Reclamation in the United States

Agricultural Results.

The value of the principal crops grown on irrigated land in the United States approximates $890, 000,00o annually. In 1934 the Bureau of Reclamation provided water for irrigation of 2,837,205 acres of which 2,756,698 were cropped, producing crops valued at $100,943,714, or an average per acre value of $36.65. Federal projects included a total of 3,539,709 acres, part of which had not been settled or was not irrigated for other reasons. The average per acre value of crops of Federal projects for ten years has been approximately twice as great as that for the ten leading crops in the United States as a whole. Usually long growing seasons, specialized agriculture and intensive cultivation of well-selected, fertile land has been responsible for the production records made on these irrigation projects.

Settlement and the Need of Funds.

When the Mormon colonists began their irrigation settlements in Utah, everything connected with Western irrigated agriculture was of the most primitive character. It had to be.

Wheat, corn, hay and potatoes could be watered with little preparation of the soil and these crops could be grown and har vested with little outlay for tools or expense in cultivation. In that period settlement could be carried out with little or no cap ital.

This is not possible today. The cost of everything connected with irrigation development is far greater than it was fifty years ago. Great areas are now planted to orchards and vineyards; other large areas are used for market gardens. These things bring high acre returns, but they also require a large expenditure to pay for the water, prepare the land for cultivation and meet the expenses of the unproductive years when orchards and vineyards are coming into bearing. The result is that settlement require ments and methods are undergoing an evolution needed to meet these larger outlays. There is need for more capital or credit; there is need for settlers trained in the methods of intensive cul ture, or for oversight and training that will enable them to learn how to do these things. Selection of settlers, advice and direction to settlers, and credit to supplement their limited capital, are all-important problems of present-day settlement of irrigated areas.

Funds.

The Reclamation Act provides that money from the sale of public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming shall be set aside in a special fund for reclamation. Certain other revenues have been added to the fund and its pro visions have been extended to Texas. The total made available for expenditure from the Reclamation Fund to the end of the fiscal year 1935 was $294,729,249, and disbursements were $287,046, 025. Repayments on construction to the fund totalled $46.895936. Operation and maintenance payments amounted to Power Development.—In the early days of Federal irriga tion hydro-electric power was utilized primarily for construction purposes. Until recently power plants were built by the bureau only when power could be used advantageously in building canals, or when it was necessary to pump water for irrigation. The first development was on the Salt River project in Arizona in 1906 and the power was used in constructing the Roosevelt Dam. The Minidoka power plant on the Minidoka project in Idaho was the first to provide water for irrigation pumping. Here surplus power was sold to project towns and mutual companies serving the rural districts for commercial lighting and power purposes. On the

completion of the construction of a project, the farmers finding power lines along the canals, were naturally anxious to use these lines as main arteries of a power distribution system reaching to individual farms. As a result local organizations of farmers retailed to their members electricity purchased at wholesale from the Government plants. In 1928 the Guernsey storage and regu latory reservoir was constructed on the North Platte project in Wyoming. At this dam power was developed and interconnected with another project power plant serving towns in the North Platte valley. This was the first instance of a planned commercial power development.

On 12 of the 34 Federal reclamation projects there were 23 hy dro-electric power plants in operation during the fiscal year 35. These plants have a total installed generating capacity of kilowatts, and they generated approximately 350,000,00o kilowatt-hours of energy. The accumulated net power revenues to June 30, 1935 were $6,391,000.

At Boulder Dam the bureau is now constructing the largest power plant in the world, with an installed capacity of 1,835,000 horsepower. The electrical machinery to be installed includes fifteen 115,00o horsepower and two 55,000 horsepower hydraulic turbines, fifteen main generating units of 82,500 kilovolt-ampere capacity each, and two main generating units of 40,000 kilovolt ampere capacity each. The larger units far exceed in size the largest yet manufactured. With an average head of 53o feet this plant will generate 4,330,000,000 kilowatt-hours of primary energy and 1,550,000,000 kilowatt-hours of secondary energy yearly. The charge for primary or firm power will be 1.63 mills per kilo watt-hour for falling water in terms of energy measured at trans mission voltage and o.5 mill per kilowatt-hour for secondary energy. Revenues from the sale of Boulder power will pay all expenses of operation and maintenance of works incurred by the United States, and the cost of construction of dam and power plant, with interest, within a 50-year period. After all works are paid for, it is estimated that the net revenues will be about $7, 000,000 a year. The primary purpose of this dam and reservoir is flood control and river regulation, while the sale of power pro vides revenues to pay all costs.

The bureau has recently commenced construction of the Grand Coulee dam on the Columbia Basin project in Washington, on the Columbia River. Work now authorized includes only a 177-foot dam, which will later be extended to a height of Soo feet. The ultimate project includes a power plant with an installed capacity of 2,520,000 horsepower, or 4o per cent larger than the Boulder plant. Plans call for eighteen 140,000-horsepower generating units. There will be produced about 8,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year, or 62 per cent of our total national produc tion. It is estimated that power can be developed and sold at Grand Coulee for 21 mills per kilowatt-hour. While Boulder power is sold entirely to utility companies and municipalities, a large part of Grand Coulee power will be used for irrigation pumping.

The Casper-Alcova project in Wyoming includes the Seminoe dam, reservoir and power plant on the North Platte River near Rawlins. Here it is proposed to install a three-unit power plant with a capacity of 5o,000 horsepower. A market exists for much of this power in the North Platte valley, and surplus energy can be sold to public utilities in Wyoming and Colorado. (E. Me.)