20S 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



May, 



are irrigation division No. i, or the 

 Platte River Division; No. 2, or the Ar- 

 kansas Division; No. 3, or the Rio 

 Grande Division; No. 4, or the San 

 Juan Division; No. 5, or the Grand 

 River Division, and No. 6, or the Green 

 River Division. Of these the difficulties 

 in distribution of the water are greatest 

 in divisions i and 2, and hence the most 

 stations have been established by request 

 in these divisions. 



In the South Platte irrigation divis- 

 ion the station at Platte Canyon is 

 maintained with particular reference to 

 the power that might be developed and 

 the water available for irrigation pur- 

 poses. The station at Denver is for the 

 assistance of the water commissioner in 

 the distribution of the water at that 

 point, as is also the principal object in 

 the stations upon the tributaries of the 

 South Platte at Forks Creek, Boulder, 

 Lyons, Arkins, and Fort Collins and 

 the others, although in each of these 

 cases the question of available power 

 also enters. The station at Kersey was 

 established for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing the amount of water that might be 

 stored in reservoir sites known to exist 

 north of the river, as was also the sta- 

 tion at Orchard. The station at Jules- 

 burg was established with particular 

 reference to possible interstate contro- 

 versy. In division No. 2 a similar state 

 of affairs exists. The permanent sta- 

 tions at Canyon City and Pueblo are 

 maintained for the purpose of determin- 

 ing the amount available both for irri- 

 gation and for power purposes. That 

 at Barton is maintained because of its 

 importance as an interstate station, 

 while the intermediate stations are kept 

 up principally on account of the assist- 

 ance afforded to the water commissioners 

 in the distribution of the waters. The 

 same state of affairs exists in the other 

 divisions of the state. Most of the tem- 

 porary stations are intended to be kept 

 up, as has been stated, for a year or 

 two only, work then being transferred 

 to some other stream or to some other 

 point on the same stream. 



Another important branch of the in- 

 vestigations is embraced in the low- 

 water measurements made each year 

 upon the various streams in the state. 



It is our intention to cover each year 

 certain streams not as yet measured, be- 

 ginning with low-water measurements, 

 data as to the forestation and the possi- 

 bilities for reservoiring water, and the 

 development of power. 



Still another branch, which is taken 

 up more particularl}- by the state engi- 

 neer's ofhce and by Professor Carpenter, 

 of the State Agricultural College, is the 

 measurement of the return water, or 

 seepage. This is carried on quite ex- 

 tensively in the state, and a vast fund 

 of valuable information has been thus 

 derived. 



The modiLs operandi at each of the 

 stations is practically the same, although 

 it ma}' differ in detail. Usually there 

 is a gage observer, who reports the 

 dail}' gage heights of the river, the sta- 

 tion being visited by the hydrographer 

 at the high-water stage, the low-water 

 stage, and at various intermediate points, 

 and from his measurements a rating 

 table is calculated, which gives approxi- 

 mately the discharge for any given 

 height upon the gage rod. In this way 

 the discharge for each day of the year 

 or for an entire week, month, or year 

 may be readily calculated. 



The most important work under way 

 in the State at this time is the survey 

 of the possibility of diverting water from 

 the Gunnison River into the Uncora- 

 pahgre Valley. A topographical sur- 

 vey and a geological examination are 

 now being made with reference to this 

 point. This is a possibility that has 

 been talked of for years and is consid- 

 ered of first importance. 



The development of power is as yet 

 in its infancy in Colorado, although 

 upon some streams as, for example, 

 the San Miguel River practically every 

 drop obtainable at the low stages is now^ 

 used for this purpose, in some cases the 

 water being taken and used over and 

 over again. The same condition will un- 

 doubtedl}^ obtain upon the other moun- 

 tain streams of the state in the near 

 future, and I venture to prophesy that 

 the future of electrical engineering in 

 Colorado is very bright. 



The forest reserves of Colorado are 

 upon the headwaters of some of the 

 most important streams, and their tend- 



