt River valley of Arizona Here the traveler after a long and tiresome Journey through waste places finds himself suddenly confronted with homes rivaling In taste and luxury those of Easlern Stales and with orchards or-chards and gardens which resemble more the cel1tur old gardens of France and Italy than a creation of the last twenty years Similar Instances are the San Bernardino Ber-nardino valley of southern California tho Salt Lake valley of Utah and the Boise valley of Idaho MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ARID REGION Another fact which contributes to the breadth of the economic foundation of Western agriculture Is the variety and value of Us mineral wealth In this It Is richly endowed not only with the precious metals but with the baser ones used in arts and industries and with unusual quantlllcs of coal ore and building stone the latter of which includes in-cludes many rare and valuable kinds such as marble onyx and agate While the annual value of these products pro-ducts runs Into the tens of millions of dollars It is literally iruo that their development de-velopment is yet in Us infancy With the extension of railroad facilities I the Improvement and cheapness of mining processes tho extension of agriculture and consequent increase in the volume and decrease In tho cost of home food supply the gain In annual production will assume In the future dimensions which would now be considered beyond belief I SOURCES OF FUTURE PERMANENT PERMA-NENT PROSPERITY To the mines must be added the forests for-ests which clothe the mountain sides especially those of the northern part of this region rOL large extent this Is I sill virgin ground whore only the foot of tho hunter and explorer has trodden It Is a region unrivaled In Its opportunities opportu-nities for the development of waterpower water-power Tho Shoshone Falls In Idaho are scarcely Inferior to those of Niagara Ni-agara The hundreds of streams which fuji from the 10000foot level of the Rocky mountain range to the 4000foot I or 5000foot level of the plain at their tanso are destined lo turn more wheels of Industry than have yet been harnessed har-nessed west of the Mississippi river Back of the Irrigated lands are the grazing lands of which there are probably prob-ably not less than 100000000 acres Theso lands have boon the dominant factor of tho pioneer life of many of the arid commonwealths and they are destined under proper management to always constitute the great nursery of cattle sheep and horses The Irrigated farm has back of It tho mine the furnace fur-nace and factory and the clvlllzatlonx of Western America cannot fall to have a prosperous and varied industrial life Hero there can be no onesided development develop-ment no community exclusively devoted de-voted to the production of corn wheat or cotton to manufacture or to commerce com-merce The farm the stock ranch the lumber camp the mine the factory and tho storo are destined to grow up and flourish sldo by side each drawing support sup-port from and furnishing sustenance to tho others METHODS AND MEASURES NEEDED NEED-ED TO DEVELOP ARID REGION It Is well to consider now by what methods and bv what measures of legislation leg-islation the splendid resources of the arid region may be opened to development develop-ment The first step Is to determine the proper control and Just distribution of the water supply The problem varies with different portions of the arid region In the South streams are generally gen-erally torrential I In character furnishing furnish-ing the bulk of their waters In heavy floods which must be stored In the many natural sites available In the mountains at a distance from the places where the waler Is lo be applied lo the soil In the North on the other hand the problem is I not that of storage but of the diversion of great rivers like the Yellowstone the Snake the Columbia and the Missouri Here works adequate I to the reclamation pf the areas of arid land which remain can only be built at great cost rivaling those along the I Ganges and tho Nile I Before such development proceeds I further It Is desirable that some common com-mon agreement should bo reached concerning con-cerning the true character of water rights Tho idea of private ownership of water apart from the land cannot prevail without creating Institutions essentially es-sentially feudal in character A water lord Is even more undesirable than a landlord as the dominant element In society It Is IndlsDutable as has already al-ready been said that the man who owns the water practically owns the land A proposition which contemplates contem-plates tho turning over of all the land to a J private monopoly thus making a tenantry of those who may have their homes upon It In the future could not hope to command popular support But tho Idea of a private ownership of water amounting to a virtual monopoly 1 of this vital element has been permit I tod to grow up in the West To a certain 1 cer-tain extent it has obtained recognition In legislation and protection In Judicial decrees and decisions In other countries coun-tries the doctrine has largely disappeared disap-peared and In our country It should give place to a more enlightened conception con-ception and to the onl > principle that l I can safely be adopted as the foundation of tho agricultural Industry in the West I The right to water which should bo I recognized In an arid land is the right I of use and even this must be restrict I ed to bcnoflclal and economical use In I ordor that tho water supply may serve the needs of tho largest possible number num-ber Ownership of water ahoujid be vested not in companies or individuals but In tho land Itself When this principle prin-ciple IB 1 adopted the control of the water Inldivided precisely like the land among a multitude ot proprietors Reservoirs and canals arc then like the streets of the town serving a public pub-lic purpose and permitting ready access to private property on every hand Water monopoly Is Impossible under this method and no other abuse Is encouraged en-couraged by It Years of painful ex nerltnet1 have abundantly proven that peaceful and orderly development cannot can-not be realized except as water and I land are forever united in ono ownership owner-ship and canals treated merely as public pub-lic or semipublic utilities rather than as a means of fastening a monopoly upon the community In Wyoming and Nebraska the true principle has already al-ready been adopted by the State boards of control and put Into practice with lie best results If It can be maintained main-tained and speedily extended to the other Staten as It surely must be In time It would mark an economic reform re-form of the highest significance in the life of the West PUBLIC SUPERVISION AND CONTROL CON-TROL OF IRRIGATION The entire discussion leads up to one Inevitable conclusion This is that irrigation ir-rigation oer and above all other Industries In-dustries is a matter demanding public I L c1 = Z tmI9t f t i 1 s n x2tftf i I The St ato Agriculturaal College Logan Utah supervision and control Every drop of water entering the hcadgalo and L every drop escaping at the end of tho canal Is a matter of public concern The public must determine through constitutions and statutes the nature of water ownership The public must 3 establish means for the measurement of streams and for ascertaining how much water may be taken for each I acre of land under the principle oil beneficial use The public must see that Justice Is done In the distribution of water among those who have properly prop-erly established their rightful claims to iL We have thoroughly tried the methods of leaving all this to private Inltlalive and management and along wilh magnificent material progress we I have reaped a large crop of deplorable financial results While much must be left to the act lion of States and communities there Is still a wide field for national effort Only the Nation can legislate as lo the public lands and reform the abuses which have been referred lo in connection connec-tion with the present system of land laws There is i a strong popular demand de-mand in the West for legislation providing pro-viding public aid In the construction of wotks of too great magnitude and cost for private enterprise and a growing grow-ing belief that one of two things should I be done Either the arid States should bo placed in a position to extend this aid or the general Government should extend the work It is now doing In the reclamation of certain Indian reservations reserva-tions to the reclamation of the unoccupied unoc-cupied public lands One polity much discussed and widely favored Is legislation 1 legis-lation which will permit of the leasing of the public grazing lands for a term of years at a small annual rental the proceeds to be given to the several arid States and applied by them to Irrigation Irriga-tion development If this is carried out the settlers owning the contiguous Irrigated lands should be favored the object being lo unite with Ihe lands reclaimed re-claimed a certain portion of the public pasture The national Government alone can make the best and broadest study of the various economic questions related to the development of agriculture on arid lands This Includes not only the measurement of streams and survey of reservoir sites but also a consideration consider-ation of practical method of applying water to the soil and of social and Industrial In-dustrial institutions adapted to the environment en-vironment of the arid region The Nation Na-tion alone can deal with the conflicting rights In Inteistate and International streams and with the construction of C great reservoirs at their headwaters with a view to benefiting the several States lying along hem lo course The national Government Is already active along all these lines and the field for the expansion of Its efforts Is wide and Inviting G S WALKER r I dp1 7 7 0 I I I I I J I irrigation Scene Near Logan Utah it fl JJ L l |
