VOLUME IX, NO. 1 BULLETIN Deces ber 1, 1944

OFFICERS

0.5. WARDEN PRESIDENT

ORA BUNDY FIRST VICE .PRESIDENT

ROBERT W. SAWYER SECOND VICE·PRESIDENT

J.A.FORD TREASURER

F.O. HAGlE SECRETARY. MANAGER

•

DIRECTORS

HUGO B. FARMER YUMA, ARIZONA

J.R.FAUVER EXETER, CALIFORNIA

CLIFFORD H. STONE DENVER,COLORADO

N.V.SHARP FILER, IDAHO

E. PORTER AHRENS SCANDIA, KANSAS

0.5. WARDEN GREAT FALLS, MONTANA

H.D.STRUNK MCCOOK, NEBRASKA

A.M.SMITH CARSON CITY, NEVADA

E.W.BOWEN TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO

HARRY E. POLK WILLISTON, NORTH DAKOTA

FRANK RAAB CANTON,OKLAHOMA

ROBERT W. SAWYER BEND,OREGON

MILLARD G. SCOTT PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA

MILTON E. DANIEL BRECKENRIDGE, TEXAS

ORA BUNDY OGDEN,UTAH

J.A.FoRD SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

W. F. WILKERSON CASPER, WYOMING

•

OFFICE of SECRETARY-MANAGER

•

1119 NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING

•

WASHINGTON 4, D. C.

VOLUME IX, NO. 1 BULLETIN Deces ber 1, 1944

HIGHLIGHTS

OT!'

THE DENVER CONVENT ION

Just a few words concerning the Thirteenth Annua.l Heeting an.d Con- vention held 'at Denver, lJovomb

(

-:lr 15, 16, and 17. Thor

'

] were 800 re

g

is- tered delegates. The prc

·grar:1 was carried forward as scheduled.

All speakers and pru-ticip ants were on hand bringing to the ass8mbly

e.

woalth of vital infornation on a score of subjects. An unusually stron b ^program for the future was outlined and agreed upon as 17 well oonsidered r

e

solu- tions were unanimously approved.

President O. S. Warden. who for nino :.,rears has pilotGd the Associa- tion

frOfl

a struggling infant to its present stature

^I

requested relief from his Presidor..tial duties and was r..ade

~J.

Honorary Life Momber.

President

\

-!f J,rdon was succ80ded

by

Ora Bundy of Ogden., Utah. President Bundy has represe:ai.:ed the State of Utah on the Board of Directors for ei!!,ht years

f ..

nd is intinutoly ffl.

J

ailir..,r with tho water progrn.;, 1 of the west

ern states. President Bundy see::n.s 8,ssilred of the same whole-h88

.rted support of all tho membership which made the growth ('lnd success

of the

Association under Prosident Warden's adI:linistration.

THE

SENATlt~

APP.H.OVES THE O'I1A,HONEY-.t1ILLIKIN PJ1EIIDMENTS TO THE It''LOOD CONTROL BILL WITH SLIGHT CI-rANGES

This week the Senate a.pproved, with slight amendments, all of the O'I'iahc ney-NillikLl Ar.1endmonts to the Flood Control Bill as recomr:lended by th

tJ

Cllicago Water Conservation Conference and as appr oved by the

}b ..

tional RACl8.17Hltion Associati

on at Denv;er, eXc9pt tho umendraents to SGtJ-

tion 6 and Secti

:)n 8 of the Bill. These two seotions were written in~o

the O'l1ahonoy-I1illikin Ame:':1dments at the Chioago Conferenco at tho speci- fic

rGqu(~st ! j f

tho delegatas fron California

and TeXt~s.

While these arn.endr;'lents were under discussion on the floor of the Senate a letter was rend to thE') St3nate frc::.1 Secret-a.ry Ickes opposing the a::rJ.endnents to Sec- tions 6 a.nd 8. In the debate that followed those amondr.1ents were oppos- ed on tho hround thai:;, they

-

had the effect

of changing the Reclamation

Law and had never been c

onsid-gred by the Irrigation Reclar19.tion CO~'nit­

teo of the Senate. The M9nd!l1onts were not defended on th( -! floor at

(l,ny

tililO by tho

Senf.t~)rs

of Calif

,

:;. rnin.

fl,nd Texl),s.

ArlOng the changes tha t were m!lde in the

-O'I1flhoney .. J"Iill ikin

Ar.1endments are the f

ollowing:

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 2 TO 30 INCHES ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 30 TO eo INCHES •

u.

S. Weather Bureau

1. rrhe :Fnr'. (c ) ,

Was",

applied to the present bill. n

ot t o

future bills.

2. The

followil~g

sections of the amend:rrents as

rec::mrmond(~d

by thE: Chicag

o

Water

C81~f8rence

woro ad

cpted substanti-

ally as submitted.

AN EXPANSION OF WESTERN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE PROVIDES THE SUREST AND QUICKEST MEANS OF INCREASING AMERICA·S WAR FOOD PRODUCTION. FOOD IS FAST BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL OF ALL WAR MATERIALS

Vol. IX, No.1, Page 2

The first

para.~ro.~h,

or policy statenent, was adopted with minor changes.

Para.graph (a) was adoptlJd with minor changes.- Parag;raph (c) · ... ms adopted with minor chanp;es.

P'lre..graph (d) we.s e.dopted wi

t~

miner changes.

/

Section 15 of the Flood Control Bill was doleted uS recommended.

Section 9 of the Flood Cuntrol Bi 11, doo.li:i1g with the Mis souri Ri V/ )r Bo.s in wa.s adopted

p.~s

reccm!71ended at the Chicago I!leeting.

The purpose of paragraph (0) of the O'I'!e.honey-!!illi'kin }.mendmcnts was ucccn- plished by substltuta nothods.

The Flood Contrc)l Bill passed the Senato today. It will now

go

to Ccnferenoo between tho Honse and Sene..te. It is confidently expected th?-!t no T

!

lf.teriul cho.nges will be IJ'.o.do in C' :)n£erenco. It is believ: )d tho Bill will

'bo

f.lpproved by the Fr

'Jsi-

dent.

The West and the Nation will

for'~ver

be grateful to S9nators O'I'fuhoney and Millikin and to all tho other ScuatJrs,

Conf~rASSm(;;n f:~l'.d GOV'Jri"10rS from tho ec

.st and WGst who have fouhht this

~~r-etlt

fit.;ht throug:h to

IJ.

successful conclusion and

h('~ve

causod these epoch-making amendments to become the law of tho I

p

.nd. ThoJ

^r

will serve every stream b

n.sin of every stu-tel ~'Tc

hope every roo.dor of this bulletin will lose no time in wri tine: his Som:.tors, Congres smen, and Governor

^0.

"thnnk you" noto to expr13ss his sincere appreciation for his help in this

~reB.t

enterprise. Do it now' THE RlVEHS AND

HA.REORS

NOW BEFORE THE

SSNATE

As

tllis is wri·tten the Rivors and Harbors Bill is bofore the Senate and likely to be vot, ed upon today. Senator Ovorton, 'who is chA.irmRn of the SUb-Commi tto6

handling both bills, has indichted his desiro to have the same amendments incornoro.t- ad in the Rivers and Harbors Bill, insofar ns

e.p:plic(~b16.

ABBY

AND

BUREAU'S IN'rEGHATED PLAU FOR l'IISSOURI RIVER DBVELOPMENT IS ENCLOSED

~

-

For the inforr:1ution of our m.embers we enclose Sennte Doomnent No. 247 which is the joint intog;ri.lted engineering plan of the Army Engineers find thH

Buref~.u

of Reola- mation for the c:mprehonsive developr:1ent of tho r

-

Iissouri River Basin. This plan is incorporat.ed in the II'locd Cont.rol Bill Ilnd $200,000,000 is authorized f

or

the Army and $200,000,000 is Iluthorized for the BurfJE'.u to stllrt work on their resPGotive phuses of the oomplete bas in -Nide plan.

WASHINGTON NEWS

FROM

\'IESTERN CONSTRUCTION :NEWS AND BUS INESS WEEK ARTICLE

Attached to this bulletin is a two-p:::.ge rHproduction of materiRl from the Western Construction News und

.

from

B'.lS i~~ess

H()()k for

Ot;'~tober,

vlhich spoaks for .

i

tS6lf,

We

conmlOnd it to

your

careful reading.

The

rroblem,,'3

vJithin

the Department

of the Interior, referred to in

Mr.

Krl.lck

m

an '::; nrticle,

hn.vc

long

D8en.

.recognized.

Obviously a solution mU3t be fOlUld if the ."wrJr. of the Bnrenu of Heclamn.tion is not to be swollowed up

by

s orne typo of' region al !;.uthori ty which cun !i.ove forward without the handioap of an unseen rcstrr.inln

r

: h

tmd.

A LETTER FROM THE CONT INUING

COmI~:T'SI~

OF TEE WATER CONSERVATION CONFEHEH CE

Enclosed is c.. letter from the Continuing CvIJ.mittee sent from

Denvar~

Colorado, Nov6mber 18th. It is

self-expl~natory.

Please

rG~d

it.

Respeotfully subnitted,

F. O. liagie,

Secretary-M~.lnl1ger

WASHINGTON NEWS

for the Construction West

By ARNOLD KRUCKMAN WASHINGTON, D.

c.-

The heavy construction industries of the West slope will feel the effect of the elections on Nov. 7. Many elements in- volved will influence the future one way or another. Most directly apparent will be what happens to the reclamation and road building programs. The advent of new people in Congress inevitably will make a difference. And a complete turn- over in administrative policies obviously will make still a greater difference. From the purely personal and human side of the picture we, here in the Capital, are bound either way to lose many valued friends. When they come back on Nov.

14, we know some will be with us only a few more weeks, and there will be con- siderable genuine sadness hereabouts.

Whatever the change may be, we feel generally any shift in over-all control in the highest places of the Interior De- partment will be good. It might be worse than it is at present, so far as the con- trols imposed on the Bureau of Reclama- tion is concerned, but apparently the people of the irrigation areas do not feel it should get any worse. The word filters through that if the election does not automatically cause a change in relation to the ultimate administration of the affairs of the Bureau of Reclamation,

~he people of the West slope most con- cerned are going to do something about it, vigorously and noisily.

The irritation does not center on Com- missioner Bashore, and his administra- tive and professional associates in the Bureau of Reclamation. It is held they are doing a good job, within the diffi- culties with which they are hedged. Nor, surprisingly, is there such violent objec- tion to the cantakerous little man at the head of the Department of Interior, Spit- fire Harold, the Terror of Winnetka.

On the whole, if you can swallow his rather unfair spitefulness. he IS regardea as a reasonably fair person, after you break hrou h the Sie fried line he has around him. The trou Ie IS t e me. t is an mtangible entity consisting wholry of an a re ation of more or less outh-

m e or ess ar ent hankering for anonymity.

I

t would be dishonest as well as un- fair to imply that these anonymous Household Guards of Harold mean any- thing but that which' is sincere, and real.

The trouble is, from the standpoint of the people in the West, the Household Guard has not the remotest u,nderstand- ing of the fundamental problems that make reclamatIOn tick. But they do have pohtIcal m.!Luence, and they are so placed ttat they can meddle With the· plans, purposes, and work of those m the Bu- reau of Reclamation.

Cause of apathy

This kind of situation has come within the experience of most humans. You ob-

serve it in the unhappiness that envelops a home in which the two who make the home are honest and earnest but are worlds apart in their concept of what makes a home. You have run into it in business when the administrative heads are out of tune with the staff. The Bu- reau. of Reclamation consists of. scien- tists, engineers, technologists, men of highly trained skill and abilities, prob- ably the highest types of specialists of their kind in the world. For almost a half century this organization has been consolidated into a unique body with a very fine understanding of the West, and with ideals symbolized in the great works typified by the hundreds of jobs done in the West, outstandingly brought to mind by Boulder Dam, and. by. similar . w{)rks which have made communities for thousands, greatly augmented the na- tional wealth, and supplied foods, fibers., and electrical energy. needed by the West.

It would be foolish to claim the Rec- lamation people are mvanably nght, and that they are anythmg but human' but they do know their business. And it'ke all . highly trained technological people, they

do not work at their best under condi- tions of strain and persistent discord. Tt is this depressing janglmg atmosPli'ffe you sometimes f't;el when you havebusi- ness With the ReclamatIOn people. You find much the same atmosphere in other Government agencies where some forms of regimentation and autocracy have been allowed to creep in during the past 12 years~ It leaves the best of people dull and dispirited.

Undoubtedly this is one of the effects Washington, Jefferson, and other his- toric founders of the Republic wished to avoid when they insisted that frequent change in general administration would keep the government vigorous,lively, and vital. There are responsible persons here in the Capital who will tell you that John Page would still be the Commis- sioner of Reclamation if the nervous strain had not ruined his health. People obliged to work under such conditions become not merely discouraged but lose' that self-assurance inherent in the pro- fessional man.

The water bills

Some of the troubles involved in all this may be discussed when the Flood Control and the Rivers and Harbors Bills come before Congress shortly after its members' come back in November.

The issues will primarily be whether irrigation, power, and similar beneficial uses of water in rivers shall be subordi- nate to navigation, and whether the job to be done shall be under the control of the Corps of Engineers, or whether the Reclamation ~ureau shall have complete and independent control over the type of work within its geographical and

technological orbit. And, of course, down deep under all these issues will lie the basic consideration whether these enterprises shall be controlled by the Federal Government, or the States shall have the rights and -powers presumably retained by them in the original cQrnpact we know as the Constitution.

It is clear the States' rights issues are as important in this impending fight as are any of the others. The recent Water Conservation Conference at Chicago, between the representatives of 29 States, c.oming from the West and the East, laid emphasis on States' rights repeatedly.

The startling aspect is that this insis- tence comes from the 17 States of West- ern America, and the 12 States of north- eastern United States. In other words, the States' rights issue, which dominated the conflict of the Civil War, and.which was championed. solely by the South, now is basic in the water fight cham- pioned by the West and the northeast.

. T t is extremely interesting to contem- plate. the fact. that the, thought 0.1 th£

conferee.s from the 29 States at Chicago was completely unanimous in relat,ioI,l to water problems. They agreed, in su'b':

stance, that inland navigation is not as important to the. welfare of the nation as is irrigation, mining, and the use of water for domestic needs, for municipali- ties, for stock, and for industrial pur- poses: It is appar~ntly clear that the peo- ple regard rail, highways, and air as the essentials for transport. And it isstrik- ing that the conferees repeatedly. em- phasized the complete subordination of navigation on the waterways west of the ninety-eighth meridian. .

The result of the Chicago conference appears to show that at least 29 States out of the 48 have. formed a bloc' to re- write the Flood Control and the Rivers and Harbors BiJls wherever these pro- posed laws would interfere with the in- dustrial, agricultural and domestic use of the river-waters. Roughly, it would seem the States opposed to the para- mount claims of navigation' now repre- sent two-thirds of the votes in Congress.

Basin authorities?

I t remains to be seen whether or not there is any substantial support for the creation of more Authorities after the pattern of the TVA. It is generally as- sumed the President's proposal to create a Missouri River Basin Authority was prompted by Lilienthal of TVA. Super- ficial comments would lead to the im- pression that the suggestion came out of the memorial addressed to the Presi- dent by the Governors of the Missouri Basin States after their meeting at Oma- ha. Close study of the document does not support the thought. Nor does there appear to be any strong backing for an Authority among the people of the Mis- souri Basin States; and it is reported here there is no warm response to the suggestion that another Authority be established in the Columbia River wa- tershed, including the States of Wash- ington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

The President also suggested that an Authority be established in'the Arkansas River watershed, from the Mississippi westward to the Colorado. A few days

90

WESTERN CONSTRUCTION NEWS-October) 1944

after the President's message was deliv- responsive to public sentiment.

ered to Congress, HR 5377 was intro- duced by Rep. John J. Cochran of St.

Louis, presumably prompted by the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, to establish a

\A/'AJE

Missouri Valley Authority "to provide YYJ

R -THE BIG ISSUE IN THE WEST

for unified water control and resource

development in the Missouri River and

50% of all crop lands in eleven western states are watered by irrigation

surrounding region in the interest of the

control and prevention of floods, the promotion of navigation and reclama- tion of public lands, the strengthening of national defense, and for other pur- poses."

The Missouri river

Late in September, the so - called Sloane Plan, the method of developing the Missouri River resources, submitted by Assistant Regional Reclamation Commissioner W. G. Sloane, of the Montana headquarters, was the subject of public hearings before the Senate Irrigation and Reclamation Committee.

The hearings were conducted by Sen.

O'~ahoney. In additi9n to Mr. Sloane, testimony was offered by Comm. Harry W. Bashore, Asst. Comm. William E.

Warne, Liaison Officer W. G. Line- weaver, Chief N. E. Dodd of War Food Administration, Dr. John L. Coulter, former U. S. Tariff Commissioner; Carl H. Wilken, economist; Floyd Hagie, National E-eclamation Association, and others. The Sloane Plan is the Bureau of Reclamation rejoinder to the Pick Plan,

o~ered by.the Army Engineers. It pro- VIdes for more than 30 projects at an initial cost of $396,000,000, of which

$200,000,000 would be spent in the earliest stages. The record made in these hearings will be helpful when the battle begins in Congress over the Flood Con- trol and Rivers and Harbors bills. It is expected further supporting data will be developed at Denver in November at the annual meeting of the National Rec- lamation Association, which promises to be exceedingly interesting. The unity of the 29 States which met in Chicago is

de~onstrated by the call sent to the members of its Conference Committee to meet in Denver two days before the NRC <;onvenes in order to prepare its members for participation in the Na- tional Reclamation Association sessions.

It is' anticipated States not represented at Chicago also will appear at Denver.

There is every evidence that a N a- tional Water Conference movement, as a permanent organization, is about to come into existence. Such nation-wide Conference obviously will give tremen-

?o?s ~omentl;1m to the building of 236 IrngatIOn projects proposed as a post- war undertaking in the West, particu- larly in the 11 states of the Pacific slope.

This huge project, to cost ultimately

$3,000,000,000t creating 135,000 new farms with an additional population of 20,000,000, recently was discussed tn a national radio hook-up by Wi.lliam E.

Warne, Assistant Commissioner of Rec- lamation. If'the West slope snaps into it, and -yigorously, as well as actively, helps to push the program, it is apparent further reclamation of the arid but rich lands of the West is on the march. The idea appeal~ to the East, and especially to the people in the Capital who are

STATE Arizona California Colorado Idaho Montana Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Washington Wyoming Total

(CROP ACREAGE) IRRIGATED NONIRRIGATED

652,806 569,657 5,069,568 1,761,385 3,220,685 3,108,177 2,273,949 723,103 1,696,063 4,548,860 832,253 451,688 553,174 1,280,153 1,048,076 1,888,452 1,176,239 1,042,673 615,114 3,015,702 1,486,498 258,384 18,624,425 18,648,234 U. S. Bureau 01 Reclamation.

Water

is

a

fighting

word -in tht: West, as the Missouri River ·

,battle between irrigation

and navigation interests

(BW -Jun.24'44,p42) and the Colo-

rado River battle among eight states, the U. S. government, and Mexico

(BW -Jul.29'44,p39)

will attest. And the reason is not far to seek. Of the 37,272,659 acres of cultivated land in tIle eleven westernmost states, 18,624,- 425, or 49.97%, depend on irrigation.

October~ 1944-WEsTERN CONSTRUCTI0142

• •

Irrigated Nonirrigated (one mil/ion acres of crop land)

CI IU5INE55 WEEK

for

their water

supply. William E.

Warne, , assistant commissioner of the V. S. Bureau of Reclamation, stated recently that with efficient use of ex-

isting

water the amount of formerly arid and semiarid land under cultiva-

tion could be doubled. He went on

to suggest that this might be one way of making a "new frontier" of free or low-rent farm land available to return-

ing

veterans

who

want to own farms.

1 •• I .. e.1 Week • Novell'lber 4. 1944

ANNUAl. PRECII"'ITATION 2 TO 30 INCHES e

ANN~Al. PRECIPITATION 30 TO 80 INCHES

U. S. Weather Bureau

TO EXPEDITE IRRIGATION WAR FOOD PROJECTS AND PLAN A POST·W AR PROGRAM

DEDICATED TO THE TASK OF PROVIDING ADEQUATE WATER FOR A PROFITAIlLE AND:DIVERSIFIED IRRIGATlON'AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN AMERICA-AN EXPAN- SION OF WAR FOOD PRODUCTION THROUGH MORE IRRIGAnON-THE CREATION OF NEW FARM OPPORTUNITIES AND THE STABILIZATION OF DROUGHT AREAS.

Denvel' Nov. 15, 16, 17 ConfeI-Agree--Act Jointly

Vol. VIII,

No.

21

1119 NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING. WASHINGTON 4. D. C.

Nove:"'lber 4, 1944

Fellow Members: -

CONVENTION NEWS

A.:.~

NOTES

As this is written it is just tan days until the gavel will fall, calling to order the 13th Annual Meeting at Denver. Each of the 13 years have brought their own problems. A post-war

recl~mation progra~

contemplates doing in ten years, or l e ss, three times (\.s much construction as the Bureau of Recla!l :.ation has done in

the

past forty-two year

^l

s. Getting ready for such a task is

a

real job in itself.

T~le

Denver !1e otins is

thc~

clearing houso for this post-war program in your state and mine.

The Offioial Progra m for the Denver Meeting is n ow on the press and will be ready for you as soon as you register at DenV'ar.

This year th(=j Denver Convention will

^b{;

run entir e ly by the Denver Conven- .tion Committee. leaving the Seoretary-nanager of the Association entirely free

for conferences with members, state delegati ons, association committees a.nd others who

may

vvant to confer with him.

I'~. A.

C. Sti efel of the Colore.. do Water

Co~servation

Board will be the real Convention l'Ianager.

All \he public rooms of both the Shirl ey-Sa.voy Hotel and tho Cosmopolitan Hotel will be used this year for state caucus neetlngs the first forenoon of the Convention. R eoms for lat er confer onces during the Convention can be secur- ed by conta.cting the Convention I1anager.

If you have not made your transportation and hotel reservations, do so at onoe.

Membership renewals for the year

1944-1.~5 have been

coming in at

an

unprece- dented r!l.te during October.

A..~l"IY

AND BUREAU ENGINEERS

AGR1~

ON UNIFIED PUll FOR r-1rSSOURI RIVER

~~.!\sIIi

Oll.

October 2nd, a.s the hearings on S 1915 were finished, Assistunt Co:rn:m:is-

sioner Willia.m E. Harno of the Burea.u of Reclamation saids ItS overal peopl e hc.vo indicatau a desire to see the Bureau of Reclarrw.tiC'n a.nd the Corps of

^RnE~ine0rs

get

t~other

and try to coordinate their two rep o rt s . r mie;ht say that we h ave gotten together and are in prooess of meeting with them

frn~

time to time f or the purpose cf seeing where in the rep orts disagree a.nd whe rein they m.ay be brought into agreemont.

^tI

s 1915 is a bill intr oduced by Senator

O'Mahc:nf~y

of Hyoming "to authorize the undertaking of the ini tial sta ge of t he conpr t ,hens iva plan for tho c onver- sation. control. and use of tho water resourc es of the IIissC'uri River Basin.

^1t

OffiCERS O. S. WARDEN. PRESIDENT ORA BUNDY. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT ROBERT W. SAWYER. SECOND VICE·PRESIDENT

J. A. FORD. TREASURER

F 0 HAGlE. SECRETARY-MANAGER

HUGO B. FARMER. YUMA. ARIIONA J. R. FAUVER. EXETER. CALIFORNIA CLIFFORD H. STONE. DENVER. COLORADO N. V. SHARP. FILER. IDAHO

E. PORTER AHRENS. SCANDIA. KANSAS O. S. WARDEN. GREAT FALLS. MONTANA

DIRECTORS H. D. STRUNK McCOOK, NEBRASKA A. M. SMITH. CARSON CITY. NEVADA E. W. BOWEN. TUCUMCARI. NEW MEXICO HARRY E. POLK. WILLISTON. NORTH DAKOTA FRANK RAAB. GEARY. OKLAHOMA

ROBERT W. SAWYER. BEND OREGON MillARD G. SCOTT. PIERRE. SOUTH DAKOTA MilTON E. DANI El. BRECKENRIDGE. TEXAS ORA BUNDY. OGDEN. UTAH

J. A. FORD. SPOKANE. WASHINGTON W. F. WilKERSON. CASPER. WYOMING

VOL. VIII, NO. 21 .. 2 - ^November 4, 191-+4

During -'elle week of

Octob~r

16 the

' Army and Burea.u Engine(1rs met in Omaha

and in'tet

j

l'a.tE1d th

e

ir two plans intc ono

ove~-all

unified plan for the oomplE.lto development, c

ontrol, a.nd lse of the waters of tho Missouri River, fren

sourc') to mouth. Of just wha.t the unified pla..rt consists will evidently n

ot be known

or made publio until

&pp~oved

and released by the Departments concer. ned. It is, of c

ourse, to

the advantage of interested parties in the Basin to insist that the Secret&.ry cf Interior and the Seoreta.ry of War approve the unifi'Jd pla.n 'Ni thout delay. The pr

ogress thus far uppG

ars to

b~~

a long stop in the riG ht direction. The National

Recl~matit)n

Association for years has striven to bring

p.b~)ut

the closer o

·

")ordina tiun ::;f the 11.rrr.y Engineers an;] the Bureo.u cf Recln.n m.tion in the

pl[lnnin~

and c

\.mstruotion of needod imprcvr:nnents of

such rivers of the Nation.

He have felt that either 8J:isting federal agencies must

c

oop erato and ooordinato

the i r work or be

rcpl[~ced by

a. new and single bas in ..

wi

de agency.

The det!lils 0f the nnifi!3c1 plan of thG two

~goncies

is being a

w

ed ted with grea.t interest

by

thGusands of pF) ople throughcut the :Missouri Ba.sin as well

hS

t

h

roughout tho

Nati~.)rl.

EXTENT ION OF RECLAJ

'IATION TO INCLUDE

DRAIl'TAGE AND LA.ND CLEillING AGAIN UNDER

DI8cussfo"N:-

Under date of 0

0ptembor 26th,

1944 Secretary Ickes wrote a letter to C· :mgressman Co. pt

on I. Hhito of Idahu ~xpressing

his views in conre otian with H.R. 3787

^{I G}

^{nti tIed}

^itA

^Bill

tf) .P.r.wnd

tho Reclarnation PrC'

j

ects Act of 1939"

w

hich had boen introduced

by

Con;: -;ress

m

.an Hhite to 8.uthoriz6 the Bureau of Reclar:-.ation to reclaim land

by b:::th

drainage and cloaring

c·f cut-over land.

Seoretary Ickes submitted substitute

la.ngw:.I.~:;e

which, if enacted, would au thorize the Interior Depo.rt'::lCnt to

inv8stiga~e,

plan, dosign, construct, s

ottle, 'develop, op':lrate, iJ.nd

maintain, in the humid as well

uS

the arid

uref.~S

of the United states, projects for reclaimin s la.nds. including

log~;ed

or cut- over lands,

by

drainage or

by

land

clearing~

This exchanGe 0f le+ters between the Socretary and tho Chairman of the House Committee 0n Irrica.ti

on and Recl~.nation

calls attention to a subject

vhich has been under 00ns ideration

by

a nunber of people

th~

ughout the West, North, Middlewest, e.nd South for several yeal·S.

MEXICO SHOH S,

I

lliR RECLAYlA1'IOlJ 1'AIL LI

G

HTS TO TEE

~fORJ.JD

We attach

reprodu~ti ^')n of a st.

Jry from Business Heek of Ootcber 21 oon- cerning the

r~,;;clf.\f.1a ti:)ll

program being oa rri ed f,Jrwc.rd

by

the G

overnment of

Mexioo. I a.:n sure y

ou will find it of intere

st and a oh

!lllenge to our efforts

north of' the borde r.

FORIER

Respectfully submitted, F'. o. ^{Hag ie,}

Secretary-~funagor

114

Mexico Irrigates

Program is speeded with larger funds, more government backing; 500,000 acres added during the past two years.

MEXICO, D. F.-High ranking in Mexico's development plans is its $200,- 000,000 irrigation program, started 18 years ago under President Calles with the formation of the National Commis- sion of Irrigation. This program is now _ being speeded up considerably.

President Avila Camacho revealed recently that the commission irrigated as much land during the first three years of his administration as during the 14 years from 1926 to 1940.

• Tablelands Are Dry-The most popu- lated regions of Mexico-the high table- hinds-are also those where rains are scarcest. Only 3,000,000 acres of a total of 36,000,000 acres of cultivable land receive sufficien t rain to sustain profitable farms.

For a long time, public authorities paid little a tten tion to irrigation. I twas only in 1926 that the Mexican govern- ment began to plan for the eventual irri- gation of 10,000,000 acres. The new agency was faced with the choice be- tween long and difficult studies of its problems and immediate action .. Ca~les

decided that work should begm Im- mediately, and construction of four large dams was started during his term of office. Only two of these proved suc- cessful.

• Funds Increased-The first steps had been taken, however, and each succes- sive government earmarked more money for irrigation purposes: $2,000,000 un-

der Calles; $8,000,000 under Cardenas;

and $14,000,000 so far under Avila Ca- macho. Before the commission was set up, about 1,000,000 acres were irri- gated in Mexico. Since 1926, 1,20U,~00

acres have been irrigated-an area eqmva- lent to one-eighth of all the irrigable land in the country.

Costs of installing an irrigation sys- tem are high-between $40 and $80 an acre-and are advanced by the govern- men t; charges to landowners do not approach total outlays. This year the commission will spend about $22,000,- 000, an amount equal to 10% of all government expenditures. So far $25,- 000,000 in irrigation bonds have been floated, $7,000,000 refunded.

• Total of 43 Dams-Not counting a large number of small irrigation proj- ects (totaling some 180,000 acres and costing about $14,000,000), the commis- sion's program calls for 43 dams, of which 15 have already been completed.

The eight largest, some of them still under construction (map, below), will irrigate nearly 2,000,000 acres involving total appropriations of over $100,000,- 000.

The Valsequillo project (BW-Feb.

12'44,pl09), involving construction of the $2,000,000 Devil's Balcony dam and ,a $10,000,000, 7-mi. tunnel, is progress-

ing on schedule. Work is being done by Compania Constructora Rosoff, a subsidiary of Rosoff Subway Construc- tion Co. of New York, and American bulldozers and other machinery are speeding the project, due to be finished in 1946 .

• Much Criticism-Two other big proj- ects, El Palmito and EI Azucar, started under Cardenas, are still far from fin-

The two-year-old La Angostura Dam

in

the State of Sonora

.is

.typical

of.

th~

15

waterway projects

completed

by

Mexico's National

CommIssIOn of IrngatIon.

(OVER)

BUlinels W.ek • October 21, 1944

ished. The darn at EI Pamito, however, was completed in time to save many lives and millions in property when the Nazas River flooded last month.

Although Mexicans recognize the long-range importance of irrigation, they find plenty to criticize in the current work of the irrigation commission and the agricultural 'policy pursued in wa- tered areas. They insist that the govern- ment encourage cultivation of cheap crops of corn, wheat, and beans on the costly land, instead of higher-profit crops. Also, it is claimed that too much attention is paid to irrigation and not enougfi -to the -atten ant problems of drainage •.

• To Speed Work-The government is proud of its record during the two years that ended last April, in which 500,000 acres were provided with irrigation, and it intends to get as much more done as possible between now and September, 1946, when the term of Avila Camacho expires.

I

c

Mexico's long-range irrigation plans provide tor watering about one-third of the nation's arable land. About 20% of

TholollGftds of Acr ••

m~

.00 300 200 100

o

all the government's spending now goes for irrigation, chiefly for work on the eight biggest projects.

(OVER)