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<br />C\J <br />00 <br />1'- <br /> <br />~ 6 - <br /> <br />shortage has been about one year in seven, and the frequency of water shortage, <br /> <br />either major or minor, is probably on the order of one year in four with the project <br /> <br />as proposed. <br /> <br />The conveyance losses projected of from about 9 percent to 3S percent for the <br /> <br />major canal systems are probably quite conservative for the type of canal construc- <br /> <br />tion planned and for the length of canals. Larger conveyance losses than those <br /> <br />indicated would produce water shortages more frequent and more severe than indicated <br /> <br />by the water-supply-operations studies. Any underestimate of water requirements would <br /> <br />also result in water shortages more frequent and more severe than indicated. <br /> <br />Type of Ranching in the Area.--The agriculture in the Little Snake River Valley is <br /> <br />at present almost entirely a livestock-ranching type. The cultivated lands and <br /> <br />irrigated hay lands in the river-bottom areas are used primarily to supply a source <br /> <br />of hay for maintaining breeding herds through the winter. The hay lands are used <br /> <br />secondarily for aftermath grazing, and wet meadow lands are used to a certain extent <br /> <br />for pasturing of livestock through the summer. The use of these wet lands for pro- <br /> <br />viding summer pasture, however, represents a very minor source of the total summer- <br /> <br />pasture requirement for ranches in the area. <br /> <br />A typical ranching operation in the Little Snake River Valley has a fairly large <br /> <br />acreage of dryland range, either deeded or leased. In addition, these ranches <br /> <br />frequently have a permit to graze either Bureau of Land Managel'1ent lands or National <br /> <br />Forest lands or both. The dry rangeland and the BLM and Forest permits provide the <br /> <br />major source of feed for the livestock from spring through fall. <br /> <br />Typically, cattle are fed from about December 1 until r'ay 1, with calving start- <br /> <br />ing about April 1. Cattle are turned on the ranges around the first of May and will <br /> <br />graze on private ranges and BLM ranges until late fall or until they are moved to the <br /> <br />National Forests, which may occur around mid-June. Livestock going onto the National <br /> <br />Forests will stay on the forest until sometime between the middle of September and <br />