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HEARINGS 
 
 bp:fore the 
 
 3 - MAR" 6 
 
 COMMITTEE ON lI{lf.lT10N OE ARID LANDS 
 
 HOUSE OF IIEPRESENTATIYES, 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 THE RECLAMATION OF THE ARID LANDS 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 JANUARY 28 TO PEBEUAEY 9, 1901. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 1901. 
 
"U/ ; 
 

 :A,- ' 
 
 \\ 
 
 A 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Hearing- January "'S, lOdl . _ . 5 
 
 Statement of Hon. F. G, Newlands. of Nevada .- . 5 
 
 Statement of F. H. Newell, hydrographer, United States Geological 
 
 Survey _ 20 
 
 Statement of George H. Maxwell, chairman of executive committee of 
 
 National Irrigation Association . _ _ _ _ _ . _ 31 
 
 Hearing January 31. 1901. . _. . __ __ ;j7 
 
 Statement of Nelson H. Darton, geologist. United States Geological 
 
 Survey _ . . 37 
 
 Statement of F. H. Newell, hydrographer, United States Geological 
 
 Survey ^ . 43 
 
 Statement of Hon. Frank W. Mondell, of Wj'oming . 61 
 
 Hearing February 7. 1901 (a. m. ) . 71 
 
 Statement of Gilford Pinchot, chief forester, United States Department 
 
 of Agriculture .. .. 72 
 
 State*ment of Hon. J. F. Wilson, of Arizona . 74 
 
 Statement of Hon. Frank W. Mondell, of Wyoming . . .... 81 
 
 Statement of Hon. F. G. Newlands. of Nevada . . , . 8.5 
 
 Statement of Elwood Mead, irrigation expert. United States Department 
 
 of Agriculture . . 88 
 
 Hearing February 7. 1901 (p. m.) ... _ ... ... . 93 
 
 Statement of George H. Maxwell, chairman of executive committee of 
 
 National Irrigation Association . 94 
 
 Statement of Elwood Mead, irrigation expert, United States Department 
 
 of Agriculture . . 99 
 
 Hearing February 9. 1901 ... 108 
 
 Statement of George H. Ma.xwell, chairman of executive committee of 
 
 National Irrigation Association 108 
 
 3 
 
RECLAMATION OF THE ARID LANDS. 
 
 Committee ox Irrigation of Arid Lands, 
 
 House of Representatives, 
 Wasliiiujfoii, I). C, Moiuidij, Jdiniarij .-W, 1901. 
 The comiuittee met at 10 o'clock a. ni. 
 
 Present, Representatives Tongne (cliairmau), Barliani, Jenkins, 
 Ray, Reeder, Phillips, Sutherland, Wilson, Gaston, and Kinu'. 
 Pi-esent, also. Representatives Newlands and Mondell. 
 Also Frederick H. Newell, hjalrographer of the Ignited States Geo- 
 logical Survey, Washington, I). C, and George H. Maxwell, of San 
 Francisco, Cal., chairman of the executive committee of the National 
 Irrigation Association. 
 
 STATEMENT OF HON. FRANCIS G. NEWLANDS, OF NEVADA. 
 
 ]Mr. Newi.ands. (Gentlemen, I have two bills pending befoi-e this 
 committee relating to the reclamation of arid lands. One of those 
 bills (II. R. lw'844) is confined entirel\" to the State of Nevada and 
 eml)races only one river in that State, the Huml)oldt River, stretching 
 from the eastern to the western parti of the State — a distance of 
 between 300 and 4(H) miles. The other bill is a general bill (H. R. 
 l."JS4t)), relating to the reclamation of arid lands throughout all the 
 arid and semiarid States, embracing in its opei-atious thirteen States 
 and three Territories — nearly one-tliird of the entire country. 
 
 [H. R. l:i.S4-l, Fifty-sixth (.Congress, second session.] 
 
 A BILL for tlie disposition and settlement of arid lands, and for the constnicti<in of reservoirs 
 and necessary hydraulic works for the storage of water on and near the Hiunboldt River, 
 Nevada. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and Hon.<ie of Re presenfa fires i>f the United States of 
 America in Congress assonhled. That the Geological Survey be, and it is hereby, 
 directed to finish surveys and prepare specifications for the complete storage and 
 utilization of the fiood and excess waters of Humboldt River in the State of 
 Nevada. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the Director of the Geological Survey shall make a report to the 
 Secretai-y of the Interior as to each reservoir, diverting canal, or other hydraulic 
 work, showing the capacity and cost of construction, also the location of the public 
 lands to be reclaimed, as well as all other facts relative to the practi< •ability of the 
 utilization of the flood or waste waters. 
 
 Sec. o. That upon the filing of such report, or completed portions thereof, the 
 Secretary of the Interior may. in his discretion, withdraw from public entry the 
 lands embraced within the reservoir site, at high-water mark, and a strip of land 
 three hundred feet in width bordering the same, and also the land for one hundred 
 feet on each side of the center line of the diverting canals, or other hydraulic 
 works, to be constructed as heretofore noted, together with the public lands 
 which it is proposed to irrigate by the waters held in the reservoirs. 
 
 Sec. 4. That for the construction of a reservoir on Rock Creek, a tributary of 
 Humboldt River, and diverting canals, there be. and the same hereby is, appro- 
 priated the sum of one hundred and thirty-six thousand seven hundred and eighty 
 dollars, in accordance with the estimates of the hydraulic engineers of the Geo- 
 
() AUID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 logical Survey, reported to the Secretary of the Interior, aud printed in Part Four 
 of the Twentieth Annual Report of said Survey. 
 
 Sec. 5. That for the construction of the lower Humboldt reservoirs and 
 hydraulic works there be, and the same hereby is, appropriated, out of any monej' 
 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred and forty- 
 eight thousand three hundred dollars, as estimated by the hydraulic engineers in 
 the respect above named. 
 
 Sec. ij. That upon the completion of each irrigation project hereby specified, or 
 hereafter authorized, the public lands to be irrigated hereby shall be subject to 
 homestead entry, after notice by the Secretary of the Interior, upon the conditions 
 that, in addition to the re(iuirements of the homestead Act. the entryman, upon 
 the making of the final proof of settlement, shall i)ay to the Government the sum 
 of two dollars and tifty cents per acre, and enter upon an agreement to make fur- 
 ther payment, extending over a term of not to exceed ten years, aggregating seven 
 dollars and fifty cents per acre, this being in consideration for the use of the stored 
 water for the irrigation of said land. And each entryman shall l)e limited to the 
 entry and settlement of forty acres. 
 
 Sisc. 7. That in case the reservoirs constructed furnish more water than is 
 needed for the reclamation of the public land, or if land in private ownership is 
 found better situatt'd for the utilization of the stored waters, then the right to use 
 such water may be sold, as hereinafter provided, at the rate of ten dollars per 
 acre, payment to extend over a period not to exceed ten years. The amount of 
 water to be thus furnished to the land from the storage reservoirs is not to exceed 
 two acre-feet for each acre of land, this quantity to be measured at the head of the 
 canal, or ditch, diverting the water from the reservoir, or from the natural chan- 
 nel, if the latter is used in part for the conveyance of the water. 
 
 Skc. s. That tlie rights to the use df this stored water to the amount above 
 limited shall be appurtenant to the laml for which such rights are obtained, and 
 shall not be transferable to other lands, but shall be forfeited if not put to bene- 
 ficial use. 
 
 Skc. 0. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make suitable 
 rules and regulations for the enforcing of the provisions of this Act. 
 
 |H. H. i:is46, Fifty-sixtli ('niigix-ss. second session.] 
 
 A BILL tu autliDi-ize the cinistriK'tion "i i-csiTvoirs for the sturaae cf water and for other 
 hydraulic works lor t!ie rei-Ianiatiun of the piililic lanils \\itbiii the arid and seniiarid land 
 States and Territurii's. 
 
 Br it ciKirlcd hji the Sctiatc a mi House of h'cprcsciifdtircs of the United States 
 of All/cried ill CoiKjress (isseiiibji'll, That all moneys received from the sale and 
 disposal ot pnljlic lands in the arid and semiarid States and Territories beginning 
 with the fiscal year ending .Tunc thirtieth, nnieteen hundred and one, excepting 
 those set aside by law for educational jiurjioses. shall be reserved and set aside for 
 the creation of a fund in the Treasury, to be known as the '• arid land reclamation 
 fund," for the construction of reservoirs and other hydraulic works for the stor- 
 age and diversion of water for the irrigation and reclamation of arid lands. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior, by means of the Director of the 
 Geological Survey, V)e, and hereby is, directed to continue the examination of that 
 portion of tiio arid region of the United States where agriculture is carried on liy 
 means of irrigation as to the advantages for the storage of water for irrigating 
 purposes, of the practicability of constructing reservoirs, together with the 
 capacity of the streams and the cost of construction and capacity of reservoirs, 
 and such other facts as bear on the question of storage of water for irrigating 
 purposes as required by the Act approved March twentieth, eighteen hundred and 
 eighty-eight, and also to investigate the practicability of diverting large rivers by 
 mi^ans of tunnels or other works, and of providing supplies by means of artesian 
 wells. 
 
 Sec. ;!. That the Director of the Geological Survey shall from time to time 
 make reports to the Secretar}' of the Interior as to each of various proposed reser- 
 voirs, diverting canals, or other methods of procuring water, said reports to show 
 the location, cost of construction, (quantity, and location of such land as can be 
 irrigated, as well as the other facts relative to the practicability of the enterprise. 
 
 Sk( . 4. That upon the filing of such report the Secretary of the Interior may, in 
 his discretion, withdraw from public entry the lands retjuired for reservoir or 
 other hydraulic works, together with the "public lands which it is proposed to 
 irrigate from such works. 
 
 Sec. .-). That upon the determination by the Secretary of the Interior that each 
 of the said ])rojects of reclamation is practicable he shall cause to be let. upon 
 proper public notice, contracts for the construction of the same, in whole or in 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 
 
 part, payments to be made from the arid land reclamation fund: Provided, That 
 no such contract shall be let until the uecessarj' funds are available: And provided 
 fartlter. That in all construction work eight hours shall constitute a day's work 
 and none but citizen labor shall be employed. 
 
 Sec. 6. That upon the completion of each irrigation project, the total cost thereof 
 shall be ascertained and the amount divided pro rata per acre of the lands to be 
 irrigated thereby, and that said amount shall be made a charge against the lands 
 as the cost of a right to the use of water from said system of irrigation, and that 
 said public lands shall be subject to homestead entry, after notice by the Seci'etary of 
 the Interior, upon the condition that in addition to the requirements of the home- 
 stead Act the entryman shall make payment to the Government of the cost per 
 acre of water right as above ascertained, said payment to be made in not to 
 exceed ten annual installments, and each entryman shall be limited to the entry 
 and settlement of eighty acres, or such lesser amount as the Secretary of the 
 Interior may designate, and the moneys thus received shall be covered into the 
 arid land reclamation fund: Provided fitrther, That the right to the use of the 
 water shall be perpetually appurtenant to the land irrigated, and beneficial use 
 shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right. 
 
 Sec. 7. That in case the water thus provided shall be more than sufficient for 
 the reclamation of the public lands, or if land in private ownership has been 
 found by the survey above authorized to be better suited for the utilization of the 
 stored or divided waters, or if there is a sufficiency for both, then the right to use 
 such water may be sold at the rate as above ascertained and under the same terms; 
 but no water right shall be granted to any landowner or occupant for an amount 
 exceeding eighty acres. The proceeds of such sales shall be covered into the arid 
 land reclamation fund. 
 
 Sec. 8. That the following shall be considered as arid land and semiarid land 
 States and Territories within the meaning of this Act: Arizona, California, Colo- 
 rado. Idaho, Kansas, Montana. Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, 
 Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota. Utah, Washington, Wyoming. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Will it interrupt you if I ask you a question right 
 there as to your first bill (11. R. 12S4-i)? Does that bill eover or include 
 a complete watersliedy 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; tlie other is a ijenei-al ])ill. Tlie bill relating; 
 to Nevada simply takes up tlie Huml)oldt River, and ju-ovides for the 
 construction of two reservoirs, one (Ui Rock Creek, a tributary of that 
 river, and the other just adjoining the river, taking advantage of a 
 natural depression. Tlie total cost of tliese two enterprises will l)e 
 something over 8300, ()( 10. The bill makes an appropriation for this 
 amount. It provides tliat the Secretary of the Interior, upon making 
 the survey, shall determine what pul^lie lands are subject to this 
 storage of water and can be benefited by it; it jirovides that thej- shall 
 be withdrawn and set aside, and tliat they can be entered in ai-eas of 
 not exceeding- SO acres, subject to a payment of 82.50 for tlie land and 
 87.50 for the watei" riglit. 
 
 ."Mr. Reeder. I have noted the fact that the average size of irri- 
 gation farms in New Mexico is something less tlian 7 acres. My own 
 experience is that a man will liave no use for 80 acccs of ii-rigated land 
 for the purpose of raising cro])s. 
 
 ^Ir. Newlaxds. The unit varies according to the locality. As you 
 go to the south, wliere you can cultivate citrous fruits and nuts, and 
 tilings of that kind, the unit of entry maybe made very much smaller. 
 But in the nortli, wliere you rely mainly upon alfalfa and products 
 for fattening cattle, I think the unit of 8t) acres is about right. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. That is true. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. In the second bill which I have di'awn (H. R. 13846), 
 the bill for general reclamation, it is provided that the Secretary of 
 the Interior maj^ determine the unit of entry (not exceeding 80 acres), 
 so that he can adapt tlie unit to the localitv. 
 
 My bill with reference to the Humboldt River (11. R. 12S-t4) also 
 provides, as to lands now occupied, that water rights can be acquired 
 
8 ARID LAND^^ <)F THE nNITP:D STATES. 
 
 upon the payment of 810 an acre. This sum is equal to the entire 
 charge for (Government land, inclusive both of the entry and the 
 water rights. Remember, it is ^-2. 50 for the land entry and $7.50 for 
 the water. 
 
 aAIr. Barham. That gives tlie complete water right for all time? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Ves, sir; subject, howe\ei', to beneficial use. If 
 the water is not used it becomes tV)rfeited. That has now become one 
 of the settled docti'ines of the ai'id region— that title depends upon use. 
 
 Now as to the second bill (H. R. lijSiG): 
 
 The second bill relates to the entii-e count I'y, and, in luy Judgment, 
 it meets many obj(^ctions which have been urged by our Eastern and 
 Southei'u friends against a scheme of national importance. 
 
 In the first place, let me say something upon the (piestion whether 
 tliis great work should be intrusted to thell^nited States Government, 
 to the States, oi- to private enterprise. 
 
 As to private enterprise, under existing laws it is utterly impossible 
 to make i-eclamation, for the reason that any rc^clamation scheme 
 involves a. very lai'ge expenditure in the stoi-age of water, a very large 
 expenditure in the main canals, and a very large ex[)en(liture in the 
 diverting ditches, and it is al)solutely essential to obtain the control 
 and the ownership of lai'ge areas of land in order to make a storage 
 and reclamation enter[)rise pi-ofitable or even compensatoiy of the 
 ex])enditure made. 
 
 The policy of the (government luis nevei' l)een to grant large tracts 
 of land to individuals or corpoi-ations. The whole policy of the (tov- 
 ernnuMit has l)een against land monopoly and has been intended to 
 secure homes for actual settlei's. The entire West was settled up 
 under the preempt ion and the h()m(\stead laws. It was found that the 
 preemption law was subject to evasion; that it enabled ])eople, in vio- 
 lation of the spirit of the law, to acquire control of considerable areas 
 of land, and so th'at law was abandoned and we now rely entirely 
 upon the homestead law. The latter law provides that a man must 
 live upon a ti-act of land for five years before he can get a title to it, 
 but it gives liim tiu^ right to commute, after a residence of fourteen 
 months ui)()n the land, by the payment of '^1.25 an acre. So tliat 
 uidess we revolutionize the policy of th<^ country as to land monopo- 
 lies, we must concede that this matter can not be intrusted to private 
 cai)ital. 
 
 Now as to State control: We from the West object to the transfer 
 of the arid lands to the States, in the first place for the reason that 
 many of the States are so impoverished that they would be unable to 
 undertake any gi-eat work of this kind, and, in the second place, for 
 the reason that they rai-ely exercise a trust of this kind providently. 
 In fact, it may be said that they never exei-cise it providently. 
 
 Take the great State of Texas, which owns its own public lands. I 
 think it is generally admitted that those lands have been improvi- 
 dently parted with. Five millions of acres, I believe, were given in 
 one grant for the construction of a State capital, or something of that 
 kind; and the result is that Texas, in the near future, Avill be strug- 
 gling under the evils of land monopoly, and tliert- will be a general 
 protest against it. 
 
 In California we find that the hind grants given l)y the Mexican 
 (Government have operated against the develoitment of that State- 
 grants involving from -"JO to 200,()0() acres. You may say that the 
 owners of those lands will find it to their interest to part with them, 
 but that is not human nature. It is human nature to hold on to land. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THP: UNITED STATES. 9 
 
 The result is that these grants of great areas of land in California 
 have seriously impeded tlie development of that State. The tendency 
 of a State is, just as soon as it gets a grant, to try to get rid of it as 
 soon as possible bj^ realizing upon it. 
 
 Mr. Barham. And the same thing occurred in California in regard 
 to swamp and overflowed lands. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; they fell into the hands of monopolists. 
 
 The Chairman. The same thing occurred in Oregon as to the 
 swamp lands there. 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. We want to promote a policy wliicli will induce 
 the settlement of the country of which I have l)een spealving in small 
 tracts for homes — tracts aggregating in area not more tlian 80 acres; 
 and we want oftentimes to make the unit of entry smaller than 80 
 acres, according to the character of the cultivation, the climate, and 
 the soil. 
 
 What objection is urged against us? The objection in the East is 
 that it is proposed to tax the entire country for the improvement of a 
 section 
 
 Mr. Barham. One moment, l)efore you get to that question. It is 
 an important one; but before you get to it let me ask you this: 
 
 Is it not true that in addition to what you Imve said we have to deal 
 with the interstate navigable streams, which a State could not by any 
 possibility conti-ol";;' 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. That is true. These interstate questions also pre- 
 sent themselves; for there is hardly a State which is watered by a 
 river which has not interstate complications. Take the State of 
 Nevada, for instance. Three out of its four rivers have their source 
 in California. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. Would not the Federal Government meet with the 
 same embarrassment on tlie other side? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. No; l)ecause the operations of tlie Federal Gov- 
 ernment, of course, embrace the entire Union. Upon the other hand, 
 suppose that a State were entering upon a scheme of State improve- 
 ment. It certainly could not, or, at all events, it would be a difficult 
 question as to whether it could, erect works outside of the State, in a 
 neighboring State, probably subject to the taxation of that State. All 
 these eml)arrassments would arise in the administration of a scheme 
 of that character, and would form an obstruction to it. But beyond 
 all that, I want to place particular emphasis upon the fact that a State 
 will not exercise a trust of this character wisely and providently. I 
 place more stress upon that i^cjint than upon anything else. 
 
 Recollect, now, that we already have this United States (Geological 
 Survey. It has been in operation now for twenty-two years. It has 
 the confidence of the people. It has a corps of scientific men who are 
 unsurpassed in their line, and those men have made studies of that 
 entire Western country for the last twenty years, and are now ])repared 
 to undertake this work. 
 
 Mr. Barham. I want to make this suggestion in answer to the ques- 
 tion suggested by ]\[r. Jenkins. The Government controls the bridg- 
 ing of navigable streams. So, upon a parity of reasoning, the Gov- 
 ernment, in legislating upon tliis subject, would also control the 
 (luestion of the navigability of the streams to the extent of their being 
 affected l)y this irrigation scheme. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. Yes, Mr. Barham; but that has relation, of course, 
 to existing streams. The question in my mind was as to whether or 
 
10 ARID LANDS (>F THE IGNITED STATES. 
 
 not the Fedenil Government can go into a State and un dertake- it^ 
 -rlovelopnieiit. 
 
 Ml". 1)ARHAM. Tliat will raise the question of riparian rights. That 
 is proV)al)ly the (juestion here. 
 
 'Hie (;HAIRMAN. I had this (jnestion in mind, Mr. Newlands; it is 
 probal)ly the same as that raised by Judge Jenkins. The owners 
 along the banks of the streams are entitled to the liow of waters in 
 their customary channels. Now, lias the (Tovernment a right to go 
 above that, create dams and reservoirs, and then divert the water from 
 the streams out over the public lands, so as to prevent its flowing in its 
 accustomed ehannels, and so take away a vested i-ight of the citizen? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. That would possibly be a question under the doc- 
 trine of riparian rights. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. I tliink I can answer that question, so far as most of 
 the arid-land States are concerned. They have, in their State consti- 
 tutions, alu'ogated the old docti-iue of ripaian rights. All of the arid- 
 land States have done that. iVs far as Llaho is concfu-ned, I was a 
 mendjer of the convention which fi-anied its constitution; and the old 
 <loctrine has of necessity been abrogated, because the conditions 
 existing there made such a step al)solutely essential for the develop- 
 ment of the country. So that it is no longer the law in any of those 
 States that a sti-eam shall tlow "umliminished in quantity and unde- 
 iiled in quality" past a man's land. II can all be ai)propriated and 
 divei'ted, and he may be left nothing but the bare channel. That is 
 the law in all the arid-land States; and the Sni)reme Court of the 
 United States has sustained the State courts in upholding that provi- 
 sion of the State constitutions. 
 
 The Chair^ian. Our State (Oregon) has noconstitutional provision 
 of the kind. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, ibit most of sour Stati' is not aritl. Thatis the i-eason 
 for that. 
 
 JMr. Uarham. California follows the same rule. That is what I 
 wanted to get betore this committee, Ix'cause it is a continual t;;tum- 
 ])ling-block with men who Tinderstand the old English common-law 
 system of riparian rights. W(; can get rid of thati <lifficulty easily 
 enough, however, in tlie ai'i<l-land district. That was the point I 
 Avanted to make. 
 
 3Ir. Newlands. There are some of these States — I imagine Califor- 
 nia is one and Oregoii is another — which have not as j'et reached the 
 advanced doctrine of the intermountaiu States. Mr. Wilson states 
 the fact regarding those States. They have entirely done away with 
 this doctrine of ri[)arian rights. IJut pi-actically the question will not 
 arise, for, recollect, it is only the flood waters that are stored in these 
 reservoirs; and in most of llie arid-land States the doctrine is now 
 recognized that when a man stoics water he is entitled to take it out 
 ])(dow, using the stream simply as a channel for carrying his water, 
 and his title to it is recognized. Laws to that effect have been jiassed 
 in ai number of States. 
 
 ]\Ir. Jenkins. It is rather a question in my mind be>ond the doc- 
 trine of riparian rights. Of course, when we talk about riparian 
 rights we ordinarily refer to the rights of a party on a stream already 
 in existence. Now, we are making quite a departure. We are sug- 
 gesting the idea of the Federal Government going into a State and 
 taking possession of lands there, and making a canal, so to speak, for 
 the purpose of conducting water. A person living on that stream 
 would not have what we call riparian rights. lie would only have 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 
 
 what might he called statutory rights. Rijparian rights are coiniiion- 
 law rights. 
 
 Mr. Barham. lielonging to the State. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. They may belong to the State, and individuals may 
 have riparian rights. But inasmuch as I am going to be largely 
 influ'enced by gentlemen like Mr. Newlands (who lives in a locality 
 interested in this matter, and who has had large experience with these 
 questions), I want to see whether or not he has considered what I 
 consider the fundamental question involved in this matter, which is 
 as to the j)Ower of the Federal Government and tlie power of the 
 States^ — whether it would be necessary to unite the two, or whether 
 the Federal Government can go on absolutely independent of the 
 States. I raise that question here because I am going to ask to be 
 excused in a moment. This is a matter in which I am greatly inter- 
 ested; but we want to prepare amendments on several District bills 
 which we hope to get up. 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. Will you allow me to pass the question which you 
 have raised for a moment, so that I can explain the provisions of this 
 second bill? I would like you to understand it. 
 
 This second general bill (11. R. i;)S4(3) is intended to meet the objec- 
 tion that the entire country is to be taxed for the improvement of a 
 particular section. Of course, we think that is a vei-y narrow view, but 
 this bill is intended t(^ meet it. There seems to be a general disposi- 
 tion, on the part of those Avho oppose the Government going into this 
 work, to grant these lands to the arid States and let them settle these 
 complications themselves. We are opposed to that. course, because 
 we want the Government to undertake this work. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. Independent of your opposition, it would not be either 
 right or practicable or l)eneticial. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. No; now, this general bill (II. R. l.')84<'.) which I 
 present provides that all moneys received from the sale of pul)lic lands 
 in the arid and semiarid States shall be put into a special fund in the 
 Treasury, to he called the ''arid-land reclamation fund." It provides, 
 then, that the Secretary of the Interior, through tlie (Geological Sur- 
 vey, shall make plans and estimates of the cost and the feasibility of 
 irrigation schemes through the arid and semiarid States, and that 
 wherever the Department of the Interior deems a plan practicable it 
 shall withdraw the lands embraced within that plan from the general 
 operation of the land laws. It then provides that the construction of 
 these works shall l)e commenc(Ml, and that the lands subject to them 
 shall be subject to entry, under the homestead law, in ai'eas not exceed- 
 ing SO acres; that the total cost of each project shall be fastened pro 
 rata upon the acreage l^enetitcd l)v it, and that that total cost shall 
 be repaid in ten annual installments. The money i-aised in this man- 
 ner is to go into the "arid-land reclamation fund," and to l)e used 
 over and over again in other enterprises of a similar character. 
 
 This bill creates a revolving fund, derived from the sale of public 
 lands in the region that will be reached by it. The plan suggested 
 will ])e self-operating; in fact, almost automatic. It will recpiire no 
 further action by the Congress and no appropriation from the Con- 
 gress except the devotion of these moneys to this particular purpose. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Does the bill provide for a system of artesian 
 wells for experimental purposes'? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; it provides for reservoirs, for the diversion 
 of rivers, and also for artesian wells, as a part of the project. It puts 
 the whole thing under the control of the Secretary of the Interior and 
 
12 ARID LANDS ()F THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 tlie Dii-eclor of tlie Geological Survey. It permits the Secretary, 
 wlieii a project is determined to l>e feasible, to let contracts for the 
 construction, either in whole or in sections; and it provides that uo 
 conti-act shall be made unless the money for its payment is already in 
 tills fund. It also provides, as to lands already occupied, that if there 
 is more water stoi-ed than is sufficient for the public lands, or if it can 
 be used more conveniently upon lands already occupied, water rights 
 can there be granted in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, 
 subject to the same payments; l>ut the condition is made that he shall 
 not grant a water right of more than 80 acres to any one person. 
 
 As you see, the ett'ect of that provision will be to gradually destroy 
 the existing land monopoly. In the State of Nevada wc have a land 
 grant of 2,(H)(),()00 acres, given by the (leneral Government for the 
 school fund there. That land has been most iniprovideutly granted 
 by the State; and tlu^ result is that the whole of it is now held in very 
 large tracts l»y individuals. There is one man, in one of the richest 
 valleys on the Humboldt River, who owns 14,000 acres — half of it 
 acijuired under the school grant and half of it acquired through the 
 raili'oad grant. These lands are directly on the river, and could be 
 divided up into tracts of 40 or MO acres, which would supi)ort hundreds 
 of families. 
 
 Suppose this reser\oir scheme goes through. This man, of course, 
 would like to get IVom the (Tcueral (Government water rights for his 
 whole 14,000 acres. He could not do it. The Government saj^s to 
 him, "You must divide up your territory into SO-acre farms; then 
 we will grant each one of tho.se men a water right for 80 acres, ui)on 
 the i)a3nnent of a proportionate part of the entire cost in ten annual 
 payments." Such a provision does no injustice to the landowner, for 
 the very presence and execution and completion of this project gives 
 additional value to his land, enabling him to sell it at a better price. 
 
 Air. Jenkins. Will not a large (piantity of these lands be benefited 
 by the fact that other lands around them are improve<rr' 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Oh, yes. There is no question that projects of 
 this kind would increase the values of all the adjoining lands which 
 are in private occupancy, 1)ecause tliere is cei-tain to be moi-e or less 
 seepage or pei'colation of water 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. Gan not that improvement be assessed on those lands, 
 just as in the case of street improvements? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I think it would l)e difficult to do that; but I do 
 not consider it necessary. I tliink it would l)e a very comi)licated 
 matter. 
 
 Mr. Reedek. It would be almost impossible to estimate it. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. This bill also i)ro\ ides that moneys received from 
 the sale of pul)lic lands for the fiscal year ending June 30, I'.iOl, shall 
 go into this fund. That fiscal year is about half completed, and it 
 would provide, I flunk, between' 81,000,000 and Jt^i, 000,000. The pub- 
 lic-land sales during the last six or se\'(ui y<'ars have ranged from 
 .i58(;4,ooo in 18!)7 up to s2,8;>(J,ooO in I'.ioo. 
 
 'i'lie Ghairman. Does your bill provide for putting the pi'oceeds of 
 the entire sales of the public lands into this fund? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; sinii)ly in the ai-id ami scuniarid States, 
 however. 
 
 ^Fr. Sutherland. ^^)u make no direct ai»propriation as a begin- 
 ning, do youV 
 
 :\[r. Newlands. No; we simply dedicate the funds that have been 
 received for this fiscal year to this fund, and those moneys form the 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 
 
 commencement of the fund. In this entire arid and semiarid region 
 there are about 000,000,000 acres of land. Tlie most intelligent esti- 
 mate is that tlie total amount to be reclaimed by irrigation will not 
 exceed 75,000,000 acres. In some jilaces the estimate is given as 
 100,000,000 acres, but I think 75,000,000 acres is a better estimate. 
 It will take thirty or forty years, or perhai)s fifty years, to accomplisli 
 that. So it means simply the gradual reclamation of these lands. In 
 addition to tliat, it means that a greater value will be given to the 
 other lands which are now used as pasture lands. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Do I understand that 75,000,000 is the sum total 
 of the acres of land out of the (iOO,0()0,000 that could possibly be 
 reclaimed, in all? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; in all. 
 
 Now, what do we say as to the 525,000,000 acres remaining":' That is 
 all pasture land, mountain land. Thei'c is free range there at present. 
 The Government gets nothing from it. The result of the improved 
 cultivation of the valleys and river bottoms will be that there will be 
 a more provident system of cattle and sheep raising in that country. 
 At present it is most improvident, because the cattle and sheep range 
 over those vast areas of land, and when a terrific snowstorm comes on 
 in the winter, concealing the grasses, they perish by the thousands. 
 Now, the provident system of cattle i-aising means that great quanti- 
 ties of hay will be stored in the valleys just for such purposes, and if 
 the agricultural regi(m is increased in that way the pasture conditions 
 will vastly improve, and some method will V)e devised for selling or 
 leasing these pasture lands. The total cash receipts f i-om the disposal 
 of jiublic lands during each fiscal year, from July 1, 1S05, to June 30, 
 1!)00, from the report- of the Secretary of the Treasury, aiv as follows: 
 
 1895 $1.1U3,;547 | 1898 $1,243,129 
 
 189(3 1, 005, 52:J i 1899. . 1, 678, 246 
 
 1897 864.581 : 1900, 2,836,883 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. I understood they were not selling pul)lic lands now. 
 Am I wrong in that? 
 
 Mr. Wilson. The desert-land law, which is the only general law 
 now on the statute books (besides the homestead law) authorizing the 
 disposition of pul)lic lands, jn-ovides that the applicant shall pay $1.25 
 an acre for the land after reclaiming it, and under the homestead 
 law, when the entryman commutes at the end of fourteen months, he 
 pays $1.25 an acre. In a great nmny States where Indian reserva- 
 tions have been opened there have been, until the passage of the free- 
 homestead law last session, provisions that various sums, ranging 
 from $1.25 to $3.75 an acre, should be x)aid for land. It is from these 
 various sources that this money comes. The homesteader who lives 
 on his land for five Nears pays nothing for it, except the Land Office 
 fees. A great nmny of them commute. A man who wants to get his 
 title before that time does this. Judge Jenivins is right when he says 
 that the homesteader who lives on his land five .years pays nothing for 
 the land. All of the otliers, however, do. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins. I understood that public lands were not now for sale. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. They are not for sale; they are not sold. You know 
 that the title to a great deal of land in the arid region is secured through 
 the desert-land law, and for all of that land you must pay $1.25 an 
 acre. That, I supj)ose, amounts to a great many hundreds of thou- 
 sands of dollars. 
 
 Mr. IJarham. Then your scheme would include the expenditure of 
 about $750,000,000 at $lo an acre? 
 
14 ARID LANDS < »F THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. That isassniniiig tliat the reclaiuatioii will cost 110 
 ail acre. Much of it costs much less. 
 
 ■Mr. Wilson. But, just there, a great many millions of acres will be 
 reclaimed by private individuals during this time. For instance, 
 hundreds of thousands of acres in each State are continually being- 
 reclaimed by private individuals, so that tlu^ (government will never 
 be called upon to expend that •i57.')( »,()()< ),(Hio. I do not suppose a fourth 
 of it will be expended. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Whatever is (h)n(' makes no difference, because 
 under the automatic regulation of this bill we simply put the moneys 
 received from the sale of lands into the reclamation fund, and go on 
 with more work, and there is no expense to the Government. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. A (luestion with regard to your bill l)efore you sit 
 down. 
 
 'rh<' law now provides that 5 per cent of the receipts for the sale of 
 public lands shall go to the States for school purposes. Of course we 
 do not want to repeal that law. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. No; there is also a bill now i)eiiding, which has 
 passed the Senate, which organizes scliools of mines and makes those 
 schools of mines a charge upon the public-land fund. I will put an 
 exemption in the l)ill pi'oviding that all moneys received from the sale 
 (^f lands, except those devoted to educational purposes, should be 
 used for this purpose. That exemption would include this 5 per 
 cent of which you speak. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. To illustrate how these 75,()00,()()() acres will never 
 have to be reclaimed by the General Government: I have in mind an 
 irrigation system \vhere I live. There are 75,(H)0 acres under the 
 canal. There are 20,()UU acres under cultivation — a high state of cul- 
 tivation, mostly fruit cultivation. The canal has been constructed 
 five or six years, but it is being enlarged now, so that that canal 
 would uinhnibtedly irrigate the whole 75,0(K) acres. The Govern- 
 ment will never be called upon to iri-igate an acre of it. In fact it 
 would not be permitted to do so. The land is very valuable. So 
 there you have the difference between 20,(H)0 and 75,000, or 55,000 
 acres under one canal, in one State, that would be taken out. I sup- 
 pose thei'e are a great many instances like that. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Now, I want to say one word, if you will permit 
 me, about the State of Nevada itself. I presume what I say with i-ef- 
 erence to it will illustrate the conditions in other States. 
 
 \Ve have a i>opulatioii of only 43,(»0O. Twenty years ago we had 
 <'io,0( )( t. It is not generally known that Nevada has produced more of the 
 precious metals than any other State of the Union. Over -S()00,000,000 
 worth of precious metals liave lieen produced there; but the profits 
 received from the m iiies have all gone out of the State. There has never 
 been organized there a commercial emporium like Salt Lake City or 
 Denver, at which enterprises could be conducted throughout the 
 ent-ii-e State. The agriiniltural interests have never been promoted. 
 The mining intei-ests are so pi'ofitable that everything in the State is 
 of a speculative character; and when the mine depression came, 
 through the fall in tlie price of silver, there was no general, equal, 
 harmonious develoiJiiieiit in the State that could withstand the etfects 
 of that depression. So that we must now take liold of Nevada and 
 l)uild it up, and we must start with the l>asis of every Commonwealth — 
 agricultui-<'. 
 
 Now, the farmers of that State have already taken up the lands 
 adjoining the rivers. It does not cost much to do that. They simply 
 
AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 
 
 dig a ditch and carry the water over the adjacent hind and irrigate it. 
 But the measure of that kind of cultivation is the condition of the 
 stream at its very lowest flow, instead of its highest flow, and the low- 
 est flow comes at the time when water is most needed — in July and 
 August. These farms, therefore, are very limited, and Miierever any- 
 body else now takes uj) a farm and proposes to water it, he flnds an 
 abundance of water in April, May, and perhaps in June, and no water 
 at all at the time when it is most needed. So that it is utterly impos- 
 sible to continue tlie agricultural development of Nevada under exist- 
 ing conditions. 
 
 You will ask, " Is there' water that can be secured for these lands'?" 
 We have four large rivers — one, the Hundjoldt River, stretching from 
 the eastern jiai't of tlie State to the western, a distance of about 400 
 miles, with one of the richest valleys in the world. The lower part 
 of the valley is as rich as the valley of the Nile. Wells have been 
 dug 100 feet deep and never gotten to the bottom of the soil. It is a 
 rich, alluvial deposit that will produce everything. 
 
 What is the character of that river? It is a torrent in the latter 
 part of March, Api-il, and May, and it is a mere thread in July, 
 August, and September. Where do those waters go? They flow into 
 a sink of the desert called Humboldt Lake. The water is in the low- 
 est part of the desert, and of course it is impossible to utilize it, 
 because it is impracticable to lift water for the purpose of irrigating 
 land. Dependence must be placed upon gravity. 
 
 That lake measures the unutilized water of the river. The prob- 
 lem is to substitute for that lake artificial lakes at the sources of the 
 tributaries of the Humboldt River and along the river itself in natural 
 depressions, where dams can be inexpensively constructed and the 
 water can be held so that it can flow by gravity to these lands where 
 it is most required. 
 
 The other three rivers of which I have spoken take their source in 
 the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which are the source of the great rivers 
 of California (the Sacramento, the King River, and the San Joaquin 
 River); but their watei-s flow to the east instead of to the west, as the 
 California rivers do. The California rivers flow into the ocean and 
 lose their waters there. Our waters flow into gj'cat lakes in the sink 
 of the desert, and there is at the foot of the Truckee River a lake 35 
 or 40 miles long, 10 or 15 miles wide, in the sink of the desert, which 
 measures the unutilized water of the river. There is at the foot of 
 the Carson River a similar lake called Carson Lake. Then there is 
 at the foot of the Walker River a similar lake called Walker Lake, 
 an immense sheet of water, and so on. Storage in these lakes is com- 
 paratively inexpensive. The whole matter has heen investigated at 
 the source of the Truckee River. We find that water can be very 
 inexpensively stored there, and that hundreds of thousands of acres 
 can be brought under reclamation if it is so stored. 
 
 "Now," 3'ou ask, "why is it not done by private enterprise?" 
 The people of the Truckee Valley only have 30,000 acres under cul- 
 tivation. They are prosperous, but still they are only small farmers, 
 having 160 acres of land axiiece. They are unable to comprehend a 
 big scheme of this kind, and thej^ have not the means to carry it out 
 in any event. Besides that, they have the water for their land, and 
 that is all they need. Now, Ave want to enter up other lai-ge areas of 
 land belonging to the Government. Who is to do it? You do not 
 want to make a grant to a corporation for the i^urpose of doing it, 
 because that tends to land monopol}'. You do not allow individuals 
 
16 ARID LANDS ( »F THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to take out large tracts, for tliai lends to land monopoly. The ques- 
 tion is whether it is not tlie obligation and the duty of the Govern- 
 ment,, which is the owner of this land, to see to it that it is put in 
 coudition for settlement. You survey land in order to put it in a 
 condition foi- settlement. If it is iiecessary, in addition to that, to 
 survey tlie watei-s tliat sup[)ly it ; is not tluit a governmental duty and 
 obligation, just as the survey of the land is? It ])elongs to tlie Gov- 
 ernment. It is an obligation, a duty, that belongs to it ])y reason of 
 its owiui'rship. A})ar1 fi'om its governmental capa.city, if that is done, 
 Nevada will advance, and evei'ything else will advance. It will tend 
 to the development of her mineral wealth. As it is, Nevada has a 
 "black eye.'' We have l)een served l)y a railroad which never has 
 made an ettOrt to col(>ni/<^ it. Why? IJeeause the Central Pacific 
 Railroad was owned by the pi'omoltM's of the Southern Pacific. The 
 8(mtheru Pacific was a through, lianscontinental line, and they 
 wanted their business to go on the long haul, and all jiossible ])usi- 
 ness was tli verted to the Southern Pacific. Then they liad a difficulty 
 with the Federal Government upon the question of subsidy; and the 
 result of the discussion was that the popular impi-ession was created 
 throughout the country that that ]-ailroad was woi-thless, and that the 
 Government ought to practically give it away, because it passed 
 through a worthless State. PAer}' othei- ti-aiiscontinental I'oad has 
 lieen the colonizei- of (^V(^JT State through whicli it has passed. Tlie 
 road was built first and the ccnmlry settled afterwards. 
 
 We I'egard this State, in effect, as a raib'oad "bi-idge" fi'om Ogden 
 to California. Now, just look ail tlirougji the territory to the north 
 and south. What do you find? Seven or eight interm(^)untain States 
 or Territories whose populations, in the past twenty years, have 
 increased thi-eefold. Nevada's [)opulation has diminished one-third. 
 Now, natTir(^ did not give all the advantages to these otlier States that 
 sui'round hei-. Nevada has the same advantages. ^Phe whole (jues- 
 tion is on*' of go\ei'nnien1al and i-ailroad })oIicy. 
 
 ^Ir. \\'ii.S()N. Is it not a fact that Nevada has increased wherever 
 there were agricultural settlements? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Ves; Keno is now t he lea<ling town in the State, 
 through its location in an agricultural country. 
 
 JNlr. 1)A1;ham. In otlier words, theiv are large I'arnis where alfalfa 
 and all that sort of thing grow. There ar<' just as beautiful agricul- 
 tural interests there as any in the world. 
 
 ]Mr. Newlanps. I ask sjiecial consideration for Neva<la. I believe 
 in this general I'eclamalion scheme, if you are disjiosed to consider 
 that, but I ask special considei'ation for Nevada. Recollect, it was 
 pulled into the Pnion in 1S(;4 against its will. Its ])eople rejected 
 their constitution in the first ])lace. They did not feel that they had 
 a ])opulation sufticient to sustain tlie burden of statehood But the 
 patriotic men of Washington sent- telegrams there, as did the Rejinb- 
 lican newspa|iers, urging them that it was a i)atriotic dnty on their 
 pari- to come in to assist in reconsi inicting legislation; and they aequi- 
 esce(l and came in. 
 
 Mr. 1)AKHAM. Now, I woidd like to have your opinion on this prop- 
 osition: Does not your bill, after all, amount to an appro})riation of 
 public funds, because the lu-oceeds of the sale of these lands w^ould 
 go into the Treasury of the Pniled States? What I want to get at, 
 then, is this: \\'ould it not be just as w«dl to come squarely before 
 the peo[)le and say, "A^"e i)i"oi)ose to appropriate enough public funds 
 to carry out this project, until the money is paid liack into the Treas- 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 
 
 ury of the United States. We will assess these lands at the rate, say, 
 of 75 cents or 11 an acre, until all of the money appropriated to carrj- 
 out this great scheme has been repaid to tlie Treasury," just as was 
 done in the case of the Union, Central, and Western Pacific railroads. 
 Wliat I mean to say is, why do we not go right square at the proposi- 
 tion, and say, "Gentlemen, here is what the people want" — and they 
 do want it, I believe — instead of pretending to dodge around by say- 
 ing that "the sale of the arid lands is going to pay this money;" 
 because they will understand that themselves. Take the bull squarely 
 by the horns, and appropriate the money out of tlie Treasury of the 
 United States, with the tax of so much an acre, sufficient to ultimately 
 repay the Government, and let whoever uses it — railroads, private 
 owners, or anybodj' else— pay 75 cents or $1 an acre. Give the pref- 
 erence to the homesteader, but make it 80 aci'es to the settler. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Well, I doubt whether the Government could enter 
 upon a scheme of assessing lands in the States for local improvements 
 in the States. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Now, what I mean is, if private owners or railroads 
 use this water, tliey should paj" 61 an acre for it. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. If they use it. 
 
 Mr. Barham. If thej^ use it; yes. Now, as to the public lands, of 
 course we can make any rule we please about them. Now, why not 
 go squarely before the people and say: "Yes, it will develop the rail- 
 road lands; it will develop the lands of the State; and we will assess 
 them ^1 an acre, or 75 cents an acre, or whatever will ultimatelj^ repay 
 the Government? " 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I have no objection to that at all. On the con- 
 trary, I would advocate it; and I have a bill — H. R. 14072 — drawn up 
 on that basis — a bill after the pattern of the river and harbor bill — 
 making a specific approj)riation at this time for the commencement of 
 projects which have already been planned and estimated upon by the 
 Geological Survey and providing for estimates (as in the case of tlie 
 river and harbor bill) for work that is projected. Each member of 
 Congress has the right to go before the committee and present his 
 project, and ask for an estimate and a plan regarding it. I am in 
 favor of such a bill. But we find that those who ai"e opposed to this 
 scheme of the Government paying out moneys for the reclamation of 
 lands are willing to grant the lands to the States. If they are willing 
 to grant the lauds to the States, they ought to be willing to set aside 
 the proceeds from the sales. 
 
 [H. R. 14073, Fifty-sixth Congress, second session.] 
 
 A BILL For the construction of public works regulating the flow of the rivers of the arid region 
 of the United States, storing the water, and continuing surveys. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate aiid Hoiise of Rejivefieiitafives of tlie United States of 
 America in Congress assembled. That the following sums of money be, and are 
 hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated, to be immediately available and to be expended under the direction 
 of the Secretary of the Interior and the supervision of the Director of the Geolog- 
 ical Survey, for the construction, completion, and operation of the storage and 
 reclamation works hereinafter named and for the surveys hereinafter named, 
 
 ARIZONA. 
 
 Toward the construction of a dam and reservoir on Gila River, Arizona, near 
 San Carlos, as described in the report entitled Water Supply Paper Numbered 
 Thirty-three, of the United States Geological Survey, one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 11196—01 2 
 
18 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Toward the construction of dams on Kings River, at the locality known as 
 Clarks Valley, as descriljed in Senate Document Numbered Fifty-nine, of the 
 Fifty-sixth Congress, second session, fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 Toward the c^onstruction of the Hetcii Hetchy Reservoir, as described in the 
 Twenty-first Annual Report. Part Four, of the United States Geological Survey, 
 page four hundred and sixty-five, fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 For construction of a reservoir on Clear Lake, California, fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 MONTANA. 
 
 Toward the construction of the nine miles of diversion canal from Saint ^Mary 
 River. Montana, as described in the rei)ort of the United States Geological Survey, 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 Toward the construction of a reservoir on Rock Creek. Nevada, as described in 
 the Twentieth Annual Report, Part Four, United States Geological Survey, page 
 four hundred and forty-five, thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 Toward the construction of reservoirs and diversion works on Humboldt River, 
 in Nevada, as described in the Twentieth Annual Report, Pai't Four. United States 
 Geological Survey, forty thousand dollars. 
 
 Toward the construction of reservoirs on the Tnickee River, in California and 
 Nevada, as described by the United States Geological Survey, eighty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 WYOMING. 
 
 For the construction of a reservoir on Grey Bull River, Wyoming, as described 
 by the United States Geological Survey, forty-nine thousand nine hundred and 
 sixty-two dollars. 
 
 ARIZONA. 
 
 For surveying sites in Arizona, determining amount of water in Gila and Salt 
 rivers, including Santa Cruz River, and investigating artesian conditions, six 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 For survey's in northern California of reservoir sites on head waters of Kings, 
 Kern, and San -Joaquin rivers, ten thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination and mapping of underground waters in San Joaquin Val- 
 ley, California, five thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination and mapping of underground waters in San Bernardino 
 Valley, California, five thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of tlie country adjacent to Colorado River, in California 
 and Arizona, and estimates of cost of utilizing the Colorado River by pumping or 
 by gravity canals, eleven thousand dollars. 
 
 COLOltADD. ~ 
 
 For surveys in Colorado of reservoir sites on head waters of Platte River, four 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of the feasibility of storing water in northeastern Colorado, 
 three thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of reservoir sites on Arkansas River and Rio Grande, in 
 Colorado, eight thou.sand dollars. 
 
 For reconnoissance for diver.sion of <Tunnison River, in southwestern Colorado, 
 five thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of underground waters and drilling test well in eastern 
 Colorado, sixteen thousand dollars. 
 
 IIiAUO. 
 
 For a survey for diversions of water from Snake River, Idaho, and obtaining 
 underground waters on Snake River iilains, five thousand dollars. 
 
 For examination of reservoir sites on head waters of Boise, Weiser, and Payette 
 rivers, of eastern Idaho, four thousand dollars. 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 For drilling test well in northwestern Kansas, .sixteen thousand dollars. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 
 
 MONTANA. 
 
 For the continuation of the Saint Mary River surveys, Montana, seven thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 For the continuation of the Madison River, Helena survey, Montana, five thou- 
 sand dollars-. 
 
 For the diversion of waters from Yellowstone River, Montana, eleven thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 NEBRASKA. 
 
 For drilling test well, 'adjacent to southwestern Nebraska, fifteen thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 NEVADA. 
 
 For the continuation of reservoir survej's on Carson, Muddy. Virgin, and Walker 
 rivers. Nevada, ten thousand dollars. 
 
 For investigation of artesian conditions in Lemon and Warm Spring and other 
 valleys in Nevada, five thousand dollars. 
 
 NEW MEXICO. 
 
 For survey of reservoir sites on Rio Grande, New Mexico, si.v; thousand dollars. 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 For continuation of mapping of underground waters in 'North Dakota, three 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 OREGON. 
 
 For continuation of examination of deep waters in northwestern Oregon, four 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 For exploration for reservoir sites on head waters of Owyhee and Malheur 
 rivers. Oregon, five thousand dollars. 
 
 SOUTH DAKOTA. 
 
 For the investigation of deep waters in western part of South Dakota, drilling 
 test well, fifteen thousand dollars. 
 
 TEXAS. 
 
 For water storage in trans-Pecos, Texas, five thousand dollars. 
 
 UTAH, 
 
 For surveys of storage reservoirs on the Sevier River, four thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of head waters of Provo and Weber rivers, Utah, three 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 For reconnoissance for diversion of Grand and Green rivers, in southeastern 
 Utah, five thousand dollars. 
 
 WASHINOTON. 
 
 For surveys of reservoir sites on head waters of Yakima River. Washington, 
 and tributaries, six thousand dollars. 
 
 For the examination of artesian conditions of central Washington, four thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 WYOMING. 
 
 For survevs of storage and diversion of Green River. Wyoming, and tributaries, 
 six thousand dollars. 
 
 For surveys for conservation of water on North Platte River, Wyoming, four 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 ]Mr. Barham. That has not been the shuwinu- before this comiivittee. 
 I have been here for six years; and while nearly every one of ns was 
 in favor of g-ranting- the lauds to the States, yet the people take the 
 same view of it that you do — that the same resnlt would follow as was 
 the case in regard to the California land grants of swamp and over- 
 
20 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 flowed lands; and tliese men wonld ultimately come into the ownership 
 of large tracts of land, ruining the very object intended. The people 
 are not in favor of granting the land to the State. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I am not talking about the people. I am talking 
 about objectors in Congress. The men who object to the reclamation 
 of the arid lands of the West say, "If you will bring in a bill granting 
 the arid lands to the West, we will acquiesce." 
 
 Yery well; now, I reply to them, "We do not want to grant all the 
 lands, because we know that these lands will be improvidently dis- 
 posed of. We want you to hold them, but we want you to turn over 
 the proceeds of those lands (which is the same thing) to a fund for 
 reclamation purjioses." Now, I admit that the purpose of this bill is 
 to- do away with the o])jection which is urged by these men — an objec- 
 tion which I do not regard as reasonable. 
 
 There is another thing: They say, "We commence to-day with an 
 appropriation of one, two, three, or four million dollars. How do we 
 know but tliat next year, or five years from now, we will be called 
 upon for fifty millionsV There is room for the exercise of the greatest 
 imagination about it." But this bill absolutely limits the expendi- 
 tures to the amount that is in the fund, and it limits the fund itself to 
 the proceeds of these lands; so that it absolutely relieves the minds 
 of these men of this apprehension of the commencement of a great 
 scheme that is intended to tap the puT)lic treasury for the benefit of a 
 particular section. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. And it places no burden upon the General Gov- 
 ernment at all? 
 
 Mr. Nev^lands. It places no burden upon the General Government 
 at all; it makes it simply a trustee for the improvement and disposal 
 of these lands. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Do you not think the people understand this question 
 quite as well as you do? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. No; I do not think they do understand it. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Then we ought to educate them. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. We have been working upon this matter now for 
 twenty years, and so far Ave never have gotten, in legislation, the 
 entering wedge. I find that in talking to many members of Congress 
 to-day about it there is a great deal of ignorance on the subject, and 
 nu)re inertia and a general disposition to wait. Now, gentlemen, I do 
 not Avant to wait any longer. 
 
 I would be very glad to get an appropriation such as you suggest, 
 I think it is a good way of proceeding — just as got)d as the way I sug- 
 gest. But I claim that this bill will accomplish the purpose that we 
 want, and that it will do away with a lot of the objections that are 
 presented by men who are opposed to the Government's entering upon 
 these reclanuition schemes. 
 
 (Authority was given by the chairman to ]Mr. Newlands and the 
 other speakers to extend their renmrks in the record.) 
 
 STATEMENT OF FREDERICK H. NEWELL, HYDROGRAPHER, 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 FIMr. Newell. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, this question is so 
 large that it is difhcult for me to take up any one item without enter- 
 ing into the whole subject; but I think that the great question which 
 has been brought up is the function of the General Government in the 
 West. 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 
 
 The General Government, the people of the United States, are the 
 owners of from three-qnarters to nine-tenths of all the land in the 
 West. In Nevada the people of the United States own 98 per cent of 
 the State. They have, as owners, rights in those States which the 
 States themselves do not have. The States have sometimes only the 
 taxing power over from 1 per cent to 5 jier cent or 10 or even 15 ])er 
 cent of their area, as in the case of California. 
 
 The people of the United States are supreme in their control. 
 Whenever any of the public land is disposed of they have reserved 
 the rights for ditches and canals constructed by the authority of the 
 United States. ^ 
 
 Mr. Reeder. That is a reservation in the transfers of land, is it not? 
 
 Mr. Newell. I think it is in all patents for land west of the one 
 hundredth meridian. Even if the Government did not own an acre 
 of land in those States, it has set the precedent of going in and stor- 
 ing waters wheix^ver, in its judgment, it sees fit. In the case of Min- 
 nesota and Wisconsin the Government has built large reservoirs at 
 the head waters of the Mississippi River, and is operating those reser- 
 voirs, irresi^ective of any riparian rights which may be conserved. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. For wliat are they operating those reservoirs? 
 
 Mr. Newell. For the benefit of navigation ; incidentally to improve 
 the water power at Minneapolis. The Government owns the reservoirs 
 and has appropriated over 11,000,000 in this way. In the present 
 river and harbor bill, I think, there are large items for continuing the 
 erection of these reservoirs. 
 
 The Chairman. There is $300,000 appropriated for that purpose in 
 the present bill (H. R. 13189 : Reserv^oirs at the liead waters of the Mis- 
 sissii^pi River; continuing improvement, 8300,000). The committee 
 regards that as a bad inheritance; but still that does not affect the 
 question with reference to this matter. 
 
 Mr. Newell. A similar condition exists in California, where the 
 Government, in conjunction with the State, is building debris reser- 
 voirs which necessarily regulate the flow of tlie stream, to keep the 
 washings from the hydraulic works from getting into the streams and 
 destroying the agricultural lands below, and injuring the navigability 
 of the streams. There is still a third and a larger project whicli the 
 Government has entered upon, and which it is committed to extend 
 still further; and that is the policy of forest protection for the benefit 
 of agriculture. 
 
 The forest lands throughout the West are being placed in large 
 reservations, irrespective of State lines, for the purpose of regulating 
 the stream flow. Those forest reserves include the mountain areas in 
 which the land is not good for anything except the growth of trees. 
 They are so regulated that mining can be carried on without obstruc- 
 tion; and it is proposed to so control them that timber can be cut and 
 used, and yet the forests not be destroyed, but the cover retained 
 for the protection of the streams. One step further must be taken, 
 and that is, that the reservoir sites within those great forest areas 
 shall be reserved, and reservoirs shall be constructed to still further 
 regulate the flow of the streams, which is partially done b}^ the pres- 
 
 ' Provided, That in all patents for lands hereafter taken up under any of the 
 land laws of the United States or on entries or claims validated by this act west of 
 the one hundredth meridian, it shall be expressed that there is reserved from the 
 lands in said patent described a right of way thereon for ditches or canals con- 
 structed by the authority of the United States. (Approved August 30, 1890. 
 Stat. L., vol. 36, p. 391.) 
 
22 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ervation of the forests. In that way the precedent is already estab- 
 lislied for Governmental eonti'ol and Governmental action in these 
 matters. 
 
 The Geological Snrvey has been concerned with this matter since 
 ]SSH, Avhen it was anthorized by Congress to investigate the extent to 
 wliich the arid lands conld be reclaimed by irrigation. In that and 
 all subsequent legishitiou there has been no recognition especiallj" of 
 public lands, but simply of arid lands. The policy seems to be well 
 established that Congress shall consider the questions of the ntiliza- 
 tioii of the lands which are now arid, which are now praeticallj^ use- 
 less, but whicli under a better form of law and administration may be 
 made to contriliute to the welfare and the wealth of the nation as a 
 whole. That view of it this committee must take— that it is concerned 
 not with public lands (which of course come within the function of 
 the Pul)lic Lands Committee), but with the whole subject of making 
 available the lands, no matter whether of private. State, or Govern- 
 ment ownersliip, which are not now contributing to public welfare, 
 but which can l)e made to do so by the exercise of reasonable business 
 melJiods. 
 
 If the limit of reclamation is 75,0(10,000 acres, this does not mean 
 that the United States Government must leclaim all of those acres, 
 au}^ more than in dredging out a harbor or removing an obstruction 
 fj'om it, the Government is committed to build the wharves along that 
 harl)or. Tlie moment you remove the obstructions from a harbor 
 capital flows in to build up wharves and terminal facilities otherwise 
 prcn^ented by the existence of natural obstructions. 
 
 The devoloi:)ment of the West has been prevented in ])art by the 
 presence of Indians. The Government has removed that obstruction; 
 it has pushed the Indians back. Xow the people of the United States 
 are saying that the Government should push back the still remaining 
 obstruction, and that is the drought due to the unregulated flow of 
 the waters. It should sinqily regulate these streams, so that at low 
 water they shall carry a moderate supply, and the people will do the 
 rest. 
 
 It is obvious that private capital or State capital can not do this 
 work of regulating the flow of the streams. It can not be made a 
 matter of private profit, unless the corporation or the individual has 
 such an exclusive control of the land that he can realize all the 
 unearned increments of value; that is to say, you build a reservoir 
 on the Humboldt River, for example; you can not control the lands 
 along that river to an extent that you can bring back, in the shape of 
 profits, the increased value that goes to ev' eryone. It goes to the land 
 owners; it goes to the general public, and you, as a citizen, can not 
 put it back into your pocket as a proper earning. 
 
 That has been tried again and again, and foreign and eastern capi- 
 tal has been invested in storage enteri^rises under a misapprehension 
 of the circumstances. Practicallj' every one of those large storage 
 enterprises is to-day bankrupt, except one or two, where there was 
 such a monopoly that the investors controlled every acre of laud 
 which was l)enefited, directly or indirectly, l)y the presence of the 
 reservoir. 
 
 Now, the moment you do construct a reservoir all land values rise, 
 and the result is that while the man who puts his capital into the 
 str;u;ture may have lost it, somebody has made far more than that 
 reservoir cost. 
 
 We can not expect that individual enteri^rise will go on and build 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 
 
 more of those reservoirs. It can not make the profits and interest 
 necessary to repay the investments. Consequently development along 
 the line of water conservation has stopped, because the conservation 
 as such can not be made profitable to the individual or the investor. 
 
 That brings up two divergent lines of action which this committee 
 must necessarih' consider. The one is the regulation of rivers whose 
 waters are used through so many localities along such a great course 
 that you can not place the specific benefits anywhere. For example, I 
 will call your attention later to the proposed diversion of the St. Mary 
 River into the head waters of the Milk River, in Montana. That will 
 put into a stream which is now practically drj^ a volume of water of a 
 thousand or more cnbic feet a second, and it will benefit settlers along 
 a course of 500 miles. ' Noav, we can not assess the benefits along those 
 500 miles, because they are direct and indirect. There are already 
 irrigating ditches there which have been iusuflflcientlj" supplied, and 
 which would, under the proposed plan, receive an ample suj)ply. 
 Other ditches too would be constructed. In such a case the Govern- 
 ment must necessarily build the work as a matter of general benefit, 
 but without any hope of specific returns from the lands to be benefited. 
 
 On the other extreme, we have such projects as that of Mr. New- 
 lands, for improving the Hum])oldt River or the Truckee River, where 
 we can ascertain with a reasonable degree of accuracy the benefit to 
 every acre. Tliere, if in tlie wisdom of Congress it is decided to obtain 
 reimbursement, it is possible to allot to each particular tract, pro rata, 
 what it ought to pay for the improvement. 
 
 Ultimately both of these methods will be adopted in legislation. In 
 the river and harbor bill we must have regulation of many of the 
 streams which flow into navigable waters, which regulation will inure 
 more to the benefit of the settlers than to navigation. On the other 
 hand, we will undoubtedlj- have, in the sundry civil bill or some similar 
 bill, provisions for constructing reservoirs or regulating works in which 
 the benefits can be levied directly upon the lands ; and I have no doubt 
 that the people in those countries would be more than glad to have 
 the Government regulate their rivers and assess, in any way it might, 
 the benefits to be derived. 
 
 The proposition of Mr. Newlands, while it is open to a great many 
 objections, is apparently more feasible at the present time than any 
 other. It proposes to devote to the construction of certain regulating 
 works the proceeds which are now covered into the Treasury; and it 
 is in its larger conception an appropriation of money. From a studj' 
 of the newspaper clippings tliat have reached me from year to year, I 
 see that the objections that are raised are not those of intelligence, 
 but those of ignorance. We have thousands of little squibs in the 
 papers to the effect that " The farmers of the East will not submit to 
 be taxed to benefit the West," and so on. Now, you can not reason 
 with that class of people. But you can stop them by simply saying, 
 "We do not appropriate directly any money from the Treasury; 
 we simply divert the money which comes from the arid lands and put 
 it back into the arid lands, where it projierly belongs; and ulti- 
 matelj^ all of this money is refunded to the Government." 
 
 If we had only the intelligent, thinking, reading class of people to 
 deal with, we could possibly in time educate all to a better concep- 
 tion of these facts. But we are compelled to meet the dead opposi- 
 tion of people who will simply take a catchword, a phrase, and fight 
 a good measure merely in order to be in opposition. Mr. Newlands's- 
 general bill has been so worded as to avoid striking on all the snags 
 
24 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 whicli are impeding the progress of the developineut and rechimatiou 
 of the arid lands. 
 
 If it is possible to create a fund from the balance left over in the 
 Treasury from different funds wliich may be charged up to the sales 
 of public lands; if that amount should be only half a million dollars, 
 which could be well invested in a few regulation works, and the 
 money turned over, it would not be many years before we would see 
 a substantial improvement all along the line. In this work it is not 
 proposed or desired to reclaim all of tlie arid lands at once, but to 
 commit the Government to some policy which will enable the ultimate 
 reclamation of all these arid lands. 
 
 At present, with the matter not embodied in legislation, the devel- 
 opments are proceeding along lines which are obstructionary. We are 
 allowing men to go in nnd take up commanding positions, to file upon 
 lands which are of relatively small benefit to them as individuals, but 
 which will block the development of homes and farms for hundreds 
 of additional individuals. For example, I have a clipping from a Den- 
 ver paper regarding a sale of 100 acres, including water supply con- 
 trolling 10,000 acri^s of Government land. Now, under a wise admin- 
 istration of the land laws, it might ])e possible for 500 families to live 
 where one man has ingeniousl}' taken up his holdings so as to control 
 all the water. Ilis 100 acres are scattered along in forties in such a 
 way as to block access to all the 1(),000 acres of public lands around. 
 And if you study the map of the iniblic lands you will see how indi- 
 viduals everywhere are grasping sources of water supply wliich they 
 will not be able to use themselves; they have not the funds, they have 
 not the ability to develop this water and conserve it; and yet they are , 
 in a position to prevent many settlers from making homes. 
 
 Now, that feature of the problem should be recognized at an early 
 date; and whether we spend a few hundred thousand or a few million 
 dollars in the next generation, the action should be in such a line that 
 it will not prevent the future utilization of all the seventy-odd mil- 
 lion acres which can be reclaimed. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Will you permit a question, Mr. Newell? I think 
 you said the Survey had been conducting a series of surveys for the 
 last twelve j-ears? You have, I presume, practically surveyed a large 
 proportion of this arid land. Are you able to give us an estimate of 
 the cost of the improvements, building of reservoirs, etc., sufficient to 
 save the waters for the land that can be reached? 
 
 Mr. Newell. The estimates which we have been conducting are 
 more along the line of available water supply than of the construction 
 of works. But as far as our information now goes, it is probable that 
 water can be stored for less than $5 an acre-foot. In some of the esti- 
 mates which we have here, but 1 acre-foot — that is, 1 foot of water in 
 depth — is devoted to an acre of land. Of course, the cost of reclama- 
 tion, as far as the storage of water is concerned, would be less than 
 So an acre there. If, however, as in the case of alfalfa, where water 
 is cheap and plenty' of it is put on, sometimes as much as 3 or 4 feet, 
 the cost would be proportionately greater. Then there are a great 
 many alternatives as to character of soil, skill of the irrigator, and 
 kind of crop. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. You say more than 3 or 4 feet of water to an acre are 
 used? 
 
 Mr. Newell. In alfalfa, yes. In southern California and Arizona, 
 where they have upward of five or seven cuttings of alfalfa a year, 
 every cutting may represent a foot or more of water put on the ground. 
 
ARID LANDS OB" THE UNITED STATES. 25 
 
 In other regions, where orchards are irrigated and the water supply is 
 scarce through the whole season, the farmers pnt on only a depth of 
 two or three inches. They are forced to practice economy. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. We do not put a foot upon our orchards, where we 
 have an abundance of water. I had a measuring machine on my 
 orchard and found that to be the fact. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. The quantity used for alfalfa diminishes with the 
 length of time for which the land is irrigated, does it not? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes. Of course all of these matters depend upon 
 the skill of the man and the length of time the ground has been 
 watered. Take even the coarse open soils of Utah and Idaho. The 
 first year the settlers put on a depth of water of perhaps 10 feet, or 
 even 20 feet. It all goes down through the soil, which gradually 
 becomes more compact, so that less and less water is required: until 
 now, in some parts of California at least, no water whatever is su]3- 
 plied to the surface of the soil. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. Then the cultivation of the orchai'ds has a good deal 
 to do with it — making them conserve the water that is thereV 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Yes; I run an orchard on that principle, entirely with- 
 out water, where formerlj' the trees would not have grown at all 
 without it. 
 
 Mr. Newell. This survey has been conducted mainly up to the 
 present time along the lines of finding out where tlie water was, how 
 much there was, and how much could be stored, and we are now try- 
 ing to get at the cost of storing it and the benefits to be derived from 
 the reclamation of the land. If you desire, I can now take up a few 
 specific localities. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Just a moment, before you go to that l)rauch of the 
 matter. In your opinion, what will be the cost to the Government of 
 a complete survey, having in view the irrigation of the arid lands of 
 the United StatesV 
 
 Mr. Newell. The estimates I have prepared have been on the basis 
 of an expenditure of $250,000 a year for about five j'ears. The area 
 to be covered, you must recollect, is larger than nearly all of that of 
 the civilized world. Take the area of Europe and it is smaller than 
 the region which we are proposing to investigate. 
 
 Mr. Barham. In round numbers, the cost of surveys alone would 
 be about how muchV 
 
 Mr. Newell. It is as indefinite as an estimate as to what would be 
 the cost of this city when finislied. One thing leads to another. But 
 the essential facts can be ascertained within a few years with an 
 exj)enditure of about that amount. Of course the expenditure of that 
 amount in learning how the rivers behave when the floods occur, how 
 much they are, what the cost of holding them is, and what would be 
 the benefit to the lands, will be distributed over this vast area, capable 
 of supporting, when developed, a population of, say, 50,000,000. I do 
 not think it is anj' exaggeration to say that as many or more people 
 can find homes west of the Missouri River than east of it. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. From the preliminary survey which you have 
 made, how many great reservoir sites would you say there are that 
 could be constructed? 
 
 Mr. Newell. We liave found something less than 100 which would 
 be called worthy of consideration. As a rule a man will report that 
 in his county there are a great many good reservoir sites. We go 
 there and examine them. We find, usually, that the open valleys are 
 so greatly inclined that a dam or reservoir 100 feet or so in height will 
 
2(3 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 not back np ^A•ater to any considerable extent. It is an optical delu- 
 sion l>y which a broad Aalley is apparently level, but it is really highly 
 inclined; so that probably not one out of twenty reservoir sites that 
 are popularly supposed to be good would actually be feasible under 
 the present cost of construction and land values. 
 
 AVhen we have a population of oO,()00,00(» people, and when land 
 values run away up into hundreds of dollars per acre, it will be pos- 
 sible then to construct reservoirs which are now utterly absurd. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. In speaking of the number of reservoirs, do not 
 the canals which are constructed really form reservoirs in themselves 
 by saturating the soil and by making underground reservoirs which 
 feed other lands bj' seepageV 
 
 Mr. Newell. That is true, of course. But the great primary step 
 is to hold the waters up in the mountains ; and then, as the lands are sat- 
 urated in the valleys, the extension of irrigation takes place naturally. 
 
 Air. Newlands. You ^\i\\ find, in a given stream, that the water 
 will be entirely taken out, and then 10 or 15 miles below you will find 
 the water restored to the stream, by seepage, will you not? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Ves. So that along the Arkasas River, probal)ly one 
 of the best exam[)les, the water coming down from the mountains is 
 taken out on the plains; then a few miles lielow the river is seen to 
 increase in volume and another canal comes out. Below that there 
 will l)e, perhaps, a tiglit dam, taking out all visil)le water. Ten miles 
 below there will be quite a stream, and another tight dam taking out 
 all the visible water, and so on — the water tending to creej) gradually 
 down toward Kansas. The same is true on the South Platte River, 
 which now is dry for, perluips, a hundred miles or so above the 
 Nebraska line; but the tendency is for the water to gradually creep 
 down toward Nebraska. With the ultimate development of all the 
 storage reservoirs in Colorada, and with the use of that water to its 
 full extent on the plains, there may be a lai'ger flow at the Kansas and 
 Nebraska lines than there is at the present time. 
 
 Mr. Barha:\i. Have you made any estinmte as to the i)rol)able cost 
 of the whole scheme? 
 
 Mr. Newell. I havo not, for the reason that while the Government 
 might, we will say, put 85 an acre into regulating the water, private 
 capital would then enter in to the extent of three or four times as 
 much in the minor works whicli would be rendered possible by it — in 
 the same way that 8100,(I0() in dredging a bar at the mouth of a river 
 would result in the expenditure of millions of dollars in wharves and 
 shipping facilities. 
 
 If you care to take the specific localities, I would refer you to east- 
 ern Oregon, where we have the Malheur and Owyhee rivers, torren- 
 tial streams flowing from the mountains through a desert country, and 
 entering the Snake River near the mouth of the Boise and the Payette. 
 Now, on the other side, in Idaho, is some of the l)est fruit country 
 in the world, and developments are very rapid there. But on the 
 other side, along the Alalheur and Owyhee, owing to the torrential 
 character of the streams, agriculture has developed very little. Now, 
 it will be possible, by storage reservoirs in the head waters, to con- 
 serve the flow of those streams and make possible a development of 
 the fruit lands in these lower valleys comparable to that of those in 
 the vicinity of Boise and other regions around there. So that a few 
 hundred thousand dollars put into reservoirs on the head waters of 
 these streams would undoubtedly result ultimately in the addition of 
 millions of dollars of taxable property to that end of Oregon. The 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 
 
 same is true, to a less degree, of the Umatilla and other rivers in the 
 eastern portion of the State. 
 
 The same thing is true of a portion of the State of Idalio. The 
 Snake River, coming out from the vicinity of the Yellowstone National 
 Park, flows out on a great lava plain, where it could easily be diverted, 
 and then begins to sink into a deep canyon from Avhich the water can 
 not be brought because it is too far beneath the irrigable lauds. It 
 is possible to take out several large canals and cover a considerable 
 portion of this desert. Tlie streams which come in from the south 
 can be stored and the water can be taken out on the lands along the 
 stream; and it is possible to develop a considerable area of good land 
 hj the regulation of the waters which now run to waste. 
 
 For another example let us consider the Truckee Basin in Nevada 
 and in California. Lake Tahoe receives the drainage from a forested 
 area in the Sierra Nevadas. It is formed bj^ the blocking-up of an 
 ancient valley by a great lava flow, and is a natural reservoir. But 
 its waters are not controlled. It lies in such a position that about 
 one-half of the lake is in Nevada, but the outlet is in California. The 
 Nevada people are helpless in attempting to control that lake. Cali- 
 forniaus have the idea that thej" can use that lake to supply San 
 Francisco at some time in the future, and they resent any attempt 
 made by the Nevada people to get the waters and carry them over to 
 the east. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. In order to utilize that lake for California, it would 
 be necessary to tunnel through an immense intervening ridge, would 
 it not? 
 
 Mr. WiLSOX. It illustrates the wild ideas Californians have gener- 
 ally. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. How long a tunnel would be required? 
 
 Mr. Barham. Oh, a tunnel (5 or 7 miles long — a mere bagatelle in 
 California, where we have big trees and big men. 
 
 Mr. Newell. That stream flows out through a portion of California 
 and is discharged easterly, flowing down into Pyramid Lake and into 
 Winnemucca Lake. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. And those two lakes are in the sink or lower part 
 of the desert, are they not? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes. As Mr. Newlands has said before, the existence 
 of those lakes in there shows the anunmt of water which is useless, 
 which might have been employed in agriculture in these valleys above. 
 There are also a num]>er of relati^'ely snuxll lakes and reservoir sites 
 in California on Truckee River which can be utilized to supply water 
 for the irrigation of those lands. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Now, ]Mr. Newell, will you In'ing out the fact that 
 this area of which you are speaking in California is on the Nevada 
 slope of the mountains, and is not toward California, and that it feeds 
 the Nevada streams and not the California streams? 
 
 Mr. Newell. The summit divide between the watershed flowing to 
 the east and the west would properly form the dividing line between 
 those two States. But in laying out the boundary it was placed over 
 on the east side of the summit or divide, so that it results that every 
 reservoir site which can be used to benefit Nevada is over the line in 
 California. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. That is true of three rivers. 
 
 Mr. Newell. Although that line is an imaginarj- one, it divides a 
 very active State sentiment in regard to the control of water of those 
 streams. 
 
28 
 
 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. The peculiarity of the California area is that there 
 is no land capable of irrigation on this slope within the California 
 line. It is all mountain land. 
 
 Mr. Newell. The reservoir sites are on one side and the irrigable 
 lands on tlie other, with the State line between. By a conservation 
 of these waters by reservoirs, the cost of which has been estimated, 
 it will be possible to reclaim thousands of acres of desert land lying 
 out on these valleys — some of the best lands in the United States, 
 lands which have never been washed by the rains. They are full of 
 fertility; and yet, owing to the difficulties of getting water to them, 
 the poor, rocky laud in the vicinity of Reno has been used as against 
 the rich, fertile, fine lands of the farther valleys. I do not think in 
 any part of the United States have I seen farms on rockier soil, even 
 up' in Maine and Vermont, than some of those around Reno, simply 
 because they could not afford to talvo the water back to the better 
 soils of the lands in the neighboring deserts. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. And yet those 30,000 acres of alfalfa sustain a town 
 of 4,500 people. It is almost tlie main source of the prosperity of the 
 town. 
 
 Mr. Newell. There is no telling wliat the population might do if 
 they used all the good soil. Now, regulation of this stream, con- 
 servation of its flow, would result in the bringing under irrigation of 
 these many thousand acres of land, and bringing in an enormous 
 amount of private capital in the shape of settlers and their etfects and 
 their labor in liuilding up a State. 
 
 To sum up the whole matter, the following statement maybe made: 
 
 In the State of Nevada there is the numl)oldt, of which Mr. New- 
 lands lias spoken, and the estimates are in a fair degree of completion 
 concerning the wliole Truckee l>asiu. They are as follows, as stated 
 in a report by ]Mr. L. II. Taylor: 
 
 Name of reservoir. 
 
 Gross ca- 
 pacity. 
 
 Net 
 
 amount 
 
 which may 
 
 be annu- 
 ally drawn 
 off. 
 
 Cost of 
 
 dam, 
 
 riehts of 
 
 way, etc. 
 
 Cost 
 per acre- 
 foot. 
 
 Lake Tahoe . , . - . 
 
 Acre-feet. 
 745, 400 
 
 2(j,;too 
 
 11,750 
 
 10,4.50 
 
 l,t)00 
 
 3, 480 
 
 20,540 
 
 17,000 
 
 0,500 
 
 5.785 
 
 t). 500 
 
 Acre-feet. 
 
 35(), 0(Xl 
 
 2(3, 900 
 
 11,700 
 
 10,400 
 
 1.(300 
 
 3.400 
 
 20. .500 
 
 1(5,000 
 
 (3, .500 
 
 5.500 
 
 (3,500 
 
 $21, 402 
 82,t!72 
 31,802 
 50, 4(i3 
 7, 920 
 20, 125 
 62,215 
 40. 3(55 
 28. 7.50 
 17. 037 
 20. 708 
 
 $0.09 
 
 Donner Luke 
 
 3.07 
 
 Independence Lake 
 
 2.73 
 
 Welujer Ijake . .. . 
 
 4.85 
 
 .Squaw Creek 
 
 4.95 
 
 Twin Valley ... 
 
 5.92 
 
 Little Truckee No.l 
 
 Henne.ss Pass Valley 
 
 3.04 
 3.53 
 
 Little Truckee No 2 
 
 4.43 
 
 Dog Valley .. 
 
 3.10 
 
 Little Valley 
 
 4.11 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 855.005 
 
 359,(100 
 
 389. 459 
 
 1.09 
 
 
 
 It is feasible to construct storage reservoirs in Sardine Valley, Cali- 
 fornia, ami at two points on the main Truckee River between Reno 
 and Wadsworth, but owing to the sites of such reservoirs being trav- 
 ersed liy railroads the cost for rights of way, including removal of 
 railroad tracks, would be excessive. 
 
 If Lake Tahoe be created into a storage reservoir with the gross 
 capacity of 745,400 acre-feet above ultimate low-water plane, so as to 
 store the waters of wet years for use during the dry years, it will be 
 feasible to draw therefrom 250,(^00 acre-feet annualiy. 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 
 
 The watersheds tributary to the other reservoirs named yield suffi- 
 cient water, even in seasons of minimum precii3itation, to fill each 
 of them, with the possible exception of the Henness Pass Valley 
 reservoir. 
 
 The waters stored in the reservoirs named, if employed to supple- 
 ment the ordinary flow of the Truckee River, and used with moderate 
 economy, are sufficient, even in the driest years, to irrigate 187,616 
 acres of laud in excess of what is now watered, or a total of 330,000 
 acres, leaving a surplus of 79,000 acre-feet for safety, besides main- 
 taining the flow of the Truckee River at the minimum of 300 cubic 
 feet per second above the town of Reno, to afford a supply for power 
 and other purposes. 
 
 It is feasible to construct an irrigating canal with a capacity of 550 
 cubic feet per second from the Truckee River at a point near Floris- 
 ton, in California, to supply 75,000 acres of good arable lands above 
 and to the north and northeastward from Reno, at a cost, for diver- 
 sion canal and headworks and the main branches and distributaries, 
 of 8750,000. 
 
 It is feasible to construct a canal on the south side of the Truckee 
 River, from a point above Clarks Station, having a capacity of 750 
 cubic feet per second, to a point a short distance above Wadsworth, 
 where a branch with 225 second-feet capacity can be taken across the 
 river hj pressure pipes and led northward toward Pyramid Lake, 
 wliile the main branch, with a cajjacity of 525 second-feet, can be con- 
 tinued on to the southeast and eastward from Wadsworth, the two 
 branches supplying water to 99,000 acres of land, of which about 
 30,000 acres are in the Truckee River Basin (over 20,000 being in the 
 Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation and 69,000 acres in the ])asin of the 
 Carson River, approximately 50,000 of which are in Carson Sink Val- 
 ley), and that the cost of this canal system, including the principal 
 distributing branches, will be about $4 for each acre commanded, or 
 $396,000. 
 
 The entire upj)er portion of the Truckee River Basin, embracing all 
 of the drainage area above the town of Verdi and the north and east 
 timbered slopes of the Tahoe range of mountains, should be set aside 
 as a forest and water reserve or a national park, and the waters be 
 forever dedicated for use for industrial and irrigation purposes within 
 the basin and upon such lands immediatel}^ adjacent as tliey may 
 supply. 
 
 The Lake Tahoe dam should be built as the flrst step in the storage 
 of water upon the Truckee, and all private rights in tlie other reser- 
 voir sites mentioned sliould be acquired by the Federal Government, 
 so that when the time for their utilization arrives there will be no 
 obstacle to their construction. 
 
 The portion of the public domain which can be irrigated from the 
 stored waters of the Truckee River should be withdrawn from entry, 
 and after being provided with a system of canals for the delivery of 
 water should be offered for sale at a price commensurate with their 
 value as irrigable lands with water rights. The irrigated and irri- 
 gable lands should be embraced in a Federal irrigation district, and 
 the water rights for lands held in private ownership, outside of such 
 as are now irrigated, should be sold at the same price as is charged 
 for the public lauds with water. All moneys derived from the sale of 
 lands and water rights, and from their sources to be devoted, first, to 
 the reimbursement of tlie cost of reservoirs and canals, and, second, 
 to the maintenance and improvement of the irrigation system and to 
 
30 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 defraying the expense of administration. All power i)rivileg-es not 
 already appropriated should be appraised and disposed of at a reason- 
 able valuation, and the benefits to present users of the waters of the 
 Truckee River for power purposes arising from the increased and 
 more steady discharge due to storage should be assessed and paid for 
 by such usei's. 
 
 Surveys have also been made on tlie Humboldt and Truckee rivers. 
 On Rock Creek, a tributary of IIum])oldt River, a dam can be built 
 storing 80,000 acre-feet, and costing 8C>2, oOO, as described in the Twen- 
 tieth Annual Rejiort of the United States Geological Survey, Part IV, 
 page 445. On tlie Lower Huuilioldt River a series of reservoirs can 
 be built at an estimated cost of 8148,300, storing 55,000 acre feet, and, 
 with the flow of the river, irrigating (J0,000 acres. 
 
 In Arizona detailed surveys have been made on Gila River, the 
 results having been published in Paper No. 33 of the series of Water- 
 Supply and Irrigation Papers of the United States Geological Survey. 
 The most feasible reservoir is that on the San Carlos Apache Indian 
 Reservation. The capacit}^ of this reservoir will be 241,306 acre-feet 
 and the cost .^1, 038,02(3. 
 
 In California detailed surveys have been recently made of a number 
 of reservoirs, principally in the high sierras. One of these is in the 
 Hetch ?Ietchy Valley; it is described in the Twenty-first Annual 
 Report of the United States Geological Sui-vey, pages 450 to 4(35. The 
 total cost of the dam and accessories will be 8607,057, storing 107,0(JO 
 aere-feet, at a cost of 85.67 per acre-foot. 
 
 In addition, a number of surveys have been made in coopei'ation 
 with the C'alifornia Water and Forest Association, the results of which 
 are shown in Senate Document No. 50 of the Fifty-sixth Congress, 
 second session. The most important is the Clarks Valley reservoir, 
 storing 223,224 acre-feet, at a cost, for the dams, of $1,311,842. In 
 order to fill the I'esei'voir, it will l)e necessary to construct a diversion 
 conduit from King River with a tunnel, the total cost of works and 
 the dams l)eing 82,013,040, or at a i-ate of 80.02 per acre-foot stored. 
 
 In Montana surveys have been made to ascertain the feasibility of 
 diverting St. ]\[ary River into the head waters of Milk River. This 
 project has been found not to ofl'er unusual engineering difficulties. 
 The cost of the lirst miles, the most difficult part of the route, has 
 been estimated to be 8325,000. 
 
 In Wyoming the reservoir site on (4rey Bull River, storing 14,204 
 acre-feet, will cost, for construction of dam, 840,062. 
 
 These facts are given in concise form in the following summary: 
 
 Cost of p)'oJi cts for irliick snrrei/s liaiv been made. 
 
 State. 
 
 Reservoir. 
 
 Capacity. 
 
 Total cost. 
 
 Cost per 
 acre-foot. 
 
 
 
 Acre-feei. 
 3+1,390 
 107,001) 
 
 31lj,00l) 
 
 m, 1150 
 yo.ouo 
 
 $1,038,92(5 
 
 607. 057 
 
 3,013.949 
 
 1,377,,W) 
 
 387, 400 
 4.53, 484 
 (335,000) 
 
 03.300 
 148,3110 
 380. 495 
 
 49. 9ti3 
 
 
 Si. 30 
 5.07 
 9.03 
 5. 91 
 
 California 
 
 Hetoli Hetchy 
 
 Clarks Valley 
 
 
 Stouy Creek, 
 
 Clear Lake 
 
 7.35 
 5.00 
 
 Moutaua 
 
 St. Mary 
 
 
 Nevada , 
 
 Rock Creek 
 
 Lower Humboldt 
 
 .so, 000 
 
 55,000 
 
 359, OOO 
 
 U, 304 
 
 
 .78 
 3.70 
 
 Wyoming'- 
 
 Truckee 
 
 Grey Bull.. 
 
 1.08 
 3.53 
 
 Total 
 
 1,415.474 
 
 0,337.337 
 
 
 4.47 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 
 
 STATEMENT OF GEORGE H. MAXWELL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., 
 CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL 
 IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Mv. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: I 
 hardly know to what partienlar point to address myself. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Our inquiry, Mr. Maxwell, has been directed so far 
 to two bills — the Humboldt River bill, in Nevada, which you have seen, 
 and a general bill. The latter provides for the setting apart of all 
 moneys received from the sales of public lands in the arid and semi- 
 arid States to a special fund in the Treasury, to be called the "arid- 
 lands reclamation fund." It is then provided that the Secretary of the 
 Interior, with the aid of the Geological Survey, shall go on and sur- 
 vey and complete projects to withdraw the lands subject to a given 
 scheme from general entry, and provision is made for the entry under 
 this law in areas not exceeding 80 acres for each entryman, and for 
 the imposition of the cost of the water right proportionately upon . 
 every acre of the land benefited. It is provided that the moneys shall 
 be paid in ten annual installments, wliicli are to go back into this 
 reclamation fund, thus creating a revolving reclamation fund. Tliose 
 are the two bills which have been under consideration. The general 
 subject has also been uiider discussion. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Taking up the last bill first, ^Ir. Chairman, it seems 
 to me that the bill for the creation of this arid-land reclamation fund 
 has a great merit, from this point of view: 
 
 I have followed for a number of years past the objections which 
 have been raised from time to time in the editorial columns of some 
 of the papers in the East and by some of the Eastern Senators in dis- 
 cussions on the floor of the Senate; and I observe that they have 
 objected to the East being taxed for the benefit of the West, taking 
 the view that the expenditure of the moneys of the National Govern- 
 ment for the development of the West by irrigation was a measure 
 entirely for the benefit of the West. 
 
 The bill to which Mr. Newlands refers, and a copy of which I liave 
 seen, seems to me to obviate the objection that the East would be 
 taxed for the benefit of tlie West. In other words, as I understand 
 the measure, it is not proposed to put anj' burden at all ui^on the 
 Eastern taxpaj^er. The proposition is merely tliat the proceeds of the 
 sales of lands in the arid region sliall he used to create a fund for the 
 gradual reclamation of the arid region; that wherever moneys are 
 invested in construction the lands shall be sold for a sutficient price 
 to cover the cost of construction, and that the price, when paid, shall 
 be returned into the fund, so that the fund would be gradually increas- 
 ing from year to year. In the working out of the plan all mc^neys 
 temporarily withdrawn would be gradually returned to the Treasury. 
 
 I apprehend that there is no ground for a contrary argument to the 
 proposition that there are nmny locations in the West where the Gov- 
 ernment can undoubtedly build an irrigation system, or at least the 
 large main-line canals and reservoirs, and dispose of tlie laud for a 
 sufficient sum to entirely cover the cost of construction. On the other 
 hand, there are undoubtedlj' many millions of acres of Government 
 land wliich it is not feasible to undertake to reclaim under that plan, 
 for the reason that it is almost impossible for the Government to so 
 control the water supplies which would be created by storage as to 
 limit their use to any specific area of Government laud. I mention 
 
32 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that fact in order that my position may be well understood — that while 
 this proposed measure of Mr. Newlands is, in my judgment, one that 
 has great merit, and \yould in manj^ localities solve difficulties which 
 are otherwise unsolvable, and is a measure to which, it seems to me, 
 no reasonable objection can be made from any quarter of the United 
 States, at the same time it can not l)e considered as a complete solu- 
 tion of the whole prol)lem. I miglit illustrate, in order that my idea 
 may be made plain, as I pass along the conditions in Wyoming and 
 Kebraska, or Colorado and Arkansas. There are, no doubt, very large 
 areas of land in those States which could be irrigated from reservoirs 
 in the Rocky Mountains, which the Federal Government will have to 
 construct if they ever are constructed, whicli could not. be reclaimed 
 under the plan proposed in Mr. Newlands's bill, for the reason that 
 the reservoir — tlie head of supply — is so remote from the place where 
 the waters would be used that it would be an impossibility to connect 
 the two and sell the land which that particular water supply would 
 irrigate for sufficient monej' to pay for building the reservoir. In 
 ' other words, some other plan must be devised for covering that branch 
 of the subject. 
 
 But coming back to Mr. Xewlands's bill. There is no doubt that 
 as to large areas of country, more |)articularly in the Southwest — I 
 have mentioned several locations in Nevada, in Arizona, and in 
 southern California — it is a perfectly feasil)le and sound proposition. 
 I believe to-day that some measure of that kind is the only solution 
 of the reclamation of the Territory of Arizona. Now, there is a Ter- 
 ritory which is as large as the whole Philippine Archipelago, and it 
 will, beyond question, support as large a population as the Philippine 
 Islands', provided that all the water which to-day runs to waste can 
 be saved and utilized. 
 
 There is a measure pending in the Senate providing for the con- 
 struction of a reservoir on the Gila River. Now, the investigations 
 of that stream have shown, and the engineer's report, that only 3 per 
 cent of the total flow of that river is to-day utilized or available for 
 use. You can imagine what the conditions would be if the area irri- 
 gated and tlie population sustained by irrigation from the Gila River 
 were increased 07 per cent. 
 
 There is a location which this bill of Mr. Newlands would exactly 
 fit, because the Government controls the water sup]ily and the reser- 
 voir sites. It can specifically designate the land that that water shall 
 l>e used upon. It can put the land upon the market in small tracts 
 and sell it, with the water right, for more money than all the irriga- 
 tion works will cost. I find that in the discussion of these subjects 
 the difficulties that arise come, nine times out of ten, from the fact 
 that some one has taken a mere broad generalization of the subject 
 without getting down to specific propositions — I wish not to diverge, 
 but to call attention in passing, to an objection that was made in the 
 Senate yesterday. Senator Piatt of Connecticut and Senator Quarles 
 of Wisconsin both raised the objection to this specific proposition on 
 the ground that a general or comprehensive plan should be brought 
 in for consideration. 
 
 No man alive to-day will see this prt»blem solved if we are obliged 
 to wait before we do anything until we can create a comprehensive 
 scheme of national ii'rigation which will l)e sufficiently flexible to fit 
 every locality and suit every objection. We must begin with locali- 
 ties. I apprehend that one reason why I have been led to study these 
 <lifferent phases of the problem perhaps more than others lies in the 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 
 
 very fact, that California, my native State, possesses such diversified 
 conditions that what fits one part of tlie State will not fit another. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Pardon lue just one moment. I live in Nebraska. 
 What suggestions liave you for western Nebraska and eastern Wyo- 
 ming? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Confining it to western Nebraska, first, artesian 
 wells; second, tlie storage of the flood waters of the streams until they 
 are absolutely controlled and regulated for use. In other words, when 
 the Government builds storage reservoirs in Montana and Wyoming, 
 It can not undertake to distribute that water to specific localities. 
 They must be turned into streams and left to be taken care of by the 
 irrigators during their entire course. 
 
 Mr. liARHAM. Now, Mr. Maxwell, this point of objection has sug- 
 gested itself to my mind to tlie propo.sition made by Mr. Newlands of 
 selling the land at so much an acre : 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Pardon me, selling the land simply at the propor- 
 tionate cost of the project. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Well, say ^10 an acre. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. It would run from -^5 to 810 an acre, to be paid in 
 ten annual installments. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Now that, of course, is only applicable to the sale of 
 lands belonging to the United States, but you must I'ecollect that the 
 X)oint is going to be made that under the scheme proposed l)y Mr. New- 
 lands the State lands, the school lands, the university lands, the lands 
 now held in private ownership, and the railroad lands (Mhich lie in 
 every alternate section on either side of the line of the railroad, I 
 believe 20 miles on each side, constituting an immense volume of land) 
 are going to be benefited without any comiiensation to the Treasury 
 for carrying out this scheme. 
 
 Mj^ suggestion is,- instead of the plan proposed here, wliy not simply 
 take the proposition as it presents itself boldly, and take money out 
 of the Treasury of the United States to cany on this plan, and then 
 assess tlie owners of these lands (railroads and everybody else) 75 
 cents or II an acre until all the fund is returned to the Treasury of 
 the United States? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. This l)ill provides that, as to lands now in private 
 ownership,. water rights can l)e acquired by paying the same amount 
 that the entrvman of public lands pays, and in the same annual in- 
 stallments — provided there is enough water to go around, the i^ublic 
 lands being served first. It also provides that no Avater right sliall be 
 granted to any man for more than 80 acres — thus compelling the 
 railroads and other large holders to divide up their lands for actual 
 settlers. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. I understood that that point had l)een covered by 
 the bill. That is one of the most important points. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Yes; that i^oint is going to be raised all along the 
 line. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. I am glad j'ou suggested it here, Ijecause it is one 
 that is coming up and one that it is difficult to provide for; there is 
 no question about tliat. At the same time, it has always seemed to 
 me that the argument that by any possibility some private lands might 
 be benefited by the Government construction of irrigation works could 
 not be allowed to hold back a great national improvement, any more 
 than the argument that, for instance, building the San Pedro Ilarbor 
 or the Eureka Harbor might benefit private properties in the States 
 
 11100—01 3 
 
34 AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 where they are located, should l)e a reason for saying "You shall not 
 build the hai-bor!'' 
 
 Mr. 3I0NDELL. Is it not a fact that oftentimes a harbor improve- 
 ment which is a charge against the Treasury, and in return for which 
 the Government receives no direct benefit or revenue, inures to the 
 benefit of individuals owning wharfage property to the extent of mil- 
 lions of dollars? 
 
 Mr. Wilson. The cleaning out of the Buttermilk Channel is a nota- 
 ble instance of that principle. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. Yes; a very notable instance, where, undoubtedly^ 
 millions upon millions will be added to the value of private property 
 without any thought of return. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. But it seems to me tliat the suggestion made l)y 
 Judge ]:>arham, which, as I understand, is incorporated in tliis bill, 
 covers that proposition under this plan of development. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. 1 want to state further. Judge Barham, that, as a 
 general 7-ule, I think the railroad has parted with all its lands within 
 reach of the stream that are capable of irrigation. 
 
 Mr. Bakham. At the same time, we can not put money into the 
 Treasury from the sale of those lands, because thej' are already sold; 
 they belong to the railroad. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. But you will observe, gentlemen, that the bill pro- 
 vides for returning to the Treasury the money from the sale of the 
 right to the use of the water, and not necessaril}' from the sale of the 
 land. If it is to be taken up by homestead entry the land itself would 
 go free to the entryman, but the value is in the water; and that fea- 
 ture of it, it seems to me, is covered in that point. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. By the way, Mr. Maxwell, Judge Barham made 
 this suggestion to me before you came in. He insists upon it that it 
 would be better to face the question Itoldly, to ask from the General 
 Government adequate appropriations for this work from year to year 
 as a legitimate Government woi'k. Now, my answer to him was that 
 of course I favored that proposition, but tliat the purpose of this bill 
 was to remove the ol>,jections of ignorance. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. There is one suggestion upon that point tliat I 
 would like to make, and that is this: The objection is frequ(^ntly 
 made on the part of the East that measures of this kind will result in 
 an abnormal and sudden develo[)ment of the West, and that they will 
 put things out of balance and perliaps l)e to the detriment of the East- 
 ei'u agricultural interests. 
 
 I believe tliat the construction of a few of these irrigation systems 
 will be such a complete demonstration of the unsoundness of that 
 view, that if we could get started upon a perfectly just basis of taking 
 only the iiroeeeds of the sales of arid lands and building tliese sys- 
 tems, it will be seeii that the results are so different from what some 
 of the opponents of the idea have contended that they will withdraw 
 their opposition. I will try to make that clear by an illusti'ation, 
 taking the case of the San Carlos reservoir in Arizona. If the House 
 assents to tlie measure passed by the Senate, that reservoir will be 
 built in .Vrizona. The residt will be that an ai-ea of 1U0,(HJ() acres of 
 land Avill be suV)divided into small farms, probal)ly id-acre farms, with 
 an ample supply of water. The people who will go on those farms 
 will produce fruits (deciduous and possibly citrus), I'aisins, poultry, 
 eggs, and butter. They will not raise stock to any considerable 
 extent, l)ecause the land is too valuable to be devoted to that purpose. 
 Tlie result of tlie development will be that the pi-oducts of those farms 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 
 
 will be so different from the products of Eastern agriculture that there 
 will be no possibility of any competition with Eastern agriculture. 
 On the other hand, Eastern agriculture will be benefited, because 
 every home that is built in the Gila Valley, in Arizona, is a market for 
 the manufacturer of the East. 
 
 I was in Boston within the last week and made an address at a ban- 
 quet of the Boston Merchants' Club. I called their attention to that 
 unfortunate misunderstanding of this project on the i)art of some 
 people of the East. From Albany to Boston and from Boston back 
 to New York the railroad is simply lined with the great factories which 
 produce the products that are consumed in the West. The mallet 
 that drives the farmer's post in the ground, the wire on the fence, the 
 plow that tills his ground, the wagon that hauls his implements, the 
 nails in his house, the glass in the windows, the screws in the doors, 
 the clothes on his back — everything the man who goes into Arizona on 
 any of that reclaimed land uses is to be furnished to him by the East- 
 ern manufacturer. 
 
 The Chairman. And you might have gone on and named the spade 
 that digs his grave, and the hearse that takes his body to it, and the 
 coffin that incloses him. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Yes; and I might have gone further than that, and 
 said that the swaddling clothes that wrap the children when the}^ are 
 born there will come from the East. 
 
 What is the result of all that? What is the best market for the 
 Eastern farmer to-day? It is in the factories of the East. Take the 
 factories out of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania to-day 
 and the Eastern agriculturist of those States might just as well i)ack 
 his blankets and take to the road. Every new home that is built in 
 the West, whether it is from the British Columbian line to the Mexi- 
 can line or from the ninety-eighth meridian to the Pacific Ocean — I 
 do not care where it is — is a positive, absolute advantage to the East- 
 ern agriculturist. There is no getting away from the argument. 
 
 Mr. Barham. My point is that if we make the people understand 
 that fact they will be only too anxious to join us in going into this 
 broad, comprehensive scheme. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. That is my idea. Judge; and I think that if we can 
 do it some plan can be reported out of this committee so that it can 
 be discussed with the people. I believe Mr. Newlands's bill has this 
 merit — that while it is not a complete solution of the problem, it is a 
 measure which will be less objected to by the peoj)le of the East than 
 any other. I believe that if it is enacted and put into force the benefit 
 to the commercial interests of the whole country and to the Eastern 
 agriculturist will be demonstrated by actual experience under it in 
 such a manner that when we come before Congress with a plan and 
 estimate for a great system of work which has been carefully surveyed, 
 planned, and estimated ui)Ou by the Geological Survey, and say to the 
 people of the East, "Now, there is a great tract of land which can l)e 
 reclaimed, but which requires work costing too much money to be 
 built under this bill; we want more money to go into that fund, to 
 enlarge the revolving fund," it will not be opposed. 
 
 Mr. Barham. To how large an extent does the title to the arid 
 lands which are capable of irrigation still remain in the Government? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. The estimates differ. The estimate of tlie Secre- 
 tary of the Interior, in his last annual report, was 74,000,000 acres. 
 The estimate of Major Powell, when he was the Director of the Geolog- 
 ical Survey, was 100,000,000 acres. I am very glad you called attention 
 
86 ARID LANDS OF THE T^NITED STATES. 
 
 to tliat point, Ix^eauso I want to si ate something' which, in my opinion, 
 is one of the most important features of this whole movement, and 
 one tliat is very rarely i-eferred to. That is, that after water is taken 
 out ami used for the iri-iii'ation of a speciflc area of land, the country 
 gradually l)ecomes saturated with watei', and surface irrig'ation to a 
 very large extent 1)ecom('s unnecessary; and the same surface supply 
 will go on and on and on enlarging the area under irrigation until the 
 whole condition of the country has been completely transfoi-med. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Yes; there is no doul>t about that. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. There is no man in California who stands higher 
 in the estimation of the people, or who has a closer knowledge of the 
 San Joaquin Valley, than Di-. Chester II. Rowell, of Fresno. I drove 
 through the Fresno colonies with Dr. Rowell, and we were talking on 
 /his subject, and he called my attention to farm after farm where 
 there was no surface irrigation whatever. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. This was land that had been previously desert 
 land, was it not? 
 
 Mr. JMaxwell. Land wliich had previousl_v been absolutely desert 
 land. It is a welbknown fact that the country where Fresno stands 
 to-day was oi-iginally a desei-t, arid waste, where sheep had to scram- 
 ble for a living in a good year, and cattle and sheep starved in a dry 
 year. To-day there are thousands of acres of land there where the 
 pi'oblem is not one of irrigation, but one of drainage; and there is 
 sei'iously agitated in the San Joaquin Valley to-day the question of 
 the construction of a great drainage canal to drain otT the irrigating 
 water. In the city of Tulare, when the white people fii'st went in 
 there, the wa1(M- table was 75 t<» KH) feet below the surface of the 
 ground. T()-<lay you can not pump a well dry; you can not pump it 
 down a foot. When y<ni get down ll> or b5 feet the whole country 
 lias become a great sponge. 
 
 What is the inference from those facts? Suppose we luive to-day 
 water enough to irrigate 74,000,000 acres of land. If all the water 
 available is utilized, I believe that in less than tifty years you will 
 have 150,000,000 acres irrigated. The proposition is not a chimerical 
 one at all; it is simply a fact that in course of time the whole countrj^ 
 becomes a great sponge. 
 
 Taking up this question of reservoirs, I will give you a most remark- 
 able illustration. When I was in Arizona last Decembei' I was shown 
 photog]-aphs of a peach orchard and a peach ei-o]) which was raised 
 without one di'op of summer irrigation; they had wiiiter-irrigated it 
 with 8 feet of water. That means that there was i)ut on the orchard 
 an amount of water in the winter season which would have stood eight 
 feet above the ground if it had all been there at one time. 
 
 Ml'. Newlands. That was during the period of floods? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Yes; they put it in in the period of flood. In 
 othei" words, if they had built a fence 8 feet high all around that land, 
 the water would have filled it up to the top, and would have sunk 
 I'ight down into the ground. TJiat can not be done excejit in verj^ 
 porous land, Avhere the subsoil is open, so that tlie water will go down 
 and go out. But they had 8 feet of water on that orchard, and not a 
 drop of summer iri'igation; and they had a magnificent crop of 
 peaches. 
 
 To illustrate again : The largest single reservoir in Arizona will hold 
 in the neighborhood of 800,000 acre-feet of Avater. That means that if 
 you could use the whole storage capacity it would cover 100,000 acres of 
 land with winter irrigation 8 feet in depth. AVhen you have 1,000,000 
 
AEID LANDS OF THP: UNITED STATES. 37 
 
 acres of Government land under that resemoir, it is perfectly easy to 
 see that by building canals you could take the whole flood supply of 
 the river out and sink it into the land. You can not fill the land in 
 one year; you would never know the water had been put on the tract; 
 but keep on doing- this j^ear after year, and in flfty years you will get 
 the wliole country full of water. When water goes down into the soil 
 it does not stay there. It does not go througii to the other side of the 
 earth, nor does it drop down in the center. It keeps coming out. 
 The consequence is that when the country fills up with water in that 
 way the rivers are replenished, and there is a steady stream flowing 
 in the dry season from the seepage from this underground supply 
 created by filliiig up this arid land with water. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I quite agree with you that this plan may be not 
 oiierative with reference to some of these great enterprises where the 
 land is far away from the storage to be accomplished. But in that 
 event the Government could recompense itself by charging a higher 
 price for the Government land. This plan might not be practicable 
 to parts of California. Take the King River, for instance, where they 
 have been suftering greatly in the San Joaquin Valley by reason of 
 the scarcity of water during July and August. Suppose the Geolog- 
 ical Survey should project a reservoir on King River, and we will 
 assume that all the land below, in the San Joacpiin Valley, except a 
 very small portion, is in pi'ivate occupancy. There is not enough 
 public land to pay for that enterprise. Do you not think that the 
 people would come forward with some proposition and say, "We will 
 purchase so many water rights, and pay for them at the rate of a dollar 
 per annum for ten years, if j-ou will go on with tlie work;" and in 
 that way, even though a large portion of the land is in private occu- 
 pancy, you would secure the fund that would be necessarj^ for the 
 work? 
 
 Mr. Barham. Wait for the returns to come in in regard to all 
 these different projects; and as they are returned, let them be taken 
 up as they come in year after year? 
 
 3Ir. Wilson. I move that Mr. Maxwell be requested to extend his 
 remarks in the Record. 
 
 (The motion was seconded and unanimouslj' carried.) 
 
 Thereupon, at 12.05 o'clock p. m., the committee adjourned until 
 Thursday, January ;31, lliOl, at 10 o'clock a. m. 
 
 Washington, D. C, January 31, 1901. 
 
 Tile committee met, pursuant to adjournment, Hon. John A. Barham 
 (acting chairman) in the chair. 
 
 Mr. Barham. I understand that it is the order of the committee 
 that we should proceed with the hearing and that a quorum should be 
 considered as present. If there is anyone who can enlighten us upon 
 this subject, we will be glad to hear them. 
 
 STATEMENT OF NELSON H. BARTON, GEOLOGIST, UNITED STATES 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 Mr. Daetox. I have spent several years in making a study of the 
 undergr(nnul water supply of the arid portion of the Central Plains 
 region. The investigation has been conducted as a portion of the 
 work of the United States Geological Survey. 
 
38 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. You spent eoiisidf-rable time, I believe, last aiitiinin 
 in northwest Kansas'? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; and in tlie adjoining portions of Colorado 
 and Nebr.iska, studying tliis problem of underground water suppl}^ 
 and ascertaining what had been done in the way of sinking wells. 
 Tlie grcatC'enti'al Trains are underlain throughout their entire extent 
 by a^ vast sheet of Dakota sandstone, wliich a})}»ears to be full of water 
 everywhei-e. This sheet of sandstone is upturned under the tianks of 
 the Rocky 3b>untains, where the water goes into the sandstone. This 
 sheet has ah\'ays been found full of water and to yield great flow to 
 wells which have been sunk into it. It extends undei" the Great Plains, 
 all the way across, eastvrard from the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, 
 the IMghorn Mountains, and the lUack Hills. On the flanks of these 
 mountains a great volume of water sinks underground into the sand- 
 stone, and wherever wells are sunk sufficiently deep to reach this 
 sandstone it yields an abundant water supply. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. You say that the principal wells to this formation are 
 noi'th of the district I represent in Kansas? 
 
 Mr. Dartox. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Have you examined the conditions in the district 
 which I represent? 
 
 Mr. Darton. We have, as far as the south line of Kansas and Col- 
 orado. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Do you find this same sandstone in the same relations 
 there? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; the same. 
 
 j\[r. Reeder. How have you deternuued it, so far as Kansas is con- 
 cerned; by boring down to the water'? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; many of the wells have penetrated to the 
 sandstone. Besides, there is a surface outcrop of it extending across 
 the central portion of the State. Tliere can be no doubt but that this 
 .sandstone passes under the Great Plains as a continuous sheet. Tliere 
 is, however, no wiiy to demonstrate the water conditions under those 
 sections which liave not had deep wells driven in them, except to bore 
 experimental wells. In the Arkansas Valley, in eastern Colorado, 
 and at the western margin of Kansas many wells have been sunk, and 
 tliey have yielded the same abundant flow of water everywhere. Out 
 Northwest, in Dakota, many wells are producing an enormous amount 
 of water from the same bed of sandstone. In portions of eastern 
 Ne1)raska, where the sandstone is near the surface, there are innn- 
 meral)le wells which furnish an abundant water supply. 
 
 JNTr. Reeder. Do they furnish a sufficient amount of water to be of 
 value for farming purposes? 
 
 Mr. Darton. In some cases, in South Dakota, they furnish enough 
 for the irrigation of a whole section of land from one well. There are 
 single wells there that flow nearly 4:,()(H) gallons of water a minute, 
 and that is sufficient to much more than iiTigate a scpiare mile of land. 
 The water flows out over the surface, and except on the very highest 
 land, is under considerable pressure. There is, however, a large area 
 in western Nebraska, western Kansas, and in a portion of eastern 
 Coloi'ado which has not been explored underground. In mauj^ places 
 wells have l)een suidc to a depth of 1,000 feet and they have obtained 
 a small water supjjly, but not penetrated deep enough to reach the 
 Dakota sandstone, or at least to thoroughly test its resources as a 
 water l)earer. Thei-e is a region in nortlnvestern Kansas, the Oberlin 
 region, wliere the top of the sandstone appears to have been reached 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 
 
 at a depth of 1,000 feet. It yielded a flow of water which is too saline 
 for use, but it is believed that peuetrating further into the sandstone 
 at that place there will be obtained water of a better quality. Usu- 
 ally the water is of an excellent quality. 
 
 Mr. Ueeder. That is why I was inquiring whether there had been 
 any observations made that would show that this water-bearing- sand- 
 stone crosses Kansas and Nebraska, and you say that as it has been 
 found farther south, it is reasonable to suppose that it underlies all 
 of the western portion of Kansas; but absolutelj" there is no vraj to 
 know about this except to bore. 
 
 Mr. Darton. That is the only way to find out whether it would 
 furnish a flow of water of good quality. The plan is now to sink 
 wells to thoroughly test the amount of water, its head, so as to ascer- 
 tain where it will give surface flow, and its character; that is to say 
 its suitability for domestic purposes, and for stock, etc. A certain 
 number of wells sunk at wide intervals through the Central Plains 
 region would give us most valuable information as to the conditions 
 over a verj^wide area now greatly in need of suitable water supplies. 
 
 The precise area to which I refer is the western half of the State of 
 Nebraska, the western half of Kansas, the eastern half of Colorado, 
 the southwestern corner of South Dakota, and the southeastern corner 
 of Wyoming. That is the area to which our investigation applies, 
 and the one in which we believe experimental wells will throw a great 
 light on the genei'al water-supply prol)lem. There are many points 
 in this area in which wells may be expected to be successful and by 
 their success give encouragement to individuals to sink wells. 
 
 The Chairman. What is the cost of sinking a well and i^reparing 
 it for irrigation, a thousand feet dee^)? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Three or four thousand dollars, oi-dinarily; that is, 
 under favorable conditions. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. The borings already made indicate that in the section 
 of Kansas I represent wells 1,000 feet deep would not be sufficient, 
 but do you not think that wells 2,000 feet deep would test the matter 
 thoroughl}'? 
 
 The Chairman. What would they cost? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Ten thousand dollars would pay for a propei'ly con- 
 structed deep well. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Assuming a well 2,000 feet deep would cost $10,000, 
 would there be a sufficient return from the water to warrant that 
 expenditure? 
 
 Mr. Darton. The water itself from such a well ought to be of value 
 sufficient to compensate for its expense, but then the light it is to 
 throw on the underground relations and position of the Dakota sand- 
 stone and its water contents would be the principal feature of the 
 experiment. 
 
 The Chairman. How much would such a well irrigate? 
 
 Mr. Darton. It is extremely" difficult to tell, for we can not predict 
 in advance how much flow will be obtained. 
 
 jMr. Reeder. You state that some of these wells in southern Dakota 
 are capable of irrigating a whole section of land, but we do not know 
 that it will be that much in Kansas, and what we want to know is 
 whether it will justify our people, as private individuals, in going to 
 that expense. 
 
 Mr. Phillips. We can tell by putting down a well. 
 
 The Chairman. You say one well in eastern South Dakota will irri- 
 gate a square mile of land? 
 
40 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Uarton. Yes, sir; nndei" favorable conditions. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. In South Dakota, where these wells have been 
 developed, how many wells are there, and what area of land is irri- 
 gated by tlieniV 
 
 Mr. Darton. I liave returns from al)<)ut 300 deep wells in south- 
 eastern Dakota, and the number of quarter sections irrigated there 
 now is about 100. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Do you know what the average cost of those wells 
 has been? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Two thousand five liundred dollars, on the average, 
 or possibly -i^OjOOO. The conditions are very favorable in that section. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. What kind of wells are sunk there? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Various kinds. In many cases the wells are shallow, 
 but the number of very deep wells is about 120. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. AVhat do you mean by very deep? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Fourteen to sixteen hundred feet deep. On some of 
 the higher hinds they are deeper. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Is it your o})ini(»n that the Dakota sandstone 
 formation continues through weslcrn Kansas, and Nebraska and 
 Colorado? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; there seems to be no doul)t about it; we see 
 it uptunied against the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and outcrop- 
 ping in portions of the Arkansas Valley, and it has been penetrated 
 by many wells in the Arkansas Valley. In central Kansas it lias 
 been reached by a number of shallow wells. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. It has been observed on four sides of the territory we 
 are talking alxmt. 
 
 Mr. Darton. Exactly. 
 
 The Chairman. Now, in the wells where experimentation has been 
 made and proved successful among the farmers they have been 
 extremely useful? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir. Their greatest usefulness has been the sup- 
 ply of watei" for stock; but, as l^efore stated, they have been used in 
 eastern South Dakota for irrigation, and their great pressure also 
 furnishes power to run electric-light plants, flouring mills, etc. The 
 wells in the Arkansas Valley which reach the sandstone and furnish 
 large volumes of water are used not only for local water supply but to 
 supply small towns. The water of the Arkansas River is not agree- 
 able to use, and the smaller sources of water supply — springs, etc. — 
 are not adequate, so these artesian wells luive been sunk and furnish 
 a fine supply from the sandstone; now nearly every little town in the 
 Arkansas Valley, in eastern Colorado, has an artesian well as a source 
 of water supply. 
 
 We are m)t altogether certain as to the dei)th to the Dakota sand- 
 stone in all portions of the Centi-al Plains region. Tliei'e is a mass of 
 overlying clays of 1,500 feet and more in some places, and there is an 
 extensive area in which no wells have been sunk sufficiently deep to 
 penetrate these clays and reach the Dakota sandstone. Many wells 
 have been sunk to a moderate depth, but have found the clay so diffi- 
 cult to penetrate that boring operations have been discontinued on 
 account of the expense and uncertainties. If wells could be sunk 
 through the clays totlie Dakota sandstone and awater supply obtained, 
 it would encourage numy persons to sink wells all over this region for 
 themselves. You can not expect them to sink these wells without 
 feeling certain that they will get a water supph'. 
 
 Mr. Barham. AVherever these wells have been sunk is there any 
 danuer of the water beins,- exhausted? I have heard thai wells some- 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 
 
 times are exhausted aud give out in a short time and that the well 
 proposition was a failure. 
 
 Mr. Darton. That has not proved to be the case in southwestern 
 Dakota, where there are many wells together in a small area. In the 
 vicinity of Denver, Colorado, where there is a local artesian basin, the 
 water now has to be pumped and has ceased to flow spontaneously. 
 It has happened there, but the cause of it is the small size of that 
 artesian basin. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Is it only in an artesian basin that you get artesian 
 water? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir. Where j^ou get flowing water there has to 
 be an elevated source for it on one side at least. 
 
 Mr. Barham. And in this Central Plains region you are tal king- 
 about now, is it not artesian water? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir, it is; that is, it is water under great pres- 
 sure, which causes it to rise above the surface or toward the surface. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. What do you mean by a small basin in and 
 around Denver; wherein does that differ from the general area of 
 which you have been speaking? 
 
 Mr. Darton. It is a sandstone basin of small area. It has a small 
 catchment area, and some of the water is free to escape, so that it does 
 not carry a large volume of water, whereas this Dakota sandstone 
 underljdng, as a continuous sheet, the whole of the vast Plains region, 
 catches and holds the water in immense volume and under pressure 
 given by the elevated source to the west. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Then the conditions under tlie Central Plains 
 differ from the local conditions at Denver? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir. I mention the Denver waters simply in reply 
 to Mr. Barham's question as to whether there is any area in which 
 the artesian water is giving out. This has nothing to do with the 
 broad problem of the Dakota sandstone. 
 
 Mr. Barham. That is what I am getting at. In the interior they 
 have not found any diminution of the inflow. 
 
 Mr. Darton. They have in some instances found that the flow was 
 diminished, but that has been because the wells have l)ecome choked 
 up with sand, or some other defect in the well; and new wells in the 
 same vicinity always flow. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. It seems to me the flow would become stronger rather 
 than weaker, with the sinking of wells, for the reason tliat if you 
 diminish the surface flow to the east there would be a tendency to clog 
 up the sandstone with deposit. If you have the outlets shut up some- 
 where, the water would rise higher in the wells. Noav the outlets at 
 the eastern end are being kept open by the pressure of the outflowing 
 water. This permits the water level to fall to a lower altitude than 
 that which it would have if the openings in the sandstone at the eastern 
 end were stopped up. The water goes under ground at an altitude of 
 (j,000 feet, aud to the eastward; where the Dakota sandstone outcrops 
 to the surface at much lower altitudes the water escapes through 
 innumeralfle springs, and we have this leakage. 
 
 Tlie Chairman. AVhydoes that leakage diminish tlie pressure to 
 the west? 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Because the water flows too freely to sustain the pres- 
 sure. By the opening of wells through this country the water would 
 have a greater vent by openings to the surface wliich would tend to 
 maintain its flow nearer its source, and would not this make less pres- 
 sure at the lower end? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; if there were openings to the west there 
 
42 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 would be (limiiiislied pressure or volume of outflow along tlie eastern 
 outcrops. 
 
 The Chairman. And the more pressure you have liere along the 
 outflow zone the more likely it is to be open and free there? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir; the volume of outflow would naturall}^ be 
 greater. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Do you know wliat the source of the water is in 
 the Dakota sandstone? Does it come from a stream? 
 
 Mr. Darton. No, sir; it is mainly from tlie rainfall in the outcrop 
 zone of the Dakota sandstone, which is 8 or 10 or 15 miles wide. The 
 surface is very porous and the rain sinks into it. It is also well 
 known that many of the streams crossing the outcrop zone lose more 
 or less of their water, Avhich sinks into the porous sandstone. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. I want to get at these points. You have looked into 
 this matter thoroughly enough to know that this sandstone underlies 
 all of western Kansas and Nebraska. There is no way for us to know 
 whether the water from tliis sandstone can be brought to the surface 
 without actually trying and making an exi^eriment. Such an experi- 
 ment is so expensive that individuals can not aft'ord it. That is the 
 point I wish to get before this committee, tliat this is merelj' a propo- 
 sition to make sucli experiments as will show whether it is possible 
 for us to obtain water supplies for this vast territory by this means. 
 We are asking in bills II. R. ^o2i2, etc., 8-^5,OOU to nuike that 
 experiment. 
 
 Mr. Darton. The test wells are to obtain information and not water. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. It is to obtain information and not water. Our peo- 
 ple will o])tain the water if it can be demonstrated that it is there for 
 us to obtain. That is my onlj^ point in the matter. 
 
 The Chairman. In how many States in the United States do you 
 think artesian wells could be obtained successfully? 
 
 Mr. Darton. There are many. We know of numerous artesian 
 basins scattered widely over the United States. But I have not 
 studied in detail tliat question outside of the region of the Central 
 Plains. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. In most of these regions that you speak of, has not 
 the discovery of artesian water been nuule l\y actual borings and find- 
 ing the water, so that they have passed the stage we are at now? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. There is no great region that indicates in this way 
 that the water is there, except this region, which has not been so 
 tested? 
 
 Mr. Darton. Not so far as I know. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Observing Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Wash- 
 inaton, what do you savof the possibilities of artesian basins in those 
 States? 
 
 Mr. Darton. 'I'here are artesian basins in those States, but they are 
 outside of the area assigned to me for investigation. I have devoted 
 myself entirely to the Central Plains I'egion for the last three or four 
 years, and feel competent to speak of tluit area only. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Just to put those points that I wanted brought up to 
 the committee, and it seems to me that it is as plain as can l)e, and I 
 believe that is all the committee wants to consider — in the first i)lace, 
 it is probable that these conditions exist; second, that there is so 
 great an expense connected vritli making these experiments that you 
 can ]iot expect individuals to do it for themselves. 
 
 Mr. King. What is the sum carried in the appropriation bills for 
 such investigations? 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 
 
 STATEMENT OF FREDERICK H. NEWELL, HYDROGRAPHER, UNITED 
 STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 Mr. Newell. The amount for investigation of water resources cov- 
 ered by an item in the sundry civil bill has gradually increased from 
 $12,500, in 1895, to 850,000, and last year it was put at $100,000. That 
 includes investigation all over the United States, with regard to water 
 in streams or under ground. 
 
 The Chairman. Do you know how much is carried in the various 
 bills for the Department of Agriculture and the Geological Survey in 
 the direction of experiments in regard to irrigation? 
 
 Mr. Newell. The Appropriations Committee of the House is inter- 
 ested in that question, and l)y instructions from that committee the 
 various items of appropriation made during the last twelve years have 
 been assembled, including various lines relating to irrigation. These 
 include the construction of ditches on Indian reservations, the pur- 
 chase of tools, implements, water rights, etc., as well as investigations 
 of various kinds in all parts of the United States. An abstract of 
 these laws and appropriation acts is presented herewith. 
 
 IRRIGATION SURVEYS AND INVESTIGATIONS BY THE UNITED STATES 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 The United States Geological Survey is concerned with the water 
 resources of the country primarily through what is known as the 
 organic law contained in the act of Congress of March 3, 1879. To the 
 paragraph creating the office of Director of the Geological Survey the 
 following proviso was attached: 
 
 * * * That this officer shall have the direction of the Geological Survey, 
 and the classihcation of the public lands and examination of the geological struc- 
 ture, mineral resources, and products of the national domain and that the Director 
 and members of the Geological Survey shall have no personal or private interests 
 in the lands or mineral wealth of the regiim under survey, and shall execute no 
 surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations. (Approved March 
 3, ISTy. Stat. L.. vol. 20. p. ;Jt)4. j 
 
 The first requisite in the " classification of the public lauds and the 
 examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and prod- 
 ucts of the national domain," is a topographic map for guidance and 
 for exhibiting the results. Since the organization of the Survey, there- 
 fore, a large part of its energies has lieen concentrated on the prepa- 
 ration of such a map, showing all ele^'ations bj' means of contours, 
 also the location of streams, towns, roads, raih-oads, and canals for 
 irrigation or transportation, isolated houses, and boundaries of States, 
 counties, and towns. Tliis map exhiljitsthe drainage area of streams, 
 the relative elevations of catchment basins and irrigal)le lands, the 
 topographic features favorable to water conservation, the Land Office 
 lines, the slopes of valleys, and many other details of importance to the 
 development of water powers and of irrigation or the reclamation of 
 the arid lands. 
 
 In 1887 the Director of the Geological Survey was called upon l\y 
 Congress to consider the question of Federal recognition of the irri- 
 gation subject. A resolution was passed requiring the Secretary of 
 the Interior, by means of the Director of the Geological Survey, to 
 make an investigation of that portion of the arid region of the United 
 
44 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 States where agrieulture is carried on by means of irrigation. The 
 resolution reads as follows: 
 
 Whereas a large portion of the uiioccnpied public lands of the United States 
 is located within what is known as the arid region, and now utilized only for 
 grazing purposes, but much of which, l)y means of irrigation, may be rendered 
 as fertile and productive as any land in the world, capable of supporting a large 
 population, thereby adding to the national wealth and prosperity: 
 
 Whereas all the water flowing during the summer months in many of the 
 streams of the Rocky Mountains, upon which chiefly the husbandman of the 
 plains and the mountain valleys chiefly depends for moisture for his crops, has 
 been appropriated and is used for tlie Irrigation of lands contiguous thereto, 
 whereby a comparatively small area has been reclaimed: and 
 
 Whereas there are many natural depressions near the sources and along the 
 courses of these streams which may be converted into reservoirs for the storage 
 of the surplus water wiiich during the wintei- and spring seasons flows through 
 the streams: from which reservoirs the water there stored can be drawn and 
 conducted through properly constructed canals, at the i)roper season, thus bring- 
 ing large areas of land into cultivation, and making desirable much of the public 
 land for which there is now no demand: therefore be it 
 
 Rrsolrcd hi/ the Senate ami House of Hein-esentatires of the United States of 
 A)iierie(( in Conc/ress assendiled. That the .Secretary of the Interior, by means of 
 the Director of the Geological Survey, be, and he is hereby, directed to make au 
 examination of that portion of the arid regions of the United States where agri- 
 culture is carried on by means of irrigation, as to the natural advantages for the 
 storage of water for irrigating purposes with the practicability of constructing 
 reservoirs, together with the capacity of the streams and the cost of construction 
 and capacity o'-' reservoirs, and such other fa( ts as bear on the iiuestion of storage 
 of water for irrigating purposes: and that he be further directed to reporr ti) Con- 
 gress as soon as practicable the result <if such investigation. (Approved March 
 20, 1888. Stat. L., vol. 2o. pp. 018, 019.) 
 
 This was followed bj' the passage of an act containing an appropria- 
 tion of -ii^l()O,0()O for the purpose of investigating the extent to which 
 the arid region of the United States can l)e redeemed by irrigation. 
 This act is as follows: 
 
 For the purpose of investigating the extent to which the arid region of the 
 United States can be redeemed by irrigation, and the segregation of the irrigable 
 lands in such arid region, and for the selection of sites for reservoirs and other 
 hydraulic works necessary for the storage and utilizat on of water for irrigation 
 and the prevention of floods and overflows, and to make the ne "es-ary maps, includ- 
 ing the pay of employees in field and in ottice, the cost of all instruments, aitpara- 
 tus, and materials, and all other necessary expenses connected therewith, the work 
 to be peformed liy the C-Jeological Survey, under the direction of the Secretary of 
 the Interior, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars or so much thereof as may 
 be necessary. And the Director of the Geological Survey, under the supervision 
 of the Secretary of the Interior, shall make a report to Congress on the first Monday 
 in December of each year, showing in detail how the said money has been expended, 
 the amount used for actual survey and engineer work in the field in locating sites 
 for reservoirs, and an itemizel account of the expenditure under this appropria- 
 tion. And all the lands which may hereafter be designated or selected by such 
 United States surveys for sites for reservoirs, ditches, or canals for irrigation pur- 
 poses and all the lands made susceptible of irrigation by such reservoirs, ditches, 
 or canals are from this time henceforth hereby reserved from sale as the property 
 of the United States, and shall not be subject after the passage of this act to entry, 
 settlement, or occupation until further provided by law: 
 
 Proviih:d, That the Presi<lent may at any time in his discretion by prDclamation 
 open any portion or all of the lands reserved l)y this provision to settlement under 
 the homestead laws. (Approved October 2, 1888. Stat. L., vol. 25, pp. ,")20, 527.) 
 
 In the following year ^250,000 was appropriated for continuing the 
 work. (Approved 'March 2, 1881). Stat. L., vol. 25, p. 900.) 
 
 A poi-tion of the law passed Octol)er 2, 1888, was repealed by the 
 following ]»rovision in the act approved August 30, 18'.)0 (Stat. L., 
 vol. 21"), [). ^!'.n), and no appropriation was made for irrigation work as 
 such : 
 
 For topographic surveys in various portions of the United States, three hun- 
 dred and twenty-five thousand dollars, one-half of which sum shall be expended 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 
 
 west of the one hundredth meridian; and so much of the act of October second, 
 eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, entitled "'An act making appropriations for 
 sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, 
 eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and for other pui'poses," as provides for the 
 withdrawal of the public lands from entry, occupation, and settlement, is hereby 
 repealed, an 1 all entries made or claims initiated in good faith and valid but for 
 said act. shall be recognized and may be perfected in the same manner as if said 
 law had not been enacted, except that reservoir sites heretofore located or selected 
 shall remain segregated and reserved from entry or settlement as provided by 
 said act, until otherwise provided by law, and reservoir sites hereafter located or 
 selected on public lands shall in like manner be reserved from the date of the loca- 
 tion or selection thereof. 
 
 No person who shall after the passage of this act. enter upon any of the public 
 lands with a view to occupation, entry or settlement under any of the land laws 
 shall be permitted to acquire title to more than three hundred and twenty acres 
 in the aggregate, under all of said laws, but this limitation shall not operate to 
 curt lil the right of any person who has heretofore made entry or settlement on 
 the public lands, or wliose occupation, entry or settlement is validated by this 
 act: Provider^. That in all patents for lands hereafter taken up under any of the 
 land laws of the United States or on entries or claims validated by this act west 
 of the one hundredth me idian, it shall be expressed that there is reserved from 
 the lands in said patent described, a right of way thereon for ditches and canals 
 constructed by the atithoritv of the United States. (Approved August 30. isQC. 
 Stat. L., vol. 26. p. 391.) 
 
 Under this law tlie Survey selected and mapped a larj>e number of 
 re.servoir sites, which have been noted on the records of the General 
 Land Office, and are now reserved from entry or settlement. Descrip- 
 tions of these sites maj^ be found in the Tenth, P^leventh, Twelfth, 
 and Thirteenth Annual Reports of the Geological Survey. 
 
 From the above cited paragraphs it appears that the portion of the 
 original law approved Octol)er 2, 1888, which affected the withdrawal 
 of the iDublic lands from entry, occupation, and settlement Avas 
 repealed, but that the remaining portions of the law were unaffected 
 by the act of repeal, and that there is still on the statute books 
 authority for making an examination of the arid region of the United 
 States, for ascertaining the capacity of the streams, and "for the 
 selection of sites for reservoirs and other hydraulic works necessary 
 for the storage and utilization of water for irrigation and the preven- 
 tion of floods and overflows, and to make the necessary maps." 
 
 In the repealing act it was specifically i^rovided that the reservoir 
 sites shall remain segregated for such use, and in a law entitled "An 
 act to repeal timlier-culture laws, and for other purposes," approved 
 March 3, 1891, it is provided: 
 
 That reservoir sites located or selected and to lie located and selected under the 
 provisions of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the 
 Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
 nine, and for other purposes,'" and amendments thereto, shall be restricted to and 
 shall contain onlj' so much land as is actually necessary for the construction and 
 maintenance of reservoirs: excluding so far as practicable lands occupied by 
 actual settlers at the date of the location of said reservoirs. (Stat. L.. vol. 2('>. 
 
 p. not.) 
 
 Approjiriat ion for in-h/afioii siirrcijs (I'oinlJ). incIinJiiH/ (op()(/riij>liic viajqu'iig. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Item. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Statutes at 
 Large. 
 
 1889.... 
 
 
 SI 00, 11(10 
 ;.V)0,000 
 
 Vol. 'Zrt. p. .536. 
 
 1S90.... 
 
 Investigatiou of arid regiou and topographic surveys 
 
 Vol. 2.5, p. 9G0. 
 
 Under the various laws above cited, sj'stematic measurements of 
 the streams of the arid regions were begun bj^ the Division of Hydrog- 
 raphy, and were continued after August 30, 1890, as incidental to the 
 
46 
 
 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 topographic surveys and selection of reservoir sites. By act of 
 August 18, 1894, the following specific ajipropriation was made for 
 this class of work: 
 
 For gauging the streams aud determining the water supply of the United 
 States, including the investigation of underground currents and artesian wells in 
 arid and semiarid sections, twelve thousand five hundred dollars. (Approved 
 August 18, 1894. Stat. L., vol. 28, p. ;1U8.) 
 
 A further appropriation by act approved March 2, 1805 (Stat. L., 
 vol. 28, p. 940), made available the sum of 820,000 for the fiscal year 
 1895-9fi, and a later act was worded as follows: 
 
 For gauging the streams and determining the water supply of the United 
 States, including the investigation of underground currents and artesian wells in 
 arid and semiarid sections, and the preparation of reports upon the best methods 
 of utilizing the water resources of said sections, fifty thousand dollars. (Approved 
 June 11, l"8'.Mj. Stat. L., vol. 3it, p. -ISii.) 
 
 Provision has been made for printing the reports for popular dis- 
 tribution by the following clause in the act last named: 
 
 Provided. That hereafter the reports of the Geological Survey in relation to the 
 gauging of streams and to the methods of utilizing the water resources may be 
 printed in octavo form, not to exceed lOO pages in length and 5.000 copies in num- 
 ber; 1,000 copies of which shall be for the official use of the Geological Survey, 
 1,500 copies shall be delivered to the Senate, and 2,500 copies shall be delivered to 
 the House of Representatives, for distribution. (Approved June 11, 18'.'6. Stat. 
 L.. vol. 21t, p. 45:5.) 
 
 The current appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1901, 
 8100,000, is similar to the above, with a slight change in the wording, 
 as follows: 
 
 For gauging the streams and determining the water supply of the United 
 States, and for the investigation of underground currents and artesian wells in 
 arid and semiarid sections, and the preparation of reports upon the best methods 
 of utilizing the water resources of said sections, one hundred thousand dollars. 
 (Approved June (5, 1000. Stat. L., vol. -M. p. (U7. ) 
 
 The amounts appropriated for gauging streams, etc., in the sundry 
 civil acts are as follows: 
 
 Sinnmary of appropriations for ganging streams {Walcott). 
 
 Year. 
 
 Item. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Approved. 
 
 statute at 
 Large. 
 
 1.SH5 
 
 
 81:2. r)(K) 
 ;io,(ioo 
 4,5(10 
 5(1.110(1 
 5(1.0110 
 .50,0(1(1 
 50.000 
 
 ;.'o. 000 
 
 100.000 
 357, (J(H) 
 
 Aug. 18, 1894 
 Mar. :-•, 1895 
 Apr. 14,189(> 
 June 11, 189() 
 June 4,1897 
 July 1.1898 
 Mar. 3,1899 
 Mar. 30,1900 
 Juno 0,1900 
 
 Vol. 38, p. 398 
 Vol. 38, p. 940 
 Vol. 39. p. 104 
 Vol. 39, p. 4:J6 
 Vol. 30, p. 37 
 Vol. 30, p. J333 
 Vol. 30, p. 1099 
 
 1890 
 
 
 189i; 
 
 1897 
 
 l.sos 
 
 Gaug-iug streams ( a,i;rleultural) 
 
 tT.iuginy st i-eams 
 
 18'.)9 _. 
 
 . 1900 
 
 O auging .streams 
 
 (Tauii'i'i)!; .streams 
 
 190) . . . 
 
 (i.aug'ing streams (deficiency) 
 
 Gauging streams 
 
 Total 
 
 Vol. 31, p. 57 
 Vol. 31, p. 617 
 
 1901 
 
 
 
 
 CONSTRUCTING IRRIGATING DITCHES, ETC., UNDER INDIAN OFFICE. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 Tlie Office of Indian Affairs, having in cliarge the execution of vari- 
 ous acts of Congress relative to the Indians, has, as incidental to the 
 .support of various tribes located within tlie arid region, the construe- 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 
 
 tion and maintenance of irrigation canals, the sinlcing of artesian 
 wells, and the providing of other means of water snijply. 
 
 For the construction, purchase, and use of irrigating machinery and appliances 
 in Arizona, Montana, and Nevada for the uses of Indian reservations, in the dis- 
 cretion of the Secretary of the Interior and subject to his control, thirty thousand 
 dollars, to be immediately available. (Approved March 3. 1891. Stat. L., vol. 26, 
 p. 1011.) 
 
 The most important irrigation system under construction by the 
 Indian Office is that upon the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. 
 This results from the agreement concluded with the Crow Indians 
 December 8, 1890, and ratified by the act of Marcli 3, 1891, appropri- 
 ating $200,000. By a supplemental agreement concluded August 27, 
 1892, a further sum of 6200,000 was added to the irrigation fund, with 
 the provision that not exceeding $100,000 might l)e used in any one 
 year, and if a less sum were expended in any one year the difference 
 might thereafter be expended in addition to the $100,000 available for 
 that 3'ear. 
 
 There is hereby appropriated and set apart two hundred thousand dollars to be 
 expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in the building of 
 dams, canals, ditches, and laterals for the purposes of irrigation in the valleys of 
 the Big Horn and the Little Big Horn rivers, and on Pryor Creek and such other 
 streams as the Secretary of the Interior may deem proper; Provided, That not to 
 exceed fifty thousand dollars shall be expended annually in performing this work: 
 And provided fuvtlier. That the superintendent in charge of said works shall, in 
 the employment of laborers, be required to give preference to such Indians of the 
 Crow tribe as are competent and willing to work at the average wages paid to 
 common laborers for the same kind of work, and the labor so employed shall be 
 paid in cash. 
 
 That the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set 
 apart as an irrigating fund, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary 
 of the Interior for the maintenance and management of the system of irrigation 
 provided for in this agreement. (Stat. L., vol. ^6, p. 1040. ) 
 
 Irrigation Indian reservations: For the construction, purchase, and use of irri- 
 gating machinery and appliances on Indian reservations, in the discretion of the 
 Secretary of the Interior and subiect to his control, forty thousand dollars, 
 (Approved July 13, 1892. Stat. L., vol. 27, p. 137.) 
 
 A number of annual appropriations have been made for the purpose 
 of constructing irrigating ditches, for the purchase of machinerj', and 
 for sinking artesian wells, as well as occasional appropriations for 
 suppljing water on various Indian reservations. The following are 
 the most important of these acts: 
 
 For the construction of irrigating ditches and the development of a water sup- 
 ply for agricultural, stock, and domestic purposes on the Navajo Indian Reserva- 
 tion, forty thousand dollars, to be expended in the discretion of the Secretary of 
 the Interior. ( Approved March 3, 1893. Stat. L., vol. 27, pp. 027,628.) 
 
 In addition to this sum of $40,000, tliere was a balance of about 
 $20,000 remaining from previous appropriations, making a total of 
 $60,000, regarded as available for this j)urpose. 
 
 For the construction, purchase, and use of irrigating machinery and appliances 
 on Indian reservations, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, forty 
 thousand dollars: Provided, That of this sum a sufficient amount may be used to 
 sink one artesian well at each of the three following places, namely: Rosebud Res- 
 eiwation, Standing Rock Reservation, and Pine Ridge Reservation, in South 
 Dakota, neither of said wells to cost more than five thousand dollars. (Approved, 
 March 3, 1893. Stat. L., vol. 27, p. 631.) 
 
 For the construction, purchase, and use of irrigating machinery and appliances 
 on Indian reservations, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior aud sub- 
 ject to his control, thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior is directed to contract with responsible parties for 
 the construction of irrigating canals and the purchase or securing of water sup- 
 ply on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, in the State of Idaho, for the purpose of 
 
48 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 irrigating the lands of said reservation: Pmridcd, That the expense of construct- 
 ing said canals and the purchase or securing of water supply shall be paid out of 
 moneys belonging to tlio^ said Fort Hall Indians now in the Treasury of the United 
 States and suijject to tho disposition of the Secretary of the; Int-riur for the bene- 
 fit of said Indians. (Approved, August 15, is9;. Stat. L., vol. :28, p. :30o. ) 
 
 For the construction, purchase, and use of irrigating machinery and appliances 
 on Indian reservations, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior and sub- 
 ject to his control, thirty thousand dollars. (Approved, March 2. l.sy.j. Stat. L., 
 vol. 2s, p. 900. ) 
 
 For the construction, purchase, and use of irrigating tools and appliances on 
 Indian reservations, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and subject 
 to his control, thirty thousand dollars, and of this amount not exceeding two 
 thousand seven hundred dollars may be used for the temporary employment of 
 persons of practical experience in irrigation work at a compensation not to exceed 
 seventy-five dollars per month, each, and not exceeding one thousand five hundred 
 dollars for necessary traveling and incidental expenses of such persons. (Approved, 
 June 10, 180(1. Stat. L.. vol. 20, p. ;341.) 
 
 To enable the Secretary of the Interior to put down an artesian well or wells at 
 or near Lake Andes, on the Yankton Indian Reservation, South Dakota, at such 
 place or places as he may determine, for the purpose of supplying said Indians 
 with water for domestic purposes, for stock, and for irrigation purposes, five 
 thousand dollars. (Approved. June 10, 180(i. Stat. L., vol. 20, p. ;j4;5. ) 
 
 For construction of ditches and reservoirs, purchase and use of irrigating tools 
 and a}»pliances on Indian reservations, in the discretion of the Secretary of the 
 Interior and subject to his control, thirty thousand elollars: and of this amount 
 not exceeding two thousand seven hundred dollars may be used for the temporary 
 employment of persons of practical experience in irrigation work, at a compensa- 
 tion not to exceed one hundred dollars per month each, and not exceeding one 
 thousand five hundred dollars for necessary traveling and incidental expenses of 
 such persons. (Approved, June 7, 1897. Stat. L.. vol. 30, p. 8.j. ) 
 
 For construction of ditches and reservoirs, purchase and use of irrigating tools 
 and appliances, and purchase of water rights in Indian reservations, in the discre- 
 tion of the Secretary of the Interior and subiect to his control, forty thousand dol- 
 lars. (Approved. July 1. 1898. Stat. L.. vol. 30, p. 591.) 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior shall make investigation as to the practicability of 
 providing a water supply for irrigation purposes, to be used on a portion of the 
 reservation of the Southern Utes in Colorado, and he is authorized, in his discre- 
 tion, to contract for. and to expend from the funds of said Southern Utes in the 
 purchase of, perpetual water rights sufficient to irrigate not exceeding ten thou- 
 sand acres on the western part of the Southern Ute Reservation, and for annual 
 charges for maintenance of such water thereon, such amount and upon such terms 
 and conditions as to him may seem just and reasonable, not exceeding one hun- 
 dred and fiftv thousand dollars for the purchase of such ji rpetual water rights, 
 and not e vceeding a maximum of fifty cents per acre for the main t< nance of water 
 upon land irrigated, provided that after such an investigation he shall find all the 
 essential conditions relative to the water siipply and to the perpetuity of its avail- 
 ability for use upon said lands, such as in his judgment will justify a contract for 
 its perpetual use: I'roridi-d. That the Secretary of the Interior, upon making all 
 such contracts, shall require from the person or persons entering into such con- 
 tracts a bond of indemnity, to be approved liy him, for the faithful and continu- 
 ous execution of such contract as provided therein. (Approved, July 1, 1898. 
 Stat. L., vol. 30. p. .593.) 
 
 For ascertaining the depth of the bed rock at a place on the Gila River in Crila 
 County, Ari/^iina. known as The Buttes, and particularly descrilied in Senate Doc- 
 ument Numbered Twenty-seven. Fifty-fourth Congress, second session, and for 
 ascertaining the feasibility, and estimating in detail the cost, of the construction 
 of a dam across the river at that point for i)urpose of irrigating the Sacaton Res- 
 ervation, and for ascertaining the average daily fiow of water in the river at that 
 point, twenty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, the same 
 to be expended by the director of the United States CTei)logieal Survey, under the 
 direction of the Secretary of the Interior: I'rovidid, That nothing herein shall be 
 construed as in any way committing the United States to the construction of said 
 dam. And said director shall also ascertain and report upon the feasibility and 
 cost of the Queen Creek project mentioned in said Senate document. (Approved, 
 July 1, 1898. Stat. L., vol. 30, p. 594.) 
 
 For construction of ditches and reservoirs, purchase and use of irrigating tools 
 and appliances, and purchase of water rights on Indian reservations, in the dis- 
 cretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and subject to his control, forty thousand 
 dollars. (Approved, March 1, 1899. Stat. L., vol. 30, pp. 940. 941.) 
 
ARID LAiS^DS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 49 
 
 That the Secretary of the Interior shall make investigation as to the practica- 
 bility of providing a water supjily tor irrigation purposes, to be used on a portion 
 of the reservation of the Sotithern Utes in Colorado, and he is authorized, in his 
 discretion, to contract for, and to expend from the funds of said Southern Utes in 
 the purchase of, perpetual water rights sufficient to irrigate not exceeding ten 
 thousand acres on the western part of the Southern Ute Reservation, and for 
 annual charges for maintenance of such water thereon, such amount and upon 
 such terms and conditions as to him may seem just and reasonable, not exceeding 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the purchase of such perpetual water 
 rights, and not exceeding a maximum of fifty cents per acre jier annum for the 
 maintenance of water upon the land to be irrigated: F^mvided. That after such 
 an investigation he shall find all the essential conditions relative to the water sup- 
 ply and to the perpetuity of its availability for use upon said lands, such as in his 
 jvidgment will justify a contract for its perpetual use: Proi-idrd, That the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior, upon making all such contracts, shall require from the i^er- 
 son or persons entering upon such contract, a bond of indemnity, to be approved 
 by him, for the faithful and continuous execution of such contract as provided 
 therein." (Approved. March 1, is'.H). Stat. L., vol. 30, p. 941.) 
 
 For construction of ditches and reservoirs, purchase and use of irrigating tools 
 and appliances, and purchase of water rights, on Indian reservations, in the dis- 
 cretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and subject to his control, fifty thousand 
 dollars: Pmriiled. That the Secretary of the Interior may employ superintendents 
 of irrigation, who shall be skilled irrigating engineers, not to exceed two. as in his 
 judgment may be necessary to secure the construction of ditches and other irri- 
 gation works in a substantial atid workmanlike manner: and also one clerk in the 
 Office of Indian Affairs, ata salary of one thousand dollars per annum. (Approved, 
 May 31, 1900. Stat. L.. vol. 31, p. 339.) 
 
 The principal appropriations for the eonstritction of irrigation 
 ditches, etc., nnder the Office of Indian Affairs are as follows: 
 
 Principal appvopriations for construction of irrigation ditcJies. etc., nnder Office 
 
 of Indian Affairs. 
 
 Year 
 
 end- 
 ing— 
 
 1892 
 1893 
 189:^ 
 1S9-1 
 1894 
 1895 
 1895 
 1896 
 1897 
 1897 
 189R 
 1899 
 1899 
 1899 
 1900 
 1900 
 1901 
 
 Item. 
 
 Irrigating- machinery 
 
 Crow Indians 
 
 Irrigating machinery 
 
 Navajo Indians 
 
 Irrigation and artesian wells 
 
 Irrigation machinery, etc 
 
 Fort Hull Canal (cost not stated). 
 
 Irrigation, etc _ 
 
 do _ 
 
 Artesian well. South Dakota 
 
 Construction of ditches, etc 
 
 do 
 
 Southern Ute ( S150,(KI( ().... 
 
 Gila River, Buttes dam 
 
 Construction of ditches, etc 
 
 Southern Utes (Slo0,()00 ) 
 
 Construction of ditches, etc 
 
 Total 
 
 Amount. 
 
 >;o.(Kio 
 
 L'75,U(I() 
 40,fK)0 
 40, (HKI 
 40,(1(10 
 30.000 
 
 30,000 
 
 :>o,ooo 
 
 5,0{K) 
 30.000 
 40. 0(X) 
 
 20,000 
 40. 000 
 
 50. 000 
 
 700, 000 
 
 Date ap- 
 proved. 
 
 Statutes at 
 Large. 
 
 Mar. 3,1891 
 
 do. 
 
 July 13, 1892 
 Mai-. 3,1893 
 
 do 
 
 Aug. 15. 1894 
 
 Mar. 2,1895 
 June 19, 1896 
 
 do 
 
 June 7,1897 
 July 1,1898 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Mar. 1,1899 
 
 do 
 
 May 31,1900 
 
 Vol. 26, 
 Vol. 26, 
 Vol. 27, 
 Vol. 27, 
 Vol. 27, 
 Vol 28, 
 Vol. 28, 
 Vol. 28, 
 Vol. 29. 
 Vol. 29, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 30, 
 Vol. 31, 
 
 p. 1011 
 p. 1040 
 
 p. 137 
 
 p. 627 
 
 p. 631 
 
 p. 305 
 
 p. 305 
 
 p. 900 
 
 p. 341 
 
 p. 343 
 
 p. 85 
 
 p. 591 
 
 p. .593 
 
 p. .594 
 
 p. 940 
 
 p. 941 
 
 p. 239 
 
 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS OF THE DEPART.MENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Office of Irrigaii on Inquiry. — This office was created in 1890, and 
 continneJ, by varions acts of Congress, until 1802. These acts are 
 as follows: 
 
 Location for artesian n^ells: To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
 such preliminary investigation of an engineering and other character as will, so 
 far as practicable, determine the proper location for artesian wells for irrigation 
 purposes within the area west of the ninety-seventh meridian and east of the foot- 
 hills of the Rocky Mountains, twenty thousand dollars; and a report of all opera- 
 tions and expenditures hereunder shall be made to Ci ingress immediately after 
 July first, eighteen hundred and ninety: Praridcd, That no part of said amount 
 
 11196—01 4 
 
50 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 shall be expended in sinking wells or the construction of irrigation works, and the 
 work done under this appropriation shall be completed and a report of the same 
 made within the appropriation, and nothing herein shall commit the Government 
 to any plan of irrigation or the construction of works therefor. (Approved April 
 4, 18110. Stat. L., vol. ~'<J. p. 42.) 
 
 In-'tqatioii iiirrstiydfioiis: To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to continue to 
 completion his investigations for the purpose of determining the extent and avail- 
 ability for irrigation of the underflow and artesian waters within the region 
 between the ninety-seventh degree of longitude and the eastern foothills of the 
 Rocky Mountains, and to colle;t and publish information as to the best methods 
 of cultivating the soil by irrigation, forty thousand dollars: Provided, That no 
 part of said sum shall be expended under unless the entire investigation, collec- 
 tion, and publication contemplated herein, including the report thereon, can be 
 fully and tinally completed and finished before July first, eighteen hundred and 
 niuety-oiie. without any additional expense, cost, or charge being incurred. 
 (Approved September ;!(). issto. Stat. L.. vol. 2C). p. o'Jij. ) 
 
 L'diitiiKjciit e.vjifiisrs: The time for the final completion of the report of (-he 
 extent and availability for irrigation by the underflow and artesian water within 
 the region between the ninety-seventh degree of longitude and the eastern foot- 
 hills of the Rocky Mountains, and the correction and publication of information 
 as to the best method of cultivating the soil by irrigation, limited to the first of 
 July, eighteen hundred and ninety-one. by the act of September thirtieth, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety, is hereby extended to the first day of January, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-two; and the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appro- 
 priated to enable tlie Secretary of Agriculture to correct and publish information 
 as to the best methods of cultivating the soil by irrigation. (Approved March 3, 
 1891. Stat. L., vol. ','0, p. 1052.) 
 
 The balance of the sum of ten thousand dollars, appropriated by act of March 
 third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to 
 collect and imblish infonnation as to the best methods of cultivating the soil by 
 irrigation, remaining unexpended on January first, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
 two, is hereby ieai)propriated and made available for said purposes until the 
 fifteenth day of April next, and out of said amount the disbursing officer of the 
 Department of Agriculture shall be reimbursed in the sum of nine hundred and 
 eighteen dollars and seventy-six cents by him paid out since January first, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-two, as salaries and ex]ienses of the division of said Depart- 
 ment having charge of the irrigation nKjuiry. and from said amount there shall 
 also be paid all unpaid balances of compensation due persons heretofore employed 
 in said division for services rendered and not yet paid for, said report and all pro- 
 ceedings hereunder to be completed bv the fifteenth day of April. (Approved 
 March 18, 1892. Stat. L., vol. 27, p. in.) 
 
 The Office of Irriiititioii Inquiiy was rooriiaiiized in 1892, and annual 
 appropriations have been made as follows: 
 
 To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to collect information as to the best 
 modes of agriculture by irrigation, six thousand dollars. (Approved July 5, 1893. 
 Stat.L.,vol.'3:,p.7(i.) 
 
 To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the collection of information 
 as to the best modes of agriculture bv irrigation, six thousand dollars. (Approved 
 March o. 1898. Stat. L.. vol. 27, p. 741. ) 
 
 To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the collection of information 
 as to the best modes of agriculture bv irrigation, six thousand dollars. (Approved 
 August s. 1894. Stat. L.>ol. 28. p. 27 1. ) 
 
 To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the collection of information 
 as to the best modes of agriculture by irrigation, fifteen thousand dollars. 
 (Approved March 2. 1895. Stat. L. . vol. 2s. p. 7o-"). ) 
 
 No appi-opriations for irrii^ation investigations by the Department 
 of Ai;-i'i<'n!ture were made from IS'.ia to IS'.IS: 
 
 Ii-riijafioii infuriiKtfioii: For the purpose of collecting from agricultural colleges, 
 agricultural experiment stations, and other sources, including the employment of 
 practical agents, valuable information and data on the subject of irrigation, and 
 piiblishing the same in bulletin form, ten thousand dollars. (Approved March 
 22, 1898. Stat. L.. vol. 30. p. :j:;5. ) 
 
 fi-rigafioii iiire.<:fi(j(tfi(nis: To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to inve.stigate 
 and report upon the laws and institutions relating to irrigation and upon the use 
 of irrigation waters, with special suggestions of better methods for the utilization 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 51 
 
 of irrigation waters in agriculture than those in common use, and for the prepa- 
 ration, printing, and illustration of reports and bulletins on irrigation; and the 
 agricultural experiment stations are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate 
 with the Secretary of Agriculture in carrying out said investigations in such man- 
 ner and to such extent as may be warranted by a diie regard to the varying con- 
 ditions and needs of the respective States and Territories, and as maybe 'mutually 
 agreed upon: and ten thousand dollars of the amount hereby appropriated shall 
 be immediately available, thirty-five thousand dollars. (Approved March 1, 1899. 
 Stat. L., vol. 30, p. 953.) 
 
 Irrigation iiivcsfigafions: To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate 
 and report upon the laws and institutions relating to irrigation and upon the use 
 of irrigation waters, with especial suggestions of better methods for the utilization 
 of irrigation waters in agriculture than those in common use. and for the prepa- 
 ration, printing, and illustration of reports and bulletins on irrigation; and the 
 agricultural experiment stations are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate 
 with the Secretary of Agriculture in carrying out said investigations in such man- 
 ner and to such extent as may be warranted by a due regard to the varying con- 
 ditions and needs of the respective States and Territories as may be mutually 
 agreed upon, fifty thousand dollars. (Approved May 25, 1900. Stat. L., vol. 31, 
 p. 199.) 
 
 Suminarized, tlie appropriations for irrigation investigations of the 
 Department of Agricnlture are as follows: 
 
 Appropriations for irrigation investigations of tlie Departnwnt of Agriculture. 
 
 Year. 
 
 I89n 
 
 1801 
 1893 
 1893 
 1891 
 1895 
 1896 
 1897 
 1898 
 1899 
 1900 
 1901 
 
 Item. 
 
 Artesian wells 
 
 Irrigation investigation. 
 
 Underflow 
 
 Modes of irrigation 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Amount. Approved. 
 
 S'20,(K)0 
 
 Ki.nno 
 
 i(l.(K)ll 
 6.(MK) 
 tj,(NH1 
 6.000 
 
 1.5, 000 
 
 Apr. 1,1890 
 Sept. 30, 1890 
 Mar. :J, 1891 
 
 Jiilv 
 Mai-. 
 Aug. 
 Mar. 
 
 5,1893 
 3. 1893 
 8, 1S91 
 3, 1895 
 
 Statutes at 
 Large. 
 
 Vol. 26. p. 43 
 Vol. 26, p. 536 
 Vol. 26, p. 1052 
 Vol. 27. p. 70 
 Vol. 27, p. 741 
 Vol. 38, p. 371 
 Vol. 28, p. 735 
 
 Irrigation information 
 
 Irrigation laws, etc 
 
 do 
 
 10,000 
 35, 000 
 
 50, am 
 
 Mar. 32, 1898 
 Mar. 1,1899 
 May 35,1900 
 
 Vol.30,p.3:» 
 Vol. 30, p. 9.53 
 Vol. 31, p. 199 
 
 Total 
 
 198,000 
 
 SUMMARY OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 Summarized, the direct appropriations are as follows: 
 Sununarij of direct ap2)ropii\ttions. 
 
 Item. 
 
 Arid-land survey (Powell) 
 
 Gaging streams (Walcott) . -. 
 
 Construction ditches, etc.. Indian Office 
 
 Irrigation investigations, Dejiartment of Agriculture. 
 
 Total 
 
 Years. 
 
 1888-1.S90 
 189.5-1901 
 1S94-1901 
 1890-1901 
 
 Amount. 
 
 S350, 0(K3 
 357,000 
 700, (X)0 
 198,000 
 
 1,605,000 
 
 The total of 'Sl,fi05,000 approjiriated directly foi- surveys, investiga- 
 tions, and construction having to do with irrigation is by no means 
 the total chargeable to the arid regions. It forms a i)oi'tion of vari- 
 ous items of work which has been and is being carried on by several 
 organizations and bureaus. 
 
 For example, the first item of !t^3oO,000 for ariddand surveys was 
 for the most part devoted to topographic mapping of the catchment 
 
52 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ■basins of the importaut streains, work which previous to 1SS8-1S0O 
 had been carried on under the approi)riation for topography, and 
 wliicli was subsecpiently resumed under tliat head. It is, therefore, 
 but a snuiU part of the several million dollars already expended in 
 mapping the public lands of the West. 
 
 Tlie next item of 1357,000 for gaging the streams is not strictly 
 chargeable to tlie arid region, since about one-foiirth to one-third of 
 the amount has been expended in measuring the streams in the humid 
 regions of the East, where water i^ower is of greatest importance. 
 
 The third and largest item in the statement, $700,000, is, in round 
 numbers, the amount appropriated for tlie construction of ditches, 
 canals, and reservoirs for the Indians, for purchasing water rights, 
 and for tools. Many times this amount has presumably been spent 
 within the Indian reser\ations, the greater i)a]'t of which are within 
 the arid region, in otlier work relating to agriculture by irrigation. 
 Kot all of this 8700,(HH) appnipriation lias been expended, as much of 
 it has been appropriated for water rights which have not yet been 
 acquired. 
 
 The fourth item of appropriation, ^108,()0() to tlie Department of 
 Agriculture, is also only a small proportion of the total amount 
 expended for agricultural colleges and experiment stations within 
 the arid regions. In effect it increases the efficiency of the experi- 
 ment stations along lines of work which have been initiated toward 
 assisting the farmers of the arid region to improve their condition. 
 
 Besides the items mentioned, several million dollars have been 
 expended under the General Land Oflice in surveying and subdivid- 
 ing tlie lands of the arid region: also in various military expeditions 
 and in explorations for railroads. All of t he information thus obtained 
 in its way liecomes part of the broad knowledge upon which must lie 
 based general conclusions as to tlie extent to wliicli the arid lands can 
 be redeemed liy irrigation. 
 
 While on the one hand the items of direct appropriation wliich I 
 have noted form but a small proportion of the total sum expended 
 upon prolilems connected with the arid land, it must not l^e supiiosed 
 that these appropriations have been intended or expended specificall}' 
 in ascertaining the cost and benefit of reclaiming the arid region. 
 Most of the expenditures liave been, as already stated, along the line 
 of olitaining general information and not detailed facts upon which 
 estimates can be based. It is importaut to take out the sums which 
 have actually been expended along this line, and to ascertain how 
 much more work should be done to delinitely discuss tlie subject of 
 watei' conservation; in other \voi"ds, in making surveys on which to 
 1)ase (>stimates. 
 
 As liefore stated, the api^ropriations made up to the ju'esent time 
 for matters pei'taining to irrigation have been available for what may 
 lie called conclusive results to only a limited extent. The general 
 topogi'aphic sur\'eys of the catchment basins of the sti-eams and the 
 measurement of the tlow form the liasis of knowledge, l)ut in them- 
 selves they are not sufficient for jireparing the estimates of costs and 
 benefits. Out of the first appropriation for surveys (that of 1888-1890, 
 '^o5(),0<)0) about ^100, 00() was expeude<l in examining 147 reservoir 
 sites and in preparing estimates and details foi' the following reclama- 
 tion projects: In Montana, on Sun Ri\'er: in Colorado, on Arkansas 
 Ri\er; in Kansas, foi- a large ca*nal line in the western part of tlie 
 Stale: in Texas and Xew Mexico, for the jn'oposed international 
 reservoir above El I'aso: in California, foi* a reservoir at Clear Lake, 
 
AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 
 
 for exploring Pit River, and for a number of localities in the liigli 
 sierras; in Nevada and California, for water storage on Truekee and 
 Carson rivers; in Utah, for the storage of water in Utah Lake; and 
 in Idaho, for the diversion of Snake River. The total expenditure on 
 these engineering surveys — in round numbers, •tlO(),000 — was approx- 
 imately $10,000 for each of the large projects studied. The remain- 
 der of the $:350,000 was expended in preparing topographic maps. 
 Approximateh' 4o,000 square miles of important river basin were 
 mapped, the estimated cost being not far from ^5 per square mile 
 surveyed, including all salaries and office expenditures. 
 
 Since 1890 only a few detailed estimates have been prepared, these 
 being iDOSsi])le under the appropriation for preparing reports upon 
 the best methods for utilizing the water resourct'S. The possibility 
 of water storage on Gila River in Arizona has been carefully dis- 
 cussed; also conservation projects in portions of California, Nevada, 
 Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, as already mentioned. (See pp. 
 27— "30. ) The amount thus expended in engineering survej^s is rela- 
 tively small, and must be notably increased before a complete knowl- 
 edge of the cost of reclamation can be had, with detailed figures as 
 to each important project. 
 
 To complete the examination of this vast area in ten j'ears will 
 necessitate an annual expenditure of, say, !:'10,000 a year in each of 
 the States and Territories having arid and semiarid lands. This 
 amount will make possible systematic measurements of the streams, 
 survey of reservoir sites, examination of the character of the founda- 
 tions of dam sites from which to estimate the cost of the construction 
 of dams, and carry on other examinations exclusive of the topo- 
 graphic mapping. An appropriation of '15200,000 a year is needed to 
 push forward this work, including the measurement of streams and 
 the examination and nuipping of underground waters and artesian 
 wells. 
 
 The estimates made for continuing this work during the next fiscal 
 year are as follows: 
 
 SPECIAL SURVEYS IX ARID AND SEMIARID UEGIOXS. 
 
 Arizona: 
 
 Surveying reservoir sites, determining amount of water in Gila and 
 Salt rivers, including Santa Cruz River, and investigating artesian 
 
 conditions . $(5, 000 
 
 California: 
 
 Northern — Survej'S of reservoir sites on head waters of Kings. Kern, 
 
 and San Joaquin rivers - .- .. - . . 10,000 
 
 Examination and mappinu' of underground waters in San Joaquin 
 
 Valley "^ .. 5.000 
 
 Southern— Examination and mapping of underground waters in San 
 
 Bernardino Valley _ , _ . .,_... . . _ . ^ . 5, 000 
 
 Examination of country adjacent to Colorado River and estimates 
 of cost of utilizing Colorado River by pumping or bv gravity 
 
 canals " 11,000 
 
 Colorado: 
 
 Surveys of reservoir sites on head waters of Platte River 4, 000 
 
 Examination of feasibility of storing water in northeastern Colorado, o, 000 
 Examination of reservoir sites on Arkansas River and Rio Grande. . . 8, 000 
 Reconnaissance for diversion of Gunnison River in southwestern Col- 
 orado . 5. 000 
 
 Examination of underground waters and drilling test well in eastern 
 
 Colorado _.. ... 10,000 
 
 Idaho: 
 
 Survey for diversions of water from Snake River and obtaining under- 
 ground waters on Snake River plains . . . . - 5,000 
 
 Examination of reservoir sites on head waters of Boise, Weiser, and 
 
 Payette and Lost rivers of Idaho 4, 000 
 
54 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Kansas: 
 
 Drilling test well in northwestern Kansas 10. 000 
 
 Montana: 
 
 Continuation of the St. Mary River surveys 7, 000 
 
 Continuation of the Madison River-Helena survey _ 5, 000 
 
 Surveys for diversion of water from Yellowstone River 11, 000 
 
 Nebraska: 
 
 Drilling test well in western Nebraska 10, 000 
 
 Nevada: 
 
 Continuation of reservoir surveys on Carson and Walker rivers 9,000 
 
 New Mexico: 
 
 Survey of reservoir sites on Rio Grande _ . . 6. 000 
 
 North Dakota: 
 
 Continuation of mapping of underground waters and survey of canal 
 
 line from Missoiu'i River 10.000 
 
 Oregon: 
 
 Continuation of examination of deep waters in northwestern Oregon. 4, 000 
 
 Exploration for reservoir sites on head waters of Owyhee and Malheur 
 
 rivers _. 5,000 
 
 South Dakota: 
 
 Investigation of deep waters in western part of State: drilling test well 10, 000 
 Texas: 
 
 Surveys for water storage in trans-Pecos Texas 5, 000 
 
 Utah: 
 
 Surveys of reservoir sites on Sevier River 4, Ov)0 
 
 Examination of head waters of Provo and Weber rivers - 3, 000 
 
 Reconnaissance for diversion of Grand and Green rivers in southeast- 
 ern Utah. -. _ 5,000 
 
 Washington: 
 
 Surveys of reservoir sites on head waters of Yakima River and tribu- 
 taries _ . . . . . 6. 000 
 
 Examination of artesian conditions of central Washington 4. 000 
 
 Wyoming: 
 
 Surveys for storage and diversion of Green River and tributaries 6. 000 
 
 Surveys for conservation of water on North Platte River . 4. 000 
 
 Total for special surveys in arid regions. 200, 000 
 
 III e.stiniatiiig-tlie e(ist of reclamation of the lands of tlie arid regions, 
 a wide latilnde is possible, since, as before stated, we do not possess 
 detailed estimates of the cost of eacli large project. It is necessary, 
 therefore, to fall back upon a general knowh^dge, sncli as tliat which 
 has been obtained by the reconuoissances, topograpliic mapping, and 
 stream gagings just descril)ed. ]>y nuvms of these, certain l)roact facts 
 have been developed; bnt these nmst l)e supplemented by the detaik^d 
 engineering surveys before exact and unqualified statements can be 
 made. 
 
 Tlie largest uncertain factor in the question of reclamation is the 
 amount of water which can be rendered available tlirough storage in 
 the ground, through seepage or percohition, and which will ultimately, 
 after many montlis or years, find its way into the drainage channels, 
 or rise to a j)oint where it can be recovered by ordinary wells. The 
 question, also, of the practicability of recovery by wells rests upon 
 the cost of power. With complete water conservation in the moun- 
 tains, cheap power becomes available tlirougli electrical transmis.sion 
 by which to recover this water otherwise lost. Judging from the 
 experience of the developed areas of tlie arid region, it may be esti- 
 mated that if water is conserved for the direct reclamation of, say, 
 1,000,000 acres, there will be possible an ultimate reclamation of 
 3,000,000 acres, tlirough seepage works, pumping i)lants, and other 
 devices erected by individuals. In other words, if the Government, 
 hy means of large storage works or by diverting Avater from great 
 rivers by means of tunnels or other hydraulic works, should provide 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 55 
 
 water for 25,000,(iO() acres Avhieh otherwise could not be irrigated, it 
 would render possible the gradual utilization of the entire 75,000,000 
 acres, the remainder being reclaimable through the smaller or indi- 
 vidual systems. 
 
 The area of land reclaimable if water could be had amounts to sev- 
 eral hundred million acres, but the supply of water being limited, the 
 amount whicli can actually be reclaimed depends directly upon the 
 water resources. These, though fluctuating from year to year, are fixed 
 ])y nature within narrow limits, there being probably enough, when 
 properlj^ conserved, to irrigate 75,000,000 acres. It is not necessary, as 
 before noted, for the Government to conserve water for all of this area, 
 as by the removal of certain great ol)stacles individual enterprises will 
 be able to put water upon tlie greater part of the land. Thus, as 
 above stated, it may be fair to assume that if the Government con- 
 serves water for 25,000,000 acres, individuals or corporations will be 
 able to obtain water for the remaining 50,000,000. 
 
 The cost of water conservation, as shown l^y surveys in different 
 parts of the United States, may range from less than 81 to over $10 per 
 acre reclaimed. As an average, 85 per acre may be taken as the cost 
 of reclamation in a large Avay. 
 
 It is not necessary nor advisable to attempt to reclaim all of the 
 land at once, but it is essential that certain steps be taken looking 
 toward such action. It will be more economical to make small 
 expenditures at fii'st and gradually increase these, so tliat in order to 
 conserve the water supply expenditures shall extend throughout at 
 least twenty-five years. These expenditures may best be made at the 
 rate of, say, $2,000,000 per annum for five years; $4,000,000 per 
 annum for the next five years; $5,000,000 per annum for the next five 
 years, and 17,000,000 per annum for ten years additional, or, in all, 
 $125,000,000. These amounts, it has been estimated, can be realized 
 from the disposal of the pultlic lands. Ten per cent of these amounts 
 will be needed for tlie surveys and examinations leading up to the 
 construction of the reservoirs. 
 
 With this amount iuAestcd l)y the Government in the removal of 
 obstacles to development, it will be possible, as already stated, for 
 private capital to invest amounts many times as great in putting the 
 lands under irrigation. 
 
 The cost of maintenance of permanent works will be relatival}' 
 small, and following the precedent set by law and by custom the cost 
 of maintenance should be assessed against the hinds receiving the 
 water whenever the works are completed and the land passes com- 
 pletely into private ownership. 
 
 In regard to artesian- well explorations, I wish to bring out one point 
 whicli Mr. Reeder has overlooked, and that is that this vast Plains 
 area is unique in this respect. It is a country which belongs in great 
 part to the United States. It is a country where people have attempted 
 to make homes, where thousands of i^eople have l)een driven out by 
 lack of water. The attempt to secure water by individual enterprise 
 involves such a large expenditure relative to the value of the jiroperty 
 of the people and to the large area of land owned by the United States 
 that it differs from conditions of all other places wliei'e water has been 
 searched for and proved to exist l>y private enterprise. The United 
 States is the great land owner. The individuals have tried to get 
 water and have failed, and have come almost to the point of actual 
 starvation over a large part of this area for the want of it. 
 
 The Chairman. In making your statement and report as to the 
 
56 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 amount of appropriations for irrig'ation of arid lands for tliese Depart- 
 ments, could you also give us a summary of what has been accom- 
 plished? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Tliat I think could l>e done, although the facts are 
 scattered through many volumes of pul)lic reports. In the matter of 
 the Indian OfHce, where the large expenditures have ])een (nearly 
 two-tliirds of the wliole), I doubt wliether there are any printed reports 
 as to what has been done. 
 
 The Chairman. We can probably hud out something from the In- 
 dian Office. 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Barham. What would the probability be — taking the average 
 of what lias come into the Treasury — what would the probability be as 
 to the amount of receipts from that same source in the future? 
 
 Mr. Newell. So far as I can learn fi-om the Land Office, the re- 
 ceipts for the next few years will be relatively as large. They luay 
 run up to .t2,( )()(»,(»( 10; luit I think the receipts for the last fiscal year, 
 ending. Tune :>(•, I'.mh), and annnintiiig to i^i\!So<),883, are considerably 
 above tlui average, although the people in the Land Office do not 
 seem to think there will be much diminution. 
 
 The cash receipts of the General J>and ( )ffiee from disposal of ijublic 
 lands are derixed mainly from commuted homestead, desert land, 
 timbei" and stone land, mineral land, and coal land, in the order 
 named. 
 
 The total amount received on account of sales of pu1)lic lands 
 decreased from about >5n,0(iO,()()() in isss to about •i5'.)(Ki,0(H) in 1S1)7, 
 and has steadily increased since, until, at the close of the fiscal year 
 ending .June :;<)", I'.IOO, the amount was nearly -153, 000, 000. 
 
 This will prol);ilil>' eonlinue to increase for scn'eral years to come, 
 owing to the new law known as the " l-^ree homes bill," the opening of 
 ludian reservations to settlement, and for other reasons. 
 
 Mr. Newlaxds. Do you not think that the entering upon a com- 
 prehensive plan of reclaraation in the arid region will stimulate set- 
 tlement in that region, and thereljy increase that income? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Certainly. 
 
 31]'. BARHA.M. What i^rovision is there for the sale of arid landV;' 
 
 ]Mr. Newell. There is a commut;ition of the homestead entry, tiieii 
 there is the desert -land entry of ^i-JO acres, the mineral lands, tlie 
 stone lands, and various pieces of land, wliicli, though small in them- 
 selves, command a- considerable price. 
 
 Mr. Barham. But as to arid lands: There is no provision for the 
 sale of arid lands, and they are still o[)en to homestead and desert- 
 land entry? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Is it not your opinion that unless within a few yeai's 
 a system of reclamation is entered upon, the proceeds from tlie sale 
 of Government lands will be greatly reduced? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. When all the forest reserves necessary 
 have l)een created, the receipts then will drop off very much. Just 
 at this time there is consideral)le activity in the Land Office, which 
 will undoubtedly cease. 
 
 Mr. Newlaxds. Is not the large sum received during the last year 
 from the sale of salt or mineral lands caused by the increased activity 
 in mining in those States? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir, largely; but it is not to be charged to that 
 wholly. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Have you any comideted survey and estimate of the 
 cost of reclamation of any section or watershed? 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 
 
 Mr. Newell. Tliere is a notable one which we have completed, and 
 in which great public interest is now centering' — that on the Gila River. 
 That has just been before the Senate and a provision has been inserted 
 in the Indian bill (II. R. 12004) beginning the construction, as follows: 
 
 For completing the necessary preliminary investigations and plans and estimates 
 of cost in detail for the construction ot a dam across the Gila River near San 
 Carlos, Arizona, for storing the tlood waters of the Gila River, the water so stored 
 to be used, first, for the benefit of the Pima. Papago, and Maricopa Indians for 
 irrigating the lands of the Gila River Resei vat:on, the stored water in excess of 
 the needs of the Indians to be used for reclaiming and irrigating vacant public 
 lands: and also for a((juiriiig and prei)aring the dam site and for contniuing the 
 measurement of the daily tiow of water in the Gila River, and for surveying and 
 locating and preparing plans and estimates of cost of construction, with Indian 
 labor, of the nectssary canals for carrying the water from said reservoir to the 
 lands to be irrigated on the said Indian reservation, and investigating the amount 
 of water necessary to be reserved for the use of the said Indians, and for examin- 
 ing, surveying, and designating the vacant public lands which could be irrig;,ted 
 with the stored water from said reservoir in excissof the needs of the Indians, 
 and in preparing the plans and estimates for the construction of said reservoirs 
 and canals, with detail* d reasons therefor, and giving as accurate an estimate as 
 possible of the total amount which could be received from the sale of the land 
 irrigated to actual settlers, with the facts and circumstances upon which such 
 estimate is based, the sum of one hundred thousand doLars. or so much thereof 
 as maj' be necessary, the same to be expended under the direction of the Secretary 
 of tiie Interior: I'niriiivd. 1 hat for all unskilled labor required Indians shall be 
 employed so far as practicable. And the Secretaiy of the Interior is hereby 
 directed to reserve from entry and settlement all unapprojiriated lands within 
 townships three, four. five. six. and seven south, ranges eight, nine, and ten east of 
 Gila and Salt River meridian, until the examination, survey, and designation of 
 irrigable lands hereinbefore provided for shall have been completed; and upon the 
 approval of snch survey and designation by the Secretary of the Interior the lands 
 not designated as irrigalile shall be restored to entry and settlement. 
 
 And the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed, out of the appro- 
 priation immediately jtreceding, to catrse to be made by competent engineers an 
 investigation and rep irt as to whether an adetjuate water supply for the Indians 
 upon said reservation can be obtained by the method recommended by Indian 
 Inspector Walker H. Graves, in his report dated Pima Indian Reservation, Arizona, 
 September twelfth, nineteen hundred, and if so. at what cost: Provided. That 
 nothing herein shall be construed as in any way committing the United States to 
 the construction of said dam at San Car os. 
 
 Mr. IjARHAM. Did vou estimate the cost of a s\steni of irrigation 
 there? 
 
 Mr. Xewell. We estimated the cost of water conservation. The 
 distril)ution system was also estimated upon, but I do not include it 
 because it is something which will take care of itself. ^I'he construc- 
 tion is so comparatively easy that if the system is built the water can 
 be disposed of, and the distribution necessarily follows. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Have you any other completed system of surveys"? 
 
 Mr. Newell. The other estimated systems are on the Humboldt in 
 Nevada, the Truckee in Nevada, which offers interstate pi-oblems, 
 and the diversion of the St. 31ary River to the Milk River, the survey 
 of which is not fully completed. This is in northern ^Montana, the 
 St. Mary River being a stream rising in the United States, in the 
 Rocky Mountains, receiving the drainage from them and carrying it 
 immediately north. East of it heads the Milk River, which flows 
 for several hundred miles before emptying into the ^Missouri River, 
 Milk River, although so long, does not receive enough water to sup- 
 ply a continuous flow througli its whole length, at all seasons. By a 
 relatively short diversion canal it is possible to take the water out 
 of the St. Mary River and let it flow into the Milk River; in other 
 words, to divert it before reaching the Canadian border, and turn it 
 through Milk River, whose waters run finally into the (Tulf of Mexico. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Have you any other completed system? 
 
58 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 What I am trying to get at is, Have yon anything that yon eoukl 
 report at tlie next session of Congress? 
 
 Mr. jSTevvell. We haveanninl)er of projects and estimates reported 
 at this session, sneh as the Hunil)oklt and tlie Trnokee, and the King 
 River and tlie Salinas River in California, the St. Mary in Montana, 
 the Grey Bull in Wyoming. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Then if we call for a complete survey or 
 estimate, you can give it, of five or six of the separate problems? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. 
 
 The Chairman. AVhat would be the relative expense of carrying 
 out Judge P.arham's bill (H. R. 13770)? 
 
 Mr. 1)ARHAM. That simply calls for a special survey of everything 
 necessary, including wells and reservoirs, and the diversion of streams. 
 
 The Chairman. Your liill practically covers the whole scheme, and 
 calls for information as to just how much of this work there is, and 
 how much it will cost, and how much land in the Uiuted States, as I 
 understand, can he irrigated successfully, and what will he the cost? 
 
 Mr. Newell. That is as difficult to answer as it would be to say 
 what will be the total cost of the rural free-delivery system, or of the 
 river and liarbor improvements, the amount of the river and harbor 
 bill; but to set some sort of a reasonable limit, I will say that an 
 annual appropriation of $250,000 a year, continued for six or seven 
 years, woidd doubtless cover the cost of survey of all of the feasible 
 schemes. 
 
 Mr. Barham. He does not mean by that that the (Government of the 
 United States will irrigate the lands; that is simply for the surveys. 
 That amount is safe to mention, but not without qualification. 
 
 Mr. Kino. Would it be enough to make an appropriation of -^1,500,000 
 now, to be expended b^^ the Geological Survey with peremptory instruc- 
 tions in the bill, such as Congress ma}' give, that the Geological Sur- 
 vey may enter upon a comprehensive survey of the arid lands owned 
 l)y the Government of the United States, and, in order to speedily 
 accomplish the work at the earliest possible date, to provide that the 
 Department shall employ the best engineers ol>tainable, with a view 
 to reporting, first, the number of acres susceptible of reclamation; 
 second, the sources of water; and, third, the cost of constructing dams 
 for diverting streams that you do not need to store; and also the con- 
 struction of the necessary dams and canals which the Government, if 
 it embarks upon the enterprise, should construct, submitting all that 
 1o Congress. Don't you think it would be better lo make one large 
 appropriation and enter upon this scheme in a comprehensive manner 
 rather than to take it up in pieces immediately, without presenting to 
 the people of the United States the scheme in all its fullness, and all 
 of its benefits and disadvauiages, if there are any? 
 
 Mr. Newell. That would be the most satisfactory and economical 
 way — to provide an appropriation running over a consideral)le length 
 of time. The great trouble with annual appropriations is the uncer- 
 tainty of the future and the difficulty of starting surveys at once and 
 getting the best men. With annual appropriations you can not assure 
 them tiiat you can continue them at this woi'k for a reasonable length 
 of time, or that the result will be accomplished. So that economy and 
 elficiency would be promoted by an appropriation running over a length 
 of two or three years. 
 
 The Chairman. In other words, you think it would be desirable to 
 have an appropriation fully covering U\e total cost of surveys, and 
 then leave the Geological Survev a reasonable length of time. 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. If you consider any large corporation or 
 organization which is endeavoring to ascertain what they can do in 
 sncli matters, they never try to rush through, hut take plenty of time 
 to mature the matter thoroughly. In the matter of the Croton dam, 
 ten years were spent in making and discussing the plans and in ascer- 
 taining what methods were feasible. In the matter of the large dam for 
 the municipality of Boston, years were spent in completing plans. In 
 hydraulic works more than in any other enterprises great care and fore- 
 thought must be exercised, for there is not the oppoi'tunity of repair- 
 ing mistakes that there is in railroad construction or in anything else 
 of that kind. If you make a mistake it must be paid for by future 
 generations, either in life or in property. So that evei'y large enter- 
 prise in the way of hydraulic work must be entered upon with reason- 
 able deliberation, as is sliown by the instances of all successful works 
 of that sort. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Tlien let tliis committee, which is not an appropria- 
 tions committee — let it authorize — and that is within its Jurisdiction — 
 a complete system of surveys. Let us authorize the work the same as 
 is done in the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee and all 
 the other committees interested in appropriations — the Rivers and 
 Harbors Committee and all the others — and let us authorize it here; 
 and do not let us say anything about an appropriation, but say "An 
 examination is hereby authorized, not to exceed in cost $2,000,000 
 or $3,000,000" — whatever you think is going to cover the cost — say 
 nothing about an appropriation. There is an authorization. Then 
 the Appropriations Committee will call you in to ascertain how much 
 you need next year for surveys— *50,000, -$250,000, ^500,000, or what- 
 ever you need.' From year to year you will appear before this com- 
 mittee just as you would do in regard to light-houses or those other 
 things, in order to state what you can judiciously and properly use 
 the next year in making surveys. And so you will commence at the 
 foundation rock, and the whole system will be projierly worked out. 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. In March, ISss, a joint resolution was 
 passed authorizing this work of wliich the chairman has spoken. "We 
 have gradually built up the work along those lines. The first year of 
 which I spoke the appropriation was 812,500; the next year it was 
 §2-l:,000; the next year $50,000, and the present year it is 8100,000. 
 And we are building up along those lines as rapidly as we can develop 
 good men and good methods and do it economically. Now, I under- 
 stand the irrigation association desire that this amount be increased 
 to $250,000. \Yhenever the work is placed on such a l)asis, we will be 
 able to push forward along the lines suggested and ah-eady embodied 
 in the law. This is simply a question of getting sufficient funds to 
 cover the great area afTected by your action, which is an area larger 
 than all civilized ICurope. 
 
 A part of any such investigation involves the examination of under- 
 ground waters, extending under an area of the Great Plains which is 
 larger than that of France. Part of it involves the examination of 
 reservoir sites, each of which is larger than that constructed by the 
 city of New York or Boston, and upon which a number of years were 
 spent in surveys. We do not propose to do it as tliorcmghly as 
 that, but we do propose to do it thoroughly enough to stand adverse 
 criticism. 
 
 The next step, if the Government is to do anything further than it 
 has done, is to take up one of these projects, such as the San Carlos 
 dam, and decide whether it is to be built or not. 
 
60 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. Would we not need necessavily to have the infor- 
 mation tii'st, before Congress would authorize it or anything' else? 
 
 Mr. Reeder. It seems to me tliat we have alreadj^ been four years 
 right along that line, of finding out what we can do. Now, the propo- 
 sition is to i3ut in one of these dams and find out what is ijracticable, 
 and then to continue right along that line. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. While you are getting practical results, do you 
 tliink it is wise to have these large appropriations for a series of years, 
 or to appioi)riate immediately for the construction of a few of those 
 enterprises for which tlie plans have already been made, and to con- 
 duct also continuous investigations^ 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. It seems to me we can take some one or 
 more of tliese enterprises, the plans for which are available, which 
 apparently would yield the largest results. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Witli reference to these plans, it is suggested that 
 the funds from the arid and semiarid States should be segregated, and 
 a special fund should be created in the Treasury to be devoted to the 
 work of irrigation and investigation. I would ask you whether the 
 Geological Survey is ready to go ahead with both of these methods 
 with practical results? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes; we have a body of trained and skilled young 
 men who have had experience in investigation and construction, and 
 if the money was available for an}' one of these projects, the work 
 would be started at once. At the same time I tliink it would be l)etter 
 to have the investigation continue as it has been, an item in tlie 
 sundry civil bill, and devote the reclaiuation fund to the work of con- 
 struction. We have arrived at tliis condition where Congress is up 
 against the necessity for doing something. There is no longer any 
 need of delay for further information regarding certain specitic proj- 
 ects, for we Ih'ive a number of those whicli are well matured and con- 
 sidered and can ])e entered upon to-day. 
 
 Mr. IJarham. Do you sujjpose that the other arid-land States and 
 the other States in the Union are going to permit California to carry 
 out one of these projects and knowing that tli.ere is no comprehensive 
 sj'stem — everyV)od3' knows that tliis can l)e done; there is no question 
 about it — but the question is, how mucli is the whole thing going to 
 cost? You can not answer that, and nobody else can. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Su^ipose when the hrst river and harbor improve- 
 ment was proposed that that question had been raised. We want a 
 comprehensive system of improvements here, of course. Three hun- 
 dred and t wenty million dollars have been spent on rivers and harboi's. 
 Suppose that when the improvement of our rivers and harbors was 
 first suggested the statement had been made that those improvements 
 would mount up to such a sum ; it would have appalled the imagination. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. Canal building alone has cost over 8300, 000, 0(X\ 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes; and that sum would have l>een regarded as 
 prohibitory of the whole plan. 
 
 Mr. Barham. There is a lot of water t hat can be used yet? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. That limits it in one respect. The private 
 capital which can be put into this development will make possible an 
 immense amount of construction which is now impossible. 
 
 Mr. Barham. On the bill of Mr. Newlands we are legislating in 
 advance of conditions. That is my judgment on that matter. We 
 should first have all the facts before we undertake to legislate. In the 
 very nature of things, before you have a completed project the Con- 
 gress of the United States is not going to enter upon the irrigation of 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 61 
 
 the arid lands. We do not have to have them all in; tliat is not the 
 purpose. But we are going to give the people of the United States 
 the understanding that we are to irrigate all the arid lands that can 
 be irrigated. We are going to enter upon a comprehensive system; 
 we are not going into California because there is a little place there 
 that can be irrigated, or into Nevada or some other State, but we are 
 going to irrigate all the arid region, and it will take one hundred and 
 fifty years to do it. 
 
 Mr. Newell. It seems to me that is comparable to saying that we 
 should not improve New York Harbor before we know just how much 
 every other harbor on the Atlantic coast is going to cost. 
 
 Mr. Barham. That is not the question, but we want the people of 
 the United States to understand that we are going to enter upon a 
 comprehensive system ; that we are not going simply into any one little 
 project vSiu'h as that in California. 
 
 Mr. Newell. Is it not understood that if we create a reclamation 
 fund and devote it to projects in first one and then another section, 
 would not it carry with it the conclusion that the fund is available for 
 all? 
 
 STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK W. MONDELL, A REPRESENTATIVE 
 IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WYOMING. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. I thank you very much, gentlemen, for giving me 
 the opportunity to discuss the matter of reclamation of arid lands 
 before the committee for a few moments. I want to discuss the sub- 
 ject from two standpoints, or along two lines; first, with regard to 
 the general plan or system to be adopted, or Avhich may be adopted, 
 and second, with regard to the bill I have introduced, and which is 
 before the committee, and is as follows: 
 
 [H. R. 1411)'), Fifty-sixth Congress, second session.] 
 
 A BILL Dedicating the proceeds of the sales of public lands to the construction of works in the 
 aid of irrigation, and for other purposes. 
 
 Be it ouicfed by the Senate aiul House of Representatives of the United States of 
 Ameriea in Congress assevit)]ed. That from and after the passage of this Act the 
 proceeds from the sales of public lands, except such as are set aside by law for 
 educational purposes, shall be used, under the direction of the Secretary of the 
 Interior, for the survey and construction of storage reservoirs, diversion and 
 other hydraulic works in the arid and seraiarid regions, for the purpose of devel- 
 oping and making available the waters that now run to waste, for use in the irri- 
 gation and reclamation of arid lands. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make such 
 surveys and examinations as may be necessary to determine the necessity for, and 
 the practicability of, the construction of works for the purjjoses mentioned in 
 section one, and may, upon such determination, after proper public notice, let con- 
 tracts for the construction of the same; hvLt no contract shall be entered into 
 unless there shall be funds available as provided in section one. and no contract 
 shall be entered into for any project the cost of which, when complete, shall 
 exceed five hundred thousand dollars, without authority of Congress. 
 
 Sec. o. That from and after the beginning of the survey of any project herein 
 provided for. all entries made of public lands on which such project may be 
 located, or which may be required for the construction and maintenanre of such 
 project, shall be subject to such use for the period of two years, at the expiration of 
 which time such lands shall become subject to the entries aforesaid, unless in the 
 meantime permanently reserved by law for the purposes aforementioned. That 
 all filings, entries, and locations of land, desert in character, made after the tender 
 for bids on any projects above referred to, and determined by the Secretary of 
 
62 AKIl) LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the Interioi' to be irriji,iib'.e from the waters thereby rendered available, and from 
 no other source, shall be sub;e;^-t to the requirements of the desert-land laws. 
 
 Skc. 4. Tliat no contract shall be let for any of the works hereinbefore provided 
 until the Secretary of the Interior shall have determined to his satisfaction that 
 the State within which such works are to be constructed has provided an ade- 
 ([uate system o' laws for the i)ublic contro' of strenms and the just and final 
 deterinination of riLjlits to water tliHrefroni, which make iieneficial use the basis, 
 the measure, and the limit of the right, and administrative officers necessary to 
 insure the delivery of the water rendered available to tho.->e entitled thereto. 
 
 The irriyatioii coiiii'i-css, of wliicli yoii nil know, miuI which lias held 
 aiimuil sessions for many years, after a- long discussion of the subject 
 as to wlial' 1'lu^ C'ongi'ess of the Uinted States would be asked to do by 
 that congress, finally, in their platform last fall, decided to confine 
 tlieir request to Congress to the subject of storage aiul conservation 
 of waters. They adopted as tlieir motto " Sa\'(^ the forests and store 
 the floods." Their resolutions were V(U'y brief. I was chaii'inan of 
 the subcommittee which di-aftod them; they were unanimously adopted, 
 and are as follows: 
 
 We hail with satisfaction the fact that both the great political parties of the 
 nation in the last campaign declared m favor of the reclamation of arid America 
 in order that settlers might bui'd homes on the public douiam, and to that end 
 we urge ui)on Congre-ss tliat national api)ropriations commensurate with the 
 magnitude of the problem should be made for th(3 i)reservation of thi' forests and 
 the reforestation of denuded areas as national storage reservoirs, and for the con- 
 struction by the National (rovernment as part of its policy of internal improve- 
 ment of storage reservoirs and other works for flood protection, and to save for 
 use in aid of navigatiitn and irrigation the waters which now run to waste, and 
 for the development of artesian and subterranean sources of water supply. 
 
 The water of all streams should forever remain subject to public control, and 
 the right of use of water for irrigation should inhere in the land irrigated, and 
 beneficial use be the basis of measure and limit of the right. 
 
 Now, the (juestion of the irrigation of the arid lauds of the United 
 States, as we all appr(M*iate, is a very large question. Beginning at 
 the l)eginning and going through the whole i)rocess, down to where 
 we convey water to all the lands that can be irrigated in the United 
 States at a reasonable cost, is covering an enormous territory, in fact 
 and in pointi of ex])enditure. Clearly, the diversion of the smaller 
 streams which (low near the surface of the surrounding country and 
 the (list ril)nt ion of their waters over lands for their iri'igation is not a 
 public woi-k, it seems to me. The question then arises, Wliati portion 
 of the work to be done in connection with the reclamation of arid 
 lands is national work? What i)art of the work may the (-government 
 undertake- — constitutionally uiKlertakey Although 1 am not a consti- 
 tutional lawyer and do not pretend to be an authority on the Consti- 
 tution in this particular, I am very positive in the opiinon tliat the 
 Constitution of llu; United Stales does not give ns any authority to 
 actually irrigate land or peddle watei-. IJut there is a work in con- 
 nection with the reclamation of arid lands which, in my opinion, is a 
 national work. What, then, is the line of demarcation between the 
 work which the National Government should undertake and the work 
 which should be left to the States, associations under the Stales, or 
 to indiNiduals? It seems to me the line of demarcation is whei-e stor- 
 age and conservation, including the <liversion of large streams, ends 
 and the actual disl-ribution of water over lands bc^gins, and that the 
 work of conserving the watei's of the United States, of making them 
 available, so that the State, the corporation under the State, the indi- 
 vidual, or the association of farmei-s may take up the work of actual 
 reclamation — that that work is a national work. 
 
 Ml'. KiNc;. Do you see any distinction 1)etween the power of the 
 
AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 
 
 Goverumeut to store and build a reservoir and to put in a large dam 
 in Snake River, for instance, in Idaho, which is essential for the irri- 
 gation and reclamation of a vast territory? Is there any difference 
 between having a dam to store flood waters and building a dam in a 
 great river which is necessary for and which will insure the reclama- 
 tion of extensive tracts contiguous to it? 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. I do not think there is a very great difference. 
 Understand me, that when I refer to conservation I do not consider 
 that conservation is fully carried out by the construction of storage 
 reservoirs. There is a diversion which is a conservation. The con- 
 struction of an enormously extended canal, taking the water out of a 
 deej) canyon and carrying it up to the level of the oi^en country, is a 
 work of conservation. It is a work of conservation because the length 
 of the canal itself is a storage reservoir and also because the individual 
 or the association of individuals under the State takes up the work at 
 the end of the main canal, and the use by the individual completes the 
 conservation of water. Now, we And when we go before Congress and 
 advise reclamation, they say: "What is this scheme which you ask 
 us to enter upon?" 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. In regard to Mr. King's question, suppose 
 you take the Snake River in Idaho, which flows through a deep box 
 canyon for a long distance, so that it is practically impossible to get 
 it out of that canyon to utilize in irrigation, and suppose the Govern- 
 ment, say, should go there and dig and construct a reservoir there to 
 raise the water to a point where it could be diverted and used ; that 
 would be, under your idea, properly under the head of conservation? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I should say so, and a national work. The mem- 
 bers of Congress say to us, when we come before them in discussion 
 of these matters and ask for appropriations, "What do you propose 
 to do, and how far do you ask the Government to go ; to what extent 
 do you expect Government expenditures to be made for the recla- 
 mation of arid lands? " They say to us that there is no good reason 
 why the Government should actually reclaim lands that are barren 
 any more than it should actually drain lands that are wet, and their 
 contention is sound. There is no stronger reason why the Govern- 
 ment should supply water upon lands, except as the lands may belong 
 to the Government, and the Government can enter upon the scheme 
 with the idea of disposing of those lands — should irrigate dry lands — 
 than that it should fertilize barren lands. But when you say that it 
 is not our intent and purpose that the Government of the United States 
 shall irrigate the lands, but that the Government shall enter upon the 
 truly national work of making waters available so that private enter- 
 prise can place it upon the lands, then to a very considerable extent 
 you eliminate their objection. The Government, in the case of a har- 
 bor which is absolutely useless and worthless because of a bar across 
 its mouth, dredges the bar and makes the harbor available. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland. What does the National Irrigation Congress 
 believe should be done on the point you. suggest; do they not think 
 that we should go further than storing the water, or have they ex- 
 pressed themselves upon that? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I will say that there are some members of that asso- 
 ciation that think the Government might go further, but it was the 
 consensus of opinion of that convention that that was as far as they 
 could unitedly defend their proposition to Congress, and as far as the 
 National Government would jarobably ever go, although there were 
 some members in that Congress who would appreciate it if the Govern- 
 
(U AKID LANDS OF THP: UNITED STATES. 
 
 nieut would still go further. To illustrate the point I wish to make, 
 in river and harbor work the Government takes a great stream run- 
 ning through several States, with stretches of navigable water, but 
 with bars and shoals l)etween those stretches, and it dredges the mouth 
 of the river and the l>ars and the shoals and makes it available for the 
 purpose of navigation for which nature intended it. It does not make 
 a river out of dry land, l3ut simply perfects nature's work. Now, that 
 is national work. I believe it is likewise a national work for the 
 (Tovernment to perfect the work of nature in the arid regions by mak- 
 ing available tor irrigation every drop of water in those regions. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. You contend for that entirely apart from the Gov- 
 ernment's owership of the adjoining lands? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. Yes, sir; entirely without any reference to the Gov- 
 ernment own(M'ship of the adjoining lands. Of course, the fact that 
 the Government owns the greater portion of the land in the regions 
 where we propose to conserve this water is a very strong argument, 
 an exceedingly strong argument, in fa^'or of this work. The fact that 
 the Government has" 550,000,000 acres of land which, under present 
 conditions are largely barren, which can not be thickly settled, is the 
 strongest kind of an argument in favor of the Government assisting 
 in making it possible to irrigate those of these lands which are irri- 
 gable and thus make all the lands more valuable. But beyond that 
 tlic ({overiiment owes it to its own development, extension, and growth 
 in population and wealth to see that a region now barren is made 
 fruitful, not altogether by the Government's expenditure, but largely 
 by the expenditure of the individual after the (TOvernment has made 
 expenditure in irrigation development possible by making the waters 
 availal^le. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Is it not a fact in history tliat every nation 
 having arid lands in its domain, except the United States, has in a 
 national way aided in their reclamation in some way or other? 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. I think that is true, but I think that largely the 
 work of the governments has been work of the character I now refer 
 to and not the actual work of diversion and reclamation. Now, as to 
 cost, we coine before Congress and they say, "How much will it cost, 
 and how far are >-ou going?" If we can say that we propose to enter 
 upon a system of conservation to make availaljle by the construction 
 of storag:e reservoirs and the diversion of large streams all the water 
 that now runs to waste, there is a limit placed, and a tangible limit 
 placed, to the Government's expenditures. Then they say, "How 
 mu(di will it cost?" It is difficult to say how much it will cost, but 
 some reasonable estimate can be mad(\ If you stop at storage and 
 large stream diversion it is not a difficult matter. I think that Mr. 
 Newell will bear me out that it is possible to make a very fair guess 
 as to what a comprehensive system of storage Avill cost in the United 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. In that connection it is estimated that about 
 75,000,000 aci'es remain yet to be irrigated. Of course that is a rough 
 estimate, p(M-hai)s 25,000,000 acres one way or the other. It is a vast 
 acreage, howevei'. I know in my State in particular a good many 
 millicms (»f acres can yet be irrigated from the streams without any 
 storage, so that when Ave estimate what it will cost in order to irrigate 
 75,000,000 acres we should deduct the amount that the streams placed 
 there by nature will yet irrigate ])efore the necessity arises for con- 
 suming that which we will provide. 
 
 Mr. IMoxDELL. T am ulad vou meni ioued that. To take the area in 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 
 
 the arid region susceptible of irrigation as a basis and estimate the 
 cost of conservation of a snftieient quantity of M'ater to irrigate such 
 an area is to phice the cost of the work which the Government should 
 undertake altogetlier too high. Even if it were necessary to aid in 
 the reclamation of every acre susceptible of irrigaticm and remaining 
 unirrigated in the arid region by storage, it would not ]>e necessary to 
 store a sufficient amount of water for their complete irrigation, for in 
 all properly developed systems much water is made available besides 
 the water stored; the stored waters being used simply to supply the 
 deficiency of the waning stream in the latter part of the crop season. 
 Then there are the large diversions in which the work of the National 
 Government should only extend to carrying the water to a point wliere 
 it will be available for distribution by private enterprise. These 
 diversions would be very cheap compared with the ann)unt of water 
 made available for irrigation purposes. 
 
 In addition to tliat, as Mr. Wilson ver}' properl^^ states, there is a 
 considerable area yet remaining in some portions of the arid region 
 that may be developed by j)rivate enterprise without any Federal aid 
 either in div<n'sion or conservation. These areas are distant from 
 lines of communication and in regions where there has not been much 
 demand for irrigated products, and their development will come 
 slowly; but the fact that there are such areas does not in any degree 
 abate the necessity for Federal aid in those regions where private 
 enterprise has now reached the limit of irrigation development. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. And there is a great deal tliat can be irrigated by 
 the flood water. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. There are hundreds of thousands of acres 
 irrigated by the Snake River, and yet it is impossible to notice that 
 the volume of that river has been decreased to any appreciable extent. 
 I imagine there are hundreds of thousands of acres — and perhaps a 
 million acres — on that stream that can be irrigated. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I am sjieaking of the question in a large way when 
 I say we are not as yet to the limit of the development in certain 
 regions b}^ State and private enterprise. In my State irrigation devel- 
 opment is going on quite steadily. We have laws. State and national, 
 under which ordinary diversion and distribution, in my opinion, can 
 be taken care of. For instance, in addition to the laws under which 
 small associations of farmers take out a canal from a small stream 
 and irrigate their joint holdings, we have the law of Congress known 
 as the Carey Act, which has been much misunderstood. Under that 
 .act enterprises can be undertaken which individuals and small asso- 
 ciations of farmers could never undertake. The efficiency of the act 
 depends upon State legislation. In my State, the home of the man 
 whose name the act bears, we were early to take advantage of the act, 
 and we are to-day engaged in the work of diverting large streams. 
 We have one enterprise in my State whereby we will irrigate 85,000 
 acres of land and others in contemplation whereby there will be irri- 
 gated more than 150,000 acres of land. These tracts will be irrigated 
 without storage.^ 
 
 STATE DESERT-LAND SECiREGATIOXS. 
 
 By section 4 of the act of August 18, 1894 {28 Stat. L., 372-4'23), provision is 
 made for the donation, to each of the States in which there may be situated desert 
 
 ' Extract from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of the General Land 
 Office for the year ending June 30, 1900: 
 
 lllOG— 01 5 
 
()6 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 lands, of not more than 1,000,000 acres of such land as the State may cause to be 
 irrigated, reclaimed, occupied, and cultivated by actual settlers. This act has 
 been amended by a provision in the act of June 11, 1896 (2U Stat. L., 418-434), to 
 the effect that a lien is authorized to be created by the State upon the lands segre- 
 gated, and that when an ample supply of water is actually furnished to any tract 
 or tracts thereof patent shall issue to the State for the same, without regard to 
 settlement or cultivation. 
 
 During the year two lists have been filed by the State of Idaho, one list by the 
 State of Montana, anil one by the State of Wyoming. Several lists previously 
 received have been refiled during the year. All of these lists have been duly acted 
 upon. One list filed by the State of Idaho, aggregating 54.005.92 acres, was 
 approved. The State of Wyoming filed two lists of lands for patent, which have 
 been duly acted upon, and one patent for 3,S55.25 acres of the same has been 
 issued. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Nevada has never been able to do anything under 
 the Carey Act. We have absolutely reached the limit of diversion. 
 We divert all the water flowing into the river during tlie period of 
 drought, and that is the limit of cultivation. 
 
 Mr. MOXDELL. I am not fully informed as to conditions in Nevada, 
 but, having had some experience of the workings of the Carey Act, I 
 believe it is applicable to diversions of considerable size and to the 
 distribution of water over considerable areas, where the initial cost is 
 entii-ely beyond private enterprise and the law embodies the essential 
 feature that lands must be irrigated, cultivated, and settled in small 
 tracts. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. In Nevada v^^e can not get along without storing; 
 that is the essential thing for anj^ further reclamation. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. That merely accentuates the fact that conditions 
 vary in the arid region; we also have reached the limit of develop- 
 ment without storage in som<^ parts of Wyoming. 
 
 Mr. Barham. It applies directly to the proposition you are going to 
 make. 
 
 Mr. MoxDELL. Yes, sir; it accentuates the fact that conservation is 
 a national work and ordinary diversion and distribution is a local 
 work, and the two classes of entei'prise .should never be confused or 
 confounded. The United States Government should undertake the 
 one and the States and individuals and associations should under- 
 take the oth(M'. 
 
 Mr. AViLSOX, of Idaho. Storage alone would not cost more than half 
 as much as storage and distribution paid by the local governments. 
 
 Mr, MoxDELL. Yes; and I want to say that when you enter upon 
 the question of the cost of actually contlucting water upon the lands 
 and fully irrigating arid America you are entering a calculation that 
 is beyond possibility' of present comisutation; 75,000,000 acres of land 
 in these United States, now susceptible of irrigation, in my opinion 
 will never lie irrigated in their entirety without the expenditure of at 
 least 120 an acre; but the principal jDortion of this expenditure will, 
 of course, be by private enterprise. The work of making available 
 for use l)y private enterprise the water not now available would cost 
 but a fraction of the total cost of the reclamation of the lands by 
 irrigation. 
 
 The Chairmax. Supposing that could be done now, at once, and 
 75,000,000 acres that are now arid and nonproductive could be made 
 productive by the expenditure of a very large sum of monej^, what 
 would be the effect on agricultural products? 
 
 Mr. MoxDELL. I will sa,y, upon that question, that it is one that 
 opens a very wide field for discussion, and it is scarcely worthy of 
 discussion, for the reason that if the Government of the United 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 
 
 States should make appropriations of $5,000,000 for irrigation, we 
 could not use that amount for a number of years, economically. 
 Reclamation must necessarily be slow, and through whatever agency 
 it comes, it will never come as rapidly as the increasing demand for 
 products in this country comes, b}' reason of the increase of our 
 Ijopulatiou. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. It can not increase as rapidly as the population of 
 Nebraska, and Kansas, and the Dakotas under the preemption laws, 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. We disposed of more acres of land under the pre- 
 emption and homestead laws alone in twelve years than the entire 
 domain in the arid regions susceptible of irrigation, and practically 
 ever^' acre of that ground would produce a good crop of wheat, corn, 
 or cotton by simply turning it Avith a plow. We extended with that 
 rapidity in the seventies and early eighties. Tliere is no possibility 
 of rapid development in tlie arid regions, no matter how earnestly we 
 press tliat development, and no matter how Federal appropriations 
 may help us, there is no chance of our increasing the agricultural 
 products as fast as the demand for those products increases. If, then, 
 this committee shall decide — and this is the committee to make that 
 decision — the work which it shall recommend to Congress shall be the 
 work of conservation by the consti'uction of storage reservoirs, by diver- 
 sion when diversion results in conservation, and when it is not diversion 
 entirely foi" the purpose of carrj'ing waters directly upon the land — 
 if this committee shall decide that this is to be their recommendation 
 to Congress, then j'ou have clearly defined the scope of the work and 
 limited the possibility of appropriation. 
 
 The Chairman. I will ask you one or two questions on that point. 
 Your argument on that policy is based on two or three grounds. One 
 is that it would limit the scope of the work. Another is that the stor- 
 age is a national and distribution a local work. Another still is, that 
 the Constitution would warrant storage without any distribution. I 
 do not understand very clearlj^ the difference between the last two 
 questions. I am not sure that I know any distinct provision of the 
 Constitution that would authorize us to store water that would not 
 authorize to convey the water to public lands, at least. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I will say that I do not know of any distinct pro- 
 vision of the Constitution which authorizes the General Government 
 to make any expenditure directly or indirectly to encourage the irri- 
 gation of the arid lands. I hope and believe there is a broad power 
 in the General Government to do it. 
 
 Mr. Barham. It can be done under the general-welfare clause. 
 
 The Chairman. Yes; the provision that Congress shall pass all 
 needful regulations for the government of the Territories and other 
 "property" of the United States. But I am not able to see the dis- 
 tinction between storing water and conveying it onto the lands where 
 it is to be used. It must come undei' the general power of the United 
 States, unless it comes under the general welfare, but I am not able 
 to see the difference between storing the water and conveying it down 
 through canals to the lands. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. Tho-e is a vast difference, in my opinion. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Considering the constitutional question, I think 
 we all agree that tliroughout tlie arid region the duty of the Govern- 
 ment is discharged when it conserves the waters and leaves the dis- 
 tribution to local individuals. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. In speaking from a constituticmal standpoint, and 
 speaking of the general policy, I think there is a wide difference — as 
 
68 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 wide as the poles. The conservation of the waters makes available 
 for nse all lands which nature so placed that they can be irrigated 
 from a stream ; makes possilile the nse of all the waters nature has 
 provided for the irrigation of that land. The distribution of water, 
 on the other hand, makes the water appurtenant to certain specific 
 lands. The first class of work can only be carried out successfully 
 through i^ublic agencies, and as it must be accomplished in order to make 
 vast jireas of our country habitable by any consideralile population, 
 the Government should undertake it in the interest of the general wel- 
 fare. It does not interfere in any way with any law, rule, or regula- 
 tion of the States relative to the use of water. 
 
 The second class of work can be accomplished in most instances by 
 private enterprise, and that puts it out of the category of public 
 enterprise, if nothing else does. In the first instance, the National 
 Government makes available tlie waters of the arid region as it 
 makes available the navigalile waters of the humid region, and in 
 doing so it does not interfere with individual enterprise in any partic- 
 ular, or enter into conflict with laws or regulations of the States. But 
 if you enter upon a plan of distribution of water by the General Gov- 
 ernment and actual irrigation of specific lands, you do threaten 
 national conflict with State water laws and discredit individual enter- 
 prise which is engaged in the business of irrigation of lands. If the 
 Government proposed to divert ordinary streams and carrj^ them 
 upon lands and enter into the luisinessof selling the waters, you imme- 
 diately invite conflict with State laws, put a damper upon evevy cor- 
 jjoration and individual or association of farmers, l)ecause thej^ hang 
 back, hoping that the Government will take up their particular plan, 
 or fearful that the Government will take up their particular plan. It 
 will retard the development of the arid lands, instead of encouraging 
 development in the arid region, for the Government to enter upon the 
 purely j)aternalistic work of distributing water and irrigating specific 
 lands. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Charging a rental? 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. Yes, sir; charging a rental. 
 
 The Chairman. Evidently I have succeeded in misunderstanding, 
 or being misunderstood by, the gentleman from Wyoming. I would 
 say that I see the advantage of the policy you advocate in regard to 
 the storage. But I am inclined to think yon weaken your argument 
 l)y bringing in the second point in regard to the Constitution, and I 
 wanted to bring j'ou out on that point. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. As a layman I should not have referred to the Con- 
 stitution in the presence of constituticmal lawyers, and so I beg pardon 
 for having done so. 
 
 The Chairman. On the question of public policy, I have been very 
 much interested in your argument. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. You favor the storage of water by the Government? 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. And your scheme of conservation does not consist, 
 then, of merely impounding the waters, but also in carrying the waters 
 to the point where private enterjjrise can commence, leaving distri- 
 bution and reclamation to the enterprise of corporations and private 
 individuals. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. My idea is that the line which should be drawn is 
 where the work of making water availal)le for use in irrigation ends 
 and actual utilization of such water for the irrigation of specific tracts 
 begins. Where the enterprise is beyond all ix)ssibility of individual 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 
 
 constructiou and diversion results practically in conservation, then it 
 is a part of a conservation selieine. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Now, as to the appropriations, it is your contention 
 that an appropriation should be made just as river and harbor appro- 
 priations should be made — without any view to compensation to the 
 Government directly for the Avork done; is that so? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I was just coming to that jjoiut, and I Avill answer 
 the question now. I am glad j^ou referred to it. My individual opin- 
 ion, Mr. Chairman, is that the Government should never expect a dol- 
 lar's return for its expenditures in the conservation of the flood waters 
 of the country, any more than it now expects a return for the con- 
 servation of waters in the protection of the forests in forest reserves, 
 any more than it expects a return, although it makes enormously 
 valuable the property of individuals, for dredging out rivers and 
 harl^ors; that this work should be undertaken purelj^ as a national 
 work for the development of the country. It does not make it a penny 
 cheaper or easier to develop an arid waste to have the Government 
 conserve the waters that now run to waste; it simply makes it possible 
 for private enterprise to do so to utilize all the water which the 
 Almighty has placed in the arid region. However, if it shall be the 
 opinion of the committee and of the Congress Avheu they enter upon 
 this work that the Government should in some instances — because 
 the conditions Aary very greatly; the conditions of Nevada are very 
 different from those in Wyoming — if it be the opinion of Congress 
 that the Government should be partly or wholly reimbursed, then we 
 come to the question of the method of reimbursement. In enterprises 
 of conservation it is difficult to fix the charges as you could fix them 
 if you were undertaking simply a work of distribution. Reservoirs, 
 it has been demonstrated by practic(^ (and I think common sense would 
 also lead us to that conclusion) should be used as works for the pur- 
 pose of maintaining a uniform llow of water in a stream tliroughout the 
 irrigation season. It is difficult to say just what effect the storage of 
 water has on specific tracts along the sti-eam. It depends largel}'^ on 
 the character of the country through which the stream flows, so that 
 an attempt to attach water stored at the head of a perennial stream 
 to a specific tract of land is not practicable, and it is not scientific, 
 for the reason that any storage project not only makes available 
 the water stored, but makes available an infinitely greater volume of 
 water which is not stored. Here are some plats ilbistrating the flow 
 of streams, prepared by JMr. Newell. This illustrates the flow of the 
 stream. We will say tliat the irrigation season begins in May — just 
 an illustration; it ends in August; now the amount of water available 
 in that stream under present conditions is the minimum flow at the 
 last of the irrigation season. All of the enormous volume occuring in 
 the earlier floods runs to waste, because only the amount of water can 
 be successfully used which flows during the entire irrigation season. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. That is subject to the exception of spring 
 crops. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. Yes; but I am spealving in a large way. There are 
 regions where we simply flood grass lauds in the spring and get a fair 
 crop. That is but a poor irrigation at the best. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Yes; but in regard to the fruit crop? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. Yes; that is an exception. Now it is simply neces- 
 sary to reservoir a sufficient quantity of water at the head of a stream 
 to reenforce the waning flow, and for every acre-foot of water you con- 
 serve from 1 to 2 acre-feet is made available in addition. 
 
70 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I quite agree with you that the effort should be to 
 keep an equal and sustained flow in the river, and that it is not desir- 
 able for tlie Government to go into the system of distribution, llow 
 would you get compensationy 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. If tliere is to be a return of the expenditure it seems 
 to me tliat while some return might be had from public lands bene- 
 fited, the major part of the expenditure, if returned, should be secured 
 from water benelits. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. You would lix that charge upon the land or the 
 ditches? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL, Ui)on those using the waters made available for use 
 by the Government exjDenditure. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. IIow would y(»ii measure it? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. As you ordinarily measure water, by cubic feet per 
 second. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. You would make that charge so as to fully com- 
 pensate in a period of years, or make it a peipetual water rigiit? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. If it is thought that the Government should be reim- 
 bursed, tlieu, of course, the amount charged against the users shouhl 
 be proportionate to tlie amount used. It would be a mistake to make 
 it a perpetual charge, because if there is any one thing that I am not 
 in favor of, it is a perpetual charge for water by anjdjody — the Gov- 
 ernment, a State, or companies. That, of course, is only a personal 
 view; the right should be perpetual. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Gf the ways in whicli the Government can get com- 
 pensation, one is to increase the price for the land while under recla 
 mation through storage; another is through a sale of water riglits, 
 and a third is a sale of the water itself, measuring it in cubic feet. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. If it is to be a sale of water rights, the right sliould 
 be expressed in cul)ie feet. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Which one do you reconimend? 
 
 Mr. Mondell. The first plan would only l)e possible on a fair basis 
 where all the lands to be benefited by i)ro.jects were, Government 
 lands. I do not see how you can possibly arrive at it. It is a bad 
 theory and impossible in practice. 
 
 Mr. Barham. The first is what? 
 
 Mr. Mondell. As I understand it, llie placing of a cliarge upon the 
 Government land under a project higli enough to get back the money 
 expended. 
 
 Ml-. Newlands. No; with a view to determining what amount of 
 land can be brought under reclanuition, and having ascertained the 
 total amount, say 5(>,()0i> acres, fixing such a price per acre as will 
 give you a compensatien in ten or twenty years. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. ^Ye must remember that on many of the streams of 
 the country more than the present average flow during tlie irrigation 
 season has already l)een appropriated, and if we increase the average 
 flow the increase will not all be used to iri-igate piiltlic lands, but will 
 be, to some extent, used to irrigate land in })rivate ownership; and 
 therefore it would seem that the return should come from those bene- 
 fited, wliether using the waters to irrigate lands newly taken up 
 under the land laws or the lands already in private control. Now, if 
 the Government built reservoirs with a view to irrigating oidy new 
 lands on a stream where there are now lands under private control 
 partly irrigated, what would be the effect on the people whose lands 
 are already under iriigation and who do not have enougli water now? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I am not contendinu' now that these waters should 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 
 
 be applied to particular lands. I am suggesting how the Government 
 shall receive compensation for the sum expended in storage, when- 
 ever it can ascertain the additional number of acres which can be 
 reclaimed, and put such a price on that land as will compensate the 
 Government. Assuming that the Government is to be compensated, 
 would you prefer that the laud x)rice should be raised, or that the 
 compensation should be received from the actual sale of the water 
 itself? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I would say, that except under projects where there 
 is no present irrigation on the stream or land in private ownership, 
 except in such a case it would be impossible to settle upon a scheme 
 of land values that would be just as a basis of reimbursement; if the 
 Government is to be reimbursed, it seems to me it must be by a charge 
 for water rigiits. 
 
 Mr. Barham. What kind of a bill do you think it would be best to 
 /e? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I hope we may be able to secure a direct appropri- 
 ation with which to begin the construction of at least one project. It 
 seems that Congress is willing to give us thousands for investigation, 
 but not a dollar for construction. It is against this policj^ of Congress 
 that I chafe. If we can not secure consideration for a comprehensive 
 plan, let us insist upon some i)i*ovision being attached to the river and 
 harbor appropriation which will give us a start. We have the proj- 
 ects in Colorado and Wyoming, which have l)een carefully surveyed 
 and estimated by the War Department. 
 
 Mr. King. Could you give us the status of the Gila River proiDO- 
 sition? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. That is a proposition on which we may have an 
 opportunity to vote later, and my only regret in connection with it is 
 that instead of providing 8100,000 for a further survey it does not 
 appropriate $100,000 to survey and construct. We are constantly 
 being asked, " IIow far are you going, and what do you intend to doV " 
 To meet that query I have introduced a bill (II. R. 13847) which 
 simply provides that the Geological Survey (I admit that I think we 
 have had j^lent}" of surveys to begin with, but Congress does not agree 
 with us in that direction) — that tlie Geological Survey shall proceed to 
 make an investigation of the entire question of water conservation 
 throughout the arid region, witli detailed investigation and survey 
 and estimate of a project in each one of the arid and semiarid States; 
 and if there is a locality where the Geological Survey thinks irriga- 
 tion can l)etter be accomplished by artesian wells than by storage, I 
 should recommend tliat they ascertain the limits of the artesian l>asins, 
 and report fully to the next Congress on these matters so we may have 
 a basis for future legislation. 
 
 (Thereupon the committee adjourned, to meet ou Thursday, Feljru- 
 iivy 7, at 10 o'clock a. m.) 
 
 Washington, 1). C, February 7, 1001. 
 
 The committee met at 10.15 o'clock a. m., Hon. Thomas II. Tongue 
 in the chair. 
 
 Present, in addition to the members of the committee, Hon. Francis 
 G. Newlands, of Nevada; Hon. J. F. Wilson, of Arizona; Elwood Mead, 
 irrigation expert of the Department of Agriculture, F. 11, Newell, 
 hydrographer of the Geological Survey; George II. Maxwell, chairman 
 
i2 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of llie executive eonunittee of tlie National Irrigation Association, and 
 Giiford Pincliot, chief forester of the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 ]\Ii-. Newlands. I suggest thai ^Ir. Pinchot make a statement regard- 
 ing forest preservation as an essential part of any scheme of arid-land 
 reclanmtion. 
 
 STATEMENT OF GIFFORD PINCHOT, CHIEF FORESTER OF THE 
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Mr. I'hairman, tlie essential thing I want to say is that the policy of 
 conser^ing water for irrigation by the Government was begun in the 
 act of INIarch 3, IS'jl, which directed the President of the United States 
 to reserve lands in whole or in i)art covered with timber. The forest- 
 reservation policy thus inaugurated was carried out, tirst, by President 
 Harrison, who made some 13, 000, (HHj acres of forest reservations, fol- 
 lowed by President Cleveland, wlio made some 27,000,000 acres of 
 forest reservations, and has been continued by President McKinley 
 since; so that the total area now within forest-i-eservation boundaries 
 is al)Out 47,000,000 acres. These resinwations were made for two pur- 
 l)oses, the chief of whicli at present is the conservation of water and 
 the other the perpetuation of the supply of wood. The Federal Gov- 
 ernment makes an appropriation of ■'^300,000 a year, expended through 
 the General Land Office, for the protection of these forests, for these 
 two purposes, and a second appropriation of ^150,000 a year, expended 
 through the Geological Survey, for the survey, nuipping, and descrip- 
 tion of these reserves, also with the ultimate view of protecting them; 
 and a. third approi)i'iation, of 1^88,520, expended through the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, a portion of which is also devoted to the study 
 of these reserves for the same purpose. Consecjuently, in forest mat- 
 ters the policy of the United States to expend money for the protection 
 of ii-rigation is well lixed. A forest is essentially a storage reservoir, 
 and consequently tlie policy of Government storage I'eservoirs is not a 
 new one. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Tlie Government pays out now nearly ^500,000 a year 
 for tlie protection of forests which are storage reservoirs; is that the 
 substance of the statement':' 
 
 Mr. I^INCHOT. Y»^s; for tlu^ i)rotection of storage i-eservoirs in the 
 West. 
 
 Mr. Barham. If \'(ni allow me to suggest it, it seems to me that your 
 statement up to this time will not be very clear to people who do not 
 understand what you are talking about. "Forest reserves," "Con- 
 servation of the water for irrigation" — now, they do not know what 
 you are talking about. Can not you explain that so when a man reads 
 5'our statement he will know what you are talking abont? We our 
 selves know exactly what it means; but I can give a number of illus- 
 trations, and you can, undoubtedly, give many others of the importance 
 of the preservation of the forests and wliat that amounts to in con- 
 serving Avater. 
 
 Mr. Pinchot. The protection which forests offer against evapora- 
 tion by their shade, by breaking the wind, and by their creation and 
 protection of a soil cover, makes them natni-al storage reservoirs for 
 water. 
 
 The crowns of the trees shade the ground from the sun and wind. 
 They also form the forest floor Avith their litter of leaves and twigs, 
 and this mass of decaying ti'ce refuse is the most important element 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 
 
 in retarding- evaporation and surface flow. This vegetable mold pre- 
 vents whatever sun and wind that pass the tops of the trees from 
 reaching the soil, besides being of a very spongy nature itself. 
 
 When rain falls upon a forested area, a great deal of it is caught bj^ 
 the leaves on the trees and held for a time before it reaches the soil. 
 The ground litter also keeps some of the water in it for periods which 
 depend upon its depth and quality. When there is so much rain that 
 the soil is too wet to absorb more, the obstruction which the trunks of 
 the trees and the forest litter offer has consideral)le influence in keep- 
 ing the water from at once rusliing off into the streams. 
 
 The destruction of the forest removes the source of tlie litter. 
 Without tree tops or ground cover to intercept the drops, rain soon 
 pounds the upper soil into a compact mass which water can not pene- 
 trate easily, thus forcing it to flow away over the surface at once. 
 There is also no longer the obstruction to this surface flow which the 
 tree trunks and litter of leaves and twigs formerly atforded. The 
 result is that the water which falls upon the denuded land has nothing 
 to prevent it from flowing right away. In its downward course it 
 washes the land and carries much soil away with it to be deposited on 
 the level, lower land below. In the high altitudes where snow gathers 
 the influence of the forest is both in shading the snow from the sun 
 and wind and in keeping it from sliding down into streams. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Is it not a fact that the preservation of the forests, 
 not onlj' of the trees but the protection of the surface of the soil by 
 the undergrowth and grass and everything wliich is a part of the for- 
 est growth, is very necessary to prevent the washing of debris in the 
 reservoirs? 
 
 Mr. PiNCHOT. It is essential. Not only is the forest a storage reservoir 
 itself for the distribution of water, the conservation of the supply, but 
 also it acts by its numerous roots and protecting cover as a blanket for 
 the loose soil holding it from being washed into the streams and caught 
 in the reservoirs. No system of storage reservoirs l)uilt on an}' water- 
 sheds not controlled by forest can be permanent. The chief danger 
 to anj^ storage-reservoir system is that the reservoir itself will be filled 
 up with silt. This is not a theoretical statement; it is based on a 
 large number of known cases in which very expensive irrigation 
 works have been entirely ruined by the deposit of silt, and the only 
 known means of protection against that is the maintenance of forest 
 on the watersheds. Forest destruction above stoi-age reservoirs is 
 uniformly followed by serious damage or destruction of the reservoirs 
 themselves. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Your idea is that the preservation of the forest is 
 a preventive? 
 
 Mr. PiNCHOT. Exactly. Forest destruction causes silting, and for- 
 est preservation stops it. Danger from that source can 1)e ol)viated 
 by a proper system of forests, and that is the only way in which it 
 can be obviated. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Can not you put that in a little plainer way? Now, 
 by way of illustration, take a place where a forest has been cut off. 
 When the waters fall, as they do in our section of the country, the 
 water coming down in torrential streams — and I suppose in almost all 
 the arid regions they are torrential streams — that forest being all gone 
 and the underbrush being gone, the accumulation of loose dirt, rocks, 
 and stone and debris from the destruction of the timlier, and all that 
 kind of thing, goes down into the reservoir that you have built. I 
 know in California the great cannons have been filled up; they will 
 
74 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 mine ou either side of these canyons and on the little streams that 
 run into these canyons. They will fill np 30 or 50 or 100 or 300 feet 
 deep. NoAv, when the torrential storm comes on the wliole thing', 150 
 or 200 feet deep, is swept ont as clean as- it could be and carried into 
 the navigable river below or upon the farms below. It would be pre- 
 cisely the same, it seems to me, with a reservoir, if you do not have the 
 iinderl)rush or the trees or forests to prevent this silt coming down — 
 this del)ris, this sand, and dirt coming down — and the lirst thing you 
 would know you would not have any reservoir, or rather a reservoir 
 of sand and dirt and pebbles and rocks and stumps and logs and 
 everything that is loose which would go down into that and fill up the 
 reservoir. 
 
 Mr. PixCHOT. Precisely. Your reservoir would no longer hold 
 water. I am familiar with t)ne that filled up so completely that a 
 canal had to be dug through it. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. I remember an incident as to some forest in the 
 mountains of southern California where the ashes and silt from the 
 fire came down and left great l)anks of it. 
 
 Mr. PiNCHOT. A more recent fire in southern California gives a still 
 better illustration. There are two canyons, side by side, in the 8an 
 Jacinto Forest Reserve, one of which was burned out. The area was 
 as 1 to 21). The smaller one was ])urned out. A heavy storm occurred 
 after the fire, and immediately after the storm the canyon whose area 
 was one was discharging more water than tlie canyon whose drainage 
 area was twenty-nine times as great. 
 
 Mr. Barham. .Judge Wilson, of Arizona, is here and desires to be 
 heard along the same line. lie has only a few remarks to make, I 
 understand, and then will extend his remarks in the record. 
 
 STATEMENT OF HON. J. F. WILSON, DELEGATE FROM ARIZONA. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Arizona. I simply want to get the points which my 
 bill brings out before you. 
 
 Mr. Barham. How long would il take you to do that? 
 
 Mr. Wilson. I suppose about twenty minutes — it may be longer. 
 I will be brief as possible, however. The bill concerning which I wish 
 to speak is as follows: 
 
 [H. R. oTSl Fifty-sixth Congress, first session.] 
 
 A BILL to authorize the construction of a reservoir near San Carlos, Arizona, to provide 
 water for irrisatiug; Sacaton Reservation, and for other purposes. 
 
 Whereas the Indians located upon the Sacaton Reservation have, since time imme- 
 morial, supported themselves by agriculture through utilizing for irrigation 
 the waters of Gila River; and 
 
 Whereas these Indians have at all times been friends of the whites as against the 
 attacks of the Apaches, and through this fact the whites have been encouraged 
 to settle near the reservation and utilize the waters of Gila River; and 
 
 Whereas the development of irrigation along Gila River conseijuent upon the set- 
 tlement of the iiublic lands has diminished the flow in that stream until the 
 Indians have been deprived of water and are forced to become dependent upon 
 the charity (if the Government for food; and 
 
 Whereas this deplorable condition has existed for a number of years and has been 
 called to the attention of the Indian Office from time to time, and as a result 
 investigations have been made, a preliminary report being published in Senate 
 Document Numbered Twenty-seven, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session; 
 and also in Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper Numbered Thirty-three of the 
 United States Geological Survey; and 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. i 5 
 
 Whereas the result of these investigations shows that water can be obtained in an 
 
 economical manner only by means of storage reservoirs; and 
 Whereas suitable locations for these have been found at a number of places — 
 notably at The Buttes, Riverside. San Carlos, and Guthrie, and also on Queen 
 Creek— and an examination of all these, and comparison of costs and benefits, 
 shows that thi^ San Carlos location is to be preferred: and 
 Whereas the conclusions of the engineers and experts employed in the investiga- 
 tion are that a masonry dam can be built at ^an Carlos, forming a reservoir 
 of two hundred and forty thousand acre-feet capacity, and that the water sup- 
 ply is ample to fill such a reservoir in years of minimum flow, and that the 
 volume of storage will irrigate at least one hundred thousand acres in addi- 
 tion to the irrigation of the lands of the Indians; also that it is feasible to 
 increase the height at least seventy feet, forming a reservoir whose ultimate 
 capacity would be approximately five hundred and fifty thousand acre-feet; 
 and 
 Whereas by the construction of such a dam a portion of the lands on the San Car- 
 los Reservation will be flooded: Therefore, 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of I-irjiresentatives of tJie United States of 
 America i)i Con(Ji-ess ((.ssendtled. That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is 
 hereby, authorized and directed to take the necessary steps to secure title to the 
 Government for the lands to be flooded or needed for the purpose of reservoir 
 construction and for line of canal from the reservoir or reservoirs, and that any 
 lands now the property of the United States needed for this purpose, or the value 
 of which is affected, be segregated and removed from entry and settlement. 
 
 Sec. ■,>. That for the purpose of sounding for bed rock at the foundations ot the 
 proposed San Carlos dam. for preparing detailed plans and estimates, and for 
 beginning the construction of foiindations and the completion of said dam or dams, 
 the sum of one million dollars be appropriated, to be expended under the direction 
 of the Secretary of the Interior: and that the said work shall begin as early as 
 possible, and shall be prosecuted to completion without delay. 
 Sec. y. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage. 
 
 Tins question has been before the Committee on Irrigation of /vrid 
 Lands for nearly two years. Hearings upon top of hearings luive 
 been had by this committee, with a view of obtaining eompU'te l^nowi- 
 edge of the facts baclv of the proposition that tlie dam should be 
 built. After exliansting tlie testimony on tlie snl).ject and an inves- 
 tigation of all the facts, tlie committee has reacluMl Die conclusion 
 whicli is formulated in the report, which I will now read: 
 
 REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION OF ARID LANDS ON 
 THE PROPOSED DAM ON GILA RIVER. ARIZONA. 
 
 Your committee find that the Indians known as the Pima Indians are located on 
 the Sacaton Indian Reservation, on the Gila River, in the Territory of Arizona, 
 some 20 miles 1 elow Florence, in Pinal County. They and other Indians with 
 them, mainly dependent upon the products of the soil coming from that reserva- 
 tion, are in number about s.OOO. These Indians from time immemorial have 
 occupied this partimlar section now known as the Sacaton Reservation, which 
 contains about ."iO.OUO acres of land. oO.UoO of which is the most productive soil of 
 the valley, and have sui)ported themselves by agriculture by utilizing for irriga- 
 tion the waters of Gila River. They have afwajs been the friends of the Ameri- 
 can people, and at times, when the savage warrior made it dangerous for the 
 Americans and pioneers in that country to be there at all, because of their 
 cruel warfare, they became the defender of the white man against the fierce 
 Apache, and their reservation was a safe retreat for him; and now their chief 
 boast is that not one of their tribe has ever stained his hands in white man's 
 blood. 
 
 As civilization progressed and that country became settled, the lands of the Gila 
 River have been taken up by the white settlers above this reservation, who bought 
 them from the Government, which lands carried water rights, etc.. and they have 
 appropriated the waters of the river as they flow naturally down the stream, until 
 now these Indians have not sufficient water to irrigate exceeding from 1,000 to 
 2.000 acres of their land in the dry seasons. With sufficient water, which they 
 crave so much, to irrigate the lands which they desire to put into cultivation and 
 to till, these Indians would be able to cultivate and raise products of the soil suf- 
 ficient to pay all of the expenses to which the Government has been put on their 
 
7() AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 account, and to create a sinking fund in the Treasury besides. In other words, 
 it would take them off the expense list entirely, and that is great. 
 
 And if the Government has the right to convey these lands to tlie 
 wliite settlers, who take them up and make them homes for the people, 
 it lias the riglit also as guardian of these Indians to make the lands 
 sullieiently productive to take the Indians off the expense list of the 
 Government, which now costs al>out 870, 00<^ a year. 
 
 The Government of the United States now has appropriated through Congress 
 $:'.(),(»(I0 for their maintenance, simply to feed them, while the other expenses which 
 the Government must bear on their account amounts to about $.3U,000 a year, 
 making the expense about sTO.OOii every year that the Government must bear on 
 account of these Indians, all of which wouM lie avoided if this dam should be 
 erected ami the reservoir constructed as provided in the bill. 
 
 That it is ])ractical and would ])e profita1)le to the Government to build this dam 
 seems to have been established by the Government's experts who have investi- 
 gated the facts concerning it. The preliminary report published in Senate Doc. 
 No. 'J7, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session, and also in Water-Supply and Irri- 
 gation Paper No. 33. lately published by the (ieological Survey, show plainly and 
 conclusively that it is practical and that it would be profitable to build this dam, 
 and that it should be built and this reservoir constructed. 
 
 Your committee also find it to be an established fact that the dam when built 
 to the height of l.jH feet, which it may be, will hold when full i;47.00i) acre-feet, or 
 water enough to cover that immber of acres a foot deep. If raised 70 feet higher, 
 which it may be, it would contain ■"i.jO.ODD acre-feet. 
 
 This outlay will cost a little less than ."51,0(10,00(1. or not exceed that amount, 
 the amount carried in this bill. When complet 'd there will be water enough 
 saved for distribution, on an economic basis, in the dry season when water is 
 neeiled, that could not be obtained from the stream, to irrigate the 30,000 acres of 
 easy irrigable lands of the Indians to the effect heretofore stated, and have a 
 surplus of water sufficient to irrigate at least 140. 000 acres besides. 
 
 Tliis surplus would be at hand were the dam raised but 100 feet; and when 
 raisetl 70 feet higher that surplus would be nearly enough to irrigate a half mil- 
 lion acres. There woiild be sufficient water in this surplus, at a fair price, far 
 below what white settlers now pay for water rights, to place all of their lands 
 already purchased in a high state of cultivation, and to reach and reclaim much 
 of tiie now (Tovernment land undisposed of. which might be disposed of to the 
 white settlers at a reasonable price per acre with the water rights attached. These, 
 all taken together, would reimburse the Giivernment for its outlay in less than 
 ten years. This being done would take the Indians oft' of the expense list of the 
 Government — they would lie made self-siastaining. Hundreds of thousands of 
 acres of now idle land would be reclaimed and hundreds of homes made for the 
 white settlers, and great wealth thereby added to the already existing wealth of 
 the country. 
 
 On the general topic 1 maintain the (TOVernment should reclaim its 
 arid lands, and ou this I say that money expended for the reclamation 
 of ai'id lands will result in a still greater growth and a still greater 
 development, greater production of wealth than any other single enter- 
 prise in which the Government may embark. I have the data here, 
 the flgures showing wliat has heretofore l)eeu expended on other enter- 
 prises less important than this one. 
 
 Therefore, by your consent, and having your undivided attention, 
 appearing for that brave people in my portion of the West who braved 
 the dangers of the AVest, then inhabited by savage tribes, living under 
 the burning sun, where the bird wns without song, and who put their 
 hands on the savage mane and led him from bloody plains of savage 
 warfare to safe fields of industry and homes of civilized quiet peace, 
 I proceed to the detailed statement of facts and give them as reasons 
 W'hy the Government should undertake to reclaim the.se arid lands. 
 I submit also that these facts, grouped as argument, are more cogent 
 and strong than any facts and arguments that were ever offered at the 
 beginning of the governmental action in building internal canals for 
 internal commerce. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 
 
 - I apprehend that anyone who has not given particular attention to 
 this question has no idea of tlie amount of land to be disposed of by 
 the General Government. The Land Department, up to a few 3'ears 
 ago, had not the slightest conception of it itself. Only about twenty- 
 five years ago we heard from the Seeretarj' of the Interior that there 
 were perhaps 10,000,000 acres of public lands for sale; and yet since 
 that time there have been over 150,000,000 acres sold, more than twice 
 the area of the Republic of France; and since the investigation has 
 been carried to its limit it has been found that there are more than 
 567,000,000 acres of Govei'ument lands subject to its disposition to-day. 
 
 Of that 567,000,000 acres of public lands subject to the disposition 
 of the Government there are 541,205,24:8 acres of it in the arid West, 
 in the 15 States and Territories in the Union known as the arid region. 
 An equal distribution of these lands among the several States, situ- 
 ated as they are, side b}' side, makes it a matter of inquiry as to 
 whether or not it is not policy for the nation to take charge of them 
 and place them in condition for sale to possible home seekers of the 
 Union, in which over 76,000,000 of our people live and to whom the 
 lands belong. 
 
 I believe in equal distribution; and perhaps it is difficult to under- 
 stand how the public land can be distributed in order that we may 
 advance the theory that the distribution and reclamation of so vast a 
 territory should l)e a national affair. 
 
 The reclamation of the arid lands should be by the Government, 
 because of the immensity of the amount to be reclaimed, and of its 
 even distribution over the arid States and Territories, and because it 
 must be reclaimed almost entirely by means of irrigation, if reclaimed 
 at all — all in view of the fact that it is now the property of the Gen- 
 eral Government. Public opinion can hardly realize that there is now, 
 or was at the end of the fiscal j^ear 1890, a little more than 567,000,000 
 acres of public land undisposed of by the Government; yet it is true, 
 and 541,265,2-18 acres of this amount is situated in the arid States and 
 Territories, and is distributed as follows: 
 
 Acres. Acres. 
 
 Arizona.... 54,608,531 New Mexico 54,720,863 
 
 California 50,133.241 Oregon 38,435.873 
 
 Colorado 41.988,377 North Dakota 1S»,500,555 
 
 Idaho 34,225,149 South Dakota 13.006,396 
 
 Kansas 734. 080 Utah 35. 231. 466 
 
 Montana 74.558,143 Washington 19,098,430 
 
 Nebraska 10.799,832 Wyoming 52,055,248 
 
 Nevada 42, 385. 735 
 
 This list shows something of an even distribution of these lands 
 over the arid States and Territories, and in view of this fact it becomes 
 important to know something of how much of it is subject to recla- 
 mation, and how. As to this, the most authentic means at our com- 
 mand is the report of the special Senate committee of the United 
 States Senate on tlie reclamation of arid lands and irrigation, made 
 to the Senate in 18!)0. In that they reported that there was from 
 100,000,000 to 150,000,000 acres of this land that could be made pro- 
 ductive, and that only by means of irrigation — more than five times the 
 quantity of reclaimed land in British India, from which 110,000,000 
 people are maintained. Some maintain that these lands should be 
 ceded to the States and Territories. All history shows that this would 
 be a failure. Especiallv is it so here. 
 
 By the acts of Congress, March 2, 1840, to the act of March 12, 1860, 
 nearly 60,000,000 acres of land of the General Government, lying in 
 
78 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 15 States of the Union, known as swamp lands, were ceded to the vari- 
 ons States in which tliey lay. They are as follows: 
 
 Acres. I Acres. 
 
 Alabama..- 414,310 Michigan. 5,729,843 
 
 Arkansas . 7,668,987 Minnesota 3,109.143 
 
 California - 1, 773, 857 Mississippi 3, 335, 437 
 
 Florida 16,631.303 Missouri 4,495,816 
 
 Illinois. 1,493,718 Ohio.. 35,660 
 
 Indiana 1,265, 107 I Oregon 315,164 
 
 Iowa 933.949 ! Wisconsin 3,349,133 
 
 Louisiana 8,968.880 i 
 
 These are the beneficiarj^ States of the swamp-laud grants; and 
 they are all, with a single exception, bettor able, so far as monetary 
 expenditure may be concerned, to reclaim these lands granted to 
 them by means of the levee system (and which is but the counterpart 
 of the reservoir and canal system necessary to reclaim the arid lands, 
 and far less expensi\e) than any of the arid States and Territories 
 are to reclaim the arid lands in their boundaries. This will not be 
 denied by those who opposf^ this theory I apprehend, because through 
 the whole space of nearly' fifty years not a single one of these 
 States has ever made a single record of success by the reclamation of 
 any of these lands that had to be reclaimed. They mostly went into 
 the hands of alien speculators and land sharks for naught. On the 
 other hand, the history of other countries that have taken the matter 
 of reclaiming their arid lands in hand as a national enterprise for 
 their people have made a prime success of it in every instance. 
 
 From time immemorial Egypt has maintained hei" entire population 
 on lands tliat Egypt reclaimed as a national enterprise, and by it, in 
 ages past, gained the name and title "The granary of the world." 
 
 This is no failure, and is an ai'guraent in our favor. Not only so, 
 but in British India, where famine and starvation in former days pre- 
 vailed because of the shortage in the i)ro(luclion of the soil, since the 
 reclamation of al>out 2G,0(J(>,0(H) of acres of land l)y the Government 
 as a national project famine has been prevented, death from starva- 
 tion has ceased, and 11(>,000,0(»() of its people are maintained from the 
 production of the reclaimed land by the hand of the Government. 
 This is the success recorded in history for that enterprise. 
 
 The Governments of France, Spain, Algeria, Australia, Argentina, 
 and Peru all bear the same testimony without a break on the same 
 point. Therefore we see that in every instance when the work was 
 taken in hand as a national enterprise it was a success, while on the 
 other hand, when turned into the charge of the State, in ever^^ single 
 instance it has proved a failure, and hence we fear the dangerous 
 course wherein this all-important matter of reclaiming the public 
 domain has so often heretofore fallen and foundered, and cling to 
 that which has so often carried its followers into the haven of success. 
 
 Another reason is that, in the event of the States and Territories 
 being flnanciall}^ able to reclaim the lands, insuperable physicial bar- 
 riers would be so prominently in the wny that it could not be umde 
 practically effectual there. 
 
 This would be due to the fact that all of the streams of any great mag- 
 nitude in the West, and upon which the greatest irrigation schemes 
 would necessarily depend for the reclamation of the greatest bodies of 
 these arid lands, have their source in Wyoming, Colorado, and New 
 Mexico. If these States should have the sovereign control of these lands 
 in their boundaries they would necessarily have the water as well, and 
 would, as a matter of sovereign right, have the control of it, and 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 
 
 would therefore be able to defy the law of prior appropriations as 
 applied between individuals, and bj^ divertinj? the head waters of those 
 streams would have those States and Territories lying below them at 
 their mercy. At least it would be so in a measure. To state these 
 physical advantages in favor of those three sovereign communities is 
 to argue the case on this point, in so far as I now have the time to 
 advert to it on that point. 
 
 Again, to ask this reclamation to be made by the General Govern- 
 ment for the people of the West would be asking only fair and impar- 
 tial treatment as between them and the people of the South and East 
 and North. It would be asking no more for the benefit of agriculture 
 in the West than the Govei-nment has done for the benefit of inland 
 commerce in those sections just named. 
 
 For the beneflt of inland commerce in those sections the Government 
 has appropriated from time to time as original expenditure, to say 
 nothing of the cost of keeping up the various canals, etc., in which it 
 had an interest, no less than ^2.30,850,507.00, and, as before stated, 
 none will deny that this was wisely expended. 
 
 These expenditures have been somewhat of a local nature too, rather 
 than national, or for the national benefit. They were as follows — that 
 is, there has been expended for inland commerce in the boundaries of 
 the following States the following: 
 
 Alabama $2. 7G4, 191 . 19 ' Mississippi ... - $2. 323, 856. 10 
 
 Arkansas 784, 910. 28 ] New Hampshire 434, 930. 86 
 
 California 4,181,251.78 New Jersey 2,068,087.26 
 
 Connecticut 2,696.545.19 ' New York 17,495.321.60 
 
 Delaware _ 3, 223, 118. 44 North Carolina 4, 046. 935. 07 
 
 District of Columbia 240, 000. 00 ' Ohio . 5,741,812.37 
 
 Florida 2,511,509.05 
 
 Georgia 3, 382. 538. 91 
 
 Idaho 15, 000. 00 
 
 Illinois.... - 4,948,784.11 
 
 Indiana 1,869,7.53.03 
 
 Iowa 819.563.37 
 
 Kansas 7, 561 . 73 
 
 Oregon 5,264,863.66 
 
 Pennsylvania 2, 451 , 292. 25 
 
 Rhode Island 1.538,214.00 
 
 South Carolina. 2, 912, 679. 90 
 
 Tennessee 670,089.85 
 
 Te-xas 6, 652, 697. 16 
 
 Vermont 767, 946. 84 
 
 Kentucky 1, 705, 531 . 99 \ Virginia 3, 837, 643. 23 
 
 Louisiana. 9,609,451.85 | Washington 534,232.28 
 
 Maine 2,483.686.66 Wisconsin 7,705,301.33 
 
 Maryland 3,790,876.83 ' Miscellaneous expendi- 
 
 Massachusetts 4, 943, 767. 10 ture . _ 188, 405, 189. 96 
 
 Michigan 3,805. 167.81 ' 
 
 Minnesota 1, 771, 810.46 | Total 230,850,567.60 
 
 Not only so, but in at least twenty States in tlie Union the Govern- 
 ment has exercised the functions of a canal builder, not uuAvisely 
 either, as before stated, and not in a single instance has it been done 
 in any part of the vast arid West ; and it has also all been done in the 
 direct interest of commerce and not of agriculture. As evidence of 
 this we submit the following statistics bearing on this subject: 
 
 In the last fifty-three j-ears Congress lias expended in cleaning and 
 improving harbors, building dams, canals, and the like work gener- 
 ally ^392,1300,596.28. 
 
 In 1890 alone for the same purpose $71,158,050.88 Avas exjjended. 
 
 This was all for the benefit of commerce in the East. 
 
 For canals and dams alone, for the benefit of commerce mainly, if 
 not alone, the Government has made the following appropriations in 
 the following-named States : 
 
 Alabama. — Grant of 5 per cent net proceeds of public lands after 1819; sale of 
 same for canal on Tennessee River, i?! 0,000. 
 Floi-ida.— For the Peninsula Canal, §30,000. 
 
80 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Uliiiois. —Lake Michigan and Mississippi River Canal, .$'200, 000; Hennepin Canal, 
 $50,000. 
 
 ruiliana. — Wal)ash Rivei- Dam and Canal. $65,000; Lake Erie and Wabash River 
 Canal, $15,000; Ohio r. land grant of 2\ sections on each side of all canals. 
 
 Iowa, — Canal from Red River to Mississippi. $1,500: Des Moines Rapids Canal, 
 $733,750; Sault Ste. Marie Canal, $65,000. 
 
 Keiitiiclii/. — Louisville and Portland Canal, purchase of 1,000 shares of stock of 
 the private corporation organi/^e 1 to bni d it. Value, $100,000. Subse'^uent pur- 
 chase and maintenance of the same, $S25.00(). 
 
 0/(/(>.—(Jhio River Falls Canal, $90,000; Cumberland River Canal, $10,000; Rough 
 River Canal, $,'5,000: Zanesville and Taylorville Canal. $102,000. 
 
 LouisHina. — New Orleans Outlet Canal and Clarenton Canal. $150,000. 
 
 Mississippi. — Carondelet Canal, $25,000; canal from Mississippi to Gulf of Mex- 
 ico. $75,000; also <) per cent net proceeds of all public-land sales for canal purposes. 
 
 3Iicliigaii, — Grant of 300.000 acres of land to build canal between Lake Superior 
 and Lac La Belle: St. Clair Canal, $l,OUi'), 250; Secretary of War authorized todraw 
 for annual expenses for maintaining the canal; St. Mary's Canal. $850,000; Secre- 
 tary of War authorized to draw for annual expenses in maintaining the canal. 
 
 New Jersci/. — Ship canal across Bergen Neck, $150,000. 
 
 Oregon. — Cascade Canal, $1,728,000. 
 
 Pen nsi/I n ui ia .—finrveys for ship canal from Allegheny to the sea. $300,000; pur- 
 chase of Monongahela Canal and improvements of the same. $358,733. 
 
 South Off /■o/^(r^— Purchase of 800 shares of Dismal Swamp Canal Company's 
 stock: Santee Canal, $3U, 000. 
 
 Teinu'ssii. —Tt'nuessee River Canal. $250,000. 
 
 TtMVf.s-.— Galveston and Brazos River Canal. .$25,000. 
 
 Virginia. — Purchase of 750 shares of Chesapeake Canal Stock Company's stock; 
 purchase of 10,001) shares of Chesapeake and Ohio Company's stock; Chesapeake 
 and Delaware Canal, $20,000: survey canal Chesapeake Bay to Charleston, $10,000. 
 
 IVasli i)igtoii. —Unvvey canal Lake Union to Puget Sound, $10,000. 
 
 Survey canal Bakers Bay and Shoal water Bay, $10,500. 
 
 Wisconsin.— Fox River and Wisconsin River Canal, li sections of land on each 
 side of Fox River, .$25,000; Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, 5 per cent of net 
 proceeds of public land sales, $146,000; Wisconsin River Canal, $10,000; Green 
 Bay and Lake Michigan Canal, grant of 200,000 acres. Purchase of portage of 
 Lake Michigan and Lake Superior Canal, .$350,000; improving same, $20,000. 
 
 To this much we refer to .show what the Govenmient has done for 
 the benefit of inland eomnieree in the sections of country before 
 named, and that the Government has wisely done it as a national 
 work we are liere to assert. But wdiile w^e do, we further assert that, 
 as a work of the General Gevernment, between the construction of a 
 reservoir for the encouragement of inland commerce and the con- 
 struction of one for agriculture, there is practically no difference; 
 and if there is, then the argument is in favor of the latter. 
 
 To ask for this reclamation of the arid lands of the \Yest by the 
 General Goverment for the benefit of agriculture in this great West- 
 ern country is only to ask that fair play and even-handed justice be 
 done between the different sections of this great country. It is but 
 an appeal to the magnanimity of the General Government. 
 
 From Ma}', 1875, to June 30, 189<), the Government received from 
 the sale of public lands, chiefiy from the West, !tp3;3G,532,12!».20, which 
 was expended in Eastern improvements. Scarcely a. dollar was ever 
 returned for any Eastern improvement or benefit. 
 
 This great Government can not afford 1o stain its name with par- 
 tiality so great as to refuse to Jidd its aid to that vast section in the 
 West for the benefit of agriculture when it has done so much for 
 commercial classes and commercial sections in other parts of the 
 country. Indeed, my people do not expect it. They believe that this 
 great country, wdiose bosom but a short time ago w^as trodden bj^ the 
 hoof of w^ar, that passed from under it and through the greatest war 
 ever known to civilization, and did it successfully, and did it without 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 
 
 the confiscation of a sin^ie estate or the execution of a single politi- 
 cal offender, can nevei- be so unfair. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mondell would like to have a 
 few moments to continue his remarks. 
 
 STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK W. MONDELL, OF WYOMING. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: The committee very kindly gave me some time 
 the other day, and before I had concluded the hour of 12 had arrived, 
 and it was suggested that I should conclude to-day. I will tak(^ but 
 a short time, as Mr. ^lead, the irrigation expert from the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, is here, and I know you will be glad to hear from 
 him, he having been invited by Mr. Wilson and the committee. 
 
 I hope I made my position on some phases of the questions of 
 national aid to irrigation development clear the other day, and I shall 
 not go into that matter to-day except to reiterate briefly that it seems 
 to me that the work which the National Government should under- 
 take in the interest of irrigation is the work suggested by the resolu- 
 tions of the Irrigation Congress last year. That is the work of con- 
 servation — of making the waters of the arid regions available for irri- 
 gation and does not contemplate the Government's actually reclaiming 
 lands. The distribution of water in irrigation is a local enterprise and 
 maybe left to individual enterprise to carry out. On the other hand, 
 the work of making available the waters which the Almighty has pro- 
 vided in the arid regions w^hich are now available only to the extent 
 of a very small proportion of their entire volume, owing to the fact 
 that they rush down in flood periods and not uniformly during the 
 irrigation season, is a public work. 
 
 I believe we are more likely to get Government aid by confining 
 our efforts, as suggested by the National Irrigation Congress, to 
 appropriations for conservation projects — conservation projects in 
 the nature of storage reservoirs at the headwaters of streams to store 
 flood waters, to be turned loose in the latter portion of the irrigation 
 season to make up for the deficiency in flow, and conservation pro- 
 jects where the jn-oposition is to take waters of a great stream in the 
 watershed of which there is no irrigable land and divert it to the 
 watershed of another stream where there is irrigable land. Also those 
 projects where streams, lying in deep canyons, would require divert- 
 ing canals of great length and at great cost to bring tlie water to the 
 surface, to place it in the sauie position that nature placed the water 
 of those streams that flow near the surface. In brief, the work which 
 the Government should undertake is that of making available all of 
 the water in the arid regions for irrigation purposes. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. When the Government has made this available by 
 your plan, does your bill propose a plan as to who shall then deter- 
 mine how the water shall be devoted? 
 
 Mr. Mondell. I will say to the gentleman that every State in the 
 arid region has a code of laws and customs relative to the diversion 
 and use of waters, and under these laws and customs all water-s used 
 in irrigation in the arid region must be diverted and applied. The 
 National Government can not attemjit to interfere with those laws and 
 customs without endless confusion. I think the Government aid 
 should begin with the work of a purely national character, and end 
 where you have placed the waters where private enterprise can divert 
 and distribute them; and my idea is that in doing this the Govern - 
 
 11 IDG— 01 G 
 
82 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 inent slionld expect no direct return. If you liad a specific project 
 l)efore yon, where it seemed tliat there was an opportunity to secure a 
 return, I do not know that there would be any objection to anattemj)t 
 to do that, but I have some doubts of the feasibility of the Govern- 
 ment's securinti' a full reimbursement, except it shall collect the same 
 llirough the medium of tlie States by a charije for the use of the waters 
 made available in addition of course to whatever nominal charge the 
 (Government might make for public lands under its project. It nar- 
 rows tlie scope of Government aid and the possibility of Government 
 expenditure tremendously to say that it shall l)egin and end with stor- 
 age and large stream diversion. Instead, then, of it being a question 
 whetlier the Government shall actually aid in the irrigation of per- 
 haps 75,000,00(1 acres at a considerable cost pei' acre, the problem is 
 simply one of making available for use in irrigation the waters of the 
 arid regions. This is the work which private enterprise can not under- 
 take and which the States can not so well undertake as the National 
 Government, because in nearly all of these enterpi-ises there are inter- 
 state questions. 
 
 The bill (H. R. bV.iOo) which I introduced on tliis subject, after dedi- 
 cating the proceeds from the sales of puljlic lands to the aid of irriga- 
 tion, provided for a full and comprehensive report from the Geological 
 Survey, to be made to Congress next winter, as to the general subject, 
 and report of the detailed survey and examination of at least one 
 project for the conservation or development of water in each arid and 
 scmiarid State, to be presented to the Congress as a basis of legisla- 
 tion as the reports of the Chief of Engineers are presented to Congress 
 for the use of the River and IIarl)or Committee at the beginning of each 
 Congress. 
 
 I tliink that the suggestion of Mr. Newlands that the public-lands 
 fund shall in the future be dedicated to the cause of irrigation a wise 
 one. He dedicates it in his bill to the irrigation of arid lands; I 
 dedicate it in mine to works for making the waters of the arid region 
 availal)le for irrigation. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. It has been dedicated two or three times 
 ])ef()re, and anj* part tliat still remains, I am afraid, is so limited that 
 little can be riccomi)lislied. 
 
 The Chairman. There is this to be said in favor of this idea, as it 
 impresses me: Supposing it were possible — -which of course it is not — 
 that this entire 75,0(>0,00(i acres of i-edeemable land could be redeemed 
 at once; of course one result would be that, instead of the agricultural 
 lands of the United States 1>eing lifted in value, tliat they would, as 
 a matter of fact, l)e decreased in value. These lands are to be i-eclaimed 
 as the counti'y needs them. Theprtq^osed l>ill introduces a sj'stem of 
 l)utting the public-lands fund to this purpose; you go faster as you 
 need it, and you will slack up as you need it. It is going to be diffi- 
 cult to get the farnu'rs in my section of Oregon to approve of any 
 scheme that will i)ut down the value of lands; but this is a safety 
 valve, and as you need it the fund will expand, and then as you do 
 not need them it will contract. I am much pleased with the sug- 
 gestion. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. You could provide that a certain price per acre 
 should be demanded. I wish to say another thing with reference to 
 the charges against this fund. It is true, as I ujiderstand it, that 
 when agricultural colleges were started in this country that the appro- 
 priations were made for them out of the public-lands fund, and that 
 fund was charged witli that oblination; but it has long since been 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 
 
 relieved of it. The appropriations now made for the agricnitnral col- 
 leges are a \yAvt of the agricnitnral bill of the llonse. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. The bill referred to wonld ntilize the f nnd, whatever 
 snm there might be in it, and provides for snrveys and a report to 
 Congress next Jannary, in order that the Congress may have before it 
 a general statement of the entire matter and at least one conservation 
 project in each State and Territory in the arid and semiarid region. 
 
 The Chairman. Let me see if I can nnderstand your idea. Yon 
 propose to build dams merely l)y the Government, and there is to be 
 no charge upon any lands for that. How do you propose to distribute 
 tlie water — merely to pass it down the streams in some regular Avay 
 l)y the Government, or do you i)ropo8e to have ditches and draw it 
 direct from the dam; and if so, if it is to be drawn from the dams, in 
 what way is it to be done? 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. My idea is that conservation works slnnild lie under- 
 taken as public works on internal improvement, and when the water 
 is conserved it should be turned loose at tlie proper time to supple- 
 ment the waning flow of the streams. 
 
 The ciuestion of the distribution of the water, taking it out of the 
 streams, and the use of it, are to be left entirely as they are now, to 
 State laws and State customs. The States have an elaborate system 
 of laws and customs and regulations on this subject which are being 
 perfected every year, and the States are well qualilled, in my opinion, 
 to handle the question of the distribution of the water. 
 
 I referred the othei- day to the Carey Act, which I consider a valua- 
 ble auxiliary to this movement. Under that act projects of diversion 
 and distribution too large to be undertaken by individuals holding 
 lands under the desert-land law, can be successfully carried out 
 under contract with the State, to reclaim large areas which are wholly 
 l)ublic lands where the initial cost of diversion is so great that an 
 individual or small neighborhood of people could not divert it them- 
 selves. Beginning at the genesis of irrigation, then, the ordinary 
 diversion and distribution is accomplished by the individual, the asso- 
 ciation of farmers and others; the larger diversions and distributions, 
 where the problem is one of irrigation only of public lands, can be 
 undertaken under the Carey Act; and then j'ou come to the problems 
 of conservation and the diversion of great streams to foreign water- 
 sheds or from deep canyons, and these are, in my opinion, works 
 which must be accomplished through i)ublic agencies, preferably the 
 nation, because in nearly all of these projiositions there are interstate 
 questions involved. 
 
 The State of Nevada could not well go into California and impound 
 the waters of Lake Tahoe, and it is necessary' to impound those 
 waters to make available a great river in that State, and so that is 
 properly a National and not a State work. Even if it were practica- 
 ble to construct and manage large storage systems by private enter- 
 l)rise, they should not be so managed because a system of storage 
 leservoirs at the head of a stream is such an important factor in the 
 floAv of the stream during the entire season, and so intimately attects 
 all users of watei- along the stream, that thej' should be at all times 
 under public control and never imder ijrivate control. We can 
 defend otir advocacy of national aid in this class of work because it 
 is national; it is public in its character and it does not directly 
 reclaim any man's land. It can not be said that it is an expenditure 
 of the proceeds of the sale of pul)lic lands to irrigate Jones's land, or 
 Smith's land, or Brown's land, because it do(^s not make it any cheaper 
 
84 A KID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 for Smith, or Jones, or Brown to irrigate their lands than it would 
 have been for them if nature, instead of sending those waters down 
 in tremendous volumes in the early spring and then redueing the flow 
 later, sent the streams downi in a steady and eontinuous flow. 
 
 The Government would simply undertake the work of rectifying 
 nature's work, as we rectify nature's work when we remove sand bars 
 from the moutlis of rivers and harbors, when we take shoals out of 
 interstate streams. We do not in i-iver and harbor work build the 
 wharves on the banks <n- provide the anchorages, but we rectify the 
 work of nature by making the waterways available for commerce; 
 and we now^ aslc the Government to rectify the work of nature in the 
 arid regions to the extent of making availal>le for use in irrigation the 
 waters which are now valueless by reason of their uneven and uncer- 
 tain flow. I believe that individuals and associations under the State 
 can then attcMid to the work of distribution of water over the lands, 
 and if the Government works stop at conservation, then there is no 
 possible conflict, between the State and the National Government. 
 
 Mr. Barham. As I understand your proposition, you take a stream, 
 for instance, that you coidd not irrigate unless you conserved or res- 
 (-rvoired the waters up in the mountains. Take Clear Lake. That is 
 partly in my district. Now, if you only conserve the waters to come 
 down Cache Creek, it would be of little or no benefit at all; but you 
 have got to conserve the waters or reservoii- them in such a manner 
 as to carry them out at an elevation above where you could carry 
 them out on the stream nt>w and reservoir the waters at a point in the 
 mountains, in the canyon. Your proposition is simply to build a dam 
 at a point on Cache Creek, say, or at the moutli of Clear Lake, and 
 back up the water, catch the waters, and then let the State attend to 
 the balance of it, about digging the canals and carrying it thi-ough 
 the valley? 
 
 Here comes the Cache Creek through a deep canyon, and reaches 
 t he valley. Now, where we use tliat water at all, it is way down where 
 the river can be diverted or is diverted. If you hold more water up 
 here and catch it in the lake, you want to start that canal or river 100 
 nnles above where you use the river. In that case you would let the 
 State or corporation attend to it? 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. I shall try to confine (4overnment aid to such works 
 as are necessary tt) make the water available for irrigation. 
 
 Mr. Nevvlands. But your idea also, I think, as I have heard you 
 state it, covers, if necessary, carrying the water from the storage 
 reservoirs over intervening mountains, and so forth, to the point 
 where i^rivate enterprise can take hold of it? 
 
 Mr. INIONDELL. Yes, if that were necessary to make the stored water 
 available; but I have not in mind any case where you would take 
 stored waters across a divide. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I kncnv of such a case. 
 
 Mr. Barham. That vei-y case that I illustrated; I know of a dozen 
 of them. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. That would then be pait of the work necessary to 
 make water availal)le for distribution under State laws by private 
 enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Your plan then would include the canal that is 
 necessary to carry it to the point where private enterprise would take 
 it? 
 
 Mr. MoxDELL. My plan includes anything necessary to make water 
 available, and nothing for the actual distribution of water over lands. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 85 
 
 Tliere is a vai'iety of projects that could be taken up l)esides storage 
 reservoirs; the simiDlest are diversions of great rivers like the Colo- 
 rado or the Green, where there is a surplus of water above the needs 
 of its own watershed, carrying it into another drainage where there 
 is little water but plenty of irrigal)le land. Such a diversion by the 
 Government does not of course irrigate the land ; it simply makes it 
 possible for private enterprise to undertake the work of a|)plying the 
 water to the land. 
 
 STATEMENT OF HON. F. G. NEWLANDS, OF NEVADA. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Mr. Ehvood Mead is here as an expert in these 
 matters. Before he speaks I woiikl like to state brietly my two bills, 
 so that Mr. Mead can address himself to them. 
 
 We all agree in the West that irrigation is a public use, just as 
 navigation is; that the maintaining and sustaining an equal flow in 
 the river is just as much of a public work as river and liarbor improve- 
 ments for the promotion of navigation or commerce. We would all 
 be very glad to see the Government undertaki^ tliat work of the stor- 
 age of water in our rivers and the maintenance of an equal and sus- 
 tained flow witliout hope of compensation, and I have shaped a l)ill in 
 reference to that; and I have also shaped a l)ill which sets aside the 
 receipts from the public lands as a fund for the reclamation of the 
 j)ublic lands of the West, which offers an automatic i^lan by which 
 the West will reclaim itself through the agency of the General 
 Government. 
 
 No^v, as to the first bill (II. R. 14072). I introduced that bill yester- 
 day. It takes six projects which the Geological Survey has examined. 
 That is the first one I would advocate. It pertains to tlie projects 
 which the Geological Survey has examined and upon which it has 
 made detailed reports, showing the reservoirs to be constructed, the 
 cost of construction, and, incidentally, the area to he benefited by 
 the improvement. One of these is in Arizona — the San Carlos — at a 
 total cost of '$1,000,000. Four in California — one, the construction of 
 the Hetch Iletchy reservoir, which will cost $607,000; another, the 
 Clark Yalle}' reservoir, which will cost $2,000,000; and another work 
 in Clark Valley, which is auxiliarj^ to the other, which will cost 
 $2,100,000; Stony Creek reservoir, |;287,000; the Clear Lake reservoir, 
 $452,000. Then comes Montana, with the diversion of the St. IMary 
 River into Milk River, costing, for the first miles out of 1V> miles, 
 $325,000. Then three Nevada enterprises — one, the Rock Creek 
 reservoir, tri])utary to the IIund>oldt, $02,300; another, the Lower 
 Humboldt reservoir, $148,300; another, the Truckee River, costing 
 $389,000. Then comes Wyoming, with the Grey Bull reservoir, 
 $49,962. Making in all $6,327,000, with the total capacity, in acre- 
 feet, of 1,415,(»()0. That is to say, the water stored in all these reser- 
 voirs will cover 1,415,000 acres with water 1 foot deep, and, assuming 
 that that water is directly applied to land and that it requires 2 feet 
 to the acre, it would irrigate about 700,000 acres; and the total cost 
 per acre-foot is $4.47. That applies simply to the storage and the 
 canals that are necessary to make the storage of waters available, and 
 not to the diverting ditches and subditches that are necessary to irri- 
 gate the land. 
 
 Mr. Barham. LTpon all those projects we have detailed and specific 
 reports and estimates? 
 
80 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 3[r. Newlands. Yon liavo; by the (4c'oloy,it';il Survey. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Do you not think it would be wiser to 
 divide this up Minoug' the different States, following', ])v analogy, the 
 course of the river and harbor bill? 
 
 Ml'. Newlands. I have patterned the l)ill upon the river and har- 
 bor bill, wdiich takes first the projects upon which plans and estimates 
 have been perfected. It considers, first, the Territory of Arizona, 
 and appropriates .1<15( ),()()( ) toward the construction of the San Carlos 
 dam. That, of course, will be followed up by later appropriations. 
 Tlien in California it divides among three reservoii's there 81'50,()(i() — 
 -SoO.OOO each. It gives 6150, 0()(^ toward the project proposed in Mon- 
 tana. It gives Nevada for its three or four enterprises -'j^l 50,00(1 in 
 all, applying it;:)0,000 to the Rock Creek reservoir, 'ii<40,000 to the Hum- 
 boldt River reservoir, and s^Si ),()()() to the Truckee River reservoirs. 
 And in Wyoming i1 gives the entire amount asked foi- — -^40,000. In 
 all the other States and Territories named here ■i>150,()0() each. Then 
 it takes up the question of the surveys in each State and Territory 
 in the arid and semiarid region — Arizona, California, Colorado — and, 
 acting upon the suggestion of the (Tcological Survey, it siiecifixcs the 
 particular projects for whicli i)lans, surveys, and estimates are 
 required, and makes an ai)propriation for each one of these States 
 and Territories, aggregating from -slO,0(H) to -1525,000 in each, accord- 
 ing to the recommendation of the Geological Survey, and it also pro- 
 vides for the test wells in the artesian-well districts. Every one of 
 these sixteen arid and semiai'id States is covered by appropriations 
 for surveys, and plans and estimates, aggregating about 8250,000; 
 and the completed projects — that is, the projects completed so far as 
 plans and estimates are concerned — carry a total api)ro})i'iation of 
 about .'i?r)5(),0(H). 
 
 Now, I would be very glad to, see that l»ill passed, but I do not 
 believe in the present temper of Congress it will pass, and I think it 
 will take years for us to educate public sentiment to a point where it 
 will pass. If we wait long enough I have no doubt it will come, but 
 in the meanwhile we have reached in such States as Nevada the abso- 
 lute limit of development, unless the flow of these rivers is maintained. 
 And so far as we are concerned, Ave would rather enter now upon a 
 work of I'eclamation which involves a restoi'ation to this fund of the 
 cost of reclamation than await the possil)le advantages of a bill mod- 
 eled after the river and har])or bill in four or five years. 
 
 Now comes the second lull (II. R. 140SS), which was my first. I 
 have only introduced this other bill (It. R. 14072) with reference to 
 the river and harbor l)ill to meet the objections of Mv. Mondell, and, 
 I believe, the partial ol>jections of Mr. Mead. I should be very glad 
 to see it pass; but I understand that Mr. Mondell conies in to-day; 
 and I am very glad he accepts the idea of this reclamation fund; that 
 all he claims is that the fund derived from the sales of public lands 
 shall be applied, not to the reclamation of public lands, but simply to 
 the conservation of the waters; and I will speak of that in a few 
 moments. 
 
 This bill of mine (H. R. 1408s) provides, first, that all monej's raised 
 from the sale of public lands in sixteen States and Territories (naming 
 them) shall be set aside fen- the creation of a special fund, to be 
 called the "Arid-land reclamation fund," which is to l)e used for the 
 construction of reservoirs and other hydraulic woi'ks for the storage 
 and diversion of water for the irrigation and reclaiming of arid lands. 
 In the first place, what will be the size of that fund? In 1803 the sales 
 from public lands were only about !t<000,0OO. They have increased 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 
 
 since, until last year tliey were nearly >ii<o, 000,000. Those extraordi- 
 nary receipts, I am told, arise largely from the commutation of home- 
 steads in Oklahoma. Under the homestead law a man can settle 
 and maintain his home for five years and get title, but he can, if he 
 chooses, at the expiration of fourteen months commute that by the 
 payment of 11.25 per acre; and many of these men who get productive 
 farms are glad to get titles in that way, and they make the mouej^, or 
 get it, and settle up with the Government, and I believe we will always 
 liave very large receipts from the homestead act, although its purpose 
 was to give free homes. 
 
 Now, as to the charges upon that fund. It is true that when these 
 appropriations were made to agricultural colleges that they were made 
 a charge upon the public-land fund, but long since that has been 
 abandoned and these appropriations are part of the regular appro- 
 priation ])ill. I insist upon it that all the proceeds from the sales of 
 public lands should go into this fund, and if there is any question 
 about it that we sliould i-elieve the fund of that charge. 
 
 It is true that in this bill I provided "that all public lands, except- 
 ing those set aside by law for educational purposes," etc. — I believe 
 there are 5 or 10 per cent going to different States for schools, etc., 
 and that is intended to cover that. 
 
 As to the method of making this fund useful in the stoi'age of water 
 and the reclamation of public lands, section 2 gives the Director of 
 the Geological Survey the power to go along and make investiga- 
 tions and reports, estimates and plans, both with reference to the 
 storage of water and the supply of water tlirough artesian wells, and 
 also the diversion of streams into valleys that are not subject to them. 
 
 The third j^rovides for the reports; the fourth provides that upon 
 the filing of the reports the Secretary- of the Interior may withdraw 
 froui public entry the lands which are required for reservoir or 
 hydraulic purpose, or otherwise they would be taken up by specula- 
 tors, and it also provides that lands subject to speculative schemes 
 shall be withdrawn, so thereafter they will be subject to the advan- 
 tages of reclamation schemes, so they can not be taken in large areas, 
 and thus defeat the purpose of this act, which is to make homes for 
 people in areas not exceeding 80 acres. 
 
 The fourth section provides that upon the determination of the 
 Secretary of the Interior that a project is practicable, that then he 
 can let contracts, but the limit of his authority is the fund in the 
 Treasury. He can not exceed that. It also provides that after the 
 letting of a contract no entries shall be made for more than 80 acres; 
 that the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, further limit 
 the number of acres in each entry. For instance, if there is a project 
 presented as to the lands caiial)le of this intense cultivation, to which 
 the gentleman from Arizona has alluded, then the Secretary of the 
 Interior may provide a smaller unit of entry, thus increasing the num- 
 ber of homes that can be created by a common project. 
 
 Now, I come to the vital position, and I have endeavored to modify 
 that in order to meet the views of Mr. JMead, which he expressed with 
 great force and clearness in the hearing before the Comniittee on 
 Public Lands. Section G provides "that upon the completion of each 
 storage or irrigation project the total cost thereof shall be ascertained 
 and the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe such rules and regu- 
 lations as to the price of the lands entered or to he entei'ed and the 
 right to use the water provided by such work as shall restore to the 
 arid-land reclamation fund the amount expended therefor, in ten 
 annual installments, and shall also make good to such arid-land recla- 
 
88 AKID LANDS OV THE INITED STATES. 
 
 mation fund the exi)eiises of administration connected xsith such 
 work: Provided furfhe)-, That the right to the use of the water shall 
 l>e i)erpetua:lly appui-tenant to the land irrigated, and beneficial use 
 shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right." That, 
 you see, does not compel the Secretary of the Interior anywhere to 
 enter upon the work of reclamation of the lands themselves. Per- 
 ha|)s the bill is sutttciently In-oad to enable him to do it, but it does 
 not comiiel him to do it. He can limit his work absolutely to the 
 stoi'age of water or to the construction of a canal that will carrj- the 
 stored water, as Mr. Mondell suggests, to some point where private 
 enterprise can take the matter uji, and it pi-ovides an elastic method 
 of compensation. The method can be eitlier by increasing the price 
 of the land or by a charge for the use of tlie water, and that charge 
 can be, according to his judgment and discretion, ])y tlie acre-foot, as 
 iVIr. Mead suggests, or he cau attach a water right to the land itself. 
 The endeavor lias been to make that so elastic that the Secretary of 
 the Interior, with the aid of the Geological Survey* and the experts 
 c»f the Government — the Agricultural Department and the Interior 
 Department are in absolute harmony upon these questions; they are 
 acting in absolute harmony to-day upon the foresti-y question, and 
 doubtless are on the irrigation question — that the Secretary of the 
 Interior, with reference to each project, can devise rules and regula- 
 tions for that project that will work out the greatest good to the great- 
 est number and at the same time retain this fund inviolate for the 
 reclamation of other lands. 
 The bill provides: 
 
 That in case the water thus provided shall be more than sufficient for the recla- 
 mation of the public lands, or if land in private ownership has been found by the 
 survey above authorized to be better suited for the utilization of the stored or 
 divided waters, or if there is a sufficiency of both, then the right to use such water 
 may be sold at rates and on terms to be feed by the Secretary of the Interior, but 
 no water right shall be sold to any landowner or occupant for an amount exceed- 
 ing 80 acres. 
 
 Tlie puipose there, as far as entry is concerned, is to permit the 
 occupation of lands, and the purpose, so far as giving the right to use 
 water is concerned, is to prevent the monopoly of lands. As it is in 
 the West, through unwise land laws, we have great land monopolies, 
 in some cases as man^' as several hundred thousand acres being under 
 one ownership. I think Mr. Maxwell alluded to a case where you can 
 travel on one man's land for 100 miles. So that the purpose is not to 
 allow the man who wants to monopolize land to get the ]:»enefit of that, 
 but make it to his interest to divide up his land into 80-acre tracts for 
 these grantees and then obtain these rights. It works no injury to the 
 landowner. He is not dej^rived of any vested right, but it will be to 
 his interest to divide up his land and to sell it. 
 
 These are the provisions of the bill. I will be glad to answer ques- 
 tions regarding it at any other time, but as Mr. Mead's time is limited 
 I will now yield to him. 
 
 STATEMENT OF ELWOOD MEAD, IRRIGATION EXPERT OF THE 
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the situation which irrigation has 
 reached in the West seems to be something like this: That this mat- 
 ter was originally left to private enterprise, and the pioneers of irriga- 
 tion selected the best localities, and in doing so were able to take 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 
 
 water direct from streams at very little more expense than is now 
 required to take water from main canals, simj)ly because of the favor- 
 ing conditions After the most favorable opportunites had been 
 reached, then private enterprise attempted reclamation on a larger 
 scale. But the experience of recent years has been that those large 
 enterprises — the aggregation of capital, or l)y partnership or corpora- 
 tions — are unprofitable. So we have practically reached the end of 
 unaided development. We have been helped, in a measure. 
 
 Mr. Ray. If that is true, that these private enterprises which have 
 been at liberty to select the most favorable conditions have not been 
 able to find it profitable, is not that proof conclusive that it would be 
 unprofitable and unremunerative to the Government of the United 
 States to enter into that work on that line, upon the sale of lands at 
 increased prices for remuneration? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes, sir; if you simply take the money received; but 
 the Government is in a different position from private capital. Private 
 capital derives no benefit whatever from the increase, and in productive 
 and taxable wealth the Government derives a large benefit from the 
 population of the country that is now arid and deserted. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Another suggestion there. The Govern- 
 ment would derive a substantial l)enelit, financially speaking, indi- 
 rectlj' in the sale of its lands, while the private individual would 
 receive nothing except for the use of the watei'. That is, if the Gov- 
 ernment, b}' conservation, paves the way for the sale of 75,000,000 
 acres of land that can be reclaimed, the Government woidd receive 
 something from the sale of that 75,000,000 acres which it would not 
 if they were left sterile and unoccupied, as the case would be if we 
 do not reclaim. So the Government would get some direct compensa- 
 tion for the increased sale of land in addition to t lie indirect advantages 
 resulting in the devolopment of the country. 
 
 Mr. Mead. The Government would receive certain benefits, as has 
 been stated, from the sale of the lands from which |)rivate capital 
 derives no benefit whatever. I do not want to discuss this as a money- 
 making enterprise; I am not discussing it on that basis at all. We 
 have substantially reached the condition I have stated, so far as 
 development hy private enterprise is concerned; yet we have a very 
 large area of i)ublic lands yet unreclaimed and i^ractically valueless 
 in its present condition, and many of the largest rivers are going to 
 waste substantially undiminished. That is a tax on transportation, 
 it is a tax on commerce, it is a tax on the development of the East, 
 which would be largely removed if 3"OU could people that countiy. 
 Those are certain benefits that will be derived by settlement that are 
 matters for the nation to consider. 
 
 Now, if it is simply a question of bringing public lands into the 
 market, if we are to consider first of all the bringing of public lands 
 into the market and the reclamation of public lands at the least cost, 
 in my judgment the place to begin would be to take these large rivers 
 that are now running to waste. The reason they have not been used 
 is because the expense of constructing dams is so great that there is 
 no hope of anj' return from the original outlay. 
 
 If you bring those rivers to the surface of the ground, as the small 
 streams exist — the streams that were utilized bj" the original settler — 
 then settlers will be Avilling to dig out canals on the same terms as 
 were done, and will be able to do it; that is, if you build these diver- 
 sion works without hope of return. You can bring more land into 
 use by building dams in the Missouri and the Colorado, the Snake and 
 
VH) ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the Green river.s, more public lands, and more private lands, possi- 
 bly new lauds, than you can by any sj'stem of reservoirs, no matter 
 what its cost. 
 
 Western develoi)ment, unrestricted development, has brought about 
 a condition of atfairs that makes reservoirs of immense importance. 
 That condition of affairs is, that tlie variations in the flow of Western 
 streams do not accord with the needs of irrigation. Streams rise before 
 irrigators need the water, and they escape before they can use it ben- 
 eficially. In many places streams are torrential in cliaracter, so that 
 storage is an indispensable requisite to the titilization of the stream. 
 On these streams, where there are early floods, where the opportuni- 
 ties for diversion liave been such as to permit the construction of pri- 
 vate canals, more canals have been built than there is water to fill 
 them at the time it is needed. There is more land under cultivation 
 than can be profitably ctiltivated, which creates a condition of very 
 serious distress in many localities, and a very serious waste in many 
 others. 
 
 Let me illustrate that. The investigations made by the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture show that the demands of croi)s in June and July 
 ai'e practically uniform. On many streams there is not 5 per cent of 
 the water in Jidy that there is in June, so if you could only hold 
 back the water that goes to waste one month and use it the next 
 month you could double and treble and ({uadruple the acreage of 
 land which it is impossible to successfully reclaim where j'ou have 
 to depend entirely on the natural flow. Let us take the case of the 
 Rio (4rande, which carries (;;,()0() cubic feet per second in May. The 
 flow drops down to only 2,000 cul)ic feet per second in July. Now, 
 the needs of July are just as great as the needs of May, or even 
 greater. Take another case, where the May and June discharge is 
 from 1:3,000 to 17, 0(H) cubic feet per second, dropping down below 2,000 
 feet in July — only one-eighth as n'luch water in the stream in July as 
 there is iu June. 
 
 Now, that condition of aft'airs has resulted in lliis: People seeing 
 an immense volume of water running to waste in June, Eastern capi- 
 tal has been invested to make use of it, not realizing tliat it is not the 
 flood discharge that measures the success of irrigation, but the low- 
 water discharge, so that we have scores and hundreds of canals and 
 thousands of farms where each year there is a sliortage of water, a 
 greater or less loss of crops, and a great waste and an injurious use 
 of water because of it. Let me illustrate that by the condition of 
 affairs in the Salt River Valley. In the Salt River Valley in Arizona 
 it is known that practically all the canals will luive a short water 
 supply' in August. The result is that they pour all the water they 
 can get into the soil early in the season, so as to create, as far as pos- 
 sil)le, a sort of a local reservoir in their own land; but that is injurious 
 to the land; it is a waste of the use of water if you are not in a posi- 
 tion to use it to the best advantage. It does not produce the results, 
 and then occasionally the shortage readies a point where even that 
 sort of treatment does not prevent a loss of crops. 
 
 Now, if you have to subject youi'self to the same vicissitudes of 
 drought in an irrigated region that you have to where you depend on 
 the clouds, so that the man having tlie ditches is just as subject to a 
 loss of crops as the man who depends on the skies, irrigation can not 
 maintain itself in competition with agriculture that depends on the 
 rain, where your moisture is supplied free of cost. The very foun- 
 dation of success in irrigation is that you shall have an ample water 
 
AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 
 
 supply tlirongliout tlie season. The great need of reservoirs to-day 
 is to take these streams where private enterprise has already built 
 diversion works and where settlers are struggling- to maintain them- 
 selves, and put them in a position to be j)rofital)le and prosperous. 
 That means you are not to build ditches on streams, j'ou are to build 
 reservoirs on streams where the ditches are already in existence, where 
 a system is already in operation. 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. In most instances that would also result in a com- 
 plete system of storage. Most any stream in the lUiited States has 
 enough water for new lands'? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes; let iis take this case. Practically^ all the land that 
 can be practically brought under cultivation to-day on the North 
 Platte is the land that they can depend on getting water from the 
 remaining portion here. It does not make any difference how much 
 runs to waste; it is not safe to attemjit cultivation, because your crops 
 will be started in the spring to be dried up in the summer. Now, -first 
 supply the necessities of users and then the extent of further develop- 
 ments will depend simply on the amount of storage 3'ou can provide 
 for the interests of additional users, permitting a ver}- much larger 
 increased use of the early floods. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Would there ever be a possibility of ever 
 storing a large per cent of that surplus ^^ ater; could you give us some 
 idea, for instance, on the North Platte there, how much of that sur- 
 plus might be stored? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Each stream will depend on the opportunities for stor- 
 ing. Those vary greatly. On some streams the opportunities will 
 permit of a comi)lete utilization of the entire flow. On other streams 
 this will not be possible. There are streams where you could utilize 
 the entire supply, and there are many other streams where the attempt 
 to answer this question would be merely a case of lack of definite 
 information as to the size of storage works. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. It is liardly likely the flood waters of the Platte would 
 be stored? 
 
 Mr. Mead. I think they could be; I think tliat is a stream that 
 could. I think the Snake River could by impounding in Jackson 
 Hole. That of itself now serves as a sort of a reservoir. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I wish to call j^our attention, Mr. Mead, to the 
 fact that there is nothing to prevent the supply to existing ditches 
 under this bill. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I understand that; I nm simply explaining the situation. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I would like to call your attention to one proposi- 
 tion. Assuming tliat you start with this reclamation fund, and the 
 reclamation of the West depends on keeping that fund good and even 
 increasing it, how would you, if you simply turned the water into the 
 streams, ol)tain an increase of that fund? 
 
 Mr. Mead. If you will pernut me to complete the discnssion I am 
 making I will take that up later. The situation which confronts the 
 (Tuvernment in taking up this matter it seems to me is this: That 
 you can not build dams in these great rivers and then let the people 
 build the canals without any interference with local inst it utions. You 
 would not expect to Iniild a dam and get any revenue from it. These 
 reservoirs will be located largely on streams where ditches are alreadj' 
 in operation, where those ditches have certain rights under State laws, 
 where there is a system of administration. In Colorado there are 
 about 100 officers who raise and lower these head gates, so that the 
 rights of the different proprietors of water under State laws are pro- 
 
92 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 teeted; in Wyoming- abont 40 or oO; in Nebraska tlie same number 
 or a loss number. Now, if the Government ])nilds storage works, just 
 as it would build dams, just as they Iniild docks as a means of regu- 
 lating the flow of the stream and permitting a larger use, and make 
 no attempt to charge, there comes no interference or conflict between 
 what the Government is doing and what the State has already done; 
 but if the Government makes the attempt to collect revenue and 
 derive a return from this Avater in order to market its goods and col- 
 lect its rental, it nuist ])e in a position to protect that water when it is 
 turned into the cliannels of the natural streams, and that means 
 they must have some authority to raise and lower those head gates in 
 those streams. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I will ask you where a private individual now 
 stores watei- is tliere not a law in most of the States by whicli he can 
 deliver that stored water at any point on the stream that he wishes? 
 
 Mr. Mead. And compel the State officers to regulate the head gates 
 in accordance with itV 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I do not know about the latter, but is there not a 
 law winch gives the man a right to store water and the use of the river 
 channel to carry it where he wishes':' And if tliat were so, would not 
 that law protect the United States, if it was the owner of the stored 
 water, the same as it would protect an iudiAidual? 
 
 Mr. Mead. There is only one law. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. There is such a law in Nevada. 
 
 Mr. Mead. IJut Nevada has no officials to regulate the head gates. 
 There is only ono State that has; that is Colorado. 
 
 To go back. I have no ol)jection to the principle of I'entals, no 
 objection to that at all. I think it would be perfectly proper if a 
 State, considering water public property in a stream, should charge 
 for it. It is not the lu'inciple of rentals, ])ut it is tlie question of work- 
 ing out a system l)y which the Governmeut will collect its rentals 
 without interference or disturbance of existing State rights tliat needs 
 to be brought to your attention and needs to l)e carefully considered 
 in any legislation on this matter. I am not saying that this can not 
 be done, l)ut I am saying, and I want evei-y member of this committee 
 to regard that as an essential and important IVatui'e of this legislation, 
 that you do not want to enter on this legislati(ui without giving that 
 matter careful consideration and working out some adequate and 
 detinite plan. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. That is, providing the committee proposes a charge? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Do you not think that things could be worked out 
 by the Secretary of the Interior, with the assistance of the Geological 
 Survej^ and the Agricultural Departnu'ut, better than Congress itself 
 by rules and regulations? 
 
 ]Mr. Mead. I think it ought to be worked out before any legislation 
 is enacted, l)efore you determine which of these two policies you adopt. 
 
 Mr. King. Yet the ideal condition would be, in your opinion, would 
 it not, that if the Government itself invests here for the purpose of 
 creating these reservoirs and conserving the water, that they should 
 get rid of the reservoirs as soon as pos.sible — turn them over to State 
 control or to private individuals? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes; I think so; if satisfied that the States had enacted 
 laws that would satisfy the Government. 
 
 In this nmtter of rental I fuUv auree with the idea embodied in Mr. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 
 
 Newlauds's bill, that the revenues arising by the provisions of this bill 
 should go for the betterment of these States; that the disadvantaiies 
 under which those people live, the drawbacks that nature has imposed 
 on that country in this deficiency of moisture, entitle them to that 
 consideration. They are entitled to it because the conditions of many 
 of those States make aid of that kind necessary. 
 
 The facts pointed out by the gentleman who spoke first, that Arizona 
 has 54,000,000 acres of public lands and that these other States all 
 have somewhere near like amounts, entitle those States to be benefited 
 as far as possible by the transactions of the Government in public 
 lands; because the State derives nothing whatever in the way of 
 rentals and taxes from those public lands; they have to administer 
 law and order, to maintain local sidf-government over empires in 
 extent, the greater part of which belongs to the Government — a Gov- 
 ernment that at the present time stands in the way of an alien land- 
 lord, that makes no homes, and pays no taxes. That is a condition 
 of affairs that makes me Indorse thoroughly the idea that whatever 
 revenues there ai'e ought to go to the buildiiig of iri-igation works for 
 the development of that countr}^ and the transfer of them from public 
 to private hands. 
 
 Regarding revenues anj^where, to depend on the operation of the 
 homestead laAV we can not expect any continuous revenue running 
 over a long period of years — that is, any adequate revenue for the 
 work before us; but there are between 300,000,000 and 400,000,000 
 acres of grazing lands, lands that never will be susceptible of home- 
 stead entry, that can not be filed as homesteads now without a man 
 jierjures himself — because you can not make a homestead out of them ; 
 in many cases a horned toad can not live on them in their present con- 
 dition, and it would take a township to support a settler and his family. 
 I do not believe that land is going to be left forever in its present con- 
 dition, that everj^body can use as he pleases, because there will be certain 
 things in the future that are going to make the range stockman and 
 the settlers that use it now as a free common, demand some protection 
 and some settled policy regarding its occupation. If we begin the 
 construction of irrigation works, even the crippled population it has 
 will make the competition for that land so fierce that it is going to be 
 a question of self-preservation and the maintenance of local peace 
 that there be some provision dealing with the grazing lands as well 
 as the other lands. Whatever is done, whethei* those lands are 
 disposed of, whether they are leased, or whatever is done, every cent 
 that comes from those should go into the irrigation fund. When you 
 deal with that question you have opened up a source of revenue many 
 times greater than anything we will get from the occupation of the 
 land through the present land laws. So I believe for the next ten or 
 fifteen years, even if we abandon the question of direct compensation, 
 we would have a revenue large enough to enable the Government to 
 carry on this development in a substantial measure from the proceeds 
 of lands alone. 
 
 (Thereupon, at 12 o'clock, the committee adjourned until 4 o'clock 
 p.m.) 
 
 Washington, D. C, February?, mn. 
 
 The committee met at 4 o'clock x^- ni., Hon. Thomas H. Tongue in 
 the chair. 
 
 The Chairman. Mr. Maxwell is here, and as Professor Mead has 
 not come in we might listen to Mr. Maxwell. 
 
04 AKID LANDS OB^ THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 STATEMENT OF GEORGE H. MAXWELL, CHAIRMAN OF EXECUTIVE 
 COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Mr. 3[axwell. I wisli to speak of the Newlands bill, No. 14088. 
 I think a g'ood name for that bill would l)e to call it the "omnibus 
 bill." As we came in, Mi-. Chairman, you referred to this matter, and 
 to the point that the Government luid expended during a x>ei'iod of 
 years a large anuiunt of money for i^reliminary work along the lines 
 of this irrigation matter, and it is undoubtedly true that after fifteen 
 or twenty years of (Tovernment investigation we ai"e no further along 
 than we were at the beginning, so far as the actual rechimation of the 
 land is concerned. An immc^nse fund of valuable information has 
 been developed, and the time is ripe for action. Undci' tliis bill to 
 which T refer, the Government can begin action imnu'd lately, and I 
 l)elieve along lines which remove every reasonable objection which 
 has ever been raised to the Government undertaking the great Avork 
 of bringing al)out the reclamation of the arid donuiin. 
 
 The first i)oint which it seems to me is important in favor of the 
 Newlands l>ill is that under it ever^^thing can be done which is sug- 
 gested to be done by each of the other bills now l^efore this commit- 
 tee. For instance, Mr. Wilson has a bill for the construction of the 
 8an Carlos reservoir in Arizona. Thei'c is also an item of appi'opria- 
 tion in the Indian bill of 1^100, ()()() to make further soundings to the 
 bed rock and to segregate the land. If that item passes, that part is 
 provided for, but if not, a reservoir could bo built under the New- 
 lands l>ill without any further legislation. Mr. jVIondell has intro- 
 duced a measure which i^rovides that the fund derived from the sale 
 of public lands may l)e used for the survey and construction of irri- 
 gation works. As I understand, it is not contemplated in his idea, 
 oi" bill, that any of the moneys expended should be returned, and 
 his bill does not provide for any consti'uction work, but merely for pre- 
 liminary surveys. So that all that is provided for nndei- Mr. Mondell's 
 bill can l)e done under Mr. Xewlands's l)ill, No. 14(188. 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. My bill provides for a specific report, and of course 
 auy (piestion as to what should be done — as to whether the Govern- 
 ment should receive a return for its expenditures — would be a question 
 which would be raised when the specific propositions came up. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. That would require further Congressional action 
 under your l)ill. Everything that can be done, practically, under 
 your bill can be done practically under Mr. Newlands's bill without 
 further legislation. The l)ill to which especially my attention has 
 l)een called is one of Judge IJarham's, providing for the complete 
 investigation and survey of the arid donuiin. That bill is a thor- 
 oughly well-considered ])ill to the point to which it goes, but it does 
 not go to the point of allowing construction to begin. Under the 
 Newlands bill the surveys provided for by Mr. Barham's bill can be 
 made, and construction can be l)egun. 
 
 Mr. Uarham. Is there a project now so completely examined and 
 surveyed and estimated that the Secretary of the Interior could let a 
 contract under this bill? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I understand that complete plans and surveys have 
 lieen nuide by the Geological Survey, and those plans and surveys are 
 now printed in the re})orts of the Geological Survey. I will ask Mr. 
 Newell if that is not so. 
 
 Mr. Newell. We have printed the plans and estinuites for several 
 
AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 
 
 projects, two or three in Nevada and several in California; also the 
 plans for the San Carlos dam, on Gila River, and those for the diver- 
 sion of St. Mary River into the head of Milk River in Montana. These 
 plans have been made for ascertaining- the cost; for actnal construc- 
 tion additional details slionld be worked ont. For example, in con- 
 nection with the San Carlos dam, on Gila River, we should uncover 
 the foundations in order to make additional drawings and specifica- 
 tions. When we have investigated the conditions there and settled 
 on the exact position, we will be ready to go furtlier. 
 
 Mr. MoNDELL. You want to investigate there as to the exact loca- 
 tion of the dam? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir; it is a question of a few feet up or down the 
 river. 
 
 Mr. Barham. The plans and specifications are not complete? 
 
 Mr. Newell. The $100,000 item which has just been passed for that 
 purpose by the Senate in the Indian bill provides several things: To 
 continue the investigation as to particular details, to acquire the dam 
 site, and to ascertain what the benefits will be, as well as the cost, and 
 to lay the scheme out in all its i-elations to develoi^ment of that part 
 of the country. 
 
 Mr. iVlAXWELL. What I intended to say was that under tliis bill 
 which I have ])efore me, Mr. Newlands's bill, a report would be required 
 to the Secretary of the Interior, with a complete plan, estimate, and 
 survey, upon which he would determine whether he Mould order con- 
 struction. I suppose that in making reports of that kind, any surveys 
 heretofore made by the departments could be utilized without the 
 necessity of doing new work. 
 
 In the bill there is, first, the provision for setting aside the fund; 
 second, the provision for preliminary surveys, plans, and estimates of 
 cost; third, for the making of a report, through the Secretary of the 
 Interior, showing all the details in reference totlie proposition; fourth, 
 the power vested in the Secretary of the Interior to order the con- 
 struction of certain works upon certain conditions, one of which is 
 that no contract shall be let until the necessary funds are available. 
 Another is that where lands are to be irrigated under any on'e of these 
 systems, such lands shall be withdrawn from all other entry except 
 entry under the homestead act, the idea being that in the absence of 
 such i3ro vision the speculators would immediately jump in and locate 
 scrip or make some other sort of speculative enti'ies, which is against 
 tlie policy of this legislation, its object being really to create homes 
 on the public domain, and to settle it. The act provides that where 
 the construction is ordered the cost of the work shall return to the 
 Treasury through the funds derived from the use of the Avater. This 
 Avould make a charge u[)on the land. 
 
 The great advantage of this bill is that there is not a section in the 
 West, from Arizona to Idaho, and California, and Nebraska, whose 
 needs are not fully provided, with the single exception that where 
 conditions exist under which it is not feasible for the Federal Gov- 
 ernment to build the canals and reservoirs and get its money back 
 from the use of the water, under those conditions a further applica- 
 tion must be made to Congress. There is absolutely nothing which 
 you must do to accomplish a reclamation of the arid lands, which can 
 and ought to be done by the Federal Government, that can not be 
 done under this bill, with the exception of those projects in localities 
 where the conditions are such that for some cause the Government 
 can not build a reservoir and get its monev back from the use of the 
 
*,)() ARID LANDS OF TllJi UNITED STATES. 
 
 water. It is lianlly a justi illustration with reference to the bill to take 
 that condition as the only condition for consideration. 
 
 There are a great multitude of places where the Federal Govern- 
 ment can build reservoirs, and can build main-line canals, and can so 
 connect the source and su^^ply of the water with the lands on which 
 it is to be used that there is no possibility of complication coming 
 about. It permits the Geological Survey, which of all the depart- 
 ments of the Government is the proper department to make tliese 
 investigations, to make them. If the Survey finds that the Govern- 
 ment can ]>uild a reservoir and canal to the Government lands, and 
 possibly also to intervening private lands, and that the enterprise is 
 practicable, it can so report, and if there is such a place as that the 
 Secretary of the IntiM'ior is authorized to go ahead. If the Geological 
 Survey reports diflicultics. l)y reason of complications in regard to 
 water rights, laws, or anything else, so that in that particular location 
 the Federal Government could not get its money back, then an addi- 
 tional application must be made to Congress. 
 
 Mr. Barham. I wish you would explain to me the meaning of 
 the sixth section of this bill, which says that "upon the completion 
 of each storage or irrigation j^roject the cost thereof shall be ascer- 
 tained, and the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe such rules 
 and regulations as to the prices of land 'entered or to be entered' and 
 the right to the use of the water," and so forth. Now, that contem- 
 plates the use of the water only upon public lands, does it not? 
 
 Mr. Maxw^ell. I think not. "And the right to use the water pro- 
 vided by such work" — I think that is intended to cover both private 
 and public lands. 
 
 Mr. Barham. How could you read it without "entered or to be en- 
 tered " — to leave those out — and put the construction you had upon it? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. If there is any ambiguity there it should be reme- 
 died, because there are places, and many of them, where there are 
 intervening private lands, and the private lands and Government 
 lands are together, like the squares on a checkerboard, and unless you 
 can jirovide that the private land should have its share, and the Gov- 
 ernment should ha^'e its share of the water, you would get into difti- 
 culties about the distribution of the watci-. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Section G is intended to give to the Secretary of 
 the Interior the power to make rules and regulations not only as to 
 the prices of watei- but the prices of the land itself in case it should 
 be regarded as advisable to put into the price of the land the cost of 
 the enter])rise. whatever it might be, so as to get the entire cost out 
 b}' a I'easonable price placed upon the land. The woi-ds "entered or 
 to l)e entered" mean not only the entries to be made in the future as 
 to the making of the contract, but the (entries made from the filing of 
 the report u}) to the l)eginning of the conti-act, for it is declared in 
 the preceding section that all lands entered after the filing of the 
 report are to be stibject to the charges and rules made by this act. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Sul>.ject to the entry of the land. What was in my 
 mind was railroad land. Of course, we must treat that sul),ject. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. This clause only applies to the price of the public 
 land. It is provided that the price for watei' for use on the railroad 
 lands and other lands in private ownership shall be sufficient to repay 
 the cost of conservation. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. That is in clause 7. Between them it is provided 
 that the right to use the water on the land is resfi-icted to SO acres — 
 that is, no one landowner can have m!>re than 80 acres. That is 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 
 
 intended to cover the conditions in Arizona to-day in tlie Salt River 
 Valley, where settlers have gone in and taken up Government lands. 
 Here will be a quarter section of Government land, and here is a quar- 
 ter section which is settled, which has been taken up, the next is open. 
 If it is possible for the Government to provide the water there and allow 
 the settlers to have the water on tlieir land as well as giving- it to the 
 Government land, it will not complicate matters at all. The advan- 
 tage in tills bill is shown in a place like the Salt River Valley in Ari- 
 zona, taking the Tonto Basin as an example. I use these examples to 
 show that I am not theorizing. Suppose the Government should build 
 the Tonto Basin reservoir. It will hold 8()O,(J0O acre-feet of water and 
 it will irrigate a very considerable area of Government land, and also 
 provide just what the people cultivating the little farn.is around Phoe- 
 nix need to save them from dying out as they are doing now. They 
 require a little water late in the season. The Geological Survey could 
 go into that community, devise a plan whereby this water could be 
 taken out and utilized by the community, and which would increase 
 the area of the Government land irrigable and would turn the monej^ 
 received back into the reclamation fund. You could say to those 
 people, "Now, if you will make a proposition so that you can take 
 this water from the Government as a cooperative scheme, or in any 
 way that will avoid complication, we will build this reservoir." 
 
 There are hundreds of places in the West to-day where, if the Gov- 
 ernment Avould indicate its willingness to supply water to settlers — 
 and to-day they have no possibility of getting Avater from private 
 enterprise — they would make any desired conditions in the way of 
 shaping their claims to water rights and methods of distribution so as 
 to relieve the Federal Government of every possible complication. 
 These difficulties suggested here are the results of the work of the 
 student in the closet. You can go on the ground in every case and 
 plan a way to avoid them. 
 
 Mr. MONDELL. I would like to interrupt you there just a moment. 
 I do not know that I am a student in a closet. My work has been in 
 actual construction 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. It has been in Wyoming, Mr. Mondell. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. I don't know— I have constructed irrigation canals 
 personally in several States and Territories, and I do not think I have 
 ever been a closet student of this subject. But referring to the 
 matter you have just suggested there, if it is a fact that in the places 
 you have just referred to there is no questiou about the return from 
 the building of these reservoirs either to the Government or the indi- 
 vidual building the reservoir, in a case of that kind there is nothing 
 to prevent the individual from going ahead and building those reser- 
 voirs and getting a return from them, 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. They have been trying for ten years to get private 
 capital to build those reservoirs, and they have hoped against hope, 
 and made trial after trial, for such a long time that they have now 
 just about given up. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. Then, if private enterprise, after carefully consider- 
 ing it, has given it up, that means that it is not feasible, and it can 
 not ])e made to pay. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. That is an important point and one which should 
 be emi)hasized in this connection. Private capital can not conserve 
 water so that it can be made to pa}-, and this is one of the strongest 
 arguments whj^ the Government must take up the matter. It is rec- 
 ti 10(3— 01 7 
 
98 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ogiiizeil by all that the water must be conserved; that the reservoirs 
 must be Ijiiilt, and large streams diverted if we are to make available 
 the fertile but arid lands. Private enterprise has already made the 
 experiment and has demonstrated that it will not pay from a financial 
 standpoint; that is, as regards immediate profits and interest on bonds 
 and stock. 
 
 'J'he investor or speculator looks at these matters solely from the 
 standpoint of profit, and not from that of the greatest good to the 
 greatest number. If, for example, under a given project water can 
 be conserved to supply 5()0,0()() acres with a net pi'ofit of 5 per cent on 
 the original investment, or a similar system will reclaim only ;300,000 
 acres, but yield a profit of s per cent on the investment, the capitalist 
 will not hesitate to adopt the latter, although l)y so doing 2()0. 000 acres 
 of good land are left sterile and opportunities for home-nutking on 
 this land are forever destroyed. 
 
 In the case of reclamation l)y the Government, however, the ques- 
 tion of immediate profits and of a tempting interest return is not con- 
 sidered. The matter of time, also, is not one always pressing; and 
 if it is necessary to wait ten or even twenty years before all of the 
 reclaimed land is disposed of, there is not the ever-threatening bank- 
 I'uptcy, stich as is involved in a speculative enterprise, where the 
 lands or conserved waters are not disposed of at once. 
 
 When a corporation has undertaken such work, the funds raised for 
 preliminary surveys and investigations are expected to l)e refunded, 
 with interest, from a time antedating the survey. In this way the 
 money invested for construction jniist nltimately pay interest fi'om a 
 period preceding the laying of a stone. If for any cause the work is 
 delayed or the settlers liecome discouraged and do not take up the 
 land rapidly, the intei-est charge, running day and night, increases 
 the cost, ami, as has been frequentl}^ the case, tlie Ijoudholders must 
 step in and take the enterprise, reorganizing upon a different basis. 
 These reorganizations are again discouraging to the settler and involve 
 additional expense, and so these enterpi'ises, financially considered, 
 have been failures, altliough of great benefit lo tlie country when con- 
 sidered from other standi)oinls. 
 
 In the case of Government coiistrncl ion, the conditions are far more 
 simple. They are along the line of reclaiming tlie largest possil)le 
 area of arid land at a eost commensurate with the ultimate value of 
 the reclaimed hiiul, and with the probability of nltimate return of tlie 
 cost without refenuice to interest on stock or l)onds. If ten or even 
 twenty year-s are required for the gradual settlement of the country 
 and the disposal of the water, there is no anxiety nor loss, since cx])e- 
 rience demonsti-ates that the conserved watei' and the rechiinu^<l land 
 is slowly l)ut steadily attaining a higher and highei- value. 
 
 "While the interest charges are not considered on the funds thus 
 invested, yet the Government is by no means the loser, as the indirect 
 gain through the increase of population and of taxable propertj^ far 
 more than com{)ensates for any interest charges. 
 
 If a^ corporation could be put i]i the jjosition of tlie Government, as 
 the owner of vast (quantities of land, with vital intei'est in the welfare 
 and pi'osperity of the people, there could l)e no hesitation in consider- 
 ing the reclamation of these lands as one of the best of l)usiness enter- 
 prises; but with the existing condition of things under a democi-atic 
 government the corporation can receive, not the multitude of indirect 
 benefits, but only a profit along one narrow line. 
 
 In the localities concerning which I have spoken they have been 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 
 
 tryiDg for years to induce private capital to complete these reservoirs; 
 but it is impossible to demonstrate liow private capital can receive 
 an adequate return for the rislvS involved. There is no class of 
 property which is considered more uncertain than irrigation bonds 
 and stoclv, owing to the gigantic frauds which have been perpetrated 
 within recent j^ears. Capital can not be induced to go into this work 
 of conservation unless extraordinary profits can be shown, and these 
 are not jjossible; even if they were, it would not be a matter of sound 
 public policy to make of a public utility of this kind a speculation 
 sucli as would load down settlers with inflated debts. 
 
 The Chairman. Mr. Maxwell, are you going to remain in tlie city 
 for some time? I ask l)ecause we have Mr. Mead here now, and it 
 was our intention to hear from him to-day. 
 
 Mr. oNIaxwell. Certainly, if Mr. Mead is here I prefer to give way 
 to him. 
 
 STATEMENT OF ELWOOD MEAD, IRRIGATION EXPERT OF THE 
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Mr. ]Mead. I have no desire to say anytliing more than I have 
 already said to-day. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. I suggest that it would l)e a more orderly proceed- 
 ing to have Mr. Mead conclude his remarks, and then have Mr. Max- 
 well take up tlie subject again. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I really have notlung further to say. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Have you looked over this bill since our adjourn- 
 ment? 
 
 Mr. King. I would like to have Professor Mead discuss the best 
 mode of reclaiming the arid land and at tlie least possible cost, and 
 to have his opinion as to the most practicable and feasible scheme, 
 and the one that will address itself to the judgment of Congress and 
 be the best calculated to receive the suppoi-t of the people who do not 
 live in tlie West. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I should hesitate to undertake that Avithout preparing 
 for it. It is a pretty big subject; I think it would take more time 
 than I imagine the committee could devote to it this evening. I would 
 be ver}^ glad to do that, but I should not want to undertake it and 
 have to feel that I had dealt with it inadecpiately. 
 
 Mr. King. I would like to ask you, do you think that a cession of 
 all the arid lands in all of the States to the States would prove a solu- 
 tion of this ([uestion? 
 
 Mr. Moxdell. Why not the mineral lands also? 
 
 Mr. King. AVell, we have here oidy jurisdiction of the public lands, 
 and to open that subject would provoke a slorm of controversy lliat 
 is not necessary to be raised yet. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I would answer that in this way, that I believe a prop- 
 erly guarded cession, which would prevent an improper use of these 
 lands, would serve the same purpose as national legislation. It would 
 have to be properly guarded legislation; legislation that would provide 
 for a cession in trust ; and I would say further that no answer could 
 be made that would not have to have some limitations. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. What limitations? 
 
 Mr. Mead. There are States in which a cession of the lands would 
 answer every i^urpose. There are States in which irrigation is an 
 im]iortant interest; there are States that have i>aid a great deal of 
 attention to this matter and have laws for dealing with the matter. 
 
100 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 A cession of lands to tliose States, I believe, would be the most effect- 
 ive and the simplest solution of the question. Tliere are other States 
 wliere the irrigation is not of first importance that have no adequate 
 in-igation laws, and where this interest would not receive proper con- 
 sideration. A cession to those States without some adequate safe- 
 guards would 1)6 improper. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Do you Ihink there are anyof these States that would 
 handle the lauds better tliau llie Interior Department or the Govern- 
 in entV 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes, sir. 
 
 3Ir. Reeder. You think there are States tliat would handle the 
 land to better advantage":' 
 
 Ml'. Mead. Yes, sir. Do not understand me to say that they would 
 handle them more honestly. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. They handle them more eftlcientl}' on account of their 
 jnac-hinery":' 
 
 Mr. Mead. They would handle them Ix'tter. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. T«ake several cases in Nevada and C'alifornia. 
 Take the Truckee Valley and the Carson, where the lands irrigated 
 ai'e in Nevada and the storage sites are in California. Do 3'ou think 
 a cession of those lands to Nevada would enable the State of Nevada 
 to conduct the necessary operations to reclaim those landsV 
 
 Mr. Mead. Su})pose the Government goes into C-alifornia now and 
 builds a reservoir, it will have to provide by legislation for the regu- 
 ialion of the stream between those two Stales, and there will have to 
 be legislation of that kind anyway, and it will require some additional 
 rigislation. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. There will be no regulation of the stream between 
 those two States in the case of California and Nevada, because in Cal- 
 ifornia the streams are dashing streams — swift mountain streams, you 
 know — and there is no purpose to be accomplished by the regulation 
 of flow there. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Do you not think that if Congress would pass a regu- 
 lation for the reclaiming of lands in Nevada they could go into Cali- 
 fornia and erect reservoirs? 
 
 The Chairman. Nevada could not do it; I am discussing now 
 simply the ceding of lands to Nevada. 
 
 Mr. Mead. The question asked me was with respect to the manage- 
 ment of the lands. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes, sir. 
 
 ]\Ir. Mead. What I was refeii'ing to in the case of the lands was 
 this, that there is one class of lands at the present time that is not 
 being managed at all, and that is the grazing lands. There are sev- 
 eral hundred millions of acres of lands that never can be and never will 
 be cultivated. They are too rough and liroken, and there is no water 
 for them, and there is no management or any provision for manage- 
 ment of them at the present time. I believe the States as a whole 
 would deal with that question better than it is Ixdng dealt with now, 
 l)Ut possibly some States would deal with it worse, because a bad man- 
 agement is worse tlum no management. 
 
 Mr. King. There is no management at all now':' 
 
 Mr. Mead. No, sir. I think ultimately the Government will do 
 something with all these lands. I do not think there is an}' prospect 
 of the lands ever being turned over to the States if the Government 
 goes into the work of reclamation. It will handle the lands. 
 
 Mr. Barham. What I wanted to get at by my question is this: We 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 
 
 have been trying to study this question for about six yeais here, and 
 we were all originally of the oj)inion that the lands ought to go the 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Now, you take Nevada for an illustration. How 
 would it be possible for Nevada to conserve the waters of California 
 under an act passed in Nevada; and yet is it not possible and legiti- 
 mate for the Congress of the United States to do that very thing? 
 
 Mr. Mead. I think it is. 
 
 Mr. Barham. How^ far would you go toward an irrigation of arid 
 lands, that is, the conservation of the water, simply to conserve the 
 waters in reservoirs? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Do you mean by the Goverment? 
 
 Mr. Barham. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. 3IEAD. I believe it is proper for the Government to build dams 
 in large rivers where the expense of diversion is at present prohibi- 
 tive. I believe it is proper for the Government to l)uild storage reser- 
 voirs at the head of streams to regulate the flood flow of those 
 streams. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Would you go further and carry the water upon the 
 lands and distribute it? 
 
 Mr. Mead. No, sir. 
 
 Mr. Barham. You take it in mj^ State. 1 do not ask this for the 
 purpose of defeating legislation, but for the purj)ose of being able to 
 answer questions. You take it in my State, whei-e the waters are all 
 appropriated over and and over again, and there is an existing law, 
 if they are not, whereby they could l)e appropriated over and over 
 again. You take any scheme in Calif(n-nia, and you reservoir a lot of 
 water. That water of necessity would go into the hands of private 
 corporations ov individuals. 
 
 Mr. Mead. It ought not to. 
 
 Mr. Barham. No, of course not. 
 
 The Chairman. It would simply run down the stream in its accus- 
 tomed course, if itw'ere turned into the stream. 
 
 Mr. Barham. No, sir. Here are man^^ ditches in i)laces which do 
 not carry half the water that they would or could use in the months 
 that need irrigation. These corporations or individuals can not give 
 their customers half as much water as they want. Suppose you con- 
 serve all the waters pi-operly open to conservation. The appropria- 
 tions in California made, or to be made, would take all the waters 
 which it was possible to catch in reservoirs, and how is it possil)le to 
 avoid the fact that you are going to enrich these corporations that 
 have the ditches there now? 
 
 Mr. Mead. In ttie first place, I do not believe that the right to water 
 should l)elong to a comi)any or to a speculator, but these rights should 
 attach to the lands which are irrigated. 
 
 Mr. Barham. But here it is the other way. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes, but the question you have to consider is whether 
 you will have California amend its laws or whether you will have the 
 Government enact laws for California. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Of course, we could not ask California to amend her 
 laws. These rights are all vested rights attached to the lands that 
 have canals there. 
 
 Mr. King. Does not your case suggest one of the almost insuper- 
 able objections to the Government attempting distril>ution, where not 
 only the high water but the low water has been taken iij)? 
 
 Mr. Barham. I want to get at tlie facts, that is all. 
 
102 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Mead. It seems to me tliat if the Fe(lei'ul Goveriiiueiit should 
 establish a stora,u,e reservoiv in the case you suggest, the first thing 
 would be to determine the maximum a[)propriation in high water, and 
 then tlie (Tovernment could only get anything above that maximum. 
 For instance, if in high water they have appropriated there 1,000 
 inches, the Govei'ument would have to keep on carrying down to them 
 1,01 H) inches, and it would have to conserve water above that 1,000 
 inches or else its work would benefit none but those who were already 
 using that amount. And al)ove that 1,000 Indies the Government 
 unquestionably, as an a|)propriator, could sell anything more than 
 that which was available. 
 
 Mr. IjARHAM. 'I'hey could sell the water? 
 
 ^,Ir. Mead. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. r>ARHAM. How would you distribute the water? 
 
 3Ir. Reeder. Could you not measure that water where it goes out 
 of the j-eservoir, and is not there a system which permits that water 
 to go out (h)wn that stream 5 or 10 miles, and the same amount to be 
 taken out down there? Your weir tells you what amount you x^ut in, and 
 then you go down Ix'low and take out the same amount, less evapora- 
 tion. I)Ut when you come to a place whei-e you have appropriated 
 more water than absolutely exists, that could not be don(^ in sueli 
 a place unless the}' could get some scheme that would solve this ques- 
 tion. If you can sa}^ to them, "If you can arrange this so that you 
 people can pay for it, we will (h) it, but if you can not nuike such 
 arrangements we will go to Nevada or sonunvhere else and do work 
 there.'" 
 
 The Chairman. It. seems to me those iilaces where they have appro- 
 priated the complete amount of water, where it is done by corpora- 
 tions, as I uiulerstand it is done in California, it strikes me that those 
 are good places to let these corporations build their own storage 
 reservoirs. 
 
 Mr. Maxweel. This bill (h)es not really have any application to 
 the interior valleys of California. It does not apply there, l)ut there 
 are immense regions where it will be the salvation of the people. 
 
 Mr. liARHAM. Oh, well, I have projects in my own State, plenty of 
 them. Foi" instance, there is one for running a tunnel through to 
 Willow Slough, I Ix'lieve. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. That is a place where tliis bill would work to a 
 charm. 
 
 Mr. Mead. It does not make any dift'erence what l)ill you pass, 
 whenever it goes into operation you ai'e going to run into that <[ues- 
 tion of whether ,^'ou are going to recognize the right of each State to 
 distril)ute water in accordance with estal)!ished laws and customs, or 
 Aviiether the Government is going to assume the i-esponsibility on this 
 ;\iiole ([uestion, if it does not recognize State rights. 
 
 .Mr. King. Pardon the interruption, but do you not think that we 
 have got to recognize State rights, and the laws of the sovereign 
 Slates, wherever we go upon a stream where appropriations have been 
 made; and the only jilaces where the Federal Government would 
 assume sui)reme control would l)e where Ihere are no appropi-iations? 
 
 Mr. Mead. I see no objection to the altei-native proi>osed a moment 
 ago, that this Government should establisii certain conditions upon 
 which it would appropriate funds. 
 
 Ml'. KiX(4. I wish to be pei-fectly frank with you, and I wish to say 
 tliat I should oppose any bill, I do not care how beneficial to my State 
 or any other State, whicii seeks to abrogate tliei'ights of the States to 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 
 
 control their own regulations and rights with relation to the distribu- 
 tion of water. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. This bill especially preserves all those rights. 
 
 Mr. Phillips. How far should the National Government go in the 
 conservation of water in opposition to State laws, or where should 
 they stop? 
 
 Mr. Mead. I see no objection to the General Government passing 
 an act to provide that all the water which is rendered available should 
 attach to the land irrigated ; that there should be no charge for the 
 distribution except a carrier charge, and the right of appropriating 
 those waters for speculative purposes should not be recognized; and 
 I see no reason why every State should not enact a law of that kind, 
 Tlie Government required tlie States to provide certain guaranties in 
 connection with the Carey Act. The States had to pass satisfactory 
 laws, laws that were approved by the Secretary of the Interior, l)efor*e 
 they could undertake to handle that donation. The situation you 
 [Mr. Barham] refer to in connection with certain of the proposed res- 
 ervoirs in your State is familiar to me. I visited the stream you speak 
 of several" times, and there are three or four abandoned ditches, and 
 the single ditch in operation was only diverting about one-quarter of 
 the water of that stream, and the rest was all going to wjiste, simply 
 because of litigation. Parties or corporations have l)een seeking to 
 establish control for speculative purposes, and tliey have tied up the 
 use of that stream almost entirely by litigation. Tlie first step in irri- 
 gation development is to get just and effective State legislation. But 
 the difficulties that the States have had in enacting proper and suffi- 
 cient State laws show the impending difficulties that Congress would 
 encounter if it undertook this work. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. Do you not think there is a field in which tlie Gov- 
 ernment could operate in which it would not interfer(» at all with the 
 State, or the State intcn-fere with those operations. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Certainly. I think some works are of such magnitude 
 and cost and their benefits extend over such vast areas that the Gov- 
 ernment is the only agency now equipped to undei-takc them. All 
 storage works on the heads of streams should remain public works. 
 They'should not be pi-ivate works even if the private parties were 
 willing to build them. 
 
 ]Mr."MoNDELL. Suppose that Congress should decide to enter upon 
 a system of construction of storage reservoirs, and of those only, and 
 should also determine that it wo'uld not enter upon a scheme unless 
 some way of receiving compensation for the project in, say, ten years, 
 either l)y means of tlie land or of the water, could be arranged 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes? 
 
 Mr. Mondell (continuing). What plan would you suggest of com- 
 pensation? 
 
 The Chairman. Perhaps Mr. Mead has not considered that (luestiou. 
 
 Mr. Mondell. T think we want to have the professoi' outline his 
 ideas of what national legislation ought to be passed and what the 
 General Government ouglit to do in the way of legislation. Probably 
 the professor has thought out something on that line, and I would be 
 glad to have any suggestions in that direction. AVhat would you think 
 is the proper field for the General Government to work in— what it 
 ought to do? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Just as a prelude to that statement let me say, in con- 
 nection with Mr. Newlands's (luestion, that I do not believe the Gov- 
 ernment ought to undertake tlmt sort of work with the idea of getting 
 
104 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a direct compensation until it liad determined first whether it was 
 willing to assume control of the streams and regulate the head gates 
 of existing ditches and collect its revenues eitlier from the water or 
 the land. If it decides it does not want to do it, then it should wait 
 until the State makes tlie laws that would insure the collection of 
 these rents and their transfer to the Government. 
 
 Mr. Barham. We ought first to find out the facts in each particular 
 l^roject and then legislate for that particular project? 
 
 Mr. Mead. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Barham. That is my idea. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Now, I think that the Government can appropriately 
 begin with the construction of storage reservoirs, Ijecause they are 
 needed on a great many streams to supply the deficiencies of those 
 streams, and as a means of furtlier extending the reclamation of the 
 cultivated area or the reclamation of public lands l)y permitting a 
 larger use of the flood waters tliat now run to waste early in tlie sea- 
 son. The storage works on tlie head waters of streams are works 
 that in the first place should not be built as private works but as 
 public works, for if they are l)uilt as private enterprises the owner 
 of a reservoir has an opportunity in times of necessity to levy almost 
 any exactions he chooses and which the necessities of the farmer 
 will compel him to pay. Witliout the protection afforded by public 
 control of streams the owner of a private reservoir who must turn his 
 supply into the stream Avill often have difficnlty in delivering water 
 to the people who purchase it, so that with i^rivate ownership distri- 
 bution must l)e protected at public cost, otherwise tliere is the danger 
 that the reservoir owner would not make anything. These works 
 ought to be public works, and they ought to be built as an aid to the 
 improvement of the country. 
 
 This is a work that the Government can appropriately enter upon 
 at this time, and if the Governmen-t builds them simply as a metliod 
 of utiliznig our wasted resources and promoting the public welfare it 
 can appro})riately charge nothing foi' the water, relying on getting 
 its compensation in other directions. That does not interfere with 
 development by in-ivate entei'prise or with the operation of State laws. 
 Tlie Government can say that that water shall not belong to any 
 speculative owner, but shall belong to the States, and can provide 
 that the States shall be required to make laws for its distribution. 
 Some of the States would not require any additional legislation, for 
 they alread}^ have it. If the Government charges for it, it must then 
 re(iuire that the States sliall set in operation suitable machinery for 
 collecting the charges for the water from tliose reservoirs, or it must 
 go on the stream and collect them for itself. Tliere are only the two 
 alternatives. Take almost any instance I know of, and unless j'ou 
 have some machinery, some plan under which public ofticials having 
 the law at their backs can raise or lower head gates, there will never 
 be certabity or peace in the distril>ution of water stored with the pub- 
 lic funds. This feature must be considered in any legislation that 
 provides for a return of the money expended on reservoirs. 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. Under tliis bill the Secretary of the Interior could 
 refuse to enter upon a project until some method of compensation 
 was secured, or the State itself made laws insuring collection, could 
 lie not? He could do that as part of the rules and regulations? 
 
 Mr. Mead. He could do this; and could lie not, on the other liand, 
 if he saw fit, build a reservoir in a State like Colorado, which has a 
 State engineer and water commissioners, and theii put his own agents 
 on that stream and make regulations? 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 
 
 Mi\ Newlands. I should think not. This law recognizes the laws 
 of the States in regard to the appropriation and diversion of water, and 
 the United States, in its capacity as a water appropriator, would stand 
 in the same j)lace as any citizen. I should certainly expect the Gov- 
 ernment, however, before it entered upon a project — and I think a 
 business man like the present Secretary of the Interior would certainly 
 take care of that — I should certainly expect that before he entered 
 upon the project at all he would have some method devised, either 
 by State laws or by arrangements with the people who had already 
 occupied the lands, and had ditches along the river, by which he 
 would have comiDensation. That would be simply a business arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Mead. Any legislation which stimulates the establishment of 
 administrative laws by the States is worth far more than the land 
 reclaimed by any storage or other work. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. We have either to take these appropriations as dona- 
 tions, or we have to take them with the hope of returning them to 
 the Government. Now, I am very much in favor of the Government 
 simply building the reservoirs, but I do not believe that we have got 
 to the place where Congress will do that. But if Congress sees there 
 are certain funds that come from those regions, and which are avail- 
 able for use in the work of irrigation, I think they will let us use them, 
 with the provision for a return, and I prefer to do the thing in that 
 way rather than not to do it at all. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. The view of the average business man in the East 
 in this matter is this: "You propose to reclaim 75,000,000 acres of 
 land which is worthless now; will it be worth anything to you after 
 the reservoirs are built and the rivers maintained at an average flow?" 
 You answer, "Yes." "How much?" " From 81 to $10 witliout the 
 irrigating ditches, even in its present desert state, with the chanco 
 of getting water out of a river when reservoired." They Avill sa}^ 
 "\Vell, if this woi-k raises the land to that additional value, it sug- 
 gests to us that there should be some method by which we will get the 
 money back, and by which the same money can be used ovei- and over 
 again in making water available for the reclamation of other lands." 
 Now, the purpose of this legislation is to make the water available 
 for that purpose under such rules as the Secretary of the Interior may 
 provide, and I assume that he will study carefully every project, and 
 look particularly to the compensatory paj't of it, and see to it that 
 either the local regulations and agreements or the existing laws of the 
 States present a method of securing compensation. 
 
 Mr. Barham. I would like to ask one more question, and that is, if 
 in your opinion the Gila River is in such a position now that it could 
 be taken charge of by the Government of the United States under 
 some such project as has been talked of here. Have you sufficient data 
 so that the Government could go to work on that project and demon- 
 strate to the country what can be done? 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Arizona, has a bill pending here for that work. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I have no personal acijuaintance with tlie (4ila River. 
 Mr. Newell can answer that. 
 
 Mr. Newell. In my opinion the matter is in a condition which 
 should be handled along the lines of the Indian bill, continuing the 
 detailed surveys to ascertain all of the facts with the greatest care to 
 ascertain the benefits to be derived and the cost of the work, and to 
 actually begin work in the laying of the foundations as soon as the 
 minor matter of shifting up or down the channel a few feet is 
 determined. 
 
!()(> ARID LANDS ( »F THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Have you niaile tliese surveys and examinatious suf- 
 ficiently, so that you could at once proceed with a contract for putting 
 in a portion of the foundation, at least? 
 
 Mr. Keavell. In reply to that I would say that a provision was 
 carefidly drawn and inserted in the Indian l)ill covering all these 
 features. Now, if Congress is willing, the work can be begun at once 
 an<l pushed through to a successful completion as rapidly as the funds 
 are forthcoming. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Arizona. Has the amount — that is, the cost of the 
 structure — been determined'-' 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Arizona. That can ])e made a complete work for 
 the amount already flgured out, as to the cost? 
 
 Mr. Newell. Yes, sir. The cost has been estinuited upon that by 
 two of the best known men in this country, Mr. J. J>. Lippincott, of 
 Los Angeles, and Mr. James D. Schuyler, who was engineer of the 
 Sweetwater an<l the Hemet dams, so that tliere would be no liesitation 
 aliout building these structures immediately. Tliere are minor details 
 wliich should be carefully considered after knowing the foundations. 
 
 ^Ir. Barhaai. Do von kn(»w of anv reason whv we should not pass 
 the bill of ]\Ir. Wilson? 
 
 Mv. Newell. No, sir. 
 
 Mr. Kin(t. I would like to ask some (questions of Mr. Newlands. I 
 wish to preface tlie questions I ask Mr. Newlands by saying that it 
 seems to me, in order to stand any show of getting legislation on the 
 lines proposed in this bill, we liave got to provide for comix'nsation; 
 and I do not see any reason why men who can goon the public domain 
 ami take up the land after the Government has gone to a big expense 
 and brought the water right to their doors, ought not to be willing to 
 ])ay for it. Homesteaders now have to pay $45 and 650 an acre for 
 every acre of water they get. Now, if the (4overnment pays a large 
 proportion of this — of course it will not paj' for all of it; private canals 
 and lateral ditches will be dug by private enterprise — but if the Gov- 
 ernment pays a lai'ge proportion f)f the cost incident to the matter, I 
 see no reason why they should not pay the Government for the value 
 of the water obtained, and thereby increase this fund, which is con- 
 stantly l)eing diminislied now, foi' the prosecution of further schemes. 
 
 I want to ask Mr. Newlands when, in his opinion, assuming that the 
 Government entei's upon this scheme of I'eclamation, can the Govern- 
 ment safely withdraw from the Stat<' and leave to the State the oper- 
 ation of a reservoir constructed by the (-Jovei'nment? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. As soon as it receives compensation. 
 
 Mr. King. Supjiose a i-eservoir is constructed capable of irrigating 
 1(H»,<H)0 acres of land, and 5(i,000 acres of that water are sold, leaving 
 50,(100 acres unsold. How would you unite the conflicting interests 
 there for tlie purpose of governing and controlling the water, and how 
 would you control the water? Would you have some representative of 
 the (Government there in the State taking charge of this reservoir, and 
 trxing 1o cooperate, as by a soi't of an inN'oluntary partnership, with 
 the other pei'sons to whom you had alienated it? 
 
 ]\Ir. Newlands. I should think that so far as existing occupants 
 are concerned, having existing ditches and partial reclamation, but 
 witliout a snfficieiu-y of water, the Secretary of the Interior could 
 make ai-rangements with that acreage to supply them with so much 
 watei-, and fix it in the shape of water-rights appurtenant to the land 
 irriu'ated. Now. we will assume that a man owninu' SO acres of land 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 
 
 has sufficient flood waters to furnish liim with a foot of water all over 
 his land, and he needs (i inches more durin.u' the period of drought. 
 Rules and regulations should be provided for by the Secretary of the 
 Interior so as to fix the price of that (J inches, and he should make it 
 payable in annual installments, ten annual installments, sa}", and he 
 would very likely even go further and make it a lien upon the land. 
 But I think all that would be a matter of rule and regulations. Now, 
 suppose besides these settlements there are existing public lands that 
 are incapable of reclamation under existing conditions. Their value 
 would be very much greater by reason of the fact that the flow of 
 the stream would be much greater and woidd be pro^^erly regulated. 
 Now, the Secretary of the Interior could make a regulation that from 
 -i5l to $5 an acre should be paid in ten annual installments, say for 
 the land itself, leaving it to a nmn to arrange for the carriage of it 
 through existing ditches. 
 
 Mr. King. Does it not look to you like tliere would be an enforced 
 partnership between the State and individuals and the Government 
 which would estal)lish more or less a system of paternalistic land- 
 lordism? 
 
 Mr. New^lands. No, sir. I think the title to both land and water 
 would gradually drift out of the Government, and I think instead of 
 perpetuating the ownership of land it would have a teudencj' in exactly 
 the opposite direction, for the Government will be constantly parting 
 with its rights, both in land and water, and in the end the control of 
 the reservoirs and irrigation works can be Anally turned over to the 
 homesteaders. I have not provided for such turning over in this bill. 
 Mr. Mead suggested that it would ])e best to turn over the reservoirs 
 to the States. That is all very well if the reservoir is in the same 
 State as the land to be irrigated and reclaimed. IJut suppose such a 
 case as that in Nevada, where these three rivers, whose reservoirs will 
 l)e in Galifornia, iri-igate lands in Nevada. Nevada could not admin- 
 ister a reservoir in California. So I left that out completely, believ- 
 ing that the experiejice of operation under this act would make 
 apparent some method by which that ({uestion could be properly 
 handled. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Do you not think that the homesteader and the Gov- 
 ernment have already gone into a i^artnership, and that until the 
 homesteader perfects his title that partnership does not cease to exist 
 until the final papers are made out':' 
 
 Mr. King. There is no partnership. The Government does not 
 control his crops or his conduct. He is not renting anything. They 
 are in the relation of vendor and vendee. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Yes, and that would he the relation here. 
 
 Mr. Mead. I would like to add one n\ore word. The discussion of 
 Mr. King and Mr. Newlands has suggested to me a little further elab- 
 oration of my answer to this committee a moment ago about legislation. 
 I believe that States which have good laws and proper institutions, if 
 they had the lands they could handle this nmtter l»etter than Congress 
 can, looking simply at their internal interests and ignoring this ques- 
 tion of interstate waters. I believe there are States where they are 
 not equipped to do anything with this question, with either the laud 
 or water, under present laws, and there must be, inevitably, better 
 State water laws in the future, or the interests of irrigation will be 
 seriously jeopardized; and I believe that in those States one of two 
 alternatives must be accepted — either Congress must insist on ade- 
 quate legislation previous to appropriating money to help them, or 
 
108 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it must enact laws of its own and take control there, because there 
 is absolutely no provision whatever in many of these Western States 
 by which there could be any effective distribution of stored water. 
 There is now no orderly or sj^stematic distril)ution of the water of the 
 streams, and one of two policies should be adopted by the Government 
 in this matter — either to put pressure on the States to enact wise laws, 
 and then distribute the water under those laws, or else Congress to 
 take control itself. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Would you suggest that a provision be put in 
 this bill similar to the provision in the Carey Act, compelling the 
 States to pass legislation upon this subject that will be satisfactory 
 to the Secretary of the Interior? 
 
 Mr. Mead. I b^dieve that would be a wise provision, and a helpful 
 provision to the whole Western country. It would stimulate interest 
 and action in this matter. There are a number of provisions in Mr. 
 Newland's l)ill that ought to be incorporated in State laws. They are 
 entirely right. The provision for small acreage and the provision for 
 prevention of speculative ownership of water are wise and proper, 
 and I see no reason why there should not be properly inserted in this 
 legislation that the States should eiuict provisi(uis for the orderly 
 distribution of the waters of the streams and for the collection of the 
 money under State laws, and guaranteeing its payment to the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior as a condition precedent to receiving aid. That 
 has been done in legislation making donations to States before. 
 
 Thereupon, at 5 o'clock p. m., the committee adjourned until Satur- 
 day, February 'J, 11)01, at 11 o'clock a. m. 
 
 Washington, D. C, February 9, 1901. 
 
 The committee met, Hon. Thomas II. Tongue in the chair. 
 
 The Chairman. We would like to hear from Mr. Maxwell in con- 
 tinuation of the discussion of the practical)ility of the Government 
 constructing works for the reclamation of the arid lands. 
 
 STATEMENT OF GEORGE H. MAXWELL, CHAIRMAN OF EXECUTIVE 
 COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Mr. ^Maxwell. At the last meeting of this committee particular 
 attention was given to the fact that tliere are many places where the 
 reclamation of arid land will be involved more or less with the control 
 of water now used in i^art for irrigation. Undue emplmsis was, in 
 my opinion, placed upon this matter, as it is not an insuperable objec- 
 tion, nor one which can not be removed by the application of a few 
 broad principles. This may well be laid aside in favor of simpler 
 and commoner cases, where the Government, as the owner of the arid 
 lands, can reclaim vast areas without complicacy with established 
 rights. It is better to take up these siiDpler casey first and to leave 
 the doubtful matters for solution. In other words the bill under dis- 
 cussion does not purport to deal with the intricacies brought ui), but 
 rather to apply to the great need of the general reclamation of the 
 West. If we diverge from this central idea to discuss special cases 
 we shall soon l)ecome involved in endless side issues. 
 • There are locations wliere the Government can build these irrigation 
 works, and wliere they will be remunerative and profitable as a busi- 
 ness proposition to the Government, although, of course, there are 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 
 
 other reasons wliy the Government would be ])enefited, even though 
 it made no direct profit. 
 
 Referring, for exampk^ to tlie item in the Indian appropriation bill 
 for the San Carlos dam in Arizona, the area of public lands reclaim- 
 able is 100,000 acres, the exact capacity of the reservoir being 241,000 
 acre-feet, and the public land irrigable therefrom would have a value 
 of 85,0o4,900. Tlius, if the Government went into this for a profit, 
 it would produce a value of more than twice the amount of the 
 investment. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Does the estimate cover the cost of all the divert- 
 ing ditches that are uecessarj^ to reclaim the land or simply a 
 reservoirV 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. It covers the main canal also. The entire cost of 
 the project, as I i-ecall it, is something inside of $2,000,000. The cost 
 of the reservoii', I think, is estimated at $1,030,000, but I have made 
 a liberal estimate. The point is that if tlie Government wanted to go 
 into it as a profitable enterprise it could make a profit; but, in my 
 judgment, the Government does not want to do that. What the Gov- 
 ernment wants to do is to create homes on the public domain, and if 
 it gets this money back, that is all it needs. The remarkable results 
 that would be recorded in the West can be illustrated by additional 
 facts with reference to the reasons which are applicable to all the 
 other arid States and Territories. 
 
 In my discussion I have followed an entirely different line from that 
 suggested by Mr. Mead. The difficulties witli Mr. Mead's conception 
 of the subject, in my judgment, are that he illustrates his renmrks by 
 conditions where complications exist which would pi-event tlie satis- 
 factory operation of this bill; but we must bear in mind that there 
 are estimated to be in the neighliorhood of 100,000,000 acres of lands 
 in the West which are capable of reclamation — Government lands; 
 that those lands are scattered throughout a multitude of localities, 
 each locality having certain specific local conditions, and you can find 
 locality after locality, you can find land enough in the West which 
 the Governmeiit could reclaim under the Newlands bill to keep the 
 Government at work ten years with all the money that would come in 
 under that bill v>'ithout running counter to one single objection Mr. 
 Mead has raised. Take the results of this policy. There are, I appre- 
 he'nd, in Arizona at least, 5,000,000 acres of laud which could be 
 reclaimed. I take that as a round sum for illustration. I have heard 
 it estimated as high as 12,000,000 acres. I have heard Hon. Binger 
 Hermann, in an address at a banquet at Phoenix, Ariz., five years ago, 
 
 1 think, estimate the number of acres as 12,000,000. But take 
 5,000,000 acres, reclaiming it on tlie average cost per acre given, and 
 dispose of it at ^20 an acre, and what have you doneV You have cre- 
 ated out of an absolute desert, which is worthless to-day, either to the 
 State or the National Government, property worth $100,000,000. Just 
 think of it! That can be done in Arizona, a Territory where the Gov- 
 ernment owns the land and water and where tlier<' are no complica- 
 tions. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. And the Government also lias entire con- 
 trol of legislation? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Yes. What does that mean to the Territoiy? At 
 
 2 per cent on the hundred that would give Arizona an annual income 
 which would support the Territory. The increase which will pile uj) 
 when you begin to take into consideration the values created by the 
 building of irrigation works in the West dazzles imagination. 
 
110 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Chairman. Let me ask you one (question riglit tliere, if you 
 please. In estimating the amount of acres in Arizona at 5,000,000, do 
 you mean tliat to embrace tlie total arid-land area or the laud that 
 could be fairly reclaimed? 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. The irrigable land only, the land that is reclaim- 
 able. From the standpoint of the Territory of Arizona you have 
 practically created a commouwealth. You have created a property 
 there that will be a basis for State taxation, and so on for all time. 
 You have created it out of nothing. The Government has got its 
 money back. What else has the (Tovernment got? 
 
 At the last session of Congress tliis Government appropriated, I 
 think, #710,000,000, or something over tliat. Gur population is some- 
 thing like 70,000,000. In other words, to make the illustration, if we 
 do appropriate !ii^700,O00,000, we would have appropriated and expended 
 $10,000,000 for every 1,000,000 of population. And yet no man has 
 felt the l)urden. Now, what does tliat nu-an? If it has put 5,000,000 
 acres of this land under cultivation in Arizona, it means a population 
 at the very least of 1,000,000 ; but that is low, l)ecause there are sections 
 in existence in Utah and California to-day whei-e the average population 
 on irrigated land is as many as 1 per acre. Tliere is a saving to the Gov- 
 ernment of 61 0,000,000 per year on the same basis of population. If the 
 population in this case was simply douliledyou coukl collect twice as 
 much revenue, or you could collect half as much from each and have 
 the same as now. 
 
 ]Mr. Kay. How do you figure out so much [n'otit to the Government? 
 A day or two ago I attended a meeting here, and one of the speakers 
 adverted to the fact that corporations, at- the most desirable points 
 and where most feasible, had engaged in this work of buiding reser- 
 voirs and supi)lying water for irrigation, and had abandoned it. He 
 stated that such reclamation work,could not 1 )e carried on because it had 
 proved so costly and unremunerative. Now, if the corporations can 
 not do it, how can the Federal Government take the same land and 
 cany on tliis work and be expected to get great retui'us from it? 
 
 Mr. ^Maxwell. I would like to say, Mr. Kay, that in my discussion 
 here I had not intended to convey the idea that the CTOvernment can 
 carry out this geiKM'al plan and make a profit on each and every proj- 
 ect. ' The pian 1 liave been discussing is based on the idea that the 
 Government shall get its money 1>ack from eacli project, with the 
 l»eiiefit to go to the public from the perjietual basis of taxation 
 created. That is the l)enefit to the State, the creating of a popula- 
 tion from which the Government can perpetually draw revenue. 
 That is sufticient to warrant the Government in reclaiming this prop- 
 erty and adding it to our domain. That the Federal Government can 
 do that when corporations, or even the States, can not do it grows out 
 of several reasons. The advocates of the theory of State cession were 
 insistent in Congress fm- many years before tlie Carey Act. Finallj^ 
 the Carey Act was passed as a basis of compromise. The Carey Act 
 permits each State to take 1,000,000 acres and reclaim it without cost, 
 provided tlie}- subdivided it among homesteaders. Now, if the State 
 had the money in tlie Treasury to reclaim that land under the Cai-ey 
 Act for the very lowest price which it could l)e done, if they could let 
 a contract for spot cash i^ayable whenever Hie work was done, I think 
 that, provided the administration was wise and honest, the State 
 could do it; Init in the first place, the difficulty is that the adminis- 
 tration of tliese matters in the States has not l)een satisfactory; it has 
 fallen into the hands of incompetent men, to say the least; and more 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE LTiSTITED STATES. Ill 
 
 than that, the States have not the money and can not raise it. Take 
 the Territory of Arizona. It lias no fnnds; it can not bond tlie Ter- 
 ritory for this great worlc. If it conld l^orrow the money it couhl not 
 pay the interest, because tlie proceeds from the disposition of the 
 land could not come in until the settler had gone on the land and 
 produced a crop, and lived there a number of j^ears. Yes, not only 
 that; even in the States where they have the resources which would 
 enable them to raise the mouej" b}' direct taxation or by issuing State 
 bonds and entering upon this work, they have refused to do it. In 
 California the people have taken the ground that the Government 
 should reclaim these lands, and they have declined to enter upon the 
 project. In Wyoming and jNIontana, where they have attempted to 
 reclaim lands under the Carey Act, they have not assumed the obliga- 
 tion of seeing it done successfully. They have turned it over to land 
 speculators and allowed them to take the contract and take bonds for 
 their pay secured on the lands. They can not sell those bonds for 
 cash. The law theoretically contemplates that they shall sell the 
 bonds and put the money into the State treasury and then let the con- 
 tract; but they do not do it. I investigated this last summer and I 
 found the law permitted a bonded debt of ^12 an acre upon that land. 
 They were not able to sell the bonds. They contracted with men who 
 undertook to dig the ditches at the highest price they could give them, 
 which was yl2 an acre. The result is going to be in every such case, 
 if they do reclaim the land the men who hold the bonds will foreclose 
 and get the land. Governor J. K. Toole, of Montana, last month said 
 that nnder the Carey Act there had been quite a number of enter- 
 prises started in Montana, but not one acre of land has ever been 
 reclaimed. 
 
 In the last report of the Montana State commission having the mat- 
 ter in charge it is stated that if the bonds could l)e sold and cash 
 obtained the lands could be reclaimed ; but this could not be done, 
 and, as a consequence, the whole matter has l)een declared a failure. 
 
 The so-called Care.y Act is to be found in section 4 of the act of August 
 18, 1894, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil 
 expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending .Tune oO, 1895, 
 and for other purposes" (28 Stat., 372-422), authorizing the Secretary 
 of the Interior, with the approval of the President, to contract and 
 agree to patent to the States of Washington, Oregon, California, 
 Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South 
 Dakota, and Utah, or any other States, as provided in the act, in 
 which may be found desert lands, not to exceed 1,()00,000 acres of 
 such lands to each State, under certain conditions. 
 
 The text of the act is as follows: 
 
 JSEc. 4. That to Mid the public-land States in the reclamation of the desert lands 
 therein, and the settlement, cultivation, and sale thereof in small tracts to actual 
 settlers, the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, be, and 
 hereby is, authorized and emjiowered, upon proper application of the State, to 
 contract and agree from time to time with each of the States in which there may 
 be situated desert lands as defined by the act entitled --An act to provide for the 
 sale of desert land in certain States and Territories, "'approved March thu'd. eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-seven, and the act amendatory thereof, approved March 
 third, eighteen hundred and ninetv-one, binding the United States to donate, 
 grant, and pitent to the State free of cost for survey or price such desert lands, 
 not exceeding one million acres in each State, as the State may cause to be irri- 
 gated, reclaimed, occupied, and not less than twenty acres of each one-hundred- 
 and-sixty-acre tract cultivated by actual settlers, within ten years next after the 
 passage of this act, as thoroughly as is required of citizens who may enter under 
 [he said desert-land law. 
 
112 ARID LANDS OF THE UNITP:D STATES. 
 
 Before the application of any State is allowed or anj^ contract or agreement is 
 executed or any segregation of any of the land from the public domain is ordered 
 by the Secretary of the Interior, the State shall file a map of the said land proposed 
 to bt; irrigated which shall exhihit a plan showing the mode f the contemplated 
 irrigation ami w^iich plan shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim 
 said land and prepare it to raise ordinar^y agricultural croi s and shall also show 
 the source of tlie water to be used for irrigation and reclamation, and the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior may make necessary regulations for the reservation ot the 
 lands applied for liy the States to date from the date of the filing of the map and 
 plan of irrigation, but such reservation shall be of no force whatever if such map 
 and plan of irrigation shall not be approved. That any State contracting under 
 this section is hereby authorized to make all necessary contracts to cause the said 
 lands to be reclaimed and to induce their settlement and cultivation in accordance 
 with and subject to the provisions of this section: hut the State shall not be 
 authorized to lease any of said lands or to use or dispose of the same in any way 
 whatever, except to secure their reclamation, cultivation, and settlement. 
 
 As fast as any State may furnish satisfactory proof, according to such rules and 
 regulations as may be prescrilied by the Secretary of the Interior, that any of said 
 lands are irrigated, reclaimed, and occupied by actual settlers, i)atents shall be 
 issued to the State or itsas.signs for said lands so reclaimed and settled: Piovidi'd, 
 That said States shall not sell or dispose of more than one hundred and sixty aci'es 
 of said lands to any one person, and any surplus of money derived by any State from 
 the sale of said lands in excess of the cost of their reclamation sliall be held as a 
 trust fund for and be applied to the reclamation of other desert lands in such State; 
 that to enable the Secretary of the Interior to examine an 5- of the lands that may be 
 selected under the provisions of this section there is hereby appropriated, out of 
 any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, one thousand dollars. 
 
 In the act makinji: appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the 
 Government for the liscal year ending June 30, 181J7, and for other 
 l)ui'poses, approved June 11, 1S'.)('», there is, under the head of appro- 
 priation for " surveying public lands," the following provision: 
 
 That under any law heretofore or hereafter enacted by any State, providing for 
 the reclamation of avid lands, in pursuance and acceptance of the terms of the 
 grant made in section four of an act entitled "An act making appropriations for 
 the sundry civil expenses of the Gov'ernment for the fiscal year ending June 
 thirtieth, eighteen hundredand ninetj'-five," approved August eighteenth, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-four, a lien or liens is hereby authorized to be created by the 
 State to which such lands are granted and by no other authority whatever, and 
 when created shall be valid on and against the separate legal subdivisions of land 
 reclaimed, for the actual cost and necessary expenses of reclamation and reason- 
 able interest thereon from the date of reclamation until disposed of to actual set- 
 tlers: and when an ample supply of water is actually furnished in a substantial 
 ditch or canal, or by artesian wells or reservoirs, to reclaim a particular tract or 
 tracts of such lands, then patents shall issue for the same to such State without 
 regard to settlement or cultivation: I'rorlded, That in no event, in no contingency, 
 and under no circumstances shall the United States be in any manner directly or 
 indirectly liable for any amount of any such lien or liability, in whole or in part. 
 
 A furthei- inodilication lias been made l)y an act making appropria- 
 tions for sundry civil expenses of the Government for tlie liscal year 
 ending June 30, 1002, and for otlier purposes (approved Marcli 3, 
 1001), "as follows: 
 
 Sec. 3. That section four of the act of August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and 
 ninety-four, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of 
 the CTOvernment for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and 
 ninety-five, and for other purposes," is hereby amended so that the ten years' 
 period within which any State shall cause the lands applied for under said act to 
 be irrigated and reclaimed, as provided in said section as amended by the act of 
 June eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-six. shall begin to run from the date 
 of approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the State's application for the seg- 
 regation of such lands: and if the State fails within said ten years to cause the 
 whole or any i»art of the lands so segregated to be so irrigated and reclaimed, the 
 Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, continue said segregation for a 
 period of not exceeding five years, or may, in his discretion, restore such lands to 
 the public domain. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES 118 
 
 The laws of Wyoniiug', Idaho, and Utah are somewhat siiiiilar, and 
 provide that the State land boards are authorized to make contracts 
 with private individuals or corporations for the main canals or other 
 irrigation works, and also to fix the charge for peri^etual Ayater rights. 
 This right goes with the land and can not l)e sold separately. 
 
 In Idaho and Wj^oming the fixed rate for the purchase of the land from 
 the State is 50 cents per acre. In Utah it is not to exceed 81 per acre. 
 
 Under the Washington law a single commissioner is authorized, who 
 shall have power to make contracts for canals, ditches, or other irri- 
 gation works, reclamation, settlement, and sale of lands. Contracts 
 are to be approved h}' the governor and attorney-general of the State. 
 Lands shall be sold with a perpetual water right at not less than §5 
 nor more than $50 per acre and a maintenance fee of not more than 
 $1.50 per acre annually. The person or persons or corporation whose 
 bid shall be accepted shall own and must maintain all canals for a 
 period of at least fifteen years from date of acceptance of completed 
 works, and tliereafter the same shall revert to the landowners. The 
 successful bidder shall pay to the State for the i)rivilege enjoyed in 
 reclaiming the lands 75 cents per acre to defray expenses and reim- 
 burse the State for outlay. 
 
 In Montana the State, as befoi-e stated, lias been unable to accom- 
 plish anything of note under the Carey Act, for the reason that the 
 State has refused to make itself responsible in any way. The matter 
 has been intrusted to the arid-land-graut commission, Avhich has been 
 vainly endeavoring to dispose of the bonds. The principal facts con- 
 cerning this commission are as follows: 
 
 (1) The State arid-land grant commission is composed of five members. 
 
 (2) It is empowered to select lands and to make surveys of necessary water sys- 
 tems for their reclamation. 
 
 (:3) To enter into contracts for the construction of water systems and to cause 
 the lands to be settled. 
 
 (4) To issue thirty-year (5 per cent bonds to meet the cost of reclamation and 
 settlement of lands, which bonds constitute a lien upon the laud, water rights, 
 water system, and appurtenances to a district belonging. 
 
 (5) To issue thirty-year (i per cent bonds to develop water-power plants and 
 water supply for domestic use, for the redemption of which bonds a sinking fund 
 is provided. These bonds constitute a lien upon the water system and appurte- 
 nances. All bonds can be foreclosed, as in the case of mortgages, for nonpayment 
 of principal or interest. 
 
 (6) To sell such bonds at par for cash and x'ay cash for construction, or to pay 
 bonds in lieu of cash. 
 
 (T) The commission exercises full and immediate control over all construction 
 and re(iuires suitable indemnity from the contractor in the form of a bond from 
 some responsible surety company. 
 
 (8) The commission retains 15 per cent of the entire cost of construction of 
 water systems and settlement of lands until both are fully accomplished. 
 
 (9) The commission operates and maintains perpetually the water system, 
 charging the entire cost of such maintenance and operation equally against all 
 acreage in the district. 
 
 (10) The commission sells all land and water rights, collects all moneys and 
 places tliem in the treasury of the State. 
 
 (11) In the event interest is not paid when due, for want of funds, interest 
 coupons may be registered in the office of the State treasurer, which registered 
 coupons will draw interest at G per cent per annum. 
 
 (12> In the event there is a surplus in the State treasury after providing for the 
 redemption of coupons next due, the commission may require the State treasurer 
 to invest such monej^s in State, county, or school-district bonds, or it may cause 
 such moneys to be placed in trust for the benefit of the bondholders, 
 
 (lo) The commission will provide for the payment of interest and principal in 
 the manner as shown herewith in certificate of selection, terms of sale, and 
 regulations. 
 
 111!)(;_01 8 
 
114 AKLD LANDS OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 Snminiuii' up lUe ^.it nation, the results are best shown iu the uccoiu- 
 ])aiiyiiig table, n\ liicli brings out plainly the fact that after six or seven 
 Ncars of effort less than 1,000,000 acres have been applied for by 5 out 
 of th" 11 States named in the act, and about one-fourth of the acreage 
 contained in this list lias been approved. Less than 8,000 acres liave 
 actually becMi [)aten1ed or disj_)osed of by the Government out of the 
 possible total. In other words, an enormously expensive machinerj" 
 lias ])een creat<Ml b\' law to disi>ose of these lands, and after years of 
 cfi'oi-t and large exi)enditures incurred by the various States in legis- 
 lation and in the maintenance of l)oards and surveys, less than 8,000 
 acres havi' actindly been disposed of. 
 
 SIdhis of selections under oct of AiK/Kst IS, ISO4, 
 
 Acreage applied for by each of the States: Acres. 
 
 Idaho, (i lists . 328, 308. 80 
 
 Montana, o lists -. 91.015. 00 
 
 Utah, ;J lists 236,407.50 
 
 Washington, 4 lists - - 85. 450. 26 
 
 Wyoming, IT lists - 212.210.34 
 
 Total.- -- --- 948,457.90 
 
 Acreage of lists approved (not patented): 
 
 Idaho.olists 57.700.51 
 
 Montana, 5 lists ..- 91.015.00 
 
 Wyoming, 11 hsts -. 99,057.58 
 
 Total .." - -.- 247,779.09 
 
 Acreage of lists patented: 
 
 Wyoming, 3 lists 7,640.91 
 
 Acreage of Hsts still pending: 
 
 Idaho---- .: T - 265.602.29 
 
 J\iontana.. . .- .- -.. None. 
 
 Utah- -.- - ... 230.467.50 
 
 \Vashington - 85. 456. 26 
 
 W yomiug - - 82. 960. 59 
 
 Total 670, 486. 64 
 
 All htit a very small nnmb r of the pending lists are awaiting the action of the 
 States. 
 
 IMi;. Newlands. Is it not a fact thai in many cases the lands to be 
 reclaimed ar<' in one State and the reservoir necessary for the storage 
 of the water to reclaim tlu' land is in another State, and thnsaninter- 
 statc (juestion is iuN'oh'ed':' 
 
 ^Ir, Maxweel. \'ery fre*] ueiitly. 
 
 Mr. Kay. IIo\\' coid«l the United Stales g(t to work and take lands 
 and watei's froni one State and give them to anothei' for the beiietit of 
 another':' 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. I do not umlersland that it does so. 
 
 Ml-. Newlaxds. The pi-oposilion is simi)ly to stoi'e the Hood waters. 
 
 Mr. ^Maxwell. I will illustrate by the case of the land lietween 
 California and Neva<la. The reser\'oirs which must l)e useil to irri- 
 gate the lan<ls of Xe\ ada must be in Ualifornia. Ualifornia can i-eceive 
 no beiielit from them. 
 
 Mr. Rav. To whom do they l)eloiigr' 
 
 ]\Ir. ]MAX^^'ELL. The reservoir sites belong to the (Tovernment. 
 'l'he\- are in the Sieriji Xevadii Mounta.ins. 
 
AKID LANDS OB^ THE UNITED STATES. 115 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. But tliese waters all Ijolonu- to the Government. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. Iu California the Governmenl controls all tliewa'ter 
 connected with the pul)lic lands. 
 
 Mr. Ray. That raises a different proposition, providino; those waters 
 you seek do belong to the General Government. If the}' belong to 
 the General Government, and it is desirable to use them, for instance 
 bj^the State of Nevada, for iriigation purposes, then the United States 
 Government would be at perfect liberty to give Nevada either al)solute 
 fee and title to the water or to give them the right to use the water; so 
 that in California there is no interstate question at all, because Cali- 
 fornia lias no riglit there whatever. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. But California has certain rights. As I understand 
 the first question, it was how the Federal Government could take 
 water from one State to ii-rigate in another State. I was illustrating 
 that by the conditions between the States of California and Nevada. 
 
 Mr. Ray. The proposition of Mr. Newlands was that interstate ques- 
 tions were raised here, because of the fact that tliese waters were in 
 •Califorjiia, and Nevada needs them to irrigate its lands. Now, if that 
 is true, then the United States Government could not interfere and 
 could not avail itself of the water. If it is not true, then there is no 
 interstate question at all; it is simply a question between Nevada and 
 the United States. 
 
 Mr. Barham. There are a whole lot of lakes there we can take for 
 illustration. We will not take Lake Tahoe, because tiiat would involve 
 other inte*i'state questions; but take these others. They are owned by 
 the Govei-nment of the I'nited States. Now, we want to put a dam at 
 the outlet of one of those lakes. It does not affect any private inter- 
 est at all in California to take water and hold it there to be run out 
 into Nevada for irrigation j)Ui'poses. But you could not take Lake 
 Tahoe, because that is owned by private ownership on our side, while 
 on the Nevada side I think you have cut off" the timber. 
 
 Mr. Newlands. Just let me explain the topography there. Tlie 
 Sierra Nevada Mountains divide California from Nevada. As you go 
 along the summit of the mountain there is a slope toward California 
 and a slope toward Nevada. The places where wo propose to' estal)- 
 lish reservoirs are in California; the lands to l)e reclaimed are iu 
 Nevada. All the plains, recollect, are in Nevada; the California side 
 is all mountainous, and all those reservoir sites are in California. 
 These rivers are not navigable, and it is i)roposed to store the flood 
 waters, which otherwise flow into the sinks of the desert, where they 
 can not be utilized. The interstate question I suggest is this: That it 
 would be difficult for the State of Nevada to enter ux)on an enterprise 
 of constructing reservoirs in tlie State of California. Assuming that 
 the National Government grants to Nevada the ownership of all the 
 public lands on that slope in California, why, then, this difficulty pre- 
 sents itself. Nevada is making an investment upon California soil. 
 As soon as that i^roperty is transferred from the United States to 
 Nevada it becomes property subject to taxation ; as long as it is in the 
 ownership of the Federal Goverinnent it escapes taxation. Now, my 
 judgment is that comi^lications will arise, and reservoirs located in 
 California, but l)elonging to Nevada, would simply l»e taxed out of 
 existence. 
 
 Mr. Ray. One of two things is true: Either the waters and lands 
 that it is desirable to utilize for iri'igation purposes in the State of 
 Nevada belong to and are under control of the United States, or they 
 belong to and are under the control of the State of California. If 
 
IK) AKID LANDS OF THE UNITP:D STATES. 
 
 they Ix'loiiu' to and are iindei- tlie control of the State of California, 
 then the Government of the ITnited Stales eonld not interfere and 
 could not avail itself of it. If, on the other liand, they are under the 
 control and belong to the United States, then the ITnited States can 
 grant every right it has to the State of Ne\'ada 
 
 yir. Newlaxds. Excei)t exemption from taxation. 
 
 31r. Ray. .Vnd would not have to pay a single penny l)y way of tax- 
 ation or otherwise to California, because (^ilifornia can not tax that 
 land if it belongs t(i the ITnited States. 
 
 .Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. But the moment it grants it to Neva-da it 
 can. 
 
 3Ir. Maxwell. I think tlie Supreme Court of the United States has 
 answered Mr. Kay's (juestion. In fact, the legal situation is tins: 
 The Government has all the right with reference to t\\v water relative 
 to the public land that any I'ipai'ian owner has, without regard to 
 State laws. 
 
 Mr. Kay. Yon are referring to inivigablc waters. 
 
 Ml'. Maxwell. No; to-running streams. Tliis is the decision of 
 the Supreme Court in 174 United States Keports. In tlie absence of 
 specific authority from Congress a State can not, by legislation, 
 destroy the riglit ot the I'nited States, as the owner of lands border- 
 ing on a stream, to the continuous flow of its water, so far at least as 
 may be necessary for the beneficial uses of the Gov«M'nment jiropei'ty. 
 In other words, the right of tlie riparian owner attaches to all lands 
 owneti by the Governiiieiit , in the liainls of the (Tovernmenl, without 
 rt^uard to State lines. 
 
 Mr. Kay. Tliat is [»erfectly tnu", buti it does not need any decision 
 of tlie Unite(l States Su[)reme Court to decide that; everybody knows 
 tliat ; that is a right of a riparian owner. Now then comes the other 
 ipiestion, even if that be true, if tjie United States (Tovernnient does 
 own that, it is simply a holding, the (nlovernment would have no right 
 whatever, not the slight,est right, to divei-t a single [)int of that water 
 into tlie State of Nevada for the })iirpnse of it-rigation in the State of 
 Nevada. It is simply an instance o\' the right of the adjacent owner, 
 and the fact that the United States owns land in California bordering 
 on this stream does not give it any right whatever to take the water 
 ill that str(vtm and earry it into Neva<la to in'ig;ite lands in Nevada 
 or any other })lace. 
 
 .Mr. Kixc;. In the arid region, either by Judicial decisions or com- 
 mon law, tlie rii)ariaii right has been abrogated, and we do not i-ecog- 
 ni/.e the doctrine of riparian iiroiu'ietorship, and you may have a 
 st.i-eam flowing befor<' _\'our door and if you do not appropi-iate it I can 
 go aliove and appropriate evei-y di'o[) of it. 
 
 .Mr. Kay. Then, if that is your law, it is in conl radictiou to the 
 Su|)reme Court of the I'nited States. That can not 1)e true; it is 
 inii)ossible for that to be true, because if the United States owns land 
 bordering on a. stream, and this decision is good for anything, then 
 the Cnited States (Government has the absolute right to have that 
 water continui' to run by tiie side «tf that land, and it is entirely imma- 
 terial whethei- they ap[)ropriate it or not. There is that decision. 
 Now, the fact: that the State has a difrerent law as to itself and its 
 owners of land does not interfere at all with tlie I'ights of the United 
 States (Government. 
 
 Mr. Kixn. I do not knowth.e deeision, hut in ISiw; Congress enacted 
 that the local laws and customs of tiie States and Territories with 
 respect to the usi' of water should be recognized 1)y the Unitccl States 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 
 
 Governmeut, and the deci.sious of the Federal courts have vecoiiiiized 
 those local laws and customs. 
 
 Mr. Ray. It must commend itself to 3'our common sense that if 
 I own a farm upon a stream in any State of this Union — nnd I do 
 not believe there is a State that has a law to the contrary- — and the 
 water of that stream runs throngh my farm, it is entirely immaterial 
 whether I use it foj- milling purposes or any other purpose, to hold that 
 you, owning land above me, - miles above, may divert all that water 
 and carry it off in another direction and leave mj' farm without water 
 for my cattle to drink, or for me to dip up for any other farming 
 l^urx^ose, would be contrary to the i^rimary rights of nmn. 
 
 Mr. King. That is precisely Avhat I mean to assert; that what you 
 state is not the law. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Tlien you could leave a farm al)solutely dry? 
 
 Mr. King. Yes; if the farmer does not nse the water. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Simply because he does not divert the water, even though 
 it is that water that gives his farm \ alue? Tell me a State wliere that 
 law prevails. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. The case of the Livestocl^: Company r. Booth, in 
 California decides that point — that tlie riparian owner lias no more 
 right than anj' othei- owner. He has the right of use, but he has no 
 right to water that he is not using. 
 
 Mr. Ray. That is just the point I made. If that water runs through 
 your farm and percolates into j'onr soil, your cattle drink from that 
 water, and yon are nsing it for your ordinary farming purposes: you 
 go down witli your bucket, dii> up a pail of that water, and it perco- 
 lates into your soil and it waters your farm. Kow, then, the idea 
 that a farmer above can divert all that water foi' some use of his 
 own is contrary to the prin)ary rights of liumanity, and I never heard 
 of such a proposition before. 
 
 Mr. Kewlands. The riparian doctrine belongs to the wet region, 
 and this doctrine asserted by Mr. King belongs to the arid region, and 
 you will find that beneficial use is tiie basis and measure of tlie right 
 to water. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Do you state, Mr. Newbinds. tliat tliat is a law in the 
 State of Nevada? 
 
 Mr. Newlands. The arid region; yes, sii'. 
 
 The Chairman. If the man above happens to get title l:)efore the 
 man below he can appropriate the water, and then when the man 
 below gets the right to appropriate it it is already gone. Is tliat true? 
 
 Mr. King. No; my proposition is this: You may have a stream 
 running through your ground, and if you do not use it I may go upon 
 the stream above you forty years later and jippropriate all that Avater 
 if you have not subjected it to a beneficial use; then I can appro- 
 priate that much of the water wliich you liave not so used. 
 
 Mr. Barham. If you go up above you can only use that wliich the 
 man below lias not been using. The very proposition that Mr. Ray 
 makes is that the man below has used it. Now, then, you do not 
 mean to controvert that jiroposition at all, because if the man below 
 is using it for irrigation or drinking by liis cattle, or for any other 
 purpose, of course you could not run that stream off, divert tliat 
 stream under any law on earth. You did not mean to say that. 
 
 Mr. King. Oh, no. 
 
 The Chairman. Suppose a dairyman was located on a stream and 
 had 10 cows, and he was appropriating water enough to water his 10 
 cows. Do I undei-stand tliat a man can go upon that stream above 
 
ll'S ARID LAND^^ < )F THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 hiiu anil ai)pr()i)]'iate all the water except that which he has beeu 
 usiiiii' for his 10 cows; and then, when the tlairynian gets ready to 
 enlarge his dairy, and needs more water, that he has no right to use 
 any more? 
 
 Mr. KiXG. That is exactly right. And in some States they do not 
 recognize the right to use water for drinking purposes to be superior 
 to the right to use it for agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Jf the Government owns a million acres of land through 
 which runs a fresh-water stream, and it is the only stream runni}ig 
 through it, and the Government deeds .to me a thousand acres .just 
 al)ove the million acres it owns, do you mean to say that I have a 
 perfect right to divert that river and carry it away from the million 
 acres owned by the Government, and that tliereafter, when the Gov- 
 ernment sells tliat lau'l, the purchasers must go without water'? 
 
 Mr. King. Tliat is it. 
 
 Mr. IjARHAM. I think, as far as the illustration you gave just now 
 is concerned, that in tlie arid-land region the <lecision would be just 
 what Mr. King claims, because for the same reason the Government 
 lias not appropriated that water; it has not used it; it has not begun 
 to use it. If there were people below there who had used it. then you 
 could not divert the water. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Do you think, if they sold to nie ID acres of land above 
 the million acres through which the river runs, that I thereby can 
 become the exclusive owner of the right to use all that water? 
 
 Ml". Barham. Not unless j'ou put it to l)enehcial use on your land. 
 The Governnu^nt has not used the water at all, and it knows when it 
 deeds you the thousand acres of land, or whatever it is, that you can 
 in)t use that land uidess you have a right to divert that w\ater. But 
 the proposition von started out with is elementarv, and I admit tlie 
 law. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Yon have a right to divert that water as it flows through 
 your land for the ordinary uses of that land, if you do not unnecessa- 
 rily detain it, but when it passes on you must restore it to the original 
 sti'eam for the beneficial use of the owners below. 
 
 ]\Ir. Wilson, of Idaho. That is not the law in the arid region. 
 
 Mr. Barham. There is no doul)t that you are right about the ele- 
 mentar}' princii)le of common law. 
 
 Mr. Xewlands. Yes, that is common law, but. not the law of the 
 arid region. 
 
 Ml'. Barham (continuing). But you foi-get this: The use of that 
 Avater is for irrigation, and you own the thousand acres of land, and 
 you have the right to take all the water which is a profitable use of 
 the water, all that is necessary for the i)-rigation of the thousand 
 acres, ami tuiii ba<dv the balance. 
 
 Mr. Ray. ^^>u must restore it, must you not, to the original stream? 
 
 Mr. Barham. Yes; there is no doubt ;!l)out that. 
 
 ]Mr. Ray. In other words, you can turn it out into channels on your 
 own land, but. those channels must come back. 
 
 ]Mr. \ViLS()N. Sometimes it is carried away for distances of over 
 50 miles. 
 
 Mr. KlN(4. You never restore it at all and you do not have to do so 
 under the law in the West. In this contrast Pomeroy on Riparian 
 Rights and Mi'. Gould and you will see the difference l>etween the 
 common law and the law of the arid-land regions. 
 
 The Chairman. Take another view — a situation which is expected 
 to aris(^ very frequently. Suppose a homestead settler in your State, 
 or in Utah, should start to go into the fruit business, and he begins 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 
 
 in a small way ami finally sneeeeds in g-ettinii- an oivliaid of o aci-cs. 
 It is all his means will permit. Now, while he o-ets his orchard of 5 
 acres and turns the water on it, I understand that the riparian owners 
 above cau use all the water except the amount lu^ needs for his 5 acres, 
 and when he gets ready to make an addition to his orchard, to culti- 
 vate 10 acres, he can not get the water for it. I think that is a fair 
 illustration, just like the illustration of the dairyman. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. The State legislature has provided how water 
 shall be appropriated, and there are various steps to it in ditterent 
 States. In our State, for instance, you will file a regulation notice 
 for so many cubic feet per second, enough to irrigate your land. You 
 commence to divert that water, and you are given a reasonable time 
 to divert it, and what that reasonable time is of course differs with 
 each case. But you must pursue it with reasonable diligence, and of 
 course you must reclaim your land with reasonable dilig'ence. 
 
 Mr. King. Mr. Chairman, if 3'ou should go there and start your 
 garden of acres and construct a ditch onlj^ large enough to iivrigate 
 5 acres, and it was found from your outward conduct that that was 
 all you intended to appropriate, then I could go above you a year 
 afterwards, or a day afterwards, and take all tlie i)alance of the stream 
 for my use. 
 
 The Chairman. However, if I started a garden or an orchard, I 
 would be allowed what water I needed, and notice would be taken of 
 my intentions and conduct in the way of enlarging my production. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. We do not have to restore it to the stream. 
 Sometimes we divert w-ater for 50 miles and pass hundreds of home- 
 steads. The theory of returning to the stream is entirely abandoned, 
 ex necessitate re, on account of the conditions which exist. That 
 idea of returning the water to the stream has been done away with, 
 that right has been abrogated, and the circuit court of appeals of 
 San Francisco has affirmed the law we had in that resj)ect. I tried 
 the case in which that was decided, and am familiar with it. 
 
 The Chairman. Another question. Under these State laws can 
 the owners appropriate all watei", so that subsequent homestead set- 
 tlers upon public land that is now unoccupied will have no right to 
 the water? 
 
 Mr. Wilson, of Idaho. Abs(^lutely. It is done over the whole arid 
 region. 
 
 The Chairman. Is not that a serious matter to consider when the 
 Government undertakes to construct these reservoirs? Is there not 
 danger in constructing these reservoirs to store water that may be 
 used l)y owners before it gets there? 
 
 3Ir. Wilson, of Idaho. I do not think that there is any difficulty 
 about that. People go there to farm, sa}', 50,000 acres of land, and 
 they hud there is only sufficient water to irrigate 10,000 acres, and 
 they find that this 10,000 acres is where the water comes out of the 
 canyon, and ho they locate there. You can see what the result would 
 be if you did not permit such a law as that — if you did not permit tlie 
 first man upon the stream to use the water. 
 
 Mr. Barham. Take an illustration that fre(iuently occurs in Cali- 
 fornia. Here are ditches filled with water, and the Avater is ai)pro- 
 priated, all the water — all the water that can be conserved in the 
 mountains hy any bill that has been introduced here. Now, if we 
 build a dam up here in the mountains to conserve the flood waters, 
 how are you going to prevent the possibility of simply feeding the 
 ditches and the ai)propriation of water that has already been made? 
 
 Mr. King. The Government before it builds a (him for conservation 
 
120 AKID LANDH UF THE rNITp:D STATES. 
 
 purposes iiiiist. ascerlaiii the luaxiinuin appi-opriation of all the pro- 
 prietors, l)y eomiiion measureinent, and tlieii it can not liave anything- 
 until those people luive that maximum flow. All a1)ove that would 
 he the Government's, l)eeause it then would be the proprietor. 
 
 Mr. Barham. How can you make that out":' 
 
 Mr. King. You liave to make the measurements. 
 
 Mr. Barham. I don't mean tliat; that is easy. But how can you 
 make out, if tlie Government constructs a reservoir here and catches 
 the flood wat(-r, liow can you make out that they will not be required 
 to let tliose flood waters into the stream":' 
 
 Mr. King. They have got them, tlien, l)y being the proprietor. Our 
 laws recognize an appropriation in July, an appropriation in August, 
 and an appropriation inMa,yui)on the same stream. Many men have 
 riglits to water in May and do not Imve any rights to the water in eTuly. 
 "Mr. Barham. But you liave to divert the water wiiere the ditches 
 are all ready t.o divert it. 
 
 Mr. Ray." If the theory advanced is true, you advance an argument 
 that would knock tliis whole scheme in the head at once. This ink- 
 stand, we will s;iy, is a reservoir of water; all the water available is 
 turned into tlie resei'voir. Here ai'C millions of acres of land immedi- 
 ately below tlial that the Government i)uri>oses to irrigate and pur- 
 l)oses to sell ibi' homesteads; they get around the water in here and 
 open u\) their dilches; they sell to a few men up here [indicating] 
 1(J,(K)0 acres, and then they sell to these people down here, and they 
 commence irrigation and it uses uj) all the water to irrigate these 
 little farms up here, covering a tenth of it, or may be a quarter of it. 
 The i-est of it goes dry. These men have no benefit whatever; or, if 
 you undertake the whole, then it is not- suflicient to irrigate the whole 
 and you ivndei- the whole worthless and your whole scheme goes 
 wrong. 
 
 Mr. Reedei;. When they Iniild that reseivoir they know Avhat 
 they can irrigate aii<l tliey ii-rigate evt'ry foot they propose to and no 
 moi'e. 
 
 ]Mr. KiN(;. I can give 3 on an illustration of a stream that iri-igates 
 l',()(iO acres of ground in June and July and about ;),000 acres in May 
 and Api'il. If wehad enough land thei'C close by wecould irrigate 7,000 
 or ,s,()()() acres in April and May; and if we could store that water and 
 let it come down later, instead of only having enough for 2,000 acres 
 later in the season we could irrigate 5,000 or 0,000 acres. The Gov- 
 <n'nment knows now that the maximum appropriation of water upon 
 that stream is :),ooo acres in high watei" and L\000 acres in low water. 
 It knows it has the right l.ij" husbanding the water to have all the 
 surplus which it husl>aii(ls; therefore it has got- to figure upon giving 
 to those peoifie there ;],000 acres in si)ring and enough for 2,000 in 
 August; but all the balance it can have and do what it pleases with, 
 and In* building a i-eservoir it can store enough to have 5,000 in July. 
 
 Mr.RAY. Who is to have the first right to water out of these reser- 
 voirs on these public lands? 
 
 iMr. KiN(i. Wlioever t!ie Government determines. If the Govern- 
 ment l)uilds a reservoir it can determine wiio shall l)e the l^eneficiaries, 
 who shall be the l)eneficial users and have the usufruct. 
 
 The Chairman. The Government would l)e the proprietor under 
 your law? 
 
 Mr. King. Yes. 
 
 The Chairman. You \\ould not have to carry it on the land':" 
 
 Mr. King. But I think if the Government manifested no disposition 
 
AEID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 
 
 to sell it or lease it, it would be appropriated, and the first ones would 
 liave it. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. And some of these big companies could appropriate 
 that Avater and tlius make it profitable to them, immensely so, l)ut we 
 are trying to provide that no man can appropriate over 80 acres. 
 
 Mr. King. Yet the law recognizes a reasonable time for the man to 
 get the water and convert it to his use — to get tlie land and appropri- 
 ate the water. 
 
 Mr. Ray. Does not this land tliat you propose to irrigate take up 
 water verj^ rapidly? 
 
 Mr. King. Yes, some of it does; some is clay soil. 
 
 Mr. Wilson. Generally speaking, it does. 
 
 Mr. Ray. In most localities there is not much limit to the amount 
 it will take up? 
 
 Mr. King. That is it, but little by little the requisitions l)y the land 
 for water are less and less. I know some land that once had to be irri- 
 gated to-day has to be drained. 
 
 Mr. Ray. And those lands up there would absorb a great deal more 
 water than they needed? 
 
 Mr. King. No, the law forbids the application of more than is being 
 used, and if it was being wasted it would not be regarded as a liene- 
 ficial use and the owner would l)e enjoined. 
 
 Mr. Reeder. Another thing. They measure that Avater as certainly 
 as you can measure oats you feed your horse. 
 
 Mr. King. They estimate that so many inches of water running a 
 certain length of time will irrigate a certain amount of land, and 
 above that it is waste, and the courts now are holding the irrigators 
 down to the scientific testimony as to the use of water upon the land. 
 The last case I tried involving that question brought out testimony to 
 show what the use of the water was. Those men said that they should 
 have so much water and tlion experts went on the stand and said 
 "one-half of that is sufficient," and cut the farmers down one-half. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell. It seems to me this discussion illustrates very much 
 more strongly than any argument I can make that if you undertake 
 to imagine difficulties you can imagine more in a day than can be 
 explained in a thousand years; and we will never get the problem 
 solved, because there will always be some new difficulty suggested. 
 If you will take it up l\y localities and go on t)ie 'ground and tind the 
 actual place, rather than imagine it, you can find more places where 
 this law can be put in force and the land be reclaimed th;in y<ni can 
 accomplish in tiie way of reclamation, by this other theory, in ten 
 years. I earnestly urge that this be made the keynote of this dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 Take the one point brought here — tlie rights of the riparian owner. 
 This wliole question was brouglit up and decided in the Lux case in 
 California. That case occupied many months and cost liundreds of 
 thousands of dollars before it Avas settled. They decided that wliile 
 the law recognized riparian rights existing in California, they whit- 
 tled it away, and it only exists as a fiction because the Supreme 
 Court has lately decided that tlie limit of the riparian owners rights 
 is the limit of his beneficial use. 
 
 I hav^e told you what you could do in Arizona — that yon could take 
 land there wliich is now a desert and make it Avorth millions of dol- 
 lars, and that the Government could get tlie money back as fast as 
 tliey can reclaim the land. 
 
 Take it over in California. Judue Barham referred to a place yes- 
 
122 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 terday wliere there is not a drop of watei' used to-day — a })lace tliat is 
 simply a natural i-eservoir. You can take the water there out of a 
 tunnel and turn it into a valley — the Honey Lake Valley — simply take 
 it out of the mouth of your tunnel into a narrow mountain stream. 
 There ai'e no complications to be met with tliere at all. That is Gov- 
 ernment land, and you dig your canal out there and tiiere are no 
 intervening" rights, no complications; you decide how much laud you 
 will irrigate, and you simply put the water on it. There are many 
 such cases. If we can not commence with the easy places we will 
 never get through all the complications that have been suggested 
 among the reasons why the States and i)rivate capital have not suc- 
 ceeded. The ([ucstion was asked yesterday, "Why can not private 
 capital do this?" For two reasons; first , because the majority of cases 
 will not be a profit to the investor as such, and private capital seeks 
 a profit. In an irrigation scheme there is first a promoter's profit, 
 then an investor's profit, then a l)ond-buyer\s profit, then the interest 
 charges; and l)efore they have the first settler on the land the price 
 of the land is so high they can not pay it, and they go into ]>ankruptcy. 
 That has been the experience of one case after another. Anotlier 
 reason. The law of the arid region to-day is — and in the State of 
 California, if you go there to-day, they will tell you that is the chief 
 reason why private capital will not build irrigation works, that no law 
 on earth will lead the people of California to forsake that constitutional 
 provision. They would rather tliat no money would come there and 
 l)e invested than to put the chain around their necks that the water 
 company owns the water. They would rather that no more works be 
 built, and they will say to those companies, "Keep your money; we 
 do not want your investment," i-ather than give u|) their constitutional 
 right. 
 
 That is the condition, those are the reasons. You can go into any 
 Stale and the Government can come in and build these works and 
 take the water out in main line canals, so that the settlers can do 
 what the early settlers did in Utah, what thej^ did. in California in the 
 San Joaquin Valley, what they did in Idaho — dig their own ditches 
 and put the water on the land and raise crops and get rich; and it was 
 when that reached its limit, when that could not l)e done any more, 
 that they began to get into trouble, and it began to be developed that 
 private capital could not control these works and do what the Gov- 
 ernment has to do. 
 
 What is it that we ask the Government to do? Nothing more than 
 what nature did for the early settlers. Store the flood waters, take 
 the watei's that can not be taken from these great canyons and rivers 
 V)y private capital out upon the prairie by the main-line ditches, so 
 that the people can 2:0 there and put their i)lows in the ground. That 
 is it. 
 
 One advocate says the Govei'ument should cari-y water to the point 
 where private enterprise can handle the water. What private enter- 
 prise? The land speculator or tlie settler? I say the settler. I say 
 that it is the duty of this Government that it owes its people to-day 
 to put that great domain in shape so that men who have knowledge 
 and indu.stry and strong right arms, such as the earlier settlers had, 
 can go there and build their own ditches, and tlnvt is what they will 
 do when the Govei-nment builds these i-eservoii's. 
 
 But what would be the case in Wyoming to-day if the Government 
 should build these reservoirs? There is comparatively little land in 
 Wj^oming or any other State Avhere, if the State builds nothing but a 
 
AKID LAND8 OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 
 
 reservoir, the settler can get a drop of it. The speculator would get 
 in and by some proposition build a great canal and take a profit out 
 of the farm — tax the farmers for that to such an extent that it will 
 take them a generation to earn that. What the Government should 
 do is to bring the water to a point where the farmers can build their 
 own canals and use it throughout their farms and homes. 
 
 In conclusion, I wish to call attention to an extract from a report 
 liy Hon. Charles D. Walcott, of the United States Geological Survey, 
 relating to the bill introduced by Mr. Xewlands (H. R. 1-1088). This 
 brings out clearly some of the reasons why, in the opinion of an officer 
 of the executive branch of the Government, such a bill would be of 
 immediate advantage. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM REPORT BY HON. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 The bill provides for the beginning of reclamation by the use of 
 funds derived from the country in which the works are to be Iniilt. 
 It also sets a limit to the expenditure and permits the steady growth 
 by the refunding of expenditures and continual addition, making pos- 
 sible a systematic and economical development. Even though the 
 amount available for construction should at first be small, it is appar- 
 ent that the ultimate outgrowth will be large and that the reclaimed 
 lands will be offered to the public so gradually that there will be no 
 disturbance of industrial conditions. 
 
 There has been in the past an apprehension that the reclamation of 
 the arid public domain would bring the agricultural lands of the West 
 into competition with those of the East. Tliis fear has been due to 
 ignorance of the fact that the products from irrigated lands are essen- 
 tially difi'erent from those from humid lands, and do not reach the 
 same market; but even if there should be competition along a few 
 lines, this will not be injurious, if brought aliout by slow, systematic 
 development contemplated through the arid-land reclamation fund. 
 
 Attention is called to the fact that the bill under consideration does 
 not provide for maintenance and final disposal of the works. It may 
 be wise at the present time not to attempt to solve this class of prob- 
 lems, as it will probal)ly be several years after such a bill is passed 
 before they will arise. In the meantime, experience will have been 
 acquired, so that the Secretary of the Interior can make definite rec- 
 ommendations growing out of thorough consideration of the problems. 
 
 The investigations which have been carried on by the United States 
 Geological Survey, extending over a period of thirteen years, have been 
 mainly in the line of ascertaining the facts as to the possibilities of 
 reclamation, such as the flow of streams and location of reservoir sites. 
 As the outgrowth of tliis long-continued study, it seems desirable that 
 some plan, such as tliat proposed by the bill under discussion, be fol- 
 lowed to bring about gradual reclamation of lands susceptible of 
 reclamation, but which "can not be utilized if dependence is placed 
 upon private or corporate enterprise. There are many localities where 
 work of this kind may l)e undertaken as the need and opportunity 
 arises. 
 
 While there are many places where the Government can reclaim 
 public land, there are also other localities where the water supply must 
 be regulated in order to render possible the full development of the 
 land now in whole or in x>ai't in private ownersiiip. Where such con- 
 ditions exist, it is apparent that such a bill does not apply. On long 
 
124 AKID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 rivers, like the Platte and Arkansas, whose waters even in time of 
 ordinary flood have ].>een api:)]'Oi)riated, there is no proliability that 
 retnrn ean [>e made to the reclamation fund, and a ditferent treatment 
 must l)e accorded. 
 
 There is slUl another class of conditions where the Government is a 
 considerai)le landowner, tlie public hinds being- interspersed with areas 
 in private i)ossi'ssion. Here it often occurs that tlie water rights are 
 exceedingly complicated, and, as pointed out l;)y the experts who have 
 been studying tlie laws and institutions of irrigated countries, there is 
 necessity for mutual adjustment and understanding before the irriga- 
 ble area can be increased Ihrough water storage. The possibility of 
 building stoi-age works would act as the strongest conceivable induce- 
 ment for these i)eople to unite to secure equitable distribution of the 
 water under existing laws, thus enabling the Interior Department to 
 know definitely what claims exist prior to those which may l>e acquired 
 from tlie watei' stored in the reservoir. 
 
 The object to l)e attained by legislation proposed by Ihese l>ills is 
 evidently that of bringing within reach of new settlers upon the public 
 <]omain a permanent water supply, such as that found by the pioneers. 
 They had merely to take out canals and diverting ditches and thus 
 enjoy a })riority of supply now guaranteed l>y custom and law. These 
 o})portunities have lieen utilized, and the later comers find themselves 
 confrontt'd with a task enormously greater than that of their prede- 
 cessors and far Iteyond their means. It is possible to bring about, 
 through storage and water conservation, conditions resembling those 
 encountei-ed l)y the first settlers and make possible a steady influx of 
 population, who by united effort can take the waters artiflcialiy regu- 
 lated and cari-y them to their lands. In other words, the operations 
 of these pi'oposed l)ills create conditions which will give to the settlers 
 on these arid lands a sufficient waiter supply on easy terms, thus ena- 
 bling them to make homes and with their own labor and teams build 
 the (listril»u1i)ig canals and laterals necessary to liring the water to 
 the land. 
 
 The advantag(^ of lulls of the cliaracter pi-oposed is that it enables 
 a development of the country without disturl)ing the existing status 
 or awakening justiflabU- uneasiness as to future conditions. Thei'e 
 has grown up in irrigated countries a feai' that the existing priorities 
 of water rights may be disturbed by the Iniilding of new and larger 
 systems of iivi-igalion. If the Government, in pursuance of a policy 
 to permit the increase of homes on the pultlic lands, proposes to build 
 r(\servoirs, every reasonable assui-ance sliould be given the peoph- 
 already settled that they have nothing to fear, but, on the other hand, 
 that their vested rights and existing customs Avill l)e guarded and not 
 disturbed by the l>riiiging under iri'igation of additional areas of 
 fertile but ai'id land. 
 
 It has often been pointed out that increase of irrigated areas and 
 extension of irrigation upon the pul)lic lands is now to a certain 
 extent prevented by local jealousies and defective methods of distri- 
 l)ution of the water, and that a larger prosperity would be enjoyed if 
 by any means the farmers along a stream could l>e induced to adjust 
 their dilferences under some system of local control, such as that 
 which exists in a few of the arid-land States. There could be no 
 stronger inducement held out to the States and to the irrigators to 
 perfect the local control than the understanding that water conserva- 
 tion would begin only when such efficient local control had been 
 provided. 
 
ARID LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 
 
 The proposed bills do not i)i'ovide for the charo'ing of interest nor 
 for the liasty pushing- forward of the works to completion in order to 
 bring about an early return, such as is essential to the success of 
 corporate eiiterj^rise. In such matters private capital is concerned 
 with ol)taiuing the largest return for the smallest expenditure, while 
 the spirit of the bills under consideration is evidently to bring about 
 the largest development and the greatest good to the greatest number 
 consistent with an economical expenditure. As a result it appears 
 from the examinations already made that where private capital would 
 lind it expedient to reclaim, say, a thousand acres from a given source 
 in order to make the largest return, the Government works, built 
 with a view to the best development of the country, might reclaim 
 ultimately two or three times as much. 
 
 From, the very nuoment that private capital is raised and surveys 
 are begun up to the time that the works are completed the interest 
 charges accrue and must be met out of the proceeds of the enterprise. 
 So that it' several years are spent in preliminary work and in final 
 construction the accrued interest maj' add from 10 to 50 per cent to 
 the total cost. Such charges, it is assumed, are not contemplated 
 against the reclamation fund, and thus, although the works built by 
 this fund may ])e more elaborate and permanent than those built by 
 corporations, yet from these considerations it is apparent that in the 
 long run they need not be more expensive. From this consideration 
 it appears, as before noted, that thousands, or even millions, of acres 
 can be reclaimed under laws of this character where corporate enter- 
 prise would not enter, or at most undertake the work in a small way, 
 reclaiming only a portion of the total area. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page. 
 Agricultural Department, irrigation inves- 
 tigations of, appropriations and leg- 
 islation for 49-01 
 
 Alaljama, inlaiul commerce in, appropria- 
 tions for 79, NU 
 
 swamp lands ceded to 77-78 
 
 Appropriations, inland commerce 7y-.s0 
 
 investigations of wafer resourt'es of 
 
 United States 43-53 
 
 irrigating ditches (Indian C)ffice) 49 
 
 irrigation investigations ( Department i if 
 
 Agriculture) /il 
 
 irrigation surveys (Geological Survey). 4-t 
 reservoirs on headwaters of Mississippi 
 
 River { River and Harbor) 121 
 
 stream measurements (Geological StU'- 
 
 vey ) 4(1 
 
 Appropriations jiroposed 5-7, 
 
 ]■-', 13, 14. 17-19, 53-54, 74-75, 8.T-sr, 
 
 Arid and .semia rid region, acreage of 13 
 
 irrigable land in 13 
 
 pasturage in 13 
 
 Arid and semiarid .'^tates and Territories, 
 
 list of 7 
 
 Arid-land-grant commission of Montana, 
 
 powers of 113 
 
 Arid-land-reclamation fund, text of Ijill 
 
 providing for 6-7 
 
 Arid lands, Government ownershiiMif, ex- 
 tent of 35 
 
 Arid States, population possilile in 25-26 
 
 reservoir sites in 25-26 
 
 Arizona, apprcipriation proposed for storage 
 
 works iti 17 
 
 appropriation proposed for surveys and 
 
 investigations in l,s 
 
 irrigable land in U>9, no 
 
 irrigation methods pursued in 90 
 
 irrigation in, feasibility and value of... ■ 32, 
 34-35, 36-37 
 
 public lands in, acreage of 77, 93 
 
 reclamation in, by individuals 11 
 
 reservoir proposed (in Gila River in, cost 
 
 and capacity of 30 
 
 reservoir proposed on Gila River in, dis- 
 cussion of 95, 96-97, 10.5-106, 109 
 
 reservoir proposed on Gila River in, leg- 
 islation regarding 57 
 
 reservoir jiroposed on Gila River in, text 
 
 of bill for construction of 74-75 
 
 reservoir surveys and artesian investi- 
 gations in, estimated cost of 53 
 
 Page. 
 Arkaus.is, inland commerce in, ajipropria- 
 
 tions for 79 
 
 swamji lands ceded to 77-78 
 
 Arkansas River, character of water of 40 
 
 diversion of waters of 1 24 
 
 seepage along 26 
 
 Arkansas Valley, underground waters in .. 38-41 
 Artesian waters. ,8«; Underground waters. 
 Artesiiin wells, appropriations for construc- 
 tion of -17, 4s, 49-50, 51 
 
 cost of sinking _ 39, 40 
 
 Barham.non..]. A.,l)ill introduced liy, dis- 
 cussion of 94 
 
 remarks liy 9,' 
 
 10, 16-17, 19-20, 33, 56, 59, 60-61, 67, T.S, 72, 73- 
 74, 84, 90, 100, 101, 102, 106,115,117,118,119 
 Bills introduced, text of. . . . .5-7, 17-19, 61-G2, 74-75 
 California, appropriations proposed for stor- 
 age works and investigations in 18 
 
 iidand commerce in, appropriations for 79 
 
 population in sections oi 110 
 
 jiublic lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 reservoir sites in 27, 28 
 
 reservoir surveys contemplated in, esti- 
 mated cost of .53 
 
 reservoirs Imilt by (iovernment in 21 
 
 reservoirs projiosed in, cost and caiwc- 
 
 ity (_)f 28-29. 30 
 
 swamp lands ceded to 77-78 
 
 underground waters in, estimated cost 
 
 of examination and mapping of 53 
 
 ('nlifornia and Nevada, forest reserve in 
 
 Tnickee River Basin in. need of. .. 29 
 water storage in. interstate complica- 
 tions of 27-28, 100-102, 111-115 
 
 Canals laiilt liy (Jovcrnnu'Ut 79-80 
 
 Carey Act, features and ^^•orkings of 66,83, 
 
 103.110-111,113-11! 
 
 text of 111-112 
 
 Colorado, apjiropriations projiosed for stor- 
 age works and investigations in l.s 
 
 pnlilic lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 reservoir surveys in, estimated cost of. . -53 
 
 underground waters in 38-42 
 
 underground waters in, estimated cost 
 
 of examination and mapping of 53 
 
 Connecticut, inland connnerce in, ajijiro- 
 
 priations for ' 79 
 
 Cost of artesian wells 39, 40 
 
 Cost of reclamation 13-14, 24, 25, 26, .55, 66 
 
 Dakota, underground waters in 3.S-42 
 
 Dakota .sandstone, extent and characters of . 38-42 
 
 127 
 
128 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Unrton, N. H., stnti-iiu'iit ni Sl-i^ 
 
 [)t'la-\vare, inlaiiil euiniiuTre in. ai>]in:ipria- 
 
 tiiMis i'M- 7'.) 
 
 Iiistrirtof ColuHibia, iiilaml coiuiiierce in. 
 
 ap]ir(ii>riatiiins for 71) 
 
 Flnriila, inlaml ruininerce in. apiiropria- 
 
 ti<ins inr 79, SO 
 
 swamp l.imls ceilcil to 77-7.s 
 
 Fiirost reseivfs in fnitod StaU;>, data rv- 
 
 ganlinu '- 
 
 Fiirests, flYcct of, nn watiT storage 72-74 
 
 preservation of. amount e.xpemleil an- 
 nually for 72 
 
 preservation of. value of 21-22, 72-7J 
 
 Geologieal Survey, irrigation surveys and 
 
 investigations by 43-JO 
 
 irrigation sui-vi\vs and investigations 
 
 li\', ajiproiiriations for 4-5. is 
 
 powers of io-4o 
 
 reservi li r surveys by 2.S-30, 94-9.=) 
 
 stream measurements liy, appropria- 
 tions for 4ti, 4.S 
 
 Georgia, inland eonunerce in, apiiropria- 
 
 tious for 79 
 
 Uilu River, Ariz., reservoir pioposed on. 
 
 cost and I'ajiacity of ;'>0 
 
 reservoir propo^'d on, legislation re- 
 garding o7 
 
 reservoir proi'osed on. text of lall for 
 
 eoiistruetion of 74-7.T 
 
 reservoii' sur\'ey on. disiaission of.. 9.3, 9G-97, 
 10r>-10tl, 1U9 
 (iovernmental reclaiuatiou of lanils in 
 
 foreign eountries 7s 
 
 i.xrazing lands, acreage of 9:i 
 
 Humb.ildt River. Nev.. eliaiaeteristics of . . 1.3 ' Massacbusrtts. inlan<l commerce in.appr 
 
 irrig.itiou jiossiliilities of I-t 
 
 reservoirs jiroposed on. text of bill cov- 
 ering const rueiidu of -"i-t'. 
 
 water stora.ge .ind irrigation works on. 
 
 iliscussioii of 7-s 
 
 v.ater slor.ige .and iirinatioii works on. 
 
 text of bill ]iroviding for ri-f, 
 
 Humlioldt River (Lower). Nev.. reservoirs 
 
 proposed on. cost and capacity of.. :'.n 
 Idalio, agriiadtural ilcvelo])iiient and i)ossi- 
 
 bilities of 20-27 
 
 appropriations jiroposed. for investiga- 
 tions in is 
 
 iidaud connncri-c in, aiipi'opriatious for. 79 
 
 publi<' lands in. .acreaije of 77 
 
 Page. 
 Irrigalile land in arid and semiarid rt.'gion. 13 
 Irrigation ditclies constructeil liy Indian 
 
 Otlice, appro]iriations for 49 
 
 legislation for 4(1-49 
 
 Irrigation investigations by Department of 
 
 Agriculture, appropriations f(.ir ."jl 
 
 legislati( m for 49-ol 
 
 Irrigation surveys and investigations by 
 (ieological Survey, api>ro]iriations 
 
 for 45,4S,51 
 
 history of 43-40 
 
 .lenkins, Hon. .1. .b, remarks by 9-10, 11, 13 
 
 Kansas, apiiroiiriation jiroposed for drilling 
 
 lest well in 18 
 
 artesian test well propcsed in, estimated 
 
 cost of drilling 54 
 
 inlaiKl connnerce in. approjiriations 
 
 for 79 
 
 public lauds in, acreage of 77 
 
 un<lerground waters in oS-42 
 
 Kentucky, inland c<.immerce in. aiiiiropria- 
 
 1 ions for 79, sO 
 
 King, Hon. \V. H., remarks by 5S, 
 
 102-103, 106, W7, 1H;-117, US, 1 19-121 
 Lake Talioe, Cal.-Xev., diversion and utili- 
 zation of 27-2S, S3 
 
 Loui-iana, inland commerce in, appropria- 
 tions for 79, SO 
 
 swaniji lands ceded to 77-7S 
 
 Lower l!iniil)oldt River, Xev.. reservoir.s 
 
 p^o]>o^cd on, cost and capacity of .. o() 
 Maine, inland c(aiimerce in, appropriations 
 
 for 79 
 
 Maryland, inland commerce in, a.ppnipria- 
 
 tious for 79 
 
 priations lor /9 
 
 Maxwell. (Ico. II .statements of 31-37, 
 
 94-99, lOS-125 
 
 Mead, Klw 1, statements of ,s,s-|,)3, 99-lOS 
 
 Micdiig.in, inland connnerce in, approiiria- 
 
 ti(ais for 79,SO 
 
 swam]! lands ceded to 77-7S 
 
 Miniu-sota, iidaud commerce in, ajipropri;!- 
 
 tious for 79 
 
 ri;scr\dirs buill by c;o\errunenl in 21 
 
 sw.inip lands <'cded to 77, 7S 
 
 Mississippi, inland couuiieree in, allprol)na- 
 (i(als foi- 79-SO 
 
 swanii> lands ceded to 77-7S 
 
 Mississipi'i l;i\er, reservoirs built liy Cov- 
 
 i-rnuifnt on headwaters of 21 
 
 i-eservoir surveys in, e<timaled I'ost of.. 
 
 un<iergro\uid waters ill 42 Missouri. swam]> lands ceded t 
 
 Illinois, inlandc.immcrcein.ai.iiropriations Mondell. Ibm, F. \V.. bill introduced by 
 
 for 79. SO 
 
 swamp lands ceded t<i 77-7S 
 
 Indi.in.-i. iiiland (■■imiiii'n'e in. apjiroiiria- 
 
 tioll^ !,„■ 79, so 
 
 sw.iiiip lamls cc(U'd to 77-7S 
 
 Indian i nlicc. irriga ling ditches constructed 
 ii\', Icgisl.ition and aiijiropriations 
 
 for 40-49 
 
 Inland <-ommerce in t'nited States, apjiro- 
 
 pri.ilions fm- 79-su 
 
 Iowa, inland I'omnierce in. .ipia-opriatious 
 
 for 79, so 
 
 -waiii]! lands cedeii to 77-7S 
 
 discussion of S2-S3 
 
 bill iulrodu 1 by, dedicating procei'ds 
 
 of -ales (if public lamls t(.i construc- 
 iion of iirigalion works, etc.. text 
 of 01-02 
 
 -iaieiiielits uf id-71, sl-,s.-> 
 
 .Montana. a]ipropri;itious proposed for siir- 
 
 v.'y-, etc., in ls-19 
 
 arid-land-grant commission of. powers 
 
 of 113 
 
 diversion of v.aters of St. Mary liiver 
 
 iiblic Itind- in. acreage of 
 
INDEX. 
 
 129 
 
 I'ago. 
 Montana, reservoirs iirojxised in, cost and 
 
 caiiacity of ;!0 
 
 reservoir snrveys in, estimated cost of 
 
 eontinning' 51 
 
 n ndergronnrt v.'aters in J'J 
 
 Nebraslva, appropriation proposecl ronlrill- 
 
 ing test well in I'.t 
 
 artesian test well in, estimated cost of 
 
 drilling :. 1 
 
 public lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 underground waters in :'<s-l2 
 
 Nevada, agricultural di.'velo|imcnt of ll-li; 
 
 appropriations pjroposed for storage 
 
 works, etc., in ls-19 
 
 irrigation possibilities in 15 
 
 population of, present and past 14 
 
 precious metal.s in, production of 14 
 
 public lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 reservoirs proposed in, cost and capacity 
 
 of 2S--^'j, :«) 
 
 resi'rvoirs jiroposed in. te.\t of bill cov- 
 ering construction of 5-('. 
 
 rcserv(iir snrvt^vs in. estimaic<l co^I of 
 
 eoutiiuiiiig 54 
 
 wati'r storiige and irrigation works in, 
 
 text of bills |)rovidiug for 5-7 
 
 Nevada and California, forest resci-ve in 
 
 'Inickec l;i\ei'Hasin in. need of.... L".l 
 
 segregation of lands in li'.i :'.o 
 
 water storage in, inlcrslate complica- 
 tions of •J7-'JS, llill-livj, 11 1-115 
 
 Newell, F. il., reniiirks by '.)I-".I5, 1(I5, loii 
 
 stiitements of ii()-:;o. i:;-(;i 
 
 New Hampshire, inland commerce in, aji- 
 
 proprialions for 7'.i 
 
 New Jersey, inland commerce in, ajipro- 
 
 priations for 7'.), so 
 
 Newlands. Hon. F. (.t., bill inlrodnccl by, 
 for reclamation of arid l.-inds, dis- 
 cussion of S~Ji. 
 
 23-1^1, ;ii -:;5, (io-t;i, s5 ss,i)i-i(is, ii!;mi!.i 
 
 bill introduced li.w f<ir reclamation of 
 
 arid lands, tc.\l of 17 I'.i 
 
 bill introduceii by, for storage of water 
 
 on Hundioldt Kivcr, Nev.. text of... 5-(; 
 
 remarks liy ;!;',, 
 
 o7,(;(i,(i7, 70,.S2-S5,1I)4,]05, 1(1(1-1(17, 1 15, lb;. 1 17 
 
 statements of 5 20, S5 ss 
 
 New Me.xieo, appropriation proposed for sur- 
 vey in 1 '.( 
 
 irrigation farms in, .-ivcrage size of 7 
 
 iud)lic lands in. acrcige nf 77 
 
 reservoir surveys in. estimated cost of.. 51 
 New 'I'ork, inland coiiiua'i'ce in. apjir.ppria- 
 
 tions for 7'.t 
 
 North Carolina, inland cnmmerce in. .-ippro- 
 
 liriati.ms for 7'.l 
 
 North I)akota, ajiiiroini.it ion iiroposeii foi' 
 
 mii]iping luideruround w.ilets in I'.i 
 
 canal survey and mapliing undei'y round 
 w.-itcrs in, estimated cost of contiiui- 
 
 ing 51 
 
 public lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 Neith I'laite Kivcr, Nebr.. irrig.'ilion 
 
 inetliods ;dong <,tl 
 
 ()liio. inland commerce in, appropiiatious 
 
 for 7',), so 
 
 swamp lanils (•(.■de(l to 77, 7.S 
 
 1 1 1 <><,' l\^ (I 
 
 I'age. 
 oklalioma, connnutation of laimestea.ds in. 87 
 
 Ore.gon. agricultural possibilities of 2(1-27 
 
 appropriations projioscd for investiga- 
 tions in 19 
 
 inland c<immereein, ai)iiropriat ions for. 79. .so 
 
 pulilic lan<ls in, acreage of 77 
 
 reservoir sites in, eslim.-iteil cost of ex- 
 
 pli iration of 54 
 
 swamp lands ccMled to 77-7S 
 
 underground waters in, estimated <-ost 
 
 of continuing exa mi nation of ,54 
 
 Pennsylvania, inland commerce in, aiijjro- 
 
 priations for 79, so 
 
 Percolation. See Seepage. 
 
 Pima Indians, f.acts regarding 75-76 
 
 Pinchot, Gifford, statement of 72-74 
 
 Platte River, diversion of waters of 124 
 
 Pidilic lands, acreage of 77 
 
 sales of 12, IH, .5<;, SO, Si;-S7 
 
 Kay, Hon. (I. W., naiiarks by ,S9, 
 
 115-11(1, 117, lis, 120 
 Keclamation fund, lext of bill providing for. (1-7 
 Reclamation of lands by foreign govern- 
 ments 7.S 
 
 Keeder. Hon. \V. .\., remarks by 39, 
 
 II, 12, 102, 105,120,121 
 Iteno, .N<'\-., agriculJural develo]>ment in .. 2S 
 l;esel\ (lir sites ill aiid Slates, inimber of. . . 2.5-21') 
 Keseixdii- surve.w comiili'led ( ,r jiartially 
 
 comiilele(I 57-5S 
 
 Res<'r\dir siii'veys in arid lands, estimated 
 
 Reservoir surveys, work aceoiiiplislied .and 
 
 amount expended for 51-,53 
 
 Reservoir surveys and artesian investiga- 
 tions, estimated cost of c<ailinuing. .53-54 
 Reservoirs built by (;o\'criimciU, loi-ation 
 
 and cosi of 21 
 
 Rhode Isl.-ind, iidaiid commerce in, a|p|>ro- 
 
 |iriatioiis for 79 
 
 i;io ( iraiide. Volume of, II net nations in 9(i 
 
 Kiliari.an rigbls, discussion of... 9-11, 11 1-120,121 
 l;i\i T- an<l harbor iiiipro\'eiiients, aiiionnls 
 
 expended for (10, 79-SO 
 
 feaKu-cs (.f 22, 
 
 23, 2(1, :',3-31, (10- (II , (13 (1 1, (19, 71 , SO, S4, .SC, 
 Kock Creek, New, reservoir i>roposed on, 
 
 cos! and e,-ipacity of 30 
 
 water stonigc and irrigation works on, 
 
 discussion of 7-.S 
 
 \\.ilei' storage and irr-igali(ai works on, 
 
 lex I of bill piV]\i(lim; fnr 5-(l 
 
 SI. Mar.\- Ki\cr, .Moul., pi'o|inse(l ilJ\ersion 
 
 of waters of 23 
 
 Sales of public lauds 12, 13, .5(1, S()..S(1-S7 
 
 San C.irlos. .\ri/., reservoir ladjiosed near. 
 
 Si( Cila Kiver. 
 
 Sce|.age, exteiU anil v.ablc of 21-2(1, 
 
 35-3(1,51-55,121-122 
 
 Sei^regalion of lands 5,(1,11,21,44 
 
 Segregati<ins, Slate desert l.and, legisl.ition 
 
 on (15-flG 
 
 Semiarid and arid Slates and 'l'erri((a-ies, 
 
 list of 7 
 
 South Cai-oliua. inland eouunerce in, appro- 
 
 pri.alioiis for 79, SO 
 
 Siaitli ]i:ik<it;i. apprcppri.il ioU propii>ed for 
 
 artevian test well in 19 
 
130 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Page. 
 
 HdUth Dakdta, arli'siiin tost well in, esti- 
 
 iiKiled vosi (if drilling 54 
 
 puhlir ialiils in, aereaK*' <il' " 
 
 S(>\ith I'lalte Kiver, seepage alcmf,' 'J(i 
 
 Stoek raising, featuri's of l:i 
 
 Slreaiii ineasHicnients liy <ieiil(igical Snr- 
 
 vc\'. a|i|iriipiiati(ins fur -1(1, }.s, ■')] 
 
 li i>l(iry n( 1;V-1(; 
 
 Swaiiiji l.-imls, ccssinn n!. Pi \ari(ins Slates. 77-7S 
 
 reclaiiialiun III', liy Stales, la ill ire (if 7S 
 
 'rennessee, inland emniiieree in. apprdpria- 
 
 ticais for 79, SO 
 
 Te.xas. ajipiMiirialidii proposed fur water 
 
 storage in 19 
 
 inland eoiiiiiieree in, ajipropriations for. 79,80 
 
 reserv<iir surveys in, estimated eost of.. 54 
 
 Tongue. Hon. 'I'. U., remarks hy .. ,H2, ]]7-nM,n9 
 
 Toole, liov. .1. K., cited Ill 
 
 rudergroiind waters, appro|iriations pro- 
 
 po.sed for development of.. 17-19, 42, .53-.54 
 extent and characters of, in arid and 
 
 semiarid States 37-42 
 
 investigations of, and reservoir surveys, 
 
 estimated eost of eontinning .53-54 
 
 I'tali, .-iiiiiroiiriations (iroposed for investi- 
 gations in 19 
 
 jiopulalion in seel ions of 110 
 
 ].>ililie lands in, aeri'age of 77 
 
 i-escrvoir surveys in, I'sliiiiatecl cost of. . .')4 
 "\'erinoiil, inland e(jmiii<'ree in, ap].ro]iria- 
 
 tions fell- 79 
 
 Page. 
 
 Virginia, inland commerce in. appropria- 
 tions for 79, K) 
 
 Waleott, ('. 1)., (piote<I 123-125 
 
 Washington, appropriations proposed for 
 
 investigations in 19 
 
 artesian conditions in. estimated eost of 
 
 e.xaminalioii of .54 
 
 iidand eoiinn<u-ee in, ajiproiirialions for. 79, SO 
 
 ]iulilie lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 reservoir surveys in, estimated cost of.. 54 
 
 underground waters in 42 
 
 Water conservation, cost of 5r> 
 
 Water resources of I'nited States, aiiprojiria- 
 
 tions for investi.gation of 43-4(i, 49-53 
 
 Wilson, Hon,K.,reuuirkshy. 10, 13, 11, li 1,05, sy, 119 
 Wilson, Hon, .1. K., liill inlroiluced hy, for 
 construction of reservoir near San 
 
 Carlos, \r\'/... te.xt of 71-75 
 
 statement of 74-81 
 
 Wisconsin, inland commerce in, appropria- 
 
 tion.s for 79, 80 
 
 reservoirs constructed hy Government 
 
 in 21 
 
 swamp lanils cecled to 77-78 
 
 Wyonnng, a|ipro)iriations proposed for sur- 
 veys and storage works in 18-19 
 
 liulilic lands in, acreage of 77 
 
 reser\-oir jiroiiosed in, cost and caiiacily 
 
 of 30 
 
 reser\oir surveys in, eviiiualed cost of. . .^)l 
 uiidcrm'ound w.ileis in 12 
 
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