THE IREIGATION AGE. 



561 



aspen and other luxuriant vegetation evidence about the 

 same annual precipitation as occurs along the same range 

 up here in Colorado. The many streams flowing out ot 

 these mountains towards the east and southwest are the 

 head waters of the Canadian and Pecos rivers. These 

 streams, on reaching the more level valleys below the 

 foothills, except when swollen by waters from melting 

 snows or heavy rains, are usually as quiet and placid as a 

 meadow brook. 



At such times, to the unreflective and uninformed, they 

 would seem to drain a territory of scant water supply, and 

 the appellation given them as rivers never fail to excite 

 a smile from the eastern tourist. 



Abundant Flood Water. 



One only has to look at the width of the stream beds, 

 often 100 or 200 feet from bank to bank; the debris from 

 floods left on the prairies far beyond the banks of the 

 streams; the uprooting and lodgment of large trees; the 

 rolling of huge boulders of 50 to 80 tons weight down the 

 canons, and the data available in the records of the en- 

 gineering department of any railway company in New 

 Mexico, in order to fully appreciate the volume and vio- 

 lence of the waters contained in the elemental deluges of 



hours. I know of one measurement in Logan, New Mex- 

 ico, on the Canadian river in 1909, which showed that the 

 river carried 100,000 cubic feet per second and most of it 

 came from flood in the Cimarron, Vermejo, and Red rivers 

 in Colfax county. For ages, these waters, more valuable 

 than all the minerals in the mountains upon which they 

 fall, have rushed on to utter waste to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Lying to the eastward of this range, beginning just 

 below the Evergreen foothills and extending to the 

 eastern limits of Colfax, Mora and San Miguel counties, 

 are vast stretches of valley, prairie and mesa lands of such 

 gradient and conformation as to be adapted perfectly to 

 artificial application of these waters. 



Its Great Natural Reservoirs. 



Scattered over this entire scope of country, as well as 

 in the higher levels of the mountains and foothills, are 

 natural depressions and lakes, which, at small expense, 

 can be utilized as reservoirs; while, in the upper levels, 

 nearer the sources of the streams, are many favorable 

 sites where large reserve reservoirs can be constructed at 

 reasonable cost. 



Farmers have learned that the best water right is 

 the one with a reservoir behind it. In most irrigation sys- 



thcse will he the Eagle's Nest at the upper end of the Cimarron Canyon. The mountain park or valley opening out above Eag'e's Nest Rock was. once a large 

 ater covered by this great project been mostly owned by private persons, and if it had been under government control, there is no doubt it would have been 



either side, with a core of re-enforced concrete anchored into the solid granite on bottom and sides, will form a reservoir covering 2,850 acres and impounding 

 and the mountain streams emptying into it carry very little silt. The immense drainage area and large number of streams above this site insure an ample sup- 



the hills. Travelers and drovers compelled to camp for 

 several days beside any one of these streams waiting for 

 the turbulent waters to subside so they can cross, fully 

 recognize the enormous quantity of flood water wasted 

 from the watershed. While they are permanent streams in 

 the sense that they always carry some water, they are, 

 near their source, torrential in character. Often one of 

 these streams carries a volume of water from 15,000 to 

 20,000 cubic feet per second for twelve to twenty-four 



tems which have not sufficient storage capacity, the 

 streams are naturally short of water in the dryest part 

 of the season when the farmers need the water most. The 

 soil and subsoil of this whole district are quite uniform in 

 character and favorable to the highest duty of water. The 

 soil is mostly a deep, rich, chocolate-colored sandy loam, 

 with clay subsoil which holds the water where it is most 

 available for plant growth. This feature in connection 

 with the fact that the principal rainfall occurs during July 

 and August renders the duty of water extraordinarily high. 



