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Show WASTE-!N THE DITCH Development in Irrigation Has j Been Marvelously Rapid. Some of Works Recently Constructec Should Be in Service Thousand Years From Now Many Canals Ca-nals Being Lined With Concrete. At the time most of our canals wert built no better construction as a rul was possible or justified by existlnj conditions. The prime object was tc get water to the land. So long as there was an abundance in the stream a loss of fifty per cent, or more bj seepage from the ditches was a mattei of small concern and to have consider ed structures of masonary or concrete; or lining canals with cement at $1( a barrel, would have been ridiculous The history of this state has been re peated in most other districts, and thi pioneers in canal building and irriga tion did well and deserve great credii for what they did, says the Denvei Field and Farm. But conditions are now not what they were twenty-fivj years ago, or even five years ago. General development has been mar velously rapid; almost beyond oui power to realize. The old, leaky anc temporary wooden flumes and othei structures have served their purpose and about had their day. We are now in the beginning of a new epoch in ir rigation development, one in which the methods and practices of the earliei day will have little part. We are ready to build for the ages and a starl has already been made. Some of the works that have gone in during the last live years should be in service s thousand years from now. In some places the open ditches have beer abandoned and pipe lines substituted at great expense, thus eliminating seepage losses altogether. Several irrigation companies have begun to line their canals with concrete con-crete and more of it will be done each year until finally a large percentage of the irrigation ditches all over the west will be doubtless rendered watei tight in this way and the present waste from seepage stopped or reduced to the minimum. Besides the saving ol water there would be other important benefits and objects in lining the channels. chan-nels. The danger frdm disastrous breaks would be reduced; less inspeo tion and fewer ditch walkers would be required; the common trouble and expense due to the growth and necessary neces-sary removal of aquatic plants would be eliminated and the growth of sweel clover, willows, thistles and other noxious nox-ious weeds usually found a nuisance along canal banks would be largely prevented; all tending to materially reduce the cost of maintenance and operation. In building the more important systems sys-tems concrete lining will be generally considered as a necessity, but the improvement im-provement of existing canals is going to be a matter more difficult of accomplishment ac-complishment especially where all the land under them is developed and there is no opportunity for the owners to make use of water on other land. Although the lining would save thirty to fifty per cent, of the water diverted from the streams and make it available avail-able for other lands, the owners will not voluntarily go to the expense ol making the improvement, and there is now no means of compelling It Future legislation will doubtless prevent pre-vent the acquirement of rights so large that the appropriator can afford to waste it in transit and it would seem only fair to make provision also whereby water which has already been acquired materially in excess of reasonable rea-sonable need can be condemned and used where it will do most good. In many places a much better use of water wa-ter would obtain by abandoning small parallel ditches and combining the flow of all in one well built canal under un-der a single management. By improvement im-provement also in systems of ditch management great savings of water are possible. I |
