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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1915)
I I t I ? 3 t i 1 Twenty Pases East Oreporia-n Rount5-Up Souvenir Edition Pent?!eton, Oregon, Thursday, Sfptsmber 23, 1815 1 1 r 1 1 ! m m ! n r i n m : m 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 M J 1 1 M r r ! u m m n m k f 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 s 1 1 f : r ( ; i ; i ; 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 : i ( : i m : i : : r j : t ; - aterrnaster's Duties Are of Great Importance Equitable Distribution of Water and Protection of Irrigation Rights Devolve Upon Official; Old Time Confusion Eliminated. w (A Sketch of His Work in UmatllU Oounly und Benefit! Derived. By L. A. Helnetnan, Watermaster DIs trict No. i.) A conservative estimate places the . amount of new land being put under Irrigation each year in UmatllU county at aroand 6000 acres. Thli annual reclamation will no doubt In create with the resumption of nor mill time. The amount of land now being Irrigated In the county total something like 48,1)00 acres of 40,- 000 acre are upon adjacent streams, while the amount that I ready for development, that la, the amount t under Irrigation systems already completed, totals sixty thousand acres, of which the bulk Is upon the Umatilla drainage system. 'Thus In this county we have some--thing over 100,000 Acres developed or being developed and valued about as i follow: ' Irrigated lands, 48,006 acres at tHO, 17,200,000. ' Incomplete development, 0,00 acre at l0, $3,600,tW). Total, 10, 100,000. This totals to a tremendous sum and, yet It represent only a small part of the development which will take place In the near future, for there are many thousands of acres still to be developed and land so rich that It will command a high price. This Is at present primarily a wheat and stock belt with fruit a strong factor, 'hut in tba near future It. will be an rirrlgatlon belt Lad our greatest chances tor development lie 'in that direction. This dues not mean that the great wheat Industry here 'will be wiped out, not at all. for much of that land .cannot be Irrigated If so (Wired. But It does mean that our mwatest wealth and greatest Increase la population will come from irrlgat ed districts and wheat raising -will be .of secondary Importance In Uie comity. AtljurtM-ation of Water RlffhU. Aa more and more land Is put un- iler trrlcatlon the water supply Is used ap more thoroughly and wster, is valued higher until such a time ar rive when there Is not enough for all Irrigators. From then on there Is likelihood of serious quarrels occur ring over the water and thlsoondltloa becomes worse each year as new land Is developed, and law suits are the reeult which do not settle the ques tions and cost tUe farmers rnany thousands t dollar To meet this problem the state of Oregon formed a water board, which began Its work In 10. It Is the du ty of said board upon request from -any water user upon . stream to 4a lermlne the relative water rights of Irrigators and others upon that jitteam, and then to .take charge of 121 E. - 4 r.crs IS BUTEF. over 100,000 acres Irrlgatod iir partly developed Hud ta rm:Ullla county. t'onratlvely valued at J 10,- S00 000; much more land to be i uevoio(d In the near future. Settlement of water rights ' neoessary aa Irrigated acreage 4 im reaflea. 4 i Work or state water board !4 which also appoints watermaat- ! er to take charge. ( "Watermanter settles disputes, ' measures and regulates streams ' and ditches; sees that head- 4 gate, dama and measuring de- vice are installed, forces ranch- ers to olefin ditches and to con- serve water; educates them to w better methods of Irrigation; arrests violators when neces- aary. HefUs dorived. Oivea more permanent land values through settlement of water rights and 4 proper dlatrlbatlon; permits of greater acreage being develop- cd by conservation of water; de- terminal actual value of rela- tlve water rights. Watermaster and two assist- ants handled work In this 4 county this season at a total of leas than J2100 to dale. Work of this department promises to becdme of greater Importance each year. tko distribution of the waters by ap pointing a watermaster for said dtivam. Duties of a WaterntasU. The watermaster not only distrib utes the water to water u?rs but he haswiany other duties. He has com plete charge of the stream, must make numerous measurements of the flow to determine Just how rr.uch wa ter Is available, and then from the findings of the state water board In the adjudication of the water rights 'he ascertains what land or persons have the oldest or prior rights and who next and so on. giving out all the water and covering aa many rights as possible. The newer rights ace first to be cut out as the flow of the stream diminishes. The waterinaster Is a policeman and so cn enforce the law and compel water users to take only such water as thr r tltled to. There are many questions of law that come up and he must be able to determine who has the light In a dispute, but often the question la oae which has never been determined As court and so he Court St. PIOIJEER WHITE LEAD VANISHES PAINTS OILS COLUMBIA SRIRGLE STfllfi decides wkt he ttjii.ke Is right. If unsatlHTact.ry to any party his ver dict can be appealefl from to the wa ter board and up to the supreme court If nenessary. Fully fifty per cent of the water master's work Is educational. There are many Irrigators who do not know how to make the beat use of the wa-t.-r. They often split up their allot ed amount Into small heads, being thereby unable to onver as much Kround as they could, or they keep the water Vo long 'On one piece of ' Where The Watermaater's Duty Calls kr . t y. ? it - ' , ISM ' It - I ? - . - r hZ , 1 Stand ploes used for turnouts. ,V strong factor in modern irrigation Walla Walla river. Ty LOOK 1UWMY ground, or do not make use of waste water. Often the ditches are situated In the wrong places, or they may not have.-enough of them, and too often the Miches are not of large enough capadity to carry a good working head. Weeds and traxh are permit ted te choke the ditch or silt colleeu and bJ the same effect. In many coses the land Is Improperly leveled or larking In checks, and often a dif ferent ttystem of handling the water works wonders. All these errors and n .r,". 1 i . a. t 4 1 "-" 2 Model headgate. 3 Concrete pine systems. 4 Division gates on the "LET 'ER BUCK" OUT FOR PAINT. G L A m3nV VWIA t Vt a vutAVmantAM must, j help to correct. J The state water code covers many! points which aid the watermaHter In! (obtaining Improvements, such as the 1 law governing waste" of water. Ac- reptable headgatea, dams and meas4 uring devices must be Installed and lltchea must be kept clean. If a i man does not make good use of his' water or his ditches are unfit to carry: It. the watermaster may shut his; ditch until conditions are remedied.! Of coure, the building up of an lr-j rlgation system upon any stream takes time and reforms are promulgated In, such a way that no hardships are' worked -upon the people. j llcncflts to the Peopte from This j lxpurtment. One of the best results of our work is the stopping of neighborhood quar rels resulting from unequal distribu tion of water. In many cases these fights have been going on for years and the trouble has taken In entire' communities, and In such cases It! may take several years to gradually j eradicate It but results are always; gratifying. There la no doubt but' what quarrels over water have driven I many prospective settlers and landj buyers from this county In the pasti and right now on streams where we! nave worked ror several years one can see the difference. By curtailing the "water hogs," by saving waste water, by educating the ranchers to a better use of water, and by systems of rotation In the use of water, the duty of water Is being rais ed. This means that more- land can be developed and Irrigated because a: given quantity of water under prop-! er distribution will cover more land than under the old regime. That means that a greater population can live in the county, for Irrigation tends toward Intensive farming. It also means in many cases increased yield of crops, the result of less soaking of the soil and more cultivation. The idea has taken hold of some farmers that water Is all that Is necessary to raise a crop, just get enough water and the crops will take care of them selves. That, of course, is the wrong idea and has' been the downfall of many ranchers, for too much water invariably leeches the nutriment from the soil and sours It as well. With the determination of the wa ter rights and proper distribution of the water land values become more permanent and often the values take a Jump. Before a settlement of water rights it was hard to prove what right a piece of land had to water and some times harder to obtain the water. Oft en land was represented as having a good water right when as a matter (Continned on page eighteen.) Qt IMufr n TIG MM Eastern Oregon's Finest Laundry NOTHING BUT THE MOST MODERN MACHINERY I NONE BUT THE MOST COMPETENT EMPLOYEES 1 With our new Collar Moulder just installed, we have E made a great improvement in the laundering of collars. S OLD WAY By our new method we E top edges, where it is turned over, is not sharp but E E slightly rounded giving more space all along between E E the inside and outside of the collar where the tie slides. E This new method prevents the edges of the collars E S from cracking and eliminates all need of E yanking your ties. E NO DISTANCE TOO FAR FOR US TD RECEIVE I BUNDLES. Telephone 60 Pendleton, Ore. I niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiini PHONE PHOENIX PURE PAINT PICTURE FRAMES WALL PAPER if. 7 4 i LAbW.V I NEW WAY so launder a collar that its 318 7 I 'I IP I'
