| OCR Text |
Show HTE IS Ho Irrigation Age comments FFFFFFFFFFFFVsoepagG during the months Bpay prove to BpHHrpart """"y 'I I pyWio authorities whose judgment commands re- FFFHf there arofaow within the boundaries of the irrigated west BE00,000 acres oJ irrigated land that has becomo almost worth-B worth-B account of seepage, or what is really the same thing, by hav-alnablo hav-alnablo water tod until now tho whole land has become satu-FFHpl satu-FFHpl and useless, ' W m Tpis should prqva'a valuable lesson to irrigators everywhere, as f it shows that it is not only necessary to turn the water on to the land, bnthat good judgment is also required. It points out that as 'a gerieralproposition land must be protected from loo much as well as from too little water. Irrigation provides for the lack of water and drainage for the" surplus. Thus land which has been spoiled by seepage can readily be reclaimed by drainage at a cost per acre which wilL vary considerably acqording to circumstances. No general gen-eral rule can be given for such drainag5,-'asffcach'cli3c."must-bc investigated in-vestigated and treated onuls own merits. The thing must, however, be done cither by ditches or tiling or both, and if no natural drainage drain-age can be had the water will have to be. pumped " ' It is always well to consider the proposition of irrigating lower lying land when draining upland, in which case the seepage water is being put to good use again. However, the best way is to prevent seepage in the first place; this can be done by having the main irrigation irri-gation ditch lined with waterproof material, and then apply the water to the land in tho proper proportion, just irrigating enough for the crop in question. This will insure good crops and prevent waste of water which may be applied for more laud lower down, and will result in general economy of operation. The time is at hand when more scientific methods must be used in tllrt nillf ivntinir irricrf inor nnrl rlr.-iininrr mF l:iiirl in ntvlnr In nhfjlin the best results. The wanton waste of water should be avoided, and a popular campaign against it should be inaugurated. A good deal of trouble, however, is duo to defective planning of irrigation work, especially those which are financed by private capital. capi-tal. In order to get the water available for irrigating land it was done along lines of least resistance in the earlier days of irrigation enterprises, when capital was scarce and timid" and tho whole proposition propo-sition was in the nature of an experiment. Thus it came that instead in-stead of concrete-lined conduits or timber-lined flumes rough ditches were used for water channels, some of them crossing through gravel or sand banks, where u large amount of water was lost in seepage. Then the irrigators taking their water from those ditches naturally would just guess at the size of distributing ditches and their grades, and would get, in the usual order of things, too much water on their land. This early stage of. development of tho irrigation era was, however, how-ever, nocessary for the evolution of the scientific stage, aud the early errors of the pioneers point the way for improvements, so that we may look confidently into the future to sec the art of irrigation reach its pinnacle of success. |
