4(j4 GEOLOGY 01? THE DENVEK BASIN", 



w El i s in nil'. COUNTRY. 



The artesian wells in the country concerning which statistics have been 

 gathered number !*.">, bu1 this figure 'is probably somewhat below the 



actual total at the present day. With one or two exceptions they are 

 within the limits of the area, mapped, and tor the mosl part are distributed 

 along the Platte River within a mile or two of its channel. They have 

 been drilled with the object of supplying farms, tor domestic purposes, m- 

 gardens and orchards with water lor irrigation. They are so widely scat- 

 tered thai they are uninfluenced by one another, and, moreover, there has 

 thus far appeared no decrease in their yield that can he directly attributed 

 to the drain upon the general supply by the wells of the city of Denver. 



Doubtless the bulk of the water is derived from the Arapahoe forma- 

 tion, and this most often from the /one in its upper half. A well at 

 Littleton is the only one that certainly draws its supply from the basal 

 portion oi' the Denver formation, hut two or three are doubtful, in their 

 depths approaching the line of the Denver and Arapahoe. Several in the 

 northern part of the held draw their supply from accidental water-bearing 

 strata in the upper, ela\ ey member of the Laramie, t >nc only has reached 

 the basal member ot' this formation — the Eureka well, in the forks of the 

 Platte Liver and Plum Creek, sunk for oil (unsuccessfully) in the tall ot 

 1890. ThePierce well, <n\ the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, 21 miles 

 south o( Denver, very probably takes its water from the Monument Creek 

 formation. 



The number of artesian wells in the country may at any time lie 

 increased, although, it' located too far from the center ot' the basin — prac- 

 tically coincident with the Platte channel — the altitude may he such that 

 the water will not flow at the surface. 



With the exception o( the Eureka well, of which the flow is reported 

 verj large and which taps the basal sandstones ot' the Laramie, the water- 

 bearing strata of this formation supply hut a small percentage oi' the artesian 

 tlows of the country. Idle Arapahoe, on the other hand, quite invariably 

 affords a generous supply, as does also the Denver in the single well draw- 

 ing upon it. The strata of the Denver formation are, liowever, liable to 



