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About Crook County journal. (Prineville, Or.) 189?-1921 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1917)
SPECIAL LIVESTOCK EDITION Crook Commity Journal SECTION THREE VOL XXI PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, JULY 12, 1917 NO. 33 OCHOCO IRRIGATION DISTRICT (By R. W. Rea, Project Engineer) The Ocboco Irrigation Project, or ganised undor the Irrigation district liti o( the Bute of Oregon, corn pride about 22,000 acres ot very rich, fertile bottom and bench .land urroumllng the city of Prlnevllle. The area of the District at now or ganlMid la about 26,000 acre. The area Included under the canal I approximately 26,000 acre, of which about 4,000 acre U waste, aon-lrrlgable, or exempted. The average elevation above aea level of the land ot the project la about 200 feet. The project ha been reported on la It entirety by the United State Reclamation Service In co-operation with the State of Oregon; by the writer, for the Dlitrlct; by Mr. A. J. Wiley, Consulting Hydraulic Engin eer, ot Boise, Idaho, tor Clark-Kendall 4 Co.; .and In preliminary way, by Mr. Joseph Jacobs, for the Untied States Reclamation Service. A preliminary report has also been made to the District on the feasibil ity of, and sufficiency ot the designs for, the Ochoco Dam, by Mr. J. M. Howell, Consulting Hydraulic En gineer, ot San Francisco, California. Probably the predominant feature of the project, aside from It agri cultural characteristic, which makes It o attractive, both from an Inveitment and an operating point of view, Is It compactness. The land to be watered lay In a Ingle, large area and commence Immediately at the lower toe ot the dam. This unusual feature elimi nate the necessity of constructing and maintaining the cuatomary long caaal leading from the atorage res ervoir to the main body of Irrigable lands. The fundamentals upon which any Irrigation project depends for its permanent success may be sum ' md up as follows: First An ample water supply; Second Soil fertility; Third Moderate climatic condi tions; Fourth Private ownership, pref erably In small tracts, ot a majority of the Irrigable lands In the project; Fifth Conservative financing; Sixth Welt designed and sub- atanttally built storage, distribution and drainage works; Seventh Accessibility to mar kets. The water supply of the Ochoco Project Is to be taken from two watershed drained respectively by Ochoco and McKay Creeks. The former has an area, above the Ochoco Dam, of 300 square miles, of which approximately 62 per cent I located within the boundaries of the Ochoco National Forest Reierve. The McKay storage ha an area ot 40 square mile above the proposed dam site, ,ot which approximately 62.6 per cent lies in the foreat re serve. The record ot stream Sow on Ochoco Creek, kept by the U. 8. Geological Survey, show that, tor the six year for which records ex ist, including part of 1917, the av erage yield ot the Ochoco water ahed at dam site is 64,600 acre feet, not Including water used on landa in reservoir site. Over a period of 14 yean, the Geological Survey es timates that the average flow will be 64,900 acre feet, the minimum being 22,800 and the maximum 92, 000 acre feet. The flow of McKay ' Creek, a shown by one full year's records, amounted to 16,760 acre feet during the season ot 1916. This water will be admitted to the main canal at the crossing ot McKay Creek, the canal being designed with ample . .nnnMv In nrriar that fi.li much of VV.bj " - - w the flow of this water shed may be utilized during we nooa penoa as Is practicable. Use ot this water conserves an equal quantity in Ochoco Reservoir. Records Bhow that the combined yield of the two water sheds is suf ficient to assure an ample supply of water at the land throughout the growing Beason, in addition to all seepage and other transmission losses. A duty of 1.91 feet per acre per season at the land is used in all calculations for water supply. Many years of successful crop i 1 l. t. mitt, uiA wUhnllt frrt. ruiBlUBt uvm win biiu " .... gatlon water, have served to give 11 the soil ot the project "the acid teat" a to fertility and productive ness. The alfalfa-fed steers of the Ochoco Valley seem to fatten quicker and on proportionately smaller ration of the local alfalfa, than do steers fed on the alfalfa hay grown In other localities. This has been proven by actual test. Much of the bench land within the district la now "dry" farmed and, except in seasons of slight or no rainfall, very satisfactory crops of wheat, oats, barley and rye are raised. Climatic conditions In the Prlne vllle Valley are nearly Ideal for the full maturing ot hay, grasses, grains and root crops. The average an nual temperature as shown by U. S. Weather Bureau records tor 1606, was 48.0. The average range ot temperature I from about 0 degree In winter to 100 degree In summer. Frosts are no more se vere nor erratic than In other agri lalhTall to Map of Oregon Showing Location cultural districts In the Northwest of equal altitude. - , At this time all lands within the District (under the canals) are held In private ownerships. The acreage in Individual tracts ranges from 40 acres, upward, a consider able portion ot the raw landa being owned by the Oregon and Western Colonization Co. It is a tact, now universally recognized, that the real security behind the bonds of an ir rigation project is the high class of settlers who occupy the lands of the project for no matter how much water may be at hand, no matter how good the soil is, no matter how good every other feature ot the project may be, It the man on the land isn't Intelligent, hard working, progressive and solid, the project Is doomed to failure. The Ochoco project Is singularly fortunate In that practically two third ot Its area I settled and till ed by a class of farmers who have The Big Dam as It Will Burns 'vj Scale of Mile? of The Ochoco Irrigation District been successful heretofore and who, with the full benefit of the stored water to aid them, will insure the highest success tor themselves and the project. ,, The financing of the project Is be ing carried on through a contract with Clark-Kendall & Co., ot Port land, Oregon, who have undertaken to employ a contractor, of wide rep utation for financial strength and constructive ability, to build the Ochoco dam and the first 15 miles of the main canal and take bonds of the district, at par, In payment. Clark-Kendall & Co. also undertakes to assistt in financing the balance of the bond issue, which must be sold tor cash, no construc tion work being commenced until this latter feature is satisfactorily accomplished. The contract is eminently fair to both the District and the bonding company named, inasmuch as the construction com pany employed to do the work, and Appear When Completed SI its surety bond, must both be satis factory to the District. This ar rangement insures that practically 95 cents of every dollar represented by the bond issue will go into actual construction work or purchase of reservoir lands. ' The preliminary . investigations and designs have been very complete and comprehensive, with a view to the early construction of the project along the latest and most permanent lines. To this end all structures are designed with a view to their hydraulic efficiency, long life and minimum cost ot maintenance, rather than minimum first cost and probable reconstruction before the present bond issue matures. Upon the completion of the city ot Prlnevllle Railway, the markets ot the world will be open to all that can be raised in the Prineville Val leywhether it be sheep, steers, hogs, hay, grains, spuds, sugar beets, or what not. The valley is considered to be one of the finest winter feeding centers, for beef cat tle. In the Northwest and, with the Portland market only a day's trip distant, the advantage in this con nection is many fold. A tew of the striking tacts con cerning the project are listed below: Ochoco Reservoir Area water surface at elevation of crest of , dam, about 1180 acres. Length of reservoir, S.38 miles. Average width of reservoir, one half mile. Length of shore line, 10 miles. Storage capacity, 47,000 acre feet. Ochoco Dam Maximum height above river bed, 126 feet. Volume, about 606,000 cubte yards. ' - Length along crest, 1000 feet. Width of top, 20 feet. Thickness at base, up and down stream, 600 feet. Spillway capacity, 10,000 cubic feet per second, normal, 20,000 cm bic feet per second, extreme emer gency. Greatest recorded flood flow Ochoco Creek, 1050 cubic feet per second. Main Canal Capacity, from 200 to 26 Seconal feet. Length, about 22 miles. Length concrete lined canal, I mile. Length earth canal, 17 mile. Length flume, one mile. Length tunnel, 2000 feet. Main Laterals Capacity, from 2 to 20 second about 160 miles. Drainage System Area, approximately 2000 acre. Pumping Segregation -Area, about 1500 acres. Maximum height pumped to, 100) feet above main canal. BOND SALE AUTHORIZED AUGUST 6 FOR Since the article on this page by Mr. Rea was written, the sale of a halt million dollars worth of bonds for the Ochoco Irrigation District was authorized by the board, and the time set for August 6. A successful sale ot these bonds will mean almost immediate work on the construction ot the project that will provide water for the 35,000 acres of land embraced In the project, which are now suffer ing tor the want of irrigation. It is estimated by different men on the land that water for irrigat ing these lands this year would be worth more than 25 per eent of the entire cost ot the project. The bond will be issued In de nominations ot 11000.00 each, will commence to mature in eleven yean from date of issuance and will all mature at the end of 22 years. This bond sale is a result of the contract entered into between the board of directors and Clark, Ken dall k. Company, as was reported in a recent issue of The Journal. Should there be no difficulties en countered in the sale ot these bonds, we are told that it will be possible to have at least flood waters for the district lands next year, and the fol lowing season will find the reservoir completed and filled with water. McGEE NAMED TO SUCCEED PLUMMER ' O. M. Plummer has resigned as secretary-treasurer of the Portland Union Stockyards Company. The resignation took effect July 1, but public announcement has just been made. L. R. McGee has been elected secretary-treasurer to succeed Plum mer. Mr. McGee has been connect ed with the stockyards company since its organization in 1909 and j for years he has been acting as as . slstant secretary. Mr. McGee as- sumed his new duties Monday morn ing. The explanation given for Plum mer's resignation is that he intends engaging in another business. His final severance of connections at the yards, it is said, will be the first of the year, and while not connected with the industry, he will visit the yards from time to time until that date.