ON THE LOSSES FROM CANALS 
FROM FILTRATION OR SEEPAGE. 
By L. G. CARPENTER. 
The present bulletin is one of a series bearing on irriga- 
tion questions, and while suggested by the conditions in 
Colorado, it is not limited in its application to that State. 
The author has kept steadily in view the fact that Colorado 
has a limited supply of water and that the success of her 
individual farmer, as well as her agricultural extent, depends 
upon a clear understanding of the means of using water 
properly, of saving useless losses, and of the prevention of 
waste. While the author has believed that there are ques- 
tions which might be more immediately useful to the indi- 
vidual farmer, he is fully convinced from a study of the 
development of other irrigated countries, that in the forma- 
tive period of our development a more lasting benefit will 
accrue to the agriculture of the State by considering certain 
fundamental questions not so immediately applicable to in- 
dividuals. 
The present bulletin, however, has its immediate individ- 
ual application. It is to someextent complementary to bul- 
letin 33, on seepage or return waters from irrigation. While 
the earlier bulletin discussed the seepage or return waters 
entering streams, the present bulletin considers the losses 
from canals which, there is reason to think, is the principal 
soucce of the gain in the streams. If the connection be- 
tween the canals and the streams is an intimate one, we 
may finally expect to find an approximate equality between 
the losses from the canals and the gains in the streams. 
But more suggestive, the measurements here reported 
give an idea of the extensive losses involved in the carriage 
of water. The amount has been believed to be large, but 
when it is found that the leakage may become as much as 
20 or even 30 feet in depth per day, it suggests the import- 
ance of taking steps to lessen the amount. 
By stating the loss in the depths lost per day, a better 
