22 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



every reason to believe that the artesian supply of 

 this locality will be all that could be asked, for though 

 not yet demonstrated by practical experiment, as is the 



Fig 1. 



DIAGRAMS SHOWING THREE PROPOSED DAMS. 



case in older sections, the conditions are reported, 

 by State Geologist Dumble, to be not unfavorable. 



THE WESTERN MOUNTAIN SYSTEM. 



The Western Mountain System embraces the dry 

 plains of the west and the "Trans-Pecos" country 



already brought to the attention of our readers. 

 This for the most part consists of numerous mountains 

 and detached peaks surrounded by slightly undulating 

 plains. That underneath 

 many portions of this section 

 lie water supplies filtered 

 down from the mountains 

 further west is a fact be- 

 yond dispute. The natural 

 conditions are favorable, and 

 in fact, the Texas Pacific 

 Railroad and the Southern 

 Pacific have both sunk wells 

 there which are in every way 

 satisfactory. Even if this 

 were not so, the facilities for 

 the construction of storage 

 reservoirs have already been 

 shown to be very encourag- 

 ing and such is also the case 

 in other sections. Where it 

 is true that artesian condi- 

 tions are unfavorable, or that 

 the supply will be weak or 

 inadequate, the topography 

 of the country is such, in 

 almost every instance, that 

 dams and reservoirs can be 

 cheaply and easily con- 

 structed. 



At this point the attention 

 may properly be turned to 

 the Colorado coal field dis- 

 trict, where the most recent 

 investigations have been 

 made by the State geologi- 

 cal survey, for Jhere it seems 

 to be an established fact that 

 irrigation by means of art- 

 esian wells cannot to any ex- 

 tent be depended upon and 

 at the same time there is 

 every necessary advantage 

 in favor of the successful 

 construction of reservoirs 

 and the storage of water. 



THE PROPOSED DAMS. 



In treating of this subject 

 the geologist recommends 

 dams according to the ac- 

 companying easily under- 

 stood plans, the materials 

 for which are easily access- 

 ible either in stone, clay or timber, the clays of this 

 section being especially abundant. The first plan is 

 for a stone dam and is easily understood as is also the 

 second, which is of clay and is a popular design, and 

 already largely used. The third is of wood and is evi- 



