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Show BANANAS ON PIKE'S PEAK 217 will be needed to assure supplies for presently irrigated land. In fact, the growing water needs of the Western cities and industries and the depletion of existing supplies may eventually force a reduction of irrigated acreage in some areas. "Relative to many other uses, irrigation is a very un- economic user of water. In 1947, about 25 trillion gallons of water were used to produce irrigated crops in the West valued at about 2.4 billion dollars, of which over 50 per cent was grown in the three Pacific States. The value of the crops was equal to about 10 cents for each 1,000 gallons of water withdrawn. In comparison, about 15 trillion gallons of water were used nationally in 1947 in producing goods having a value added by manufacture of 74.4 billion dollars or about $5 for each 1,000 gallons of water withdrawn. In other words, manufacturing produced fifty times as many dollars of products with the same amount of water as did irri- gation. Furthermore, the consumptive use of water by irrigation was five or ten times as great as for manu- facturing. If the water needs of Western cities and in- dustries become more urgent, a great part of the crops now irrigated could be produced from lands in the East reclaimed by clearing and drainage in areas of adequate rainfall." A detailed study issued by the Journal of Farm Eco- nomics, a Department of Agriculture publication, dis- closed striking contrasts in costs between reclamation in the West and the humid Southeast. It analyzed the costs and benefits of the Columbia Basin Project in Washington and a comparable area on the Piedmont plateau of Virginia, where an equal amount of good land was available for reclamation.265 |
