THE IRRIGATION AGE. 387 



mission of ruin the very cream of our soil, to fill that great national 

 highway. The destruction of the forests and the continued escape of 

 the storm waters from the great plains have continued too long 

 already. Forest reserves must be established by states and by the 

 national government, and large storage reservoirs established where 

 the water is of the most benefit to the people, and this is the only 

 solution to the problem. 



LOCATION OF STORM -WATER RESERVOIRS. 



There are several questions almost equally important that must 

 be considered in the selection of a location. If it is intended to store 

 the storm waters only, the reservoir will necessarily be built at one 

 side of the channel of the stream, and may be close by, or at quite a. 

 distance from the channel. "Where water rights have previously ap- 

 propriated the regular flow, the ditch can be so graded as to take 

 water above a certain level, and by selecting a location for starting 

 the ditch from the stream where the bend of the stream is toward the 

 ditch, a large portion of the storm waters may easily be secured. If 

 the parties wishing to build the reservoir own the water rights which 

 take the entire flow of the stream, then a dam may be constructed 

 so as to give a steady flow. The mouth of the ditch should be pro- 

 vided with a strong water gate high enough so that in time of great 

 floods the water may be kept back entirely, or in part. Sometimes 

 the storage reservoir may be constructed across the channel of the 

 stream. In order to determine this, investigation must first be made 

 to determine how far it is down to bed-rock, and next, how much 

 water can be retained; or, in other words, is the fall of the stream 

 above the proposed dam "such that a suficient amount of water can be 

 retained to justify the outlay? 



Sometimes a location can be easily found on the bottom land along* 

 the stream where a storage reservoir may be safely and conveniently 

 located, and water stored from a creek or from one or more draws. 



Such a reservoir should be constructed on very mnch the same 

 plan as the reservoirs constructed for pumped waters. Sometimes sites 

 for such reservoirs as the one just mentioned can be found where 

 there is a slight depression; and if such a place is found there is 

 usually more or less gumbo to aid in retaining the water. In the 

 selection of a location for a storage reservoir in a draw or ravine, the 

 same questions must be taken into consideration as in the location of 

 the dam across the running stream, with the additional question of 

 whether the reservoir will not soon be filled with dirt or other rub- 

 bish; and in fact that question should not be overlooked in consider- 

 ing the feasibility of building any dam or storage reservoir. There 

 will always be more or less silt deposited in the dam or reservoir, but 

 where the storage basin is exposed to the wash from ploughed fields 

 or abrupt slopes not well sodded, the enterprise will inevitably be 

 shortlived. Many draws and ravines are now utterly unfit for storage 



