The Seattle Star Newspaper, July 22, 1920, Page 8

THE SEATTLE STAR ROJECT “@ Over in Central Washington is an empire awaiting development, and hat development will come with the magic touch of water, just as it has tome at Yakima, Wenatchee, in the Kittitas, at Prosser, Kennewick and now coming at Pasco. These lands are now arid wastes, a desert. In times past some of the area has been under cultivation, but even dry arming has failed, as the average rainfall has been going steadily down bver a period of years. * 4] “All the land needs is water.” That is the cry all over that region. wAnd it is the truth. Here and there is an oasis. Wells are put down and prater is found in a few places to justify the drilling expense. The pro- Wuction of these oases is evidence of what the desert of the Big Bend ‘twill do when the water is put upon the thirsty land. IT AT ONCE RSTS INTO BLOOM. The state through its legislature appropriated $100,000 to see what tan be done to reclaim this great area of fertile land. An engineering “commission was appointed to gather data. That commission has reported. Its work is done. It says the Columbia Irrigation Project is feasible. ' It has located the water supply, measured it, has located a canal line | route to the land from the source of the water and determined the | total cost and the unit cost per acre. The costs are not prohibitive. They are not only within reason, but are within the reach of those now on © the land and those who will come if the project is consummated. We ' have the word of the actual settlers for that. _ phe report to the state authorities and the people of the state shows | that this is the largest single irrigation project today in the entire > country. To be exact it comprises more than three million acres gross, » of which 1,753,000 acres are first class irrigable lands capable of receiv- » ing the water direct from gravity ditches. In addition there are some * 400,000 acres on which water can be pumped from the canals around > the edges of the great main area. There will also be something more | than a million acres of pasture and grazing lands within the gravity © area, too poor for cropping, but excellent for stock ranges. @ The water for the Columbia Basin is to be taken from the Pend Oreille River at Albany Falls, which is just over the Idaho-Washing- ton boundary and about two miles above Newport. Above Albany Falls ' is a vast storage basin and drainage area. The latter is some 25,000 square miles and extends into Montana and north into British Colum- ia. The lakes for storage comprise the large Pend Oreille, Priest and thead reservoirs. The annual runoff is 19,000,000 acre feet. Of this about 6,000,000 acre feet will be required to water the lands in this project. The lands to be watered are those lying below the 1,700-foot elevation and are found in Spokane, Adams, Franklin, Grant and Walla Walla counties. The smallest areas are in Walla Walla county and the largest in Grant county, practically all of which, with its immense level _ Plains, will come under the ditches by gravity. There is in the north- ' west corner, the nearest approach made by this project to Wenatchee, THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1920. Acres of Arid Lands to Be Converted Into Fertile Farms and Gardens. bg 11,000 acres that will require pumping, lying under the 150-foot ift. @ The state has spent $100,000 under a special engineering commis- sion gathering data. The commission reports that the project is feas- ible. The gross cost of the project is something more.than $200,000,000. The cost per acre will be $171. Settlers within the boundaries of the project say they could afford to pay as high as $250 per acre for the water. @ The diversion dam at Albany Falls will raise the river level 22 feet; to high water mark, and the level of Pend Oreille Lake 19 feet. average minimum flow of the river, 7,000 second feet, will be preserved; and flood waters only will be used for the irrigation service. @ The main canal from point of diversion to the beginning of distri-* bution will be 130 miles in length. Of this, 56 miles will be concrete lined; there will be 40 miles of artificial lakes and there will be 34 miles of tunnels, the shortest of which will be one mile in length and the long- est 153-4 miles. The water will be carried over Spokane River in a via- duct and under Spokane in twin concréte-lined tunnels each 34 feet in diameter, U-shaped. The maximum demand capacity of the canal will be 20,000 second feet. @ The Columbia Basin is traversed by four transcontinental railroads, one cross railroad and numerous highways. There is river navigation also. @ Based on the results of irrigation in the Yakima and Wenatchee regions, where they have been measured accurately, this project under cultivation will add more than a million population to the state and will produce an annual crop of a half billion dollars. @ This rhatter is presented because it is of the utmost importance to not only the | people of the Pacific Northwest, but the country at largé’and the world depending upon us for increased fogd supplies. Every commercial body in this group of states, every civic organization, all business interests and the people generally will be asked to get behind,this project and: help put it over, meaning as it does increase’ production by many hundreds of million dollars annually, a future population in the counties of Grant, Adams and Franklin equal to the entire present population of the state, vastly larger food supplies and a trade for the cities of the Northwest from that source alone equal to all the trade they now have from all other sources combined. @ The land is there, level and fertile, in stretches that fade into the horizon; the water is in the Pend Oreille River. They will not long remain apart. The world needs the stores of grain, fruits, hay and meat that project will provide once the land receives the water and yields up under its influence the abundance that will flow from that union. @ Let us know our state, and to know it is to know its great potential possibili- ties, one of the greatest of which, if not the greatest, is the:Columbia Basin Irri- gation Project. , : NORTHWEST INDUSTRIAL EDUCATIONAL BUREAU eaetry 88ere eeerce er: ‘@upuw 904 eee vrear e500 492P2 we