THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



of Ciudad Juarez have used the waters of 

 the Rio Grande both for domestic and 

 irrigating purposes, and so far as any law, 

 custom or equity goes, they undoubtedly 

 have prior rights to the use of these wa- 

 ters. 



Now the Rio Grande rises in Colorado 

 and flows through New Mexico before it 

 reaches the Mexican line, and the citizens 

 of Ciudad Juarez have for several years 

 past complained of exceptional scarcity of 

 water, caused by the diversion of the head 

 waters of the river in Colorado and the 

 numerous irrigating canals that have in 

 recent years been taken out, both in Colo- 

 rado and New Mexico. 



In 1888 the river was absolutely dry for 

 over sixty days about August and Sep- 

 tember, and in 1889 it had no flow what- 

 ever from the 5th of August to the 20th of 

 December. In 1894 the river was dry 

 nearly all the summer after June 15, 

 while this year the flow stopped on June 1. 



It is not seriously contended that the 

 water rights of Mexico are guaranteed by 

 treaties, in which only rights of navigation 

 are referred to, neither is it claimed the 

 recent shortage of water is entirely due to 

 the diversion of the upper stream. It must 

 be admitted that the seasons referred to 

 were exceptionally dry, with little snow in 

 the mountains, and that similar drouths 

 occurred, and are mentioned in history, 

 previous to any irrigation works in Colo- 

 rado. Nevertheless, when it is considered 

 that since 1881 ditches have been taken 

 out of the Rio Grande, and its tributaries 

 in Colorado, representing a capacity of 

 21,278 cubic feet per second, and that 

 reservoirs have been constructed with a 

 capacity of 1,729,000,000 cubic feet, it is 

 only reasonable to conclude that this con- 

 sumption of water has materially contrib- 

 uted to, and doubtless aggravated, the 

 recent scarcity of water at Ciudad Juarez. 



The matter has already been the subject 

 of diplomatic negotiations between the two 

 governments, with the result that a joint 

 commission is now engaged in investigat- 

 ing all the surrounding parts and of report- 

 ing to their respective governments. 



In the meantime the Mexican govern- 

 ment has formulated a claim against this 

 government amounting to $22,000,000 

 Mexican money for loss of crops during 

 the last ten years, due to scarcity of water, 

 but offers to waive these claims, provided 

 the United States government will, at its 



own expense, construct an international 

 dam for the purpose of storing the surplus 

 waters of the Rio Grande and of giving 

 to Mexico half the water thus obtained. 



If the United States government accedes 

 to this proposition, it undoubtedly will be 

 a solution to the whole difficulty. 



A. GOOD DAM SITE. 



At a point some two miles above El Paso 

 there is an admirable site for a dam, as 

 shown in the accompanying photographs, 

 one end of which would rest against the 

 granite foothills on the American side, 

 and the other end against those on the 

 Mexican side of the Rio Grande. The 

 dam of stones and cement would be 

 about sixty feet high and some 500 feet 

 in length, creating a lake fifteen miles 

 long and seven miles wide, with a prob- 

 able storage capacity of 4,000,000,000 

 cubic yards of water, the surface of which 

 will be seventy feet above the streets of 

 El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. It will irri- 

 gate about 200,000 acres of land, or say 

 100,000 on the American side and 100,000 

 on the Mexican side, and is estimated to 

 give a water-power of about 6,000 horse- 

 power to each side of the river. 



The cost of building the dam is esti- 

 mated at $300,000, and $700,000 for the 

 removal of the road beds of the Santa F6 

 and Southern Pacific railways, while a 

 further sum of probably $500,000 will be 

 required to pay for the land which will be 

 submerged by the reservoir. The total 

 cost may be put down roughly at one and 

 a half million dollars. 



The 200,000 acres which could be irri- 

 gated from the proposed dam comprise 

 some of the finest farm and fruit lands 

 in the world, but not more than one- 

 quarter is at present under cultivation. 

 The valley is famous for the renowned 

 Mission grape, of which large quantities 

 are shipped every year. 



It will be seen that the dam will not 

 only place the citizens of Mexico in a bet- 

 ter position than they have ever hitherto 

 enjoyed, for it will give them both water 

 power and an assured supply of irriga- 

 ting water at all seasons, butj it will also 

 confer an incalculable benefit on the Amer- 

 ican citizens of the El Paso valley. 



*Since the above was written, the capital has been 

 subscribed in London for building a dam in the river, 

 which will bring under ditch the 45,000 acres of land 

 which would be submerged by the international dam. 

 Under these circumstances this land could hardly be 

 condemned for less than $2,000,000. 



