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Show The same issue, approached from a somewhat longer-range viewpoint, is put this way: Recog- nizing that an expanding Nation will require larger quantities of agricultural products in the future, should these be obtained through the use of modern farm techniques to increase the pro- ductivity of existing lands, or through irrigation or drainage? Why not put off bringing new lands into production until we have stopped the deterioration of many presently cultivated lands and brought their production up to modern levels? These questions raise the general issue of how to determine whether projects designed to bring in new agricultural lands are justified. They assume that reclamation is designed solely to meet requirements for agricultural products. They fail to give proper weight to the broader develop- mental objective of the reclamation program. This broader objective, however, immediately raises another issue. Reclamation laws have been based on the principle that Federal invest- ment should provide irrigation water only for the family-sized farm. This principle initially af- fected Federal projects developing public lands, in the years before the tendency toward large- scale farms and absentee ownership had devel- oped. More recently this principle has been challenged by or on behalf of the larger land- owners, in connection with making additional water available through reclamation project facilities to already developed irrigation areas in which large ownership blocks have already been established. For three projects Congress has, by legislation, exempted lands from this acreage limi- tation provision. The matter of enforcement of the acreage limi- tation provision is also an issue. Charges are made that enforcement has been lax. The fun- damental question is whether the acreage limi- tation provision of the reclamation laws, designed to assure that benefits from Federal investment go only to family-sized farms, should be retained, modified, or abolished. Also, if it is retained, should it be extended to apply to all types of Fed- eral investment in reclamation, including drain- age undertakings? One other issue must be considered. Today there are many older irrigation projects, in most instances relatively small privately financed un- dertakings, which from economic and other causes have deteriorated to the point where, with- out Federal assistance in their rehabilitation, con- siderable community values will be lost. Should the Federal Government undertake such rehabili- tation? How should the feasibility of projects be determined? To what extent should the general provisions of the reclamation law apply? Answers to these questions will be determined in part by consideration of the Nation's long-term interest in reclamation, and by the future needs of the population for agricultural products. Early Development of Reclamation Policy Irrigation characteristic of the West today be- gan in 1832 with the irrigation of garden tracts outside Fort Bent in the Arkansas River in Colo- rado and on a larger scale by the Mormons near Great Salt Lake, Utah, in 1848. From these early beginnings irrigation, financed by private in- terests, developed quite rapidly in the arid section of the West; the States of Colorado and Califor- nia led the Nation in acres irrigated. By the turn of the century the development of irrigated lands by private capital had about reached its limit because of the fact that most of the less costly projects had been constructed and expensive reservoirs were necessary to conserve water. At this time the people of the arid region were divided as to whether the States or the Federal Government should sponsor irrigation develop- ment. In 1894, Senator Carey of Wyoming was instrumental in getting Congress to pass a bill under which the United States would donate up to a million acres of public lands to any State that would agree to reclaim them. Because of lack of basic information on stream runoff, poor engi- neering practices, and lack of funds, very! few Carey Act projects succeeded. Public interest was widespread. In 1890 a severe drought had led the people in the Great Plains to form the National Irrigation Congress. Later, in 1899, the National Irrigation Associa- 150 |