15 



THE WATER SUPPLY. 



Over a considerable portion of tbe region under consideration the 

 annual precii)itation, or rainfall, is quite limited. In the great plains 

 area it is not probable that the average would be over 10 or 12 inches 

 per annum — more in the favored localities and less elsewhere. On the 

 mountains and in their immediate vicinity water is usually abundant, 

 and were it not for the many lofty peaks, whose perennial snows supply 

 the streams originating in them, the country would be a desert indeed, 

 and agriculture impossible. As it is, the farmer or stockman is filled 

 with joy when he sees the mountain tops becoming whitened with heavy 

 snows; for they promise him a plentiful supply of water for his crops 

 and his stock during- the summer months. Countless streams fed 

 by these snows find their way down to the plain, where they unite to 

 form the larger water- courses — the Missouri, Yellowstone, Platte, and 

 Arkansas rivers. Were it possible to properly husband the water 

 flowing in these streams so that it could be distributed over the land 

 when it is most needed, the forage problem would be a simple one and 

 easily settled in a very large portion of this ^region for a long time to 

 come. 



Under the present condition much of the water runs off during the 

 spring freshets and is lost, wL yops and stock often suffer severely 

 for water later in the season. This trouble is sometimes aggravated by 

 the removal of the forest cover in the mountains by fires or by the 

 wholesale cutting of timber. The proper maintenance of this forest 

 cover about the source of the streams furnishing water for irrigation is 

 a matter of vital importance to this whole region, and every possible 

 effort should be put forth to secure it from destruction. A correspond- 

 ent from Eoutt County, Colo., writes, "The greatest evil to the range 

 is the destruction of the timber and underbrush at the head of the 

 streams through fires," and many other correspondents have expressed 

 similar views. A good illustration of the injurious effect of the 

 destruction of the forest cover was observed the past season in the 

 Big Horn Mountains, where thousands of acres of spruce and pine tim- 

 ber have been killed by fire, allowing the early and rapid running off 

 of water from the melting snows, and a consequent shortage later in 

 the season in the streams depending upon them for their supply. 



Out on the plains, away from the mountains, not only is the i)recipi 

 tation less, but the streams are farther apart, and many of them, because 

 of the excessive evaporation or porous character of the bed, become dry 

 during the summer and autumn months, so that the water supply is 

 insufficient for irrigation, and often it is difficult and sometimes even 

 impossible for the rancher to obtain enough to water his stock. Ani- 

 mals wandering back and forth in search of water trample out and 

 destroy many of the valuable grasses which would otherwise be able 

 to survive the drought. During freshets resulting from melting of the 

 snows in the spring on such a wide expanse of territory, with little if 



