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40 BULLETIN 13858, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Pipe lines should be equipped with substantial intake boxes and in- | 
take screens, and in some cases with expansion joints where heat isa | 
factor, and be buried where there is danger of freezing or flood. 
Trails to otherwise inaccessible water on rough, rugged ranges are | 
in many places the most practicable and economical means of provid- | | 
ing water for grazing animals. 
WELLS | 
' 
Dug or drilled wells are the mainstays of many livestock water 
systems. In determining their proper location the knowledge of — 
geologists, engineers, and reliable well drillers as well as a study of © 
existing wells in the locality will be found of distinct value. It will” 
usually not pay to sink wells deeper than from 500 to 700 feet for | 
livestock water. Where they form the only permanent water for a _ 
large area, however, some wells are found 1,000 feet or more in | 
depth. A windmill is usually the most economical power plant | 
when properly set up and cared for, although gasoline engines are 
often needed for supplemental pumping. 
WATER STORAGE AND TROUGHS 
Adequate storage reservoirs of earth, masonry, concrete, galva- | 
nized iron, or steel are essential adjuncts of wells and are real | 
economies in the end. Substantial drinking troughs are essential to — 
the economical use of water. 
RESERVOIRS OR “ TANKS)” 
Where natural surface waters are inadequate or wells too costly 
storm-water reservoirs often provide the best means of obtaining © 
water. Small inexpensive reservoirs are of value as temporary — 
supplements to a primary system of dependable permanent waters. — 
Earthen embankments are in general the most feasible and economi- © 
cal type. A reservoir may be formed by a dam built directly across © 
the drainage line or by inclosing a depression to one side of the 
drainage and building a diversion ditch or pipe line for carrying the © 
water into the reservoir. | 
Things to seek in choosing sites for reservoirs formed by earthen — 
dams include: (a) Soil which is a mixture of sand, gravel, and clay, | 
often called a “clay-grit” mixture—preferably 1 part of clayey 
material to 2 or 3 parts of grit; (>) sufficient size of watershed with- 
out excessive danger of flood damage; (c¢) watercourses free from 
eroded channels and draining well-vegetated watersheds that are not 
overgrazed; (d) a flat channel grade immediately above dam; (e) 
ease of access for animals, with room for any troughs and necessary 
corrals below rather than above; (7) a relatively deep, narrow basin 
with a bottom easy to make water-tight; (v) a suitable place for a 
spillway near upper end of basin; (A) absence of overhanging ledges 
where embankment abuts on slope; (2) location to one side of main 
channel or out on flats or mesas where reservoirs may be advan- 
tageously filled by diversion ditches. 
The size of reservoir required will largely depend on the number 
of livestock which the range within reach of the water will support, 
the period of dependence, seepage, evaporation, and uncertainty of 
filling. Reservoirs expected to furnish water permanently for com- 
paratively large numbers of livestock should be located with great 
