Medford mail tribune., June 09, 1922, Page 17, Image 17

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Prosperity Week
Edition
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Prosperity Week
Edition
THIRD BKCTIOX-8 PAOK.4
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an
Dally Seventeenth Tear.
Weekly Fltty-Second Year.
WA TER MEANS PROSPERI
. 1
South Fork Diversion gates after the water was turned Jit
i I . - V'Xf. " ! ' . " ' Copco Dam on KlamattTriver, one of the two big power units' of Callfor-
SSEM ' ' r? " """ """'- 7 S3 nla-Oregon Power Company. .
, , r yTY-5 " " ,2 Bear Creek Syphon south of Phoenix on Pacific Highway. v 3f'
VwofthenBrownless sawmll.andmll.pond. - i; if ' ' - 4l,'vlii S ! 4. ' S
COMPLETION MILLION
SYSTEM MEANS
A million and. a quarter dollar
Irrigation system for Rogue River
Valley, irrigating 10,000 acres
in the valley this year and with a
ditch covering more than 20,000
acres has just been put Inlo op
eration. The storage reservoirs
are not yet complete but 4100
acre feet of water is in storage
for use this season, A $41,000
dam Is to bo constructed at Four
Mile Lake, a $106,000 dam is 80
per cent complete at Fish Lake,
a $100,000 connecting canal be
tween the two lakes is to be com
pleted this summer. The , 15.8
miles of main ' canal ' have been
completed at a cost of $150,000,
and 45 miles of District mnln
canal have been completed at a
cost of $386,000 In addition to a
200 mile system of laterals at a
cost of $140,000. The final total
storage capacity of the reservoirs,
now under construction wiii be
31,300 acre feet. Inestimable im
provement In crop yield Is pre
dicted for the valley as a result
of the full capacity operation of
the system.. Maximum cost per
acre $125. water turned In May
15, 1922.
Irrigation Started In 1850
To tell correctly of the benefit of
Irrigation to the Rogue River valley
one' would be compelled to fill vol
umes. To tell correctly of the fight
which preceded the formation of sev
eral Irrigation districts in the Rogue
River valley would fill more voWmes.
Suffice It to say that Irrigation has
been practiced in this vicinity since
the 60's and numerous water rights
have a priority of 1854.
Within the next two years the six
large irrigation projects in the Rogue
River valley.wlll be watering approxi
mately V),000 acres of land. Adding
to this the numerous small projects
and the privately owned ditches, the
total irrigated area will likely reach
75,000 acres.
The vast increase jn crop yields can
not be estimated at the present time
but It is known that it will be of Im
mense proportion. The possibilities of
the valley can only be imagined, time
SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND ACRES IN ROGUE fit R VALLEY mms Jll-
AND QUARTER DOLLAR IRRIGATION
WATER WILL EVENTUALLY BE PUT ON
alone will tell. With a wonderful cli
mate, and vried soils properly Irrigat
ed, ii is only a question of time until
the anti-irrigationist will cease to
exist, and therefore cease to knock.
The Medford District
The Medford Irrigation district canal
covers 20,000 acres of land in the heart
of the valley. Only 10,000 acres of this
land can receive water. 9650 acres
have been signed up for wateirVhen
the last 450 acres have been, s'goM up
completing the 10,000 acregf iforVwlll
be no more water. Time.wtll J nclWilrt
cdly tell who Is right, thelrf- Horr,
with the water or the landow( r witl)!
out. ,., y n
Unit number one of the re ' -'(m
comprises Four Mile Lake. .
tlful body of water is aboi tid
one-half miles long by al ., . ,e
fourths mile wide and lies .,.,.;., j
mit of the Cascade range"' ".mid
east of Mt. McLoughlln. Ifr jfifl to
have a. depth of 200 feet and Ms been
found to be deeper than 120 feet in
several places. It is stocked with ex
cellent, gamey trout and if fished pro
perly will easily satisfy the most
ardent fisherman's desire.
The old dam built by V. T. McCray,
engineer for the old Fish Lake Ditch
Co., is to be torn down and & new dam
of earth and rock with a concrete fac
ing will be erected. The dam is to
be 25 feet in height and tower, outlet
and spillway will be concrete. The
calculated storage capacity is 16,300
acre-feet with a 20-foot depth of water
above the outlet pipes. The amount
set aside for the construction of the
new dam is $40,000. ' -Four
Mile Lake Canal
Unit No. 2 is a connecting canal be
tween Fqjir Mile and Fish Lakes. This
'.tinat AXvarta tha Hiatal fivini KYtlll Mfla
Creek about 300 feet below the dam
and follows around the mountain to a
low saddle on the Cascade range. At
tlr)s point the water is dumped into a
natural drainage channel on the moun
tainside from which It is picked up
by a canal one-half mile In length
which carries it across the summit of
the Cascades Into a natural channel
which leads directly Into Fish Lake.
A portion of this canal was com
pleted in 1910 and about 22 per cent
in 1920. The Canal company expects
to complete- the canal this summer and
is preparing to put a steam shovel on
the job. The amount which has been
MEDFORD,
set aside for the construction of this
canal is $100,000.
Fish Lake is unit No. 3. Located at
the head of the North Fork of Little
Butte Creek and just" south of Mt.
McLoughlln, Fish Lake is approxi
mately the same length and breadth as
Four Mile Lake, and is the second
storage reservoir for the system.
Dam 80 Percent Complete
The dam is now estimated as 80 per
cent complete and is holding more
than 4,100 acre-feet of water for this
season's use. As soon as the irriga
tion season is over the work of com
pleting the dam will he resumed. When
completed the dam will be approxi
mately 40 feet high. It is constructed
of earth and rock and will have con
crete tower, outlet and spillway. The
reservoir will have a storage capacity
of from 12,000 to 15,000 acre-feet de
pending on the final height of the dam.
Workj already done on this dam has
amounted to $141,000 and it Is estimat
ed that the remaining work will cost
about $16,000, making the total cost of
the third unit in the neighborhood of
$166,000.
Concrete Diversion Dams
Unit. No.. 4 consists of the main canal
which , is diverted from Little Butte
creek at the Zundell ranch above Lake
creek.' Water from the South Fork of
Little Butte Creek is diverted into the
main canal through a canal one-half
mile in length. The diversion dams
are of concrete and are well built The
main canal hag a capacity of 175 cubic
second-feet from the intake to Brad
shaw Drop, a distance of 16.8, miles.
All flunies are of metal wltu concrete
transitions and will compare favorably
with those of the best projects in the
country. At the drop there is a con
crete bifurcation where the water is
divided between the District canal and
the Hopkins canal. The cost of con
structing the 15.8 miles of main canal
and the one-half mile of auxiliary canal
from the South Fork of Little Butte
Creek to the main canal was approxi
mately $150,000. , .
The Main Canal
Unit No. 5 is the District, Main
Canal. The district accepts delivery
of water from the Canal company at
Bradshaw Drop. This canal is approx
imately 45 miles in length ending on
the west side of the valley Just west of
(Continued on Page Fire)
OKEGON", FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1922
I ZZftTA , nnr 'I fejpi 5 p
Jackson Creek Wasteaway, the day the water was turned lp. VJ CSf555?331. r -
WHY A PROSPERITY WEEK?
ITHY A PROSPERITY, WEEK? This 'was a frequent, query
T V when the question' of a prosperity week wns first suggested.
A surprisingly large number of citizens seemed to think there was
no cause for any particular celebration.
To overcome this sentiment, to
there is genuine cause for a prosperity celebration, that there never
was a time when the conditions in Medford and the Rogue River val
ley looked 'brighter, this special
It tells only part of the story.
quate presentation of all the reasons for forseeing a prosperous fu
ture. But it does, we believe, show
And because the two largest developments in the valley have to
do with water, water as irrigation and water as power, the stories
have been gj-ouped in what might be termed an aquatic or hydraulic
setting.
Few people seem to realize that with Medford, the electrical center
of the north Pacific coast, millions of dollars are to be spent hero in
extensions and improvements, v Few peopic in Medford scem .t.6 real
ize what this change has already meant, more families coming in,
and an increased pay roll of over $100,000 annually. "
Also few people seem to realize what a comprehensive irrigation
system in this valley is going to mean. You hear some croakers pre
dicting ruin, disaster, with rumors of irrigation costs running, up to
$175 per acre. i
Rubbish. Of course there will be necessary readjustments, large
tracts will have to be cut up and production intensified, some people
may suffer temporarily, but the ultimate outcome will prove the
greatest boon for the Rogue River valley that has ever been imagined.
And the officials of the irrigation district have assured The Mail
Tribune that the irrigation cost per acre will not exceed $125 an acre,
that at the present time there arc $190,000 in bonds not yet certified.
"With the Urownlee mill soon to start operation, with the P. and E.
railroad saying nothing, but apparently getting ready to do a good
deal, with one of the best crops of pears of recent history on the trees,
with Crater Lake placing Jackson county more and more on the map
t's a tourist center with a gradual emergence of the old-time Medford
spirit, '..':'
With all these things and many more not mentioned, there is
sound cause for talking prosperity, thinking prosperity and having
prosperity.
show everyone who can read that
edition has been issued.
It does not aspire to be an ade
sufficient reason.
TY TO ALL
I JUiMtfN
The California-Oregon "light house," main headquarters of power com
pany In Medford, at night. '. .
TO ENLARGE PLANTS AT PROSPECT AND
.The California-Oregon Power
company, with $6,661,100 capital
stock, $2,220,000 of which Is pre
ferred stock has recently been
granted a permit by the govern
ment to Issue $2,000,000 additional
preferred stock for the purpose of
carrying on an extensive construc
tion program part of which Is the
new 115-mlle power line from
Prospect to Springfield, Ore., near
Eugene.
The company which has recent
ly moved Its home office to Med
ford, operates the following power
plants: Copco, capacity 11,500
K. W. Prospect, capacity, 4,700
K. W. Fall Creek, capacity 1900
K. W. Gold . Ray, capacity, 1500
K. W. Klamath Falls, capacity
600 K. W. Shasta River, capacity,
360 K. W., and Headlight, capacity
320, or a total for the seven plants
of 20,880 Kilowatts or 28,000 horse
power. The Copco plant. Is to be In
creased 12,500 K. W. this year at
an approximate cost of $2,000,000,
and thlz work Is already In pro
gress. rlans are under way to
Increase the capacity of the Pros
NO. G8
pect plant from 4.7C0 K. W. to
25,000 K. W., which will bring the
total cost of the two Improvements
ultimately to well over $4,000,000,
Medford Is now the electrical center
of the North Pacific coast. With the
removal of the California-Oregon Pow
er company headquarters from Yreka,
California to' this city, Medford be
comes the distributing center of the en
tire coast from San Francisco, Calif, on
tho south to Eugene'on the north. What
this means In actual dollars and cents
to Medford Is shown by the fact that
the removal means an immediate addi
tion of a payroll of $120,000 a year, to
the already large payroll of the com
pany. Added hi this the cash expendi
tures of the company in this section,
which will reach millions and the rea
son of a Prosperity week' for Medford
will be plainly seen.
Expended $700,000 Last Year
During the past year : (1921) the
California-Oregon Power company haa
expended in excess of $700,000 in the
Improvement of Us equipment on the
Rogue River division. . Amodg the
major Improvements was the remodel-
(Continued on fate Flvs)
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