EXPENDITURES. The expenditures on the Shoshone project are summarized in the following tables: Expenditures, according to physical features, on Shoshone project to June 30, 1906. Expenditures, according to purpose and nature, on Shoshone project to June 30, 1906. PROPOSED LAKE DE SMET PROJECT. This proposed project was examined by Capt. II. M. Chittenden in 1897, his report being published as House Document No. 141, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session. In 1902, a detailed examination of the project was made by the Reclamation Service, the results of this examination being published in the Second Annual Report. In May, 1906, the project was examined on the ground by a board of engineers, all available data of previous examinations and pertinent records of the office of the water superintendent being given due consideration in connection with this examination of the project. Lake De Smet is formed by a natural basin in the comparatively low, rolling country east of the Bighorn Mountains. The lake is 8 miles east of the base of the mountains and 2 miles south of Piney Creek. It is 3 miles in length with an average width of a little more than three-fourths of a mile, contains 1,503 acres, and the surface of the water is at an elevation of 4,530 feet above sea level. The lowest point of the rim of its basin is 30 feet above the present surface of the water, so that a natural reservoir site is formed by the basin of the lake. The area of the drainage basin of the lake is 36 square miles, the largest stream flowing into it being Shell Creek, a small stream draining the country immediately west of the lake, the principal source of its water supply being seepage water from irrigation ditches. The lake has no visible outlet. At the head of Box Elder Creek, 2 or 3 miles southeast of the lake are a number of small lakes, some above and some below the elevation of the water in Lake De Smet. These lakes are fed by springs, and it has been suggested that the water of these springs may come from Lake De Smet. Small basins, some of which contain water, are typical of this region, Lake De Smet itself differing from the others only in its greater size. Owing to the character of the topography of the region it seems hardly probable that the springs referred to are fed by water from Lake De Smet. The most feasible way of utilizing Lake De Smet for irrigation purposes is to use it as a regulator of Piney Creek. This could be done by diverting the water of this creek into the lake by means of a canal 4 miles in length, and returning it to the creek through an outlet at the north end of the lake. Measurements of the discharge of Piney Creek were made in 1903, 1904, and 1905. The storage capacity of Lake De Smet between the present water surface and the lowest point of the rim a vertical distance of 30 feet-is 55,000 acre-feet, which is enough to regulate the entire flow of Piney Creek. Stored water discharged through an outlet at the north end of Lake De Smet could be utilized on lands along Piney Creek and along Clear Creek below the mouth of Piney. Water from the south end of the lake could be used on lands along Clear Creek and Box Elder Creek. However, an outlet at the south end is not considered feasible owing to its high cost. The lands along Clear Creek can be better served from Clear Creek than from Lake De Smet. There is so little land along Box Elder Creek that it is hardly worth considering. Moreover, it can be more cheaply irrigated from the ditch now constructed from Rock Creek to the Box Elder Creek drainage. It has been suggested that water from Lake De Smet be used on lands along Prairie Dog Creek northeast of Sheridan. With this end in view a reconnaissance from a point on Piney Creek north of Lake De Smet to the Divide between Piney and Prairie Dog creeks was made. This reconnaissance indicates that it is feasible to convey water from Lake De Smet to Dutch Creek, a tributary of Prairie Dog Creek, through a canal about 20 miles in length and through a tunnel about one-half mile long. However, in order to determine this matter more definitely, a topographic survey of the divide between Piney and Prairie Dog creeks should be made. An examination of records of water rights in the office of the water superintendent shows the following adjudicated rights on Piney Creek and tributaries. There are thus both adjudicated and unadjudicated rights for 56,817 acres. These filings are based on a duty of 70 acres per second-foot of water. Allowing 1 acre-feet of water for each acre irrigated which is probably somewhat more than the quantity usedthe irrigation of this quantity of land would require 85,225 acre-feet to which would be added 3,651 acre-feet of storage rights, making a total of 88,876. acre-feet, which is considerably more than the annual discharge of the stream. It therefore would seem that there is no unappropriated water left for the reclamation of additional land, but that the best that could be expected would be the regulation of the stream so that the present appropriators may have water in proper quantities when needed. A feasible way of utilizing the stored water is to discharge it back into Piney Creek from the north end of the lake and utilize it on lands along Piney or Clear creeks that now have water rights but an insufficient water supply. The present water supply for lands along Prairie Dog Creek could be increased by diverting additional water from the unregulated flow of Piney Creek and delivering it through canals now in operation, from Piney to Prairie Dog Creek in the vicinity of Banner, and replacing the water thus transferred by stored water from Lake De Smet. If future surveys show that it be feasible to convey water from Lake De Smet to the head of Dutch Creek west of Ulm, lands along this creek now having an insufficient water supply could be supplied from this source. As practically all of the irrigable land tributary to Lake De Smet is in private ownership, and as the water of Piney Creek has been appropriated by a large number of small landowners, it was thought desirable to give the private owners of the land an opportunity to increase their present water supply; therefore the area withdrawn for investigation by the Reclamation Service was restored to entry by Secretary's order dated June 9, 1906. |