r 6 
THE ARTESIAN WELLS OF COLORADO, 
flowing water will surely be obtained. Unless the proper 
conditions are present this is not true, and it is useless 
to expend money in that hope. 
The supply of water which comes from a Avell or 
series of wells is never unlimited, though it may be very 
large, as in the wells of Dakota, or in some of those in 
the San Luis Valiev. Its limit is set bv the amount 
o «J 
which is supplied to or absorbed by the water-bearing 
stratum, from water which falls on or flows over the 
edges of the strata. Where the strata reach the surface 
at a small angle, the area exposed to absorption or to 
rainfall is much greater, and the case is more favorable 
than where the angle is great. The capacity of the wells 
is limited by the amount these edges can absorb, or to the 
supply which may fall upon them. The edges may be 
•covered by surface soil, or may be less pervious, in which 
■case the conditions are less favorable for a large supply. 
If the number of wells is increased largely in any basin, 
there generally arise indications of a limitation of the 
supply in the effect of one well upon another, or on the 
general flow. When such a point is reached, it is time 
that some consideration be given to the conditions, for the 
■value of such a supply cannot be overestimated. Its 
value becomes greater with the increase of population. 
"When*many wells are put down in a small area, the de¬ 
crease which is generally noticeable may not indicate that 
the general supply is overdrawn, but that the local sup¬ 
ply is ; that is, that the water flows from the wells faster 
than the supplying strata furnish it. 
Very little attention has been given to artesian wells 
in Colorado as a source of supply for irrigation. In the 
basins yet developed the conditions are perhaps not favor¬ 
able for this use. But, it is to be remembered that with 
a growing population and greater need, but with a limit to 
