178 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD. 



the remainder flow back into the channel. The next man below him has 

 built a ditch and taken out the water, and so on to the end. 



Such is the character of the soil of these streams that they retain a large 

 amount of moisture after having the water from the irrigating ditch spread 

 over them, and numerous springs have broken out along the banks of the 

 river since the plan of irrigating the lands has been put in operation; and 

 instead of the water from the river being exhausted by taking it out and 

 spreading it over these valleys, it is really stored for constant use. There is 

 as much water in the river below the irrigated farms now as there was before 

 there was any water taken out. There is really more water now in the Lower 

 Concho River than there was before these irrigated farms were made. The 

 only reason that can be assigned for this fact is that heretofore all the water 

 was allowed to flow down the channel during the rainy season, and at all 

 other times, while now the surplus water is taken and spread out on the 

 valleys above and forms reservoirs and supplies numerous springs with water 

 which before only flowed during wet weather. 



The advisability of storing the surplus water need not be discussed in a 

 report like this. The only questions that need be considered are whether it 

 can be done successfully, and the places where such storage can be made to 

 advantage. It would be a very easy matter to find places along the San Saba 

 River where dams could be made from one hill to the other and an immense 

 amount of water be saved for future use. This river runs from head to 

 mouth through the massive limestone of the Silurian and Carboniferous 

 formations, and it would be difficult to find a place where the water could be 

 stored in reservoirs except along the immediate channel of the river, owing 

 to the height of the surrounding country. 



It would be more difficult to store water in the channel of the Colorado 

 River, on account of the material over which it flows and the character of the 

 soil in its immediate valley; but when once the water is taken from the 

 channel it could be conducted to localities where immense lakes might be 

 formed and water stored for future use. 



The clays of the Carboniferous formation are impervious to water, and 

 places could be selected where these clays would form the bottoms and sides 

 of artificial lakes of immense size. When the time comes for selecting 

 localities for water storage, there will be no trouble to find such places to store 

 the immense surplus of water that at times goes down the Colorado River. 



The Concho River furnishes the best locality for utilizing or storing surplus 

 water of any of the rivers of this region, owing to the ease with which the 

 water may be taken out of the channel, and the extensive plateaus which lie 

 contiguous to that stream. 



It is possible to make an immense reservoir for the storage of water a few 



