Page:Report of the Oregon Conservation Commission to the Governor (1908 - 1914).djvu/273

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The Owyhee River basin contains a number of reservoir sites, probably the best one on the main river being at Duncan Ferry, near the mouth of Crooked Creek. This site can be developed to almost any capacity required. The water stored can be diverted near the mouth of the river onto a large area of land. There is a reservoir site on Jordan Creek in Idaho, in which it is proposed to store water for use in Oregon. There is not enough land susceptible of irrigation from the Owyhee to use all the average runoff, but probably somewhat more than that for a low year can be used, say 600,000 acre-feet.

DIVERSION DAM FOR IRRIGATION—BAKER COUNTY

The Malheur River basin is particularly well supplied with reservoir sites. No less than ten have been surveyed by the U. S. Reclamation Service and private parties, but only a few of these would be required to conserve the runoff of the river and its tributaries. The availability of the Harper reservoir, probably the best on the river and one of the best in eastern Oregon. will be destroyed by the building of the Oregon Eastern Railway through it; this would be an almost irreparable public mi4ortune were it not for the fact that other sites exist which can take the place of it. The Warm Springs reservoir site, on Middle Fork above Riverside, is full; as good as the Harper, and could be developed to provide excess capacity to hold over the excess runoff of a high year to a low year. It