THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



57 



BOTTOMLESS LAKES AS IRRIGATION RESERVOIR 



By Victor H. Schoffelmayer, in "The Southwest Trail" 



Among the 

 wonders of 

 New Mexico 

 are the "Bot- 

 tomless Lakes" 

 near the town 

 of Santa Rosa, 

 seat of Gauda- 

 lupe county. 

 These lakes 

 appear to oc- 

 c u p y several 

 crater- like 

 openings in the 

 earth and ex- 

 tend for some 

 miles on both 

 sides of the 

 present bed of 

 the Pecos river. 

 That they are 

 hundreds of feet 

 deep has been 

 substantiated by 

 sounding lines 

 which have been 

 dropped, it is said 

 to a depth of 600 

 feet without find- 

 ing bottom. The 

 walls of the rocky 

 depression in 

 which Twin Lakes 

 are situated bear 

 testimony to 

 either volcanic or 

 geyser action. 

 The slopes are 

 precipitous. Not 

 more than ten 

 feet from shore 

 the white limestone and tufa 

 cliffs beneath the water's 

 crystalline surface may be 

 seen to descend perpendicu- 

 larly. So clear is the water 

 that the lakes in fine weather 

 have the color of azure. A 

 stone dropped into the waters 

 can be seen to a great depth 

 in its descent. The sides of 

 the cliffs beneath the surface 

 are covered with twisted cedar 

 trees and strange plants. No 

 fish or other forms of animal 

 life were found in the lakes by 

 early settlers, but of recent 

 years the lakes have been stocked with perch which 

 thrive in the cold, clear waters. Sight of Twin 

 Lakes fills the beholder with a mixture of fear and 

 mystery. The outlines of the ancient craters can 

 be followed plainly in the present shoreline. Both 



Scene on the Bravo Ranch Near Nara Vista, N. M. 



A Karm Home on Irrigated Land Xear Xara Vista, X. M. 



Vineyard in (iardei 



lakes are as cir- 

 cular as if their 

 borders had 

 been traced 

 with a survey- 

 or's line. Some 

 years ago when 

 the stage of 

 water in the 

 lakes was low- 

 er the rim of a 

 third crater- 

 I i k e opening 

 zould be traced, 

 so that in real- 

 ity, the "Twin 

 Lakes" were 

 really triplets. 

 In the pres- 

 ent age of irri- 

 gation and enter- 

 prise to recover 

 a dry land region, 

 attention has been 

 directed strongly 

 to the Santa Rosa 

 lakes as sources 

 of water supply. 

 Surveys showed 

 that the water 

 level of the Twin 

 Lakes was four 

 feet above the 

 general level of 

 the valley to be 

 irrigated. Twin 

 Lakes are on the 

 Baca estate, the 

 grant conveyed to 

 Don Celso Baca, 

 a Spanish noble 

 who came to Santa Rosa sixty 

 years ago. There are 1,000 

 acres in the tract. Don Celso 

 died in 1909, after which the 

 heirs settled the estate. There 

 are 550 acres of irrigable land, 

 which have been placed on the 

 market. Besides Twin Lakes 

 there is a spring-fed water 

 course known as Aguo Negra 

 Chiquita and Laguna Escon- 

 dito and Black Lake, from 

 which water for irrigation 

 purposes can be obtained. 

 The maximum lift would not 

 exceed twelve feet at any 

 time, no matter what the stage of the water. The 

 irrigation project really consists of two distinct en- 

 terprises. Twin Lakes are located east of Pecos 

 river and Agua Negra Chiquita on the west side of 

 the stream. 



at a Home in Nnra Vista. 

 (Courtesy Rock Island Lines.") 



