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Show Darns Reclaiming Millions Of Fertile Acres In a s. j " " ' C t v - Tr. j y i--iHTu-i Billions of gallons of water for irrigation are stored b Jliind walls of U. S. Bureau of Reclamation dams scattered over the west, as shown on the map at right. Above is a view of the American Falls dam, Minidoka project, Idaho. Lower left is port of the Pathfinder da in. North Platte project, in Nebraska, and Wyoming. By NEA Service. WASHINGTON, D. C, Aug. 23. Since the passing of the Reclamation Reclama-tion Act on June 17, 1902, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation has con-j structed 137 dams in various sections sec-tions of the country which have made available to farmers, through irrigation, 3,238,530 acres of arid land. Last year say 40,354 irrigated farms with a population of 165,956 located on these projects; 213 towns and cities with a population of 472,-723; 472,-723; 688 schools, 724 churches and 120 banks with deposits of $134,-261,170. $134,-261,170. In 1930 the total value of crops produced on the area irrigated by government reclamation projects But the money lias been well spent, according to Dr. Elwood Mead, commissioner, bureau of lec-lamation. lec-lamation. "No activity of the government has brought greater private and public benefits to the nation than have come from the money jpent on these government reservoirs,'" he says. "The future of cities, railroads, mines and factories, as well e,s farms of the arid region rests on the measures taken for conservation conserva-tion of waters of western rivets. Water is the dominating factor in all its development. Federal reclamation is meeting a national economic need and averting -a crisis cri-sis in the business and industrial life of the arid region." . j Reclamation work is financed in a large part by repayments ry water users in reclamation territory, terri-tory, and other sources of revenue and in the maintenance of the dams. When the Reclamation Act was first passed it provided that funds from sale of public lands in 16 of the arid western states should be used in financing construction. As the work progressed, the amount realized from the land sales was found inadequate. Then congress passed an act which provided for the sale of mineral rights in the territories. Another act provided for payment of the construction charge at the rate of 5 per cent of the average, gross annual acre income. in-come. With money collected from these various sources, department en gineers have executed some of the world's finest examples of dam construction. con-struction. At present they are working work-ing on four, the largest being the Hoover Dam in Boulder Canyon. The highest of the reclamation dams to date is the Owyhee on the Owyhee river in eastern Oregon, which is to be completed some time this month. It rises 405 feet above foundation rock and will store 715,-000 715,-000 acre-feet of water for the irrigation irriga-tion of 123,000 acres. Hoover Dam Largest The Hoover Dam, when completed, complet-ed, will surpass all others with its height of 730 feet; volume of concrete, con-crete, 3,400,000 cubic yards; and reservoir capacity of 30,500,000 acre-feet. acre-feet. The 306-foot Elephant Butte Dam in New Mexico, storing 2,638,000 acre-feet, is the largest of our reservoirs. res-ervoirs. The total capacity of all reclamation reclama-tion reservoirs is, including the unfinished un-finished Boulder Canyon reservoir, 45,114,200 acre-feet. The bureau has established a canal system of irrigation. ' This system delivers water to each farmer subscriber, who takes charge of it at his property line j and distributes it over his land by flood, border, corrugation, furrow, or basin and dike method. In addition to water supply, these dams have furnished an important item in power. This power, converted con-verted from water into electricity, is sold to farmers, business concerns con-cerns and others in sections near the dams. During the fiscal year 1930-31, gross power sales were valued at ;more than .$2,458,735. was 110,661,820. Since 1906, the first year water was made available avail-able for irrigation, the .cumulative . value of crops grown on this land amounts to more than $1,761,930,000. All of these figures serve to illustrate il-lustrate the efforts of the government govern-ment to utilize every inch of available avail-able land for farming. Work of 1 constructing these dams has creat-, creat-, ed employment for thousands, and S has meant the expenditure of mil-j mil-j lions of dollars. |