182 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY, COLORADO, LOOKING EAST ; SHOWS LANDS THAT MAY BE 



RECLAIMED BY GUNNISON PROJECT. 



bank Creek, down which it will flow to 

 Marias River for 100 miles or more ; 

 take it out of the Marias River by a 

 canal to Big Sandy Creek, a tributary 

 of Milk River. 



An examination of the Milk River in 

 Canada to ascertain if the water could 

 be taken out of that river on its course 

 through Canada was made. It was 

 found that there was but little chance 

 of the water being diverted from the 

 river in Canada, and the first project 

 therefore remains the most feasible. 



Briefly, the Milk River project pro- 

 vides for the building of a low storage 

 dam about three-fourths of a mile below 

 the present outlet of St. Mary's Lake. 

 This dam will have a maximum eleva- 

 tion of 50 feet above the bottom of the 

 river, and will form a reservoir with a 

 capacity of 250,000 acre-feet. 



The canal to conduct the water from 

 the reservoir to Milk River will be 30 

 feet wide at the bottom and will carry 

 water to a depth of ten feet, and it is 

 supposed that in a canal of these dimen- 

 sions the mean discharge at its head 

 will be i,3<So second feet. From the 



dam the canal will be continued down 

 the east bank of the river a distance of 

 seven miles, then turn eastward through 

 Spider Lake Gap. It will then con- 

 tinue in a northeasterly direction 27.4 

 miles to the North Fork of Milk River. 

 The water will be carried across this 

 stream by means of an inverted siphon. 

 Seven miles beyond the North Fork the 

 canal will pass through McLeod Gap. 

 From this point it is continued to the 

 South Fork of Milk River, making a 

 total length of 43.8 miles. 



THE GUNNISON RIVER TUNNEL. 



One of the most important of the 

 projects, and certainly the most inter- 

 esting from an engineering standpoint, 

 is the scheme for the diversion of the 

 waters of the Gunnison River into the 

 Uncompahgre Valley, in southwestern 

 Colorado. In order to accomplish this 

 it will be necessary to build a dam in 

 the Black Canyon (see frontispiece) of 

 the Gunnison and cut a tunnel through 

 the ridge at the side of the canyon for 

 a distance of six miles. When com- 

 pleted this tunnel and accompanying 



