2o6 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



May, 



the work be done, which is accordingly 

 being carried on as far as possible. In 

 Colorado the State Engineering Depart- 

 ment has cooperated to the extent of 

 their abilit}^ making measurements 

 whenever possible and furnishing other 

 invaluable assistance. 



The principal uses to which water may 

 be put are, in general, domestic supply, 

 irrigation, mining, milling, and power 

 purposes generally, and the amount of 

 use will, of course, depend upon the 

 amount of water available and the 

 amount of power that may be generated, 

 this amount being dependent both upon 

 the flow of the stream and the available 

 head. 



While, of course, there is not at pres- 

 ent so great a demand in the East for 

 information concerning water for irri- 

 gation, there is an equally great, if not 

 greater, demand for information con- 

 cerning the amount available for all the 

 other purposes named. In Colorado we 

 make use of water for all these purposes. 

 Upon the same stream the water may 

 perhaps be first used in the development 



of power and in concentrating the ores 

 in our stamp mills in the mountainous 

 tracts near our mines. Again, a little 

 farther down, it is taken up and used 

 for placer mining. Still again, it may 

 be taken out near the mouth of the 

 canyon, and by utilizing the head ob- 

 tained through flumes, pipe lines, or 

 otherwise, power is generated ; and, 

 again, at the mouth of the canyon the 

 water is taken from the natural bed of 

 the stream and is diverted by means of 

 flumes or ditches to the contiguous tracts 

 of tillable land, and through the use of 

 water thus obtained the agricultural 

 products of Colorado have become of 

 greater importance than even the min- 

 ing products. Again, the water which 

 has percolated into the soil and thus 

 forms an underflow may be once more 

 brought to the surface and again used 

 for irrigation by means of the power 

 generated at the mouth of the canyon. 

 In addition to all these uses some pro- 

 vision must have been made along the 

 course of the stream for water for the 

 domestic supply of the settlers and the 



A RIVER GAGING STATION. 



