, THE IRRIGATION AGE. 383 



certain knowledge it is on a par with the arguments of the^opponents 

 of the Elephant Butte dam generally. 



We have shown repeatedly by authentic figures that the average 

 yearly flow of the river is quite sufficient for all purposes of irrigation 

 for the entire valley. 



An exceptional season like this proves nothing. We have other 

 seasons quite as exceptional for their abnormally large flow of water. 

 Mr. Barnes' statement that the conditions of this year are to be 

 expected every season in the future is entirely without foundation and 

 is not in accordance with his own observation. If he were right, it 

 would be silly to carry this matter farther, since there is now no water 

 to store. 



I wish to call your attention to another fact, viz. : It has been 

 charged that my company would store and divert the whole flow of 

 the river at Elephant Butte and deprive El Paso of all water. This 

 is senseless, seeing that the capacity of our proposed reservoir is but 

 253, 009 acre feet, while the mean average annual flow of the river 

 approximates 1,000,000 acre feet. Moreover, our reservoir, to use Mr. 

 Barnes' words, would be ''just above El Paso/' Now, if this is true, 

 what in God's name are we going to store all that water for"? Hardly 

 just to keep it there to look at. It must be used, and in so doing, it 

 must pass down the valley to El Paso. 



As a matter of fact, our reservoir would be 112 miles above, and 

 there is plenty of water to pass on down to the El Paso reservoir. 

 There has never been any necessity for conflict between the two enter- 

 prises, and the whole trouble arises from the hallucinations of the 

 advocates of the International Dam. 



Now, another fact. While we have been condemned in vigorous 

 terms as a soulless corporation that would divert the whole water 

 supply, the advocates of the International Dam would do the very 

 thing they so emphatically condemn in us. In fact, their whole fight 

 on us has originated in their desire and intention to prevent any stor- 

 age whatever except at El Paso, thus creating an absolute monopoly 

 at the latter place, in violation of and without any regard to the rights 

 of New Mexico. You will please notice that El Pase is situated just 

 three miles south of the south line of New Mexico, and if storage 

 must be confined to that point, it leaves then the latter high and dry. 



Water appropriations in New Mexico from the Rio Grande are as 

 old as those in Texas and Mexico, and her rights are identical there 

 with. Mr. Barnes speaks of a certain treaty to be made between the 

 United States and Mexico to permit and authorize the building of the 

 International Dam. He neglects to state some of the reasons that 

 would make such a treaty necessary. He also fails to say that the 

 draft of the treaty as actually prepared by interested government offif' 

 cials would grant an absolute monopoly of the water, preventing any 

 further diversion or any storage in New Mexico. 



