of phases. Engineering studies are necessary to determine the physical availability of land and water, the feasibility of constructing the necessary reservoirs, canals, and other works, and to provide an estimate of their cost. Legal questions regarding the water, the practicabilty of acquiring the necessary rights and arrangements with landholders should be covered with equal care. Of equal or even greater importance than engineering and legal phases of new projects there should be studied their agricultural possibilities. There should be determined in advance the cost of developing a farm to a point where full production can be realized and the value of the irrigation water in farming the lands, which should be classified in accordance with their ability to produce and repay the irrigation costs.

Problems of new projects.-In April, 1924, estimates of appropriation for commencing construction of important irrigation works on six projects were submitted to the Bureau of the Budget. Three of these were new projects designated as the Salt Lake Basin in Utah, the Vale in Oregon, the Owyhee in Idaho and Oregon. In the three other cases the proposed works were related to projects already in hand, including a reservoir at Guernsey, Wyo., on the North Platte project; a reservoir at Spanish Springs for the benefit of the Newlands project in Nevada with canals for new lands adjacent; and the Kittitas division of the Yakima project in Washington, which will bring the distribution facilities into harmony with the storage recently enhanced by construction of the Tieton Reservoir.

These Budget estimates dealt with construction costs. The engineering features of these proposals had been investigated over a period of years and were well defined. The appropriation suggested approximated $6,000,000, but the works contemplated would cost in excess of $50,000,000.

The economic survey.-The appropriation estimates did not deal with the problems and expenses of land settlement or agricultural development. The advisory board, showing conclusively that solvency of any reclamation project depends largely on the fitness of settlers and earning power of land, recommended agricultural and economic investigations of all future projects before development. It was directed that such investigations be made of all these proposed developments and that a further economic survey be made of the Baker project in Oregon because its feasibility had been questioned following a report prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.

These economic surveys have been organized to determine the productive power of the land and what farmers can afford to pay for water, to determine the size of farms and the amount of money

needed to improve and equip them for irrigated agriculture, to fix the areas of land in public and private ownership and the settlement policy needed to secure prompt development and return of construction costs. The plan followed was to secure the aid of agricultural and economic experts from the agricultural colleges of the States in which the projects were located, men with technical training and a knowledge of local conditions. The cooperation of the State agricultural colleges of Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho made this possible. In addition, soil experts from the Department of Agriculture and engineers from the Bureau of Reclamation took part in these studies and rendered valable assistance. After the technical studies were completed and conclusions reached, the reports were submitted to a group of local bankers and business men for comments and criticisms on matters about which they have practical knowledge, such as the acreage value of crops grown, the cost of improving and equipping farms, the credit settlers will need, and the construction cost they can afford to pay.

In inviting these expressions from local people it was realized that there might be a bias in favor of development, which would tend to make statements too favorable, but against this there is the fact that all who participate in these studies become in a sense responsible for the results if the project is approved by Congress.

The projects being investigated illustrate the complex business and social conditions under which Federal reclamation has to operate. These influence the feasibility of projects and the welfare of settlers. They should shape the methods and policy of this bureau.

Completion of existing projects.-In general, the extension and completion of existing projects should be given preference over the adoption and commencement of new ones. There are a number of compelling reasons for this. Under present law the Federal reclamation work is limited by the resources of a special fund in the Treasury known as the reclamation fund. To add new projects spreads the available funds and efforts over too large a program for the most effective and economical work. For each project a certain overhead organization and expense are necessary. With the funds spread thinly over too many projects this overhead must be carried for years longer than is necessary, with consequent increase in total costs. After the works are built, their operation, involving delivery of water and other dealings with the farmers, requires different kinds of talent. If the construction work is dragged along concurrently with the maintenance and operation of project units it is necessary to have both construction and operating forces with extra cost and division of interest.

On some of the projects partially completed there are units or divisions where no canals have been constructed or where ditches are available, but storage is lacking. In the one case no water can be served; in the other only a partial supply. In either case the Government has a substantial investment from the reclamation fund tied up in storage or in canals with repayment deferred. Water, if served at all, must be peddled on a basis of annual water rentals which charges are for the operation alone and commonly do not fully meet even that expense. If settlers are on the lands, they are handicapped by lack of water and on a limited agriculture, using dryfarming operations where the rainfall permits. Such conditions. produce no return on investment but lead to criticism of the Government and develop a type of agriculture that can not succeed.

Legal activities. The law work of the Bureau of Reclamation is not easily comparable with that of any other Government bureau. The statutes under which the bureau functions blaze new and unusual trails, with little of legal precedent as a guide. The general water law of the West is not yet out of the formative period, and the special laws relating to Federal irrigation, consisting of nearly 100 separate statutes, are still more experimental. Through an investment of approximately $143,000,000 in Federal irrigation works the bureau has a contractual relation with upwards of 35,000 individuals. This is not the ordinary impersonal Federal relation, but the very difficult one of creditor and debtor. The usual situation is not present in which the adjustment of a disagreement is in the discretion of a Government official, but one in which cooperative action is essential. There is probably no other bureau of the Government that has proportionately so large, unusual, and complex a legal burden as the Bureau of Reclamation.

Operations during the fiscal year.-During the fiscal year the bureau continued the operation and maintenance of irrigation works previously constructed, built extensions and additional works in various States, and conducted investigations for further extensions and possible new developments.

The maintenance of constructed works and their operation for delivery of irrigation water continued without extraordinary event until the close of the fiscal year when the most westerly States entered a season of unusual drought. Most of the Government projects were well supplied with water, but at a few points serious shortage impended.

The Tieton Dam on the river of the same name in Washington, to be 244 feet high and impound 202,500 acre-feet of water, and the Black Canyon Dam in Idaho, 183 feet high, to divert water from Payette River, were virtually completed. A third dam is being

built on McKay Creek, a fourth on Lost River in Oregon, while specifications for a fifth on Snake River at American Falls, Idaho, are being prepared and preliminary work and negotiations are being carried on. On a number of projects canal systems were extended to additional lands and drainage channels were excavated for the protection of the irrigated areas from waterlogging.

Funds available by Federal appropriation were enhanced by cooperative arrangements with local interests for investigations in the various arid States, including two projects of a magnitude greatly exceeding any developments thus far undertaken. One of these involves storage and control of the Colorado River, on the engineering features of which the Chief Engineer completed a voluminous report. A report was made on the Columbia Basin project in Washington supplementing previous studies by the State.

One index of the bureau's activities during the year is the number of contracts entered into and the different subjects involved, which are summarized in the following table:

1 Includes some construction work.

4, 22615, 123, 779. 42

2 Does not include relief given to individual water users, and includes some construction work. Estimated in part.

The accompanying table gives a summary of construction results to June 30, 1924. During the fiscal year the bureau constructed 800 miles of canals, ditches, and drains; 9,500 canal structures; 1,100 bridges; 350,000 linear feet of pipe; and 33,000 linear feet of flume; and excavated 18,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock, the total excavation at the end of the fiscal year amounting to 234,940,000 cubic yards.