WILLISTON: semi-arid KANSAS. 2I3 



The utilization of surface water in an economical way depends 

 upon a number of yet unsolved problems — the matter is by no means 

 so simple as some believe. The land is of a gently undulating char- 

 acter, and no reservoirs can be constructed, save at great expense, 

 which will not present so great a surface to the atmosphere that the 

 intense evaporation of the summer months will not dry them up. 

 Professor Hicks, of the University of Nebraska, has attempted to 

 show that water-storage on the plains is practically impossible. 

 While not wholly agreeing with him, it is apparent that the utility of 

 such is by no means what has been claimed for it. 



The utilization of river water can be of but comparatively limited 

 extent. There is but one stream in the state — the Arkansas — which 

 receives its water from outside the arid regions. In this stream the 

 visible supply is limited, in fact is already practically exhausted. 

 But the valley is from ten to twenty miles broad, with an underflow 

 probably nearly everywhere forty to sixty feet deep. The use of 

 this underground flow is, of course, both possible and econom- 

 ical. It is thus not at all improbable that nearly the entire extent of 

 this valley will be put under profitable irrigation at no late day, even 

 as a considerable portion has already been. 



But the whole region thus capable of irrigation is very small in 

 proportion to the vast area of upland. 



The third and last problem, and the one upon which the future of 

 western Kansas practically dej^ends, is the so-called underflow of the 

 uplands. Although the explanation of this underflow or sheet-water 

 is simple enough, I doubt if the most of those who use the terms 

 understand just what, they mean. For this understanding, a know- 

 ledge of the geological features of western Kansas is necessary. But 

 the facts are simple: it does not need the acumen of an expert geolo- 

 gist to understand them. Running across the state from Jewell 

 county on the north, through Ellsworth county and into Colorado 

 near Coolidge, there is a strip of exposure of variable width known as 

 the Colorado Cretaceous. The rocks are invariably soft limestones, 

 lime shales, or pure homogeneous chalk, with an estimated thickness 

 of from five to eight hundred feet. The deposits are marine and are 

 practically impervious to water. After their elevation, the whole 

 country was subjected to erosion through long periods of geological 

 time. During this time the surface had practically reached the pres- 

 ent configuration and the Arkansas, Smoky Hill and other valleys had 

 been scooped out. At the close, the land of the plains was again de- 

 pressed into a series of extensive fresh-water lakes, extending from 

 Dakota to Texas. The deposits laid down in these basins were 

 composed of the debris from the Rocky Mountain sandstones and 



