DEPARTMENT OF THE INTEBIOB

WATER-SUPPLY

IRRIGATION PAPERS

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

2STo. 13

IERIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. HDTFON .

WASHINGTON

GOYEENMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1898
IRRIGATION EEPOETS.

The following list contains titles and brief descriptions of the principal reports 

relating to water supply and irrigation prepared by the United States Geological

'Survey since 1890:

1S9O.

First Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1890; octavo, 123 pp.

Printed as Part II, Irrigation, of the Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1888-89. Contains a statement of the origin of the Irrigation Survey, a preliminary report on the organization and. prosecution of the survey of the arid lands for 

purposes of irrigation, and report of work done during 1890.

1891.

Second Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891; octavo, 395 pp.

Published as Part II, Irrigation, of the Eleventh Annual Report of the United States 

Geological Survey, 1889-90. Contains a description of the hydrography of the arid region 

and of the engineering operations carried on by the Irrigation Survey during 1890; also 

the statement of the Director of the Survey to the House Committee on Irrigation, and 

other papers, including a bibliography of irrigation literature. Illustrated by 39 plates and 

4 figures.

Third Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891; octavo, 576 pp.

Printed as Part II of the Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1890-91. Contains " Report upon the location and survey of reservoir sites during the 

fiscal year ended June 30,1891," by A. H. Thompson; "Hydrography of the arid regions," 

by P. H. Newell; "Irrigation in India," by Herbert M. Wilson. Illustrated by 93 plates 

and 190 figures.

Bulletins of the Eleventh Census of the United States upon irrigation, prepared 

by F. H. Newell; quarto.

No. 35, Irrigation in Arizona; No. 60, Irrigation in New Mexico; No. 85, 

Irrigation in Utah; No. 107, Irrigation in Wyoming; No. 153, Irrigation in 

Montana; No. 157, Irrigation in Idaho; No. 163, Irrigation in Nevada; No. 

178, Irrigation in Oregon; No. 193, Artesian wells for irrigation; No. 198, 

Irrigation in Washington.

1892.

Irrigation of western United States, by F. H. Newell; extra census bulletin No. 

23, September 9, 1892; quarto, 22 pp.

Contains tabulations showing the total number, average size, etc., of irrigated holdings, 

the total area and average size of irrigated farms in the subhumid regions, the percentage 

of number of farms irrigated, character of crops, value of irrigated lands, the average cost 

of irrigation, the investment and profits, together with a resume of the water supply and 

a description of irrigation by artesian wells. Illustrated by colored maps showing the 

location and relative extent of the irrigated areas.

1893.

Thirteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1891-92, Part 

III, Irrigation, 1893; octavo, 486 pp.

Consists of three papers: "Water supply for irrigation," by F. H. Newell; "American 

irrigation engineering" and "Engineering results of the Irrigation Survey," by Herbert 

M. Wilson; " Construction of topographic maps and selection and survey of reservoir sites," 

by A. H. Thompson. Illustrated by 77 plates and 119 figures.

A geological reconnoissance in central Washington, by Israel Cook Russell, 1893; 

octavo, 108 pp., 15 plates. Bulletin No. 108 of the United States Geological 

Survey; price, 15 cents.

Contains a description of the examination of the geologic structure in and adjacent to 

the drainage basin of Yakima River and the great plains of the Columbia to the east of 

this area, with special reference to the occurrence of artesian waters.

1894.

Report on agriculture by irrigation in the western part of the United States at the 

Eleventh Census, 1890, by F. H. Newell, 1894; quarto, 283 pp.

Consists of a general description of the condition of irrigation in the United States, the 

area irrigated, cost of works, their value and profits; also describes the water supply, the 

value of water, of artesian wells, reservoirs, and other details; then takes up each State 

and Territory in order, giving a general description of the condition of agriculture by irrigation, and discusses the physical conditions and local peculiarities in each county.

Fourteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1892-93, in two 

parts; Part II, Accompanying papers, 1894; octavo, 597 pp.

Contains papers on "Potable waters of the eastern United States," by W. J. McGee; 

"Natural mineral waters of the United States," by A. C. Peale; "Results of stream 

measurements," by F. H. Newell. Illustrated by maps and diagrams.

(Continued on third page of cover.;
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTEJilOK

WATER-SUPPLY

AND

IRRIGATION PAPERS

OB" THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

IsTo. 13

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1898
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS

BY

WILLIAM FEEGIJSON HUTSON

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1898
CONTENTS.

Letter of transmittal ........---_-_----_-_._____..._....___..._____..-.._.-_-.- 7

Introduction, by F. H. Newell.-...__...___-_....____--_.._-_-___-___._----- 9

General statement..---._.--._._...._____..._..._______.._--.___--____-.__- 17

Retardation of development ...... ................................... 18

Use of water.......................................................... 20

Distribution of rainfall......... ....,.........--...-......_----..---. 21

Climatic and geographic divisions.... ._...___._.-__ ___._.-.--___.-._-. 24

Description of irrigation works and projects .....-....--..-.--.-------.---- 25

Eastern Gulf coast region............................................. 25

Central Texas ........................................................ 28

San Antonio and vicinity ..............._.....................-......._ 41

Nueces River and Lower Rio Grande ..._..........................".. 50

Llano Estacado--..-._.-----..--..........-.-....._.....-.....-...--.-. 59

Pecos Valley .!................._...................................-.- 62

Trans-Pecos Texas.............._......_,.......-......--.....-.-.---.- 65

Index ................................................................... 67

5
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE I. View of run-off of San Marcos spring........................... 9

II. View of portion of water wheel, showing buckets raising water._ 38

III. View of Austin dam and power house............ .....-.-...--- 40

IV. View of San Antonio Rivor at Mill bridge -...--.-----....----... 42

V. View of old stone aqueduct carrying Espada ditch across Piedras

Creek........ .................._..........-.-..-_.-..--.--.--- 44

VI. View of artesian wells at San Antonio city waterworks......... 46

VII. A. View of dam supplying Madre ditch at Del Rio..-.---..-.,-.. 56

B. View of dam for San Felipe ditch at Del Rio _.......--..-..-. 56

VIII. View of flume across Pecos River _.--.--..---.--..-...---.--.--- 62

I.. View of Pecos Canyon at Southern Pacific Railway bridge.....__ 64

X. View of wing dam of El Paso Irrigation Company, looking

upstream..............._..............-----.._-...---.---_..- 66

FIG. 1. Index map of Texas .--...........----...-....-.-....-..--------.-- 22

2. Diagrams of mean monthly rainfall at s,ix stations ..'......--_.--.- 23

3. Map of drainage basin of Wichita River.......................... 30

4. Water wheel and wing dam turning current against wheel......... 38

5. Map of ditches and artesian wells at San Antonio .-.------..-...--. 42

6. Mission ditches below San Antonio --....-..-...--_--.-.--.---.--- 44

7. View of flume on Trueheart ditch.----...----..----.----..--.- ... 47

8. View of irrigation tank at Beeville experiment station. ..... .... 49

9. Map of the proposed Caimanche reservoir and canals ..-....--.--- 52

10. Map of the proposed Nueces reservoir and canal.. .-......-...-.. 53

11. Pump and flume on Nueces River. ........... .-..^..^.. ..-.--.-.-.- 55

12. Map showing location of Margueretta Canal..---.-...-....-.--..-- 62
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

DIVISION OF HYDROGRAPHY,

Washington, November 26, 1897.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper entitled Irrigation Systems in Texas, by William Ferguson Hutson, and to recommend that it be published in the series of pamphlets on WaterSupply and Irrigation. This manuscript was prepared in accordance 

with a request made to Prof. J. H. Connell, director of the Texas 

Agricultural Experiment Station. Professor Connell found that it 

was impossible for him to give the necessary time to field investigation and the preparation of a report of results, and therefore recommended that the work be intrusted to Mr. Hutson. The field work 

was carried on during May and June of 1897; the paper was written 

during July and transmitted early in August. The data were necessarily accumulated in a relatively short time, and the author considers the paper somewhat in the light of a preliminary report. A number of illustrations used in this paper have been obtained through the 

courtesy of Mr. Robert T. Hill, geologist of this Survey, from his paper 

in Part II of the Eighteenth Annual Report.

In the preparation of this manuscript for publication considerable 

liberty has been taken with the arrangement and the manner of 

presentation. While the statements of fact have been preserved, such 

changes have been made in the character of the paper as seemed 

necessary to bring it into harmony with the series as a whole. In 

particular a somewhat arbitrary geographic arrangement has been 

adopted in place of one based on considerations of quantity of rainfall, as it appeared undesirable to make the assumption that irrigation 

is governed by questions of mean annual precipitation. 

Very respectfully,

F. H. NEWELL, 

Hydrographer in Charge. 

Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

Director United States Geological Survey.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ,R NO. 13 PL. I

RUN-OFF OF SAN MARCOS SPRING.
INTRODUCTION.

By F. H. NEWELL.

In the report upon Agriculture by Irrigation, prepared for the 

Eleventh Census, 1890, all the facts obtainable at that time concerning irrigation in Texas were presented and discussed. It was found 

by the enumeration that there were in the whole State 623 persons 

irrigating farms, having an aggregate area of 18,241 acres, or an average of 29 acres irrigated by each person. This did not include the 

smaller kitchen and flower gardens, of which there were probably 

hundreds, or even thousands, watered by means of city supply or 

windmills. The definition of "a farm," adopted for the purpose of 

the census, included "all staple nurseries, orchards, and market 

gardens owned by separate parties which were cultivated for pecuniary profit and which employed as much as the labor of one ablebodied workman during the year." The land which was irrigated 

formed on an average only 2.43 per cent of each farm, showing that 

irrigation where used was practiced on only an inconsiderable portion 

of each landowner's holding.

Since 1890 there has been considerable progress made in the development of irrigation, and interest has been stimulated by the success 

recently attained in various localities. This later investigation in 

Texas has, therefore, been made for the purpose of procuring fresh 

information, especially concerning the recent developments. The 

facts are of interest not on]y to the people of that State, but to a less 

degree to those of the whole United States, for Texas embraces such 

a wide range in topography and climate that success attained within 

its boundaries suggests .the advisability of the same line of action in 

some other locality. On account of this great diversity of natural 

conditions, irrigation has been developed along many different lines. 

Not only is water diverted from creeks and larger rivers, but in some 

localities it is held by storage, in others it is pumped from ordinary 

wells, and in still others it is obtained from artesian wells. Where 

the conditions are favorable, the swiftly flowing streams are employed 

in pumping a portion of their own water up to the top of the adjacent 

banks, or the ever-present winds of the prairies are utilized by means 

of windmills to bring a needed supply of moisture from far underground. In short, in the broad stretch of country from the humid

9
10 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

lands on the east to the arid region on the west, from the semitropic 

glades of the south Gulf coast to the high plains of the interior, is to 

be found almost every variety of physical condition and of mechanical 

device for supplying needed water to the soil.

When we consider the State of Texas in area nearly a tenth of the 

whole United States, and with a population less than that of the little 

State of Massachusetts, sparsely scattered even in the humid portion, 

with enormous areas of rich soil but poorly tilled the question arises, 

Why should irrigation be practiced? Agriculture by this method is 

necessarily intensive farming a method which should be practiced 

amid a dense population, and one where success is attained only by 

thorough tilling and careful attention to details. Why then should 

this be taken up in a State where fertile land is so cheap and where 

great areas have not been touched by the plow? The answer lies in the 

fact that many farmers are beginning to discover that larger profits 

can be made by carefully tilling a small area than by attempting to 

diffuse their efforts over plantations of considerable size, and that in 

order to produce the largest yield from a given outlay of time and 

labor it is necessary to insure the presence of sufficient moisture at 

the right time. This lesson, however, has not been universally learned. 

The education of the great majority of farmers or planters has been 

such as to make them adhere to old methods, and often it is only after 

object lessons have been many times repeated that they are willing to 

concede that their broad farming is not the most profitable.

Included within the State of Texas are lands upon which irrigation 

was practiced as early as, if not earlier than, in any other portion of the 

United States, and it would thus seem that this method of agriculture 

should have spread and be more generally practiced than it is. It is 

a fair question, Why, if irrigation is so profitable, has it not become the 

rule rather than the exception? The answer can probably be found 

in the character and training of the population and in the unfriendly 

attitude of the laws of the State toward the development of irrigation works. The very extent of the State the enormous areas of 

land that might be had almost for the asking has tended to make the 

farmer look down upon little methods and disregard the small economies and the attention to detail so essential in intensive agriculture. 

Thus the tendency has been to leave irrigation to the Mexican, who 

originally practiced it, and to regard it as something almost unworthy 

of the consideration of a "white man." The time has come, however, 

for a change in general sentiment. A more diversified farming has 

been introduced, together with better methods, brought in to a certain 

extent by immigration from other States. The rapid growth of the 

Territories to the northwest, which are dependent for their agriculture upon irrigation, has stimulated a desire and an endeavor to attain 

like results by similar means, and opportunities which before have 

been neglected are being seized upon.
HBWELU] INTBODUCTION. - 11

Before any considerable development can take place in irrigation, 

upon either a large or a small scale, facts must be known concerning 

the water supply. If this is to be obtained from a river, it must be 

known whether the low-water flow is sufficient for the purpose and 

whether the floods are of such size as to sweep away structures which 

should be permanent. Even in the case of individuals intending to 

pump water from the ground, questions are first asked as to whether 

the ground water is sufficient in volume and whether it can be obtained 

at a depth near enough to the surface to be profitably raised. The 

answer to all questions of this kind must come primarily through a 

comprehension of the geology of the country. Ignorance of the volume of some of the larger streams has already resulted in serious 

disappointment, and probably in heavy loss, to several large enterprises, and it is probable that other works of this character will not 

be carried out until the investors have a better knowledge of the 

physical conditions, of drought, and of high water. From a knowledge of the underground conditions it'is possible to foretell the depth 

to the water-bearing strata and the general character of these, and to 

base estimates upon the quantity which may be obtained by properly 

constructed wells. Matters of this kind must be investigated if the 

resources of the country are to be neither underestimated and neglected 

nor overstated and made the basis of loss to credulous investors.

With the measurement and study of surface streams and the 

accumulation of facts concerning the underground structure, with 

reference to the amount and quality of the water available, there are 

closely joined considerations of methods and cost of lifting the water 

up to the lands to be irrigated. No general rule can be laid down as 

to how much any given individual can afford to expend in obtaining 

a water supply for irrigation. Each case must be considered on its 

own merits, alike as to methods and machinery, the amount of water 

needed, and the character and ultimate value of the crop. As a general rule it may be said that for the field crops as ordinarily cultivated 

irrigation, especially by pumping, will not pay; but in diversified 

farming, where personal attention is given by the owner to every 

detail, expensive methods of storing or pumping water have in the long 

run been found highly profitable. In order to bring out the divergence 

in practice there have been assembled in the following table the more 

important facts obtainable concerning the cost of water by the various 

methods described in the following pages.

This table gives in the first column the page upon which the irrigation system is described and in the next column the name in abbreviated form. In the third column are a few words to indicate the 

' character of the system whether the ordinary canal or ditch diverting water from a river by means of a dam, or a mechanical device, 

such as a windmill or pumps driven by steam or gasoline. In the 

next column is given the lift in feet where water is raised by pumping,
IERIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

and next to this the capacity of the pump or ditches in cubic feet per 

second. This column also gives the total amount delivered in acrefeet in 12.1 hours, since 1 cubic foot per second flowing for this length 

of time will cover 1 acre a foot in depth. To the acreage two columns 

are devoted the first giving the total area irrigable, or the amount 

which it is estimated each system will cover; and the second, the area 

actually watered, this applying usually to the year 1896. Beyond 

this is given the total cost of the system, and, wherever practicable, 

the cost per acre. This latter column, in the case of the larger ditches, 

shows the amount asked or paid per acre for water rights. The last 

column gives the estimated annual cost per acre for water, figures for 

this being rarely obtainable.

Comparison of capacity and cost of various systems of water supply in Texas.

1PM

26 

29

29

31 

31 

31 

32 

32 

32 

33

33 

33

33

34 

39 

39 

43 

46 

46 

47

48 

49 

49

55

Name.

Stubenrauch .. 

.... .do. .. .......

Lytle ..........

Metcalf ........

Willis. .........

Alldridge... ... 

Lindsey ..... 

Vanderstucken

Upper Labor . . 

Trueheart ..... 

Kampman .....

Crandall. ......

Simmons ......

Experiment ... 

Grover. .... _ .

System.

50 H. P. engine. 

8-foot windmill. 

12-foot windmill, a 

Dam and ditch 

 ..do .........

 ..do.........

.....do .........

--..do.........

80 H. P.6 ......

33 H. P. engine, d

20 H. P. engine, e 

30 H. P. engine./ 

18 H. P. engine.

--...do .........

Ditch..........

Ditchg .....

Artesian well. 

40 H. P. boiler..ft 

10 H. P. boiler, i 

2i H. P. gasoline. 

5J H. P. gasooline. 

100 H. P. boiler?

Pump.

Centrifugal 

Worthing - 

ton.

Blakeslee . . 

Blake ......

Menere .....

Lift 

in 

feet.

8

......

------

50 

48

48 

48

Capacity secondfeet.

11.14

6.84 

2.72

.11

1.00

1.87 

2.60

.20

.32

30.00 

2.32 

1.67

.20 

.07 

.05 

14.00

Acreage.

Irrigable.

15 

30

300 

50

350 

250

400 

80

75-

600 

1,500 

1,000 

400

20 

500

Irrigated.

500

7

10

470

250

75

75 

5

40

100 

3

12

100 

400 

250 

100

10

70

Cost.

Total.

$1,500 

300

485

25,000 

200

3,500 

1,500

3,000

2,000 

1,500

18,000 

3,000 

2,500

295 

450

5.000

Per 

acre.

$3 

43

16

20 

7 

14 

20

27

50 

15

15

------

Annual 

per 

acre.

10.75

c6.00

......

2.00 

2.50

C4.00

1.00

a Combined water power and irrigation.

b With reservoir.

c Approximate.

d Operating cost, $7 a day of twelve hours.

e Can water 5 acres per day.

/ Operating cost, $3 per day of eleven hours.

g Water rights held at $15.

h Costs 12J cents per hour to operate.

i Pumps into reservoir.

j Operating expenses, $4.25 per day.
INTRODUCTION. 13

Comparison of capacity and cost of various systems of water supply in Texas 

Continued,

o3bn

£

56

56

58

58

58

59

59

59

59

60

60

63

64

64

W,

Name.

Miller..........

Rabb. ..........

System.

ditches. 

80 H. P. boiler..

Windmill......

12-foot windmill, a 

25 H. P. engine.

50 H. P. boiler..

100 H. P. boiler.

mill.

mill, a

.....do.. ....... .

.....do..........

Pump.

Lift 

in

feet.

39

65

30

18

22

10

%n

134

ity 

secondfeet.

.39

1.11

10.58

20.00

17.82

Acre.

Irrigable.

140

125

300

25

40,000

20,000

30,000

ige.

Irrigated.

70

3,600

50

3

5

100

300

300

18

1*

6,000

600

3,000

Total.

$3,000

35,000

230

425

2,000

300

505

232

150,000

35,000

220,000

Dost.

Per 

acre.

$10

5

15

Annual 

per 

acre.

$0.50

1.50

.50

1.25

2.00

a With reservoir.

In looking over this statement probably the first observation that 

one will make is the wide diversity of costs and results. This is 

partly accounted for by the fact ttiat these figures are for the most 

part mere estimates and are open to the suspicion of being exaggerated to serve individual interests in one case or another. In particular the volume or capacity of the ditches is usually overstated, 

and concerning the pumps very little is known beyond the maker's 

estimates, prepared for the purposes of selling his machinery. Judging 

from these and similar statements, the first and annual cost of water 

from the large ditches is very low, being from $10 to $15 per acre for 

water rights and from 50 cents to $1.50 per acre for annual maintenance. The cost of water per acre by pumping is usually much more, 

and may range from $20 to $50 per acre, or even higher.

The small cost of water from gravity ditches in Texas, as well as in 

other States, is more apparent than real. As a rule the larger canal 

companies base their selling price for water rights upon the assumption 

that the work will cost a certain sum and that several thousand acres 

will be irrigated and subsequently sold. In this assumption the corporations have of ten-been disappointed, the work costing far more 

than anticipated and the sales of water right with or without land 

being exceedingly slow. The promoters have appreciated the fact 

that these lands can not be sold unless the first and the annual cost 

of water is kept down to the lowest figure. The struggle to maintain
14 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

the property upon the small returns has often resulted in the system 

going into bankruptcy or being kept in very poor condition. Sometimes, also, the estimated supply of water has not been sufficient; 

and thus, from one cause or another, the landowners, although nominally paying a small price for their water rights and for the annual 

maintenance of these, in point of fact ultimately pay a very large 

price for an insufficient supply. This should be borne in mind in 

making comparisons between the cost of water as usually given by 

irrigation companies and the outlay required in the case of pumping 

machinery.

The expense of lifting water for irrigation must, as a rule, be far 

greater than that of diverting a supply by gravity, but in many places 

circumstances or conditions are such that the former is the only 

method practicable. Where considerable areas are watered and the 

lift is small the extra cost may be more than compensated by the convenience and the possibility of controlling the source of supply. The 

pumping plant as a means of insurance against drought, even in 

humid regions, is coming to be recognized as a good investment. If 

properly protected from the weather it may stand for months or years 

without use, ready in times of deficient rainfall for immediate service 

in saving a crop that otherwise would be a failure.

One of the notable features in connection with pumping is the 

apparently low efficiency attained when one compares the amount of 

water which it is claimed a pump delivers with the acreage actually 

cultivated. Two reasons for this are apparent: The first is that the 

pumps may not be run to their full capacity or the water may not be 

used upon as large an area of ground as possible. But the principal 

reason often lies in the fact that the capacity of the pump is greatly 

overrated, and few purchasers ever make systematic tests of the 

amount of water actually delivered. Many disappointments have 

resulted from farmers attempting to irrigate with too small a volume 

of water. They have assumed that the pumps were delivering a certain quantity, say 2 cubic feet per second, when in fact they were 

raising on the average only one-third or one-quarter of this. It is 

almost impossible to judge by the eye as to the amount when flowing 

in a pipe or trough, and they have declared that the ground was not 

favorable for irrigation when in reality they were trying to accomplish the impossible feat of spreading water from a stream too small 

to traverse the ground. The real source of trouble has not been with 

the soil or the method, but with the insufficient supply. This difficulty might be remedied by the construction of a small reservoir or 

tank, into which the pumped water could accumulate for a few hours 

and from which a stream of considerable volume could be drawn 

when an application of water to the soil was to be made. This has 

often been neglected, to the detriment of the owner.

The amount which can be reasonably expended per acre in procur-
NEWELL.] . INTRODUCTION. 15

ing a water supply for irrigation is, as stated above, a problem for 

which no general rule can be given. Much depends upon the character of the crop, and particularly upon the price for which it sells. 

If there is always a good market for the produce, the next consideration is the skill of the irrigator. The man who is thoroughly experienced in applying water, using only the proper amount, can often 

afford to pay twice as much for it as can his neighbor who uses a 

greater quantity and obtains a smaller yield.

The quantity of water needed varies so widely that broad assumptions must be made in order to prepare any estimate of cost. Under 

ordinary circumstances it maybe said that an amount of water equaling 12 inches in depth is sufficient in Texas for a crop season. In 

other words, an acre-foot of water, or 43,560 cubic feet, will irrigate 

an acre. A pump delivering at the rate of a cubic foot per second, or 

448 gallons per minute, will give nearly 1 acre-foot in twelve hours. 

Assuming that this water can be held in a reservoir and that the 

pump is run daily for one hundred days, it should irrigate 100 acres. 

The cost of water rights where the supply is assured may be taken 

safely at $15 per acre, or for 100 acres at $1,500. This amount under 

these assumptions would be a fair allowance for the cost of a pumping plant.

The annual cost of maintenance of works where the water is carefully used may range from $1.50 to $2 per acre. If the pump above 

mentioned furnishes through the season water at the rate of 1 acre 

per day, the cost of operating should not exceed this amount $1.50 

.to $2. This sum is relatively small for fuel and repairs, and could 

not be made to include attendance, and therefore it is necessary or 

desirable that the pumping machinery should be nearly automatic 

and not require constant attention. These conditions are almost 

impossible of attainment. Any such statement, therefore, serves as a 

standard for ideal conditions rather than as an example of what may 

be realized.

The growth of irrigation in Texas has been retarded not so much by 

the character of the climate or soil, or by any natural condition, as 

by artificial obstacles, partly legal but consisting mainly in the lack 

of training of the farming population. What is needed here, as in 

most parts of the Great Plains region, is men who know how to irrigate how to produce the best results under given conditions. In the 

arid regions, where farming without irrigation is impossible, men 

learn the business thoroughly; but where a small amount of success 

can be attained by the careless tilling of large areas the farmers are 

apt to go on year after year following the old ways, getting a crop when 

the seasons are good and trusting to chance, hoping in years of drought 

that the next season will be better.

By the development of small irrigation works in various parts of 

the State farmers are becoming accustomed to the use of water and
16 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

are appreciating the benefits to be derived from having an assured 

amount of water. It will be necessary, however, for these small 

plants to multiply many times before the construction of large works 

can be undertaken with fair assurance of financial success. When 

by the multiplication of small pumping plants in various localities a 

considerable body of successful irrigators has been established, it will 

be possible to construct great canals from the larger rivers, bringing 

water to thousands of acres of rich lands, and to dispose of water 

rights at remunerative prices. The small pumping plants may therefore be considered as the necessary forerunners of more economical 

and efficient systems which will render possible a dense population 

along the fertile valleys where now farming is precarious and often 

unprofitable.
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS.

By WILLIAM FERGUSON HUTSON.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

During the last few years general interest has been aroused in irrigation, and its importance to many portions of Texas is being better 

appreciated. At this time a discussion of the development of irrigation and its present condition may afford instructive suggestions not 

only to citizens of the State, but to persons in other parts of the country. The variety of geologic and climatic conditions and the mixed 

population have given rise to many methods of practice, so that in 

Texas there may be found representatives of nearly every system of 

irrigation occurring in the United States. Every degree of excellence 

may be noted, from that of modern machinery for raising water down 

to the most primitive devices for supplying it to the field. In the arid 

and semiarid portions of the State the methods of the early Spanish 

settlers are employed. Most of the cultivation is done by Mexican 

laborers or tenants, who cling to the old systems. Thus on most of 

the ditches the distribution of the water is by the Spanish method of 

days and hours, each holder of a water right having the use of the 

ditch in his turn.

The methods of applying the water are usually copied from those of 

the Mexicans, which consist of flooding the crops by means of little 

embankments or ridges of earth from 6 inches to a foot in height, so 

arranged as to convert the fields into checks of a size often absurdly 

diminutive. This system of watering has, indeed, been very largely 

modified by most of the American irrigators, so as to facilitate the use 

of machine tools in handling the crop; but the water is still wastefully used. It is to be hoped that in the present general development 

of irrigation more progressive methods will be inaugurated for both 

the distribution and the application of the water.

The early history of irrigation in Texas is hidden in the unwritten 

annals of the past. Several of the valleys of the Trans-Pecos country 

show signs of having once supported a teeming population. The lines 

of their irrigation canals can yet be traced for miles, while arrowheads, stone implements for grinding corn, and other relics can be 

found in considerable quantities. It must, however, be left to the 

IRR 13 2 17
18 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

archaeologist to determine who these aboriginal irrigators were and 

the probable antiquity of their work. The Pueblo Indians say that 

these ditches were made by the Yuma Indians, who were driven gradually westward by the Comanches and Apaches, finally settling in their 

present home on the Colorado River. On the Rio Grande below El 

Paso are several ditches, which are probably the oldest now in use in 

the United States. They were built by the Pueblo Indians, who, 

according to their traditions, migrated to this place from New Mexico 

at a very early date, certainly before the advent of the Spaniards 

under Coronado. This explorer mentions finding well-established 

systems of irrigation among the Indians in this vicinity in 1540, when 

he passed on his expedition northward. The old Spanish mission 

ditches around San Antonio, mentioned on later pages, are also worthy 

" of note as among the oldest in the United States.

RETARDATION OF DEVELOPMENT.

Taking into consideration the climatic conditions and the object 

lesson furnished by the old ditches, it is somewhat remarkable that 

irrigation has not been more generally developed in Texas. The 

causes for the slow growth of this method of agriculture in the State 

as a whole are found in the persistent attempts of the settlers to extend 

methods of farming applicable in the humid East, and in the existing 

laws modeled on those of the well-watered region. There has been in 

Texas, as well as throughout the whole of the Great Plains region of 

the United States, a belief, founded upon hope and the representations 

of interested land agents, that the rainfall would increase as settlement 

progressed and tracts were brought under cultivation. In the subhumid region the annual fluctuations of water supply are always relatively large, but no permanent increase is shown by official records. 

The average distribution of rainfall in the western part of the State is 

favorable for agriculture, 19 per cent of it coming in the spring and 

36 per cent in the summer, but in spite of this the crops are often 

either a total or a partial failure. In the country near the arid line 

this is the case about three years out of every four, because of the 

fact that a drought almost invariably occurs during the growing season, rendering useless all of the rain that falls afterwards.

Another cause of delay in irrigation development has inhered in 

the customs of the people. Their chief interests have been in cattle, 

and the results of so many years of nothing but stock raising have 

left them with neither the knowledge nor the inclination for the laborious occupation of the farmer.

But the principal bar to the spread of the industry has been the 

unsatisfactory condition of the laws relating to it. So long as the 

common-law doctrine of riparian rights was recognized as the only 

one having any force in the State, irrigation on a large scale was out 

of the question. At common law the riparian proprietor is entitled
LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS. 19

to have the water flow through his land in quanity and quality as it 

was wont to do when he acquired the title thereto. There have been 

several instances in the past where progressive men who wished to 

use the water from some stream on their lands were prevented by 

actions brought or threatened for infringement of the riparian rights 

of the owners of the property lower down.

In 1875 and in 1888 laws were passed by the legislature for the 

encouragement of irrigation enterprises, but in both cases they proved 

inadequate. In 1895 the twenty-fourth legislature passed a new law 

regulating "the aquisition and use of water for irrigation, mining, 

milling, the construction of waterworks for cities and towns, and for 

stock raising." This law applies only to those portions of the State 

in which "by reason of the insufficient rainfall, or by reason of the 

irregularity of the rainfall, irrigation is beneficial for agricultural 

purposes." By this law the unappropriated waters of the abovementioned portions of the State are declared to be public property, 

and provision is made for the appropriation of the same by private 

persons or corporations for the uses mentioned above. The riparian 

rights of a person owning property along such waters are recognized 

to the extent that the waters can not be diverted to his prejudice 

without his consent, or without condemnation proceedings carried on 

in a manner similar to those used in obtaining land for public purposes. The appropriatpr first in time is first in right. The law 

provides ample means for certifying to the appropriation and for regulating and protecting the corporations which may be organized for 

the purpose of using the waters thrown open to use by it. This middle course, in regard to the doctrine of riparian rights, is that adopted 

in California, Washington, and Oregon, and seems to have been successful in those States.

In 1897 there was passed by the twenty-fifth legislature a joint resolution to amend the constitution of the State by adding thereto a 

section which provides for the formation of irrigation districts without regard to county lines. Under the terms of this such districts 

could only be formed west of a line drawn through the State in a 

general north-south direction at about the eastern boundary of what 

is here described as the semiarid region. This amendment proposed 

that irrigation districts should be bodies corporate and have all of 

the rights and liabilities of ordinary irrigation corporations. They 

might issue bonds to cover cost of construction of their irrigation 

works, subject to the same restrictions as county and city bonds. 

The indebtedness for the construction of irrigation works in these 

districts could be created only by a vote of the majority of the landowners resident in the district and having lands susceptible of irrigation [by the proposed works. The proposed amendment was submitted 

to a vote of the people at a special election on August 3,1897, but was 

rejected by a heayy majority.
20 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. fNo.13.

THE USE OF WATER.

The "duty of water" is the term used to express the relation 

between the quantity of water used in irrigation and the area upon 

which it is employed. The present duty of water in Texas can not 

be ascertained with the data in hand, but is in most cases very low. 

The duty assumed by most of the projectors of new irrigating enterprises is 100 acres to the second-foot. This, in the semiarid section 

at least, ought to prove sufficient, for by the time the amount of land 

under irrigation from each canal reaches the maximum the people 

will have learned how to use the water more economically than at 

first, and the land will not require so much. A careful estimate of 

the amount of land under irrigation in Mexico, just across the international border at Eagle Pass, gives a duty of 137 acres to the secondfoot. There the crops are mainly corn and cotton, the latter needing 

very little water.

The investigations upon which this discussion is based revealed 

the fact that there are in the State not only a great variety of gravity 

systems of supplying water but also all kinds of pumping devices 

operated by steam or gasoline engines and by water wheels or windmills. The latter are of more importance than the data obtained 

would seem to indicate. Throughout the arid and semiarid regions 

nearly every residence has its windmill to pump water for domestic 

uses, the surplus of which is often used to irrigate a few vegetables 

or fruits around the house. Although a small area is watered by each 

mill, yet the aggregate must be considerable. Data were obtained 

from the few plants constructed for irrigation use only, which will 

give an idea of the comparative merits of windmills as a source of 

irrigation. The least cost of a windmill-irrigation plant was found to 

be a little over $16 for each acre irrigated, the largest area watered 

by one wheel being 30 acres. This is in the humid portion of the 

State. In the arid portion half that amount is all that can be supplied. The average cost is about $47 for each acre irrigated, and 

the area commanded by each wheel amounts to only about 7 acres.

The number of acres irrigated from each steam or pumping plant 

varies from 5 to 1,000. The cost of these irrigation plants ranges 

from $15 to $50 for each acre irrigated. The efficiency of most of the 

pumping plants could and should be very largely increased. There 

is a great lack of experience shown in the management of many 

of them, and consequently they have not been operated at anything like their full capacity or made to pay a reasonable dividend 

on the money invested. Few of them have reservoirs into which to 

pump the water; thus they can be used only while the actual irrigation is going on, whereas to be operated economically they should be 

run day and night, at least during the irrigating season. There are
HtnrsoN.] UNITS OF MEASUREMENT. 21

a number of plants in the State with a capacity of as much as 2,500 

gallons of water per minute. Such a plant, if worked to its full 

capacity, will give a stream equal to 5.57 second-feet. Allowing onethird for loss by seepage and evaporation, there is left 3.7 second-feet. 

The usual duty of water is estimated at 100 acres to the second-foot, 

but in new irrigation districts it very often amounts to only half as 

much. Even with this low estimate there should be more than 180 

acres irrigated from the plant. Such a plant, it is estimated by H. M. 

Wilson, can be erected for 15,000; this will give a cost of 128 per acre 

irrigated.

For estimating the quantity of water used in irrigation, various 

units of measurement are employed. For bodies of standing water 

the cubic foot, or, where that is too small a unit, the "acre-foot" is 

used. The latter is the quantity of water that will cover an acre of 

ground 1 foot deep, or 43,560 cubic feet. The gallon is also very 

largely used for stationary bodies of water and for pumping plants, 

especially those for municipal supply. In considering flowing water 

some unit must be used which expresses the capacity of the stream in 

a given period of time. That most commonly used is the second-foot, 

or the number of cubic feet of water which flow by in a second of 

time. The "miners' inch," so generally quoted in California and 

Colorado, is not used in this State. In the following table are given 

some convertible units of measurement:

Units of measurement used in irrigation, tvith equivalents.

I cubic foot=0.0283 cubic meter = 7.4S gallons.

I cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds.

I second-foot=449 gallons per minute=26,930 gallons per hour,

I second-foot=50 California miners' inches.

\ second-foot=40 Arizona miners' inches.

I second-foot for one day=1.9835 acre-feet.

1 second-foot for one day=646,317 gallons.

1 second-foot of water falling 10 feet gives 1.135 horsepower.

I horsepower is given by 1 second-foot of water falling 8.8 feet.

1 gallon of water=231 cubic inches=0.13368 cubic foot, and weighs 8.34 pounds.

1,000 gallons per hour=0.037 second-foot.

1,000,000 gallons=3.07 acre-feet.

1,000,000 gallons per twenty-four hours=1.55 second-feet.

1 acre=43,560 square feet, or nearly 209 feet square.

1 acre-foot=325,850 gallons.

DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL.

The most important element of climate in its relation to the present 

discussion is precipitation. In Texas the rainfall is greatest in the 

eastern portion of the State and decreases steadily toward the west. 

This decrease is at the rate of about 4 inches every 60 miles, being 

about 50 inches in the extreme east and 9 inches at El Paso. The
22 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

isohyetals, or lines of equal precipitation, run through the State in a 

general north-south direction, as shown by the map, fig. 1.

The customary definition of "arid region" is one having less than 

20 inches of mean annual rainfall. This, however, is not sufficiently 

complete, for it does not take into account the distribution of the rain 

throughout the year. In certain parts of the country, where the 

greater portion of the precipitation occurs during the crop season, 

wheat and other cereals are successfully raised when the rainfall-is 

far less than 20 inches; while in other parts of the United States, as,

FIG. 1. Index map of Texas.

for example, near the Pacific coast, where the greatest precipitation 

occurs during the winter months and the summers are practically 

rainless, irrigation is necessary during a part, at least, of the crop 

season. Thus the distribution by months is almost as important an 

element as the total quantity occurring during the year.

The accompanying diagram, fig. 2, shows the quantity and average 

distribution of rainfall by months at a number of selected stations 

fairly typical of the State as a whole. The first of these is Galveston, 

on the coast, in the eastern part of the State. Here the average
HtTTSON.] DISTRIBUTION OP RAINFALL.

rainfall for twenty-seven years is 49.6 inches, 

gram, the months of heaviest precipitation are 

September and August, but in every month 

except February an average of over 3 inches of 

rain has fallen. This is fairly typical of the 

distribution of rainfall along-the Gulf coast. 

The diagram next above this is for Austin, 

where the average rainfall for thirty-nine years 

is 33.4 inches. Here, also, there is an excess of 

precipitation in September, and a second maximum in May. Relatively to these months, 

June, July, and August are somewhat dry; but 

in every month throughout the year there has 

fallen an average of over 2 inches of rain.

The next diagram in fig. 2 above that for 

Austin is that for Fort Clark or Brackettville. 

This is constructed from the average for twentynine years. The mean annual rainfall is 22.7 

inches. Fort Clark is remote from the coast, 

and the distribution of its rainfall, though 

somewhat similar to that at Austin, having 

maxima in September and May, shows reduction in quantity, especially during the winter 

months. Next above the diagram for Fort 

Clark is that for Fort Elliott, situated far up 

in the Panhandle of Texas, near the Oklahoma 

line. Here the quantity and distribution are 

fairly typical of the Great Plains area. The 

diagram is derived from the mean of observations extending over eleven years and giving 

an annual average of 23.2 inches. The month 

of greatest rainfall is May, September being 

below the average. The rainy season may be 

said to extend from April to August.

In the upper part of fig. 2 are two diagrams 

illustrating the typical distribution of rain in 

Trans-Pecos Texas. This has been named by 

General Greely the Mexican type of rainfall. 1 

In these, particularly in the diagram for Fort 

Davis, obtained from twenty-six years' observations, the .rainfall is seen to increase regularly from February to August and then to 

decrease rapidly to the end of the year. The 

greater part of the precipitation occurs during

As shown by the diaHim Tniiiiiirr

AUSTIN

Illllllilll iiiiiiiiiii

OALVESTON

minimi IMIIIIIIII iiiiiiiiiii

FIG. 2. Diagrams of meson 

monthly rainfall at six 

stations.

1 Nat. Geog. Mag., Vol. V, 1893, p. 51.
24 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. 1*0.13.

June, July, August, and September, at the time when most needed 

by many crops. The diagram for El Paso, from thirty-six years' 

averages, shows a relatively uniform but small precipitation throughout the year, with the exception of the months of July, August, and 

September.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS.

In order to discuss the present condition and development of irrigation in Texas it is essential to pursue some systematic order of 

arrangement based upon climatic or geographic factors. The simplest 

arrangement is that of taking first the humid region, or that having 

40 inches or over of rainfall; next the subhumid, with from 30 to 40 

inches; then the seniiarid, with from 20 to 30 inches of rain; and last 

the more arid portions, having less than 20 inches of annual precipitation, this being in the western part of the State, and including the 

Panhandle and Trans-Pecos regions. The greater part of the irrigation works are, however, in the southern half of the State, or near 

the coast, and these divisions, especially those of subhumid and semiarid, extending, as they do, in a north-south direction, though simple, 

do not afford a wholly satisfactory grouping. In the central part of 

the State the irrigation works are small, and there is no essential difference between those in the more humid and those in the semiarid 

areas. In fact, the actual amount of annual precipitation has less to 

do with the necessity for artificially applying water than the local 

conditions of soil and character of crops.

From the above-mentioned conditions it has been found desirable 

to adopt a somewhat arbitrary classification, based partly upon the 

distribution of rainfall and partly upon geographic position. In the 

following pages, therefore, a description will first be given of the irrigation plants in the humid area near the coast, particularly those 

lying within 50 miles or more of Galveston. Next in order are the 

small irrigation projects scattered about the center of the State from 

the humid areas east of Brazos River westward nearly to the borders 

of the arid region and southward to the vicinity of Austin and San 

Marcos. The third division is taken to include the old irrigation 

works at San Antonio, with small irrigation projects found at intervals down to the coast. Next in order to these are the irrigation 

works planned or constructed along the Nueces River and the lower 

Rio Grande. The fifth division to be considered is that of the Llano 

Estacado and adjacent areas, including the greater part of Panhandle 

Texas; then the lands watered by the Pecos River, and finally the 

irrigation works in Trans-Pecos Texas, extending to the extreme westerly end at El Paso.
HTJTSON.] EASTERN TEXAS. 25

DESCRIPTION OF IRRIGATION WORKS AND PROJECTS. 

EASTERN GULF COAST REGION.

The humid part of the State may be considered as that having a 

mean annual precipitation of 40 inches or more. This comprises the 

greater part of the State east of the city of Dallas and of the lower 

Brazos River. The rainfall over this area is usually abundant, and 

irrigation in the northern and central portions of this humid region 

will not probably become of any considerable importance, but in the 

southern end, along the coast, there exist large tracts of land adapted 

to rice growing, and the greater portion of this will probably be used 

for this purpose.

This land is mostly a flat prairie, locally called swale land, covered 

with a coarse growth of grass and having such a gentle slope toward 

the sea as to be but little removed from a marsh during a large part 

of the year. It extends inland for several miles and is cut by numerous bayous, in which the tides from the Gulf ebb and flow and the 

waters gradually become brackish as they near the Gulf. Most of the 

rice farms lie along these bayous, and from them the principal supply of water is derived. The farms are so located as to insure a supply of fresh water. The soil along the bayous is much richer than 

the prairies and yields heavier crops.

The manner of cultivating and irrigating is very different from the 

South Carolina system, where the water is held by artificial storage 

reservoirs or raised above the level of the fields by the action of the 

ocean tides, which back up the flow of the rivers at each tide to a 

height sufficient to reach the fields. In this part of Texas storage reservoirs are used in only a few cases, most of the fields being supplied 

by pumps placed on the banks of the bayous and operated by steam 

power. The land is laid off in much the same way as on the eastern 

plantations. The work in this State is newer and therefore rougher, 

but the main features are the same. The fields are surrounded by 

low levees to hold the water on the land, and are ditched to permit 

drainage at the lowest point.

Nearly all of the land planted with rice is irrigated, as those who 

have attempted to grow it without irrigation have lost their crops two 

years out of five and made only very short crops during the other 

three years. As previously stated, the water is supplied to the fields 

by pumps run by steam power, rotary pumps of the Menge pattern 

being most frequently used. These are operated by engines of from 

10 to 70 Tiorsepower or more, and have a pumping capacity of from 

1,500 to 8,000 gallons per minute, or from 3.34 to 17.82 second-feet. 

The lift varies from 9 to 12 feet, and the pumps are run night and 

day during the irrigating season, which lasts from sixty to ninety 

days, thus delivering from 400 to 3,000 acre-feet of water. For the 

prairie farms the water is carried in canals, either on the surface or
26 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. {NO. 13.

excavated but little below it and confined by levee walls on each side, 

for a distance sometimes of 1^ miles.

The area in rice is increasing rapidly. One planter, Mr. J. E. Broussard, of Beaumont, has 750 acres this season (1897), whereas last season he had but 250 acres. He estimates that the total area watered 

from Taylors Bayou alone, in Jefferson County, in 1897, was 8,500 acres. 

From his statements the following facts were derived: Planting of 

early rice is begun in March, from about the 15th to the 25th, if ground 

and weather are suitable, and continued until the 1st of June. Many 

persons plant as late as the 15th of June, but this is probably too late 

to make a good crop. As soon as the rice is up to a height of 6 or 8 

inches, if the ground becomes too dry for it to grow well, the usual 

practice is to give it a good soaking, but not to hold the water verydeep upon it the first time. As soon as the rice becomes well rooted, 

the land is flooded and the attempt is made to keep it in this condition until the rice is ready for harvest. Most farmers turn the water 

off about two weeks before harvesting, although there is considerable 

difference in this matter. The size of field inclosed under each set of 

levees depends altogether on the lay of the land; if very level, there 

maybe as much as 50 acres in one "cut,"but where the land has 

much fall the average piece under one set of levees will be about 5 to 

8 acres. The lands. are so level that when the water is from 4 to 6 

inches deep over the lowest part it will wet the highest portions. The 

depth of flooding rice in this section is about 5 or 6 inches; some 

farmers prefer deeper water, while others do not care for so much. 

Experience has shown that when water is held very deep on rice all 

the time the quality of the grain is not so good; it is sufficiently heavy 

but is somewhat " chalky." There are several farms that have from 

500 to 1,000 acres under cultivation in rice. The average yield is 

reported to be 40 bushels to the acre of rough rice, or 10 barrels of 

clean. One hundred pounds of rough grain will make about 72 pounds 

of clean rice.

Mr. F. H. Catron, of Orange, has been one of the most successful 

planters. He has been irrigating since 1891 with a Menge pump, 

operated by a 50-horsepower steam engine, pumping from a bayou 

into a surface ditch 1 mile long and 20 feet wide, the lift being about 

8 feet. The total cost of the canal levees and ditches was $5,000, and 

the engine and other parts of the pumping plant cost $1,500. The 

pumping capacity is 5,000 gallons per minute, or 11.14 second-feet. 

In 1896 he irrigated 500 acres of rice.

Irrigation of orchards and gardens is resorted to in this humid 

region, particularly in the vicinity of Galveston and Houston. This 

is due largely to the fact that artesian water can be had, and the land 

is so nearly level that water can be readily applied. In spite of the 

abundant rainfall, experience has shown that fruit and garden crops 

are greatly improved in quantity and quality by the application of
HTJTOON.] WATER SUPPLY OP GALVESTON. 27

moisture during a portion of the year, particularly at times of summer drought. Operations on a considerable scale have not been 

attempted, but many small gardens are being watered. Nearly all of 

this land requires drainage, and this is especially the case when irrigation is introduced. The prairie land in this region is not notably 

rich, but it is easily worked, and as a rule ground water is near the 

surface.

The source of water for the city of Galveston is at the suburban 

town of Alta Loma, 38 miles distant from Galveston. Here are 27 

wells 7 inches in diameter and 3 wells 9 inches in diameter, from 750 

to 850 feet deep, all located in a direct north-south line, 300 to 750 feet 

apart, making a total distance from end to end of 16,350 feet. The 

wells, at 2 feet above the ground, showed a static pressure of from 5 

to 7 pounds per squaw inch. Water is derived from several horizons, 

and the combined flow is 12 million gallons per day, or 18.60 secondfeet. The pressure is sufficient to deliver 5 million gallons daily, or 

7.73 second-feet, at the city of Galveston, 18 miles away, through a 

30-inch pipe having a fall of 1 foot to the mile. A portion of this 

30-inch pipe is depressed about 10 feet for a distance of 2£ miles, from 

the mainland to the island, under West Galveston Bay. These wells 

have been flowing for three years. The cost for the installation of 

the entire plant was $790,000. Analysis shows that the water is 

usually pure, and the people of Galveston are highly gratified in 

having a water supply of such excellence. 1

The water-bearing strata underlying this portion of Texas are so 

uniform in character that contractors do not hesitate to guarantee a 

flow of from 25,000 to 50,000 gallons daily, or 0.04 to 0.08 second-feet, 

for a specified size of well at any point in or near Galveston County. 

There are 5 artesian wells at and about Clear Creek, 1 at Shell Siding, 

10 in the vicinity of Dickinson, 2 at North Galveston, 1 at Texas City, 

several at Hitchcock, 2 or 3 at Alta Loma in addition to those already 

mentioned, and 2 at Arcadia, making a total of not fewer than 55 for 

the county. In some localities sufficient flow for smaller wells is 

obtained at a depth of 490 feet, though occasionally the extreme 

depth of from 1,000 to 1,100 feet is required.

Water for irrigation is also provided by using windmills. There is 

a stratum of water-bearing sand at a depth of from 30 to 60 feet 

which furnishes an abundant supply for irrigation by the smaller land 

holders and market gardeners. For example, Mr. H. Sampson, an 

orchardist near Alvin, has a surface well 12 inches in diameter and 

36 feet deep, in which he put an 8-inch tubing. He asserts that from 

15,000 to 30,000 gallons can be pumped from it daily by a windmill of 

sufficient size. Within the town limits of Alvin, Mr. W. H. Nash has 

a similar well which he states has never been pumped dry by a 10-foot 

windmill. He irrigates all the berry and garden crops which he

1 Engineering News, Vol. XXXIX, No. 9, March 3,1898.
28 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

thinks it advisable to grow in between the trees of a 10-acre bearing 

pear orchard.

This will convey a brief but positively reliable idea of the underlying water supply of the Texas coast for irrigation purposes. It 

remains to add a word concerning the use of water for irrigation purposes in this section. The structure of the soil is somewhat peculiar 

in that it is naturally subirrigated; that is to say, there is plenty of 

water within from 7 to 15 feet of the surface. An ordinary barnyard well does not exceed in most instances 10 to 12 feet in depth. 

Almost all the varieties of trees planted in the orchards here readily 

send their roots to this and greater depths, and hence for commercial 

orchards irrigation is not essential. This is especially true if timely, 

judicious, and frequent cultivation be given. With the berry grower 

and market gardener the conditions are different. His crops must be 

made within a specified period to obtain the best results and greatest 

returns. To accomplish this it is essential that a good supply of water 

be at command to force the crops when conditions of great heat and 

drought develop. At the same time it should be noted that perhaps 

90 per cent of the berry growers and gardeners have not yet provided 

irrigation works, and they have been, in a measure, doing business 

with a small but very uncertain margin of profit. They have hoped 

each year that it would not be necessary for them to irrigate. Two 

successive seasons of drought, however, have induced them to prepare 

to avail themselves of the ample supply of water. Within two years 

from this time probably the greater part of the most intelligent berry 

and truck growers will be fully equipped with an irrigation plant of 

some description.

The advantages of having irrigation facilities were abundantly 

illustrated in 1896. Those who had such equipments were not only 

selling more products at the same time that their neighbors were 

offering theirs, but were selling long and profitably after their less 

fortunate competitors could not produce sufficiently to make an 

attempt at marketing advisable. This is especially noteworthy in 

the case of the strawberry growers in the coast country.

CENTRAL TEXAS.

This second division has been arbitrarily drawn to include the irrigation plants, mostly small in size, situated within the central part of 

Texas, from about the vicinity of Brazos River westerly to the edge 

of the arid region, and from the vicinity of Austin, on the south, 

northerly through the State. This area falls between the lines of 

mean annual precipitation of 20 and 40 inches, and thus includes the 

tract of country having sufficient rainfall to raise crops in ordinary 

seasons. The precipitation is fairly uniformly distributed by months, 

as shown by the diagram of mean monthly rainfall at Austin in fig. 2 

(p. 23). The black, waxy soil which covers a considerable portion of
HUTSON.] IRRIGATION IN CENTRAL TEXAS. , 29 »

this district is retentive of moisture and resists droughts, as does the 

land along the Brazos and Colorado river bottoms, located mainly 

within this area. The region to the south and southeast of Austin, 

although having the same mean annual precipitation, has not been 

included in this division, because the rapidly increasing temperature 

toward the Gulf, as well as the different character of the soil, renders 

irrigation somewhat more essential and its development is more nearly 

comparable to that of the arid region to the west.

In this central portion of Texas, where crops are raised successfully 

each year, irrigation is not felt to be a necessity except by truck 

farmers and nursery men, and many of these have introduced it in a 

somewhat experimental way. The results, however, demonstrate its 

value, and this method of cultivating the soil is being extended. 

Water is usually obtained from a well or small storage reservoir, arid 

pumped by means of a windmill, or occasionally by a small steam 

engine.

The most easterly of the irrigation works in this section are those 

at Mexia, near the head of Navasota River, a tributary of the Brazos, 

and near Bryan, on Brazos River, at the State Agricultural and 

Mechanical College. At this latter point storm waters are impounded 

in a reservoir formed by building an earthen dam 10 feet in height 

and 100 feet long across a small draw. This covers about 1 acre, and 

from it so far about 7 acres have been regularly irrigated, the crops 

watered being garden truck and alfalfa. In addition to the storm 

waters, the reservoir is so situated as to receive the waste water from 

the college ice factory and from the natatorium when necessary, but 

as this water, coming from an artesian well, carries in solution considerable mineral matter, it is not allowed to enter the reservoir to 

any considerable extent.

At Mexia, in Limestone County, J. W. Stubenrauch has been very 

successful in the use of a small irrigation plant for fruits and vegetables. This consists of a dam across a ravine, catching the storm 

waters and forming a tank covering about an acre of ground. From 

this the water is lifted to a height of 25 feet by an 8-foot windmill 

into an earthen reservoir 50 feet long and 100 feet wide. This reservoir is now being enlarged to have double the present capacity. The 

total cost of the system was $300, including 700 feet of piping; 7 acres 

have been irrigated, b.utitis estimated that 15 acres could be watered. 

Mr. Stubenrauch is also putting in another system with a reservoir 

covering an acre of ground, the dam having a height of 5 feet above 

the outlet pipe, for filling which he will use a 12-foot wheel. This he 

expects will enable him to irrigate 30 acres at one time. He states 

that the total cost, including 600 feet of 2-J-inch pipe for discharging 

the water into the reservoir, was $485. He pumps from a storage 

tank made by damming a big ravine.

In the northern end of this district that is, north of the Colorado
30 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

River irrigation is little practiced. There is a well-developed plan 

to irrigate a large tract of exceptionally fertile land in the "Wichita 

River Valley. The storm flow of this river is to be stored at a favorable site about midway of its course. The catchment area above this 

storage basin will be about 1^ million acres. The area to be irrigated 

is about 270,000 acres.

Careful flood-flow determinations indicate that the supply is largely 

in excess of requirements. The region has a rainfall of about 28 

inches, which it is necessary merely to supplement. That is, the duty 

of water here will be comparatively large. In fact, the greater part 

of the area is at present utilized as farm land. But, though the lands 

are rich and easily tillable and the average yield is considerable, 

there is yet a disastrous variability of yield on account of droughts. 

Therefore, relating to a subhumid rather than to an arid region, the 

project will have this advantage over irrigation undertakings in the

<?!¥ 

FIG. 3. Map of drainage basin of Wichita River.

arid lands proper, that the amount of water needed for abundant crop 

yield is comparatively small. The plan, which has been developed 

fully, is based upon careful and elaborate engineering work. Before 

the present reservoir site was chosen, other possible sites, along the 

Pease River to the north and the Brazos River to the south, were 

examined with a view to diversion of these streams to the same lands. 

The present selection appears to be an exceptionally fortunate one. 

The depth to bed rock at the dam site is slight and the river valley 

here is constricted to a canyon.

The dam is to be of earth, 80 feet high, designed to hold water to a 

depth of 70 feet. Both spillway and outlet are to one side, well away 

from the dam the spillway over bed rock, the outlet through a tunnel in bed rock. The capacity of the reservoir will be about 12,000 

million cubic feet, or about 275,000 acre-feet. There will be two 

canals, designed to irrigate both slopes of the Wichita Valley. At 

their head these canals will have a width at bottom of 40 feet, a depth.
HUTSON.] WICHJTA RIVER VALLEY. 31

of 8 feet, and a grade of 1 foot to 5,000 feet. The total cost is estimated 

at a little over $1,000,000.

Careful determinations of flood flow made by the company's engineer, Murray Harris, indicate that the supply is much more than 

ample. They are as follows:

Acre-feet. 

During the first week in January, 1897, about...-....--..-------....-...., 59,687

From March 28 to April4,1897, about................................... 98,714

From April 25 to April 29,1897, about................................... 174,472

From April 29 to May 15,1897 .......................................... 330,579

Total............................................................. 663,452

Farther south, near Brazos River, in Young County, not far from 

Graham, are reported two small gardens irrigated by windmills, such 

as are found scattered all through the semiarid region.

The Lytle Water Company, in 1897, began to build a dam across 

Lytle Creek at Abilene, in Taylor County, the main object being to 

furnish good water to the town, but it is also expected to irrigate 300 

acres by a canal 1^ miles long. The dam is of earth, riprapped with 

rock on the inner slope and sodded on the outer. It is 800 feet long 

raises the water 15 feet, and has a masonry spillway of 300 feet. Th( 

total cost of the plant will be about $25,000. The reservoir formec 

by the dam will cover 120 acres and have a capacity of 300 millioi 

gallons, or 920 acre-feet.

On the ranch of Hugh Lewis, 8 miles north of Ballinger, in Run 

nels County, is a stone dam built in 1896 across a small creek whicl 

originates in a spring a short distance above. The dam is 80 feel 

long, raises the water 6 feet, and supplies a ditch some 200 yards ir 

length. Ten acres in fruit and vegetables were irrigated in 1896, 

but at least 50 acres could be covered. The total cost was from $15C 

to $200.

In Tom Green and Irion counties the water facilities furnished by the 

Concho River and its numerous branches and tributaries are among 

the finest to be found anywhere. These have only been partially 

used by individuals and small companies in separate systems, making the cost of maintenance much greater than if consolidated 

Nevertheless, they have been fairly successful, and have certainly 

reduced the cost of living in that section, making foodstuffs, especially vegetables, much cheaper and more abundant. There are ten 

of these plants reported in those two counties; three on the South 

Concho, one on the Main Concho, and two each on the North Concho 

Spring Creek, and Dove Creek. The total area irrigated is 3,200 acres 

2,000 being in Tom Green County and 1,200 in Irion County.

The plants of C. B. Metcalfe, of San Angelo, and J. J. Glenn, of 

Water Valley, may be taken as types of the systems in vogue. Mr 

Metcalfe's canal takes its water from the east bank or the South 

Concho River 12 miles south of San Angelo. It is 4 miles long, with
32 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

an average top width of 12 feet, bottom width 8 feet, and depth of 

water 1.5 feet. It was begun in 1887 and the first mile was completed 

the next year, but it was not entirely completed until 1896. It 

takes its water by means of a brush-and-stone dam 200 feet long 

and 7 feet high, which extends across the river and cost about $500. 

The main ditch cost $500 to the mile, and the laterals, of which 

there are three, cost $250 to the mile, making a total cost, with 

incidentals, of $7 to each of the 470 acres now irrigated. The 

repairs, which are maintained by the tenants, may be estimated as 

amounting in labor to 75 cents per acre. The crops irrigated in 1896 

were: Johnson grass, 40 acres; cotton, 120 acres; corn, oats, wheat, 

truck, etc., 220 acres; total, 380 acres.

The ditch of J. J. Glenn is located on the North Concho 1£ miles 

west of Water Valley, and is 3 miles long, 8 feet wide on top, 4 feet 

wide on bottom, and 2^ feet deep. It was first used in 1886, and is 

supplied with water by a rock dam across the river, 100 feet long, 

with an average height of 8 feet. The total cost of the system was 

$3,500, and it commands 350 acres, of which 250 have been irrigated, 

two-thirds in cotton and the remainder in the different sorghums and 

oats.

The most successful field crops in this region are oats and cotton, 

the former producing from 30 to 90 bushels with great certainty, and 

the latter usually 1 and sometimes 1-J bales to the acre. Corn is a 

poor crop, by reason of the dry winds, but sweet potatoes, melons, 

and celery do very well, especially the last named.

In Sterling County there are two systems on Concho River, only 

one of which has been reported in full. It is located 5 miles from 

Sterling City and is owned by the McGee Irrigation Company. The 

main ditch is 2 miles long, has a top width of 6 feet, is 4 feet wide at 

the bottom, and carries about 1 foot of water. It was begun in 1892 

and first used in 1894. The water is raised by a loose-rock dam, 125 

feet long and 6 feet high, built across the river. The total cost was 

$1,500, and it commands 250 acres, only 75 of which are really irrigated. The principal crops, in the order of their importance, were 

cotton, corn, sorghum, oats, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, and vegetables. 

Repairs are maintained by each stockholder doing his share of the 

work on the ditch.

At Brownwood, in Brown County, about 120 miles east of the above 

works, considerable interest has been taken in irrigation during the 

last few years, there being a large area well located for irrigation on 

a considerable scale. This scheme was abandoned for lack of capital 

to complete it. Meanwhile several steam pumping plants have been 

erected for irrigating smaller areas. The most important is that of 

the Swinden Pecan Orchard Company. This consists of a centrifugal 

pump operated by an 80-horsepower engine and pumping 3,000 gallons per minute, or 6.84 second-feet. The water is carried by a flume
HUTSON.] PUMPING PLANTS ON COLORADO RIVER. 85

4,000 feet long to a reservoir formed by building an earthen dam

4,000 feet long and with a height varying from 2 to 15 feet. The 

dam is at the foot of gently sloping land, and forms a triangular 

reservoir covering 55 acres. The reservoir is designed to irrigate 

the 400 acres of level land lying between it and Pecan Bayou, froija 

which the water is pumped to fill it. A small stream is also dammed 

and turned into the reservoir. The 400 acres commanded by the 

reservoir are planted in pecan trees, making the largest orchard of 

this kind in the world. The irrigation plant was put in- mainly t^> 

enable the owHerjs to practice truck farming and small fruit growing 

between the rows of trees while waiting for the latter to mature. 

The soil is a rich black and chocolate loam. The great mistake that 

has been made in this plant is in having the reservoir so large and 

shallow. Evaporation and seepage are in this way so increased as to 

become a serious source of loss.

Immediately east of this, in Mills County, are several pumping 

plants on Colorado River. That of J. B. Baker, 11 miles southwest 

of Goldthwaite, was completed in 1896, and consists of a 32-horsepower 

boiler operating a Worthington pump. The plant cost $2,000, and 

the expense of operating it is about $7 a day of twelve hours. It has 

a capacity of 1,220 gallons per minute, or 2.72 second-feet, and commands 80 acres, 75 of which were irrigated. The crops raised were 

corn, cotton, and oats. J. D. Willis, of Ratler, has attached pumps 

with a capacity of 50 gallons per minute, or 0.11 second-foot, to the 

shafting of his gin and grist mill, irrigating 5 acres in fruits and vegetables. The power is furnished by a turbine under a 5-foot head of 

water from a dam 300 feet long across Colorado River. At Regency, 

G. W. Alldridge, with a 20-horsepower engine, pumps 450 gallons per 

minute, or 1 second-foot, and reports that he can water about 5 

acres per day, which would give 50 to 75 acres under command of his 

pump. None of these men use reservoirs.

On the south side of Colorado River, in San Saba County, J. H. 

Lindsey owns a steam pumping plant on the river, 20 miles north of 

San Saba. It consists of a 30-horsepower engine and a pump with a 

capacity of 840 gallons per minute, or 1.87 second-feet. The plant 

cost $2,000 and is worked eleven hours a day at an expense of $3, irrigating 40 acres in corn and cotton. There are also several small areas 

irrigated m this county from the numerous springs which issue from 

among the hills. The total amount of these is 250 acres. Farther 

down the river, in Burnet County, the only irrigation reported is one 

windmill irrigating a garden 50 feet long and 150 broad, and also If 

acres watered by a spring and reservoir. Both are very successful.

At the head of San Saba River, in Schleicher County, William L. 

Black has been irrigating since 1894 with a plant consisting of a 

6-horsepower engine, pumping 580 gallons per minute, or 1.29 secondfeet, and a 6-foot overshot wheel with a capacity of 167 gallons per 

IBB 13 3
34 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

minute, or 0.37 second-foot. The latter is run day and night, no 

reservoir being provided, and the total area irrigated is 50 acres, in 

corn, potatoes, and sorghmn. With his water wheel- he uses four 

10-inch cylinders worked horizontally, and with the engine a link-belt 

box elevator, which gives satisfaction. Farther east, in Menard 

County, on San Saba River, is a pumping plant owned by Emile 

Vanderstucken and consisting of an 18-horsepower steam engine 

operating by a belt a Menge centrifugal pump with a capacity of 

1,167 gallons per minute, or 2.60 second-feet. The total cost of the 

plant was 11,500. No reservoir is used, the water being carried in a 

flume to the highest point on the land and distributed by ditches. 

On account of the abundance of rain in 1897 it was used but very 

little. In 1896 it was operated from March to September, irrigating 

100 acres and making good crops, with practically no rain.

The following description relating to the condition of irrigation in 

the vicinity of Menardville is taken from a statement prepared by 

Mr. Robert S. Dod, of Brady, Texas, county surveyor of McCulloch 

County. This method of agriculture has been a great success in this 

vicinity, as is evident to anyone passing through the county examining the fields and conversing with the farmers. The system has 

not always been successful, but early failures were mainly the result 

of inexperience and arose from accidental and not from essential 

defects. Mistakes have been gradually remedied, and by well-directed 

energy and enterprise great improvements have been brought about, 

progress being still made toward even better methods.

On crossing San Saba River 5 miles below Menardville, the traveler 

enters upon the irrigated part of the narrow valley lying between the 

river and the low hills, and is impressed by the signs of energy and 

activity. The fences are good and in repair; the gates have two 

hinges and swing clear of the ground; the fields are clear of grubs 

and clean of weeds; the ditches are straight and well shaped and 

clean; the cotton as seen when visited stood 28 to 30 inches high all 

over the fields, of good color and as clean as possible. The corn was 

10 feet high or over, and the dark green of its leaves was accounted 

for by the water running in the furrows at its roots. To the right was 

an orchard of peach trees filled with fruit, and beyond this a stubble 

field already plowed and harrowed, ready for reseeding for another 

harvest. Near this field stood the stacks, the proof of the success of 

that crop at least, yielding their stores of grain to the efforts of the 

busy crowd about the thrasher. The active movements of the men 

at work there and in the neighboring fields, and the rate at which the 

teams traveled carrying the grain to the barn and returning to the field, 

showed that the success apparent everywhere was due to systematic, 

well-directed effort the kind of effort that men put forth when reasonably certain of the reward of their labor. Such animation men do not 

display when disappointment and failure year after year have sapped
HDTSON.] MENAEDVILLE AND VICINITY. 35

their energy and made them cynically hopeless of success, when under 

"dry farming" they have degenerated into the almost brutish attitude of contentment with surroundings that could be improved and 

toleration of losses that might be avoided.

All the way from the river to Menardville the road passes through 

irrigated farms showing success in proportion to the amount of care 

and labor expended on them. The vegetable gardens, the orchards, 

the green lawns, and the flowers and vines around the houses make this 

valley the picture of contented prosperity. The farmers with whom 

conversation was had gave many facts applicable in contrasting their 

methods and results with those of the dry-land farmer. They raise 

from 1 to 2 bales of cotton per acre, the difference in yield depending 

largely on how much damage the worms do in a given season and 

how much rain falls in August. The drier this month the better the 

cotton crop. On new land with few worms and a dry August 2 bales 

would be expected. Their corn yields from 40 to 80 bushels per acre. 

One man suggested that a light rain or shower was needed when the 

pollen was ripe in order to obtain the best results.' Oats yield from 

50 to 80 bushels per acre. During the years from about 1888 to 1895 

the farmers irrigating in Menard County were raising from 1 to 2 bales 

of cotton to the acre, 40 to 50 bushels of corn, and 80 or more of oats, 

while in contrast to this their neighbors without irrigation were working perhaps equally as hard, bringing together what little cane and 

fodder could be raised to save the stock from starving to death, and 

producing only enough marketable stuff to keep the interest on the 

mortgages paid up, and perhaps not even that.

These beneficial results are produced by a little water and a deal of 

hard work. The water rate is $2 per inch, and 1J inches will irrigate 

an acre of their land, so that $2.50 per acre and a little extra work 

make the difference between one-third of a bale of cotton and 2 bales; 

between no corn and 40 to 50 bushels; between 80bushels of oats and 

a dead failure.

It has been proved by experience that one man can not give proper 

attention to more than 25 acres of this irrigated land. He will need 

help in cultivating if he plants corn and cotton, but could tend rather 

more land put in small grain. He will require for these crops a little 

over an inch of water per acre, and will need to turn the water on 

about every twenty days.

At Menardville corn and cotton are irrigated by running the water 

down the furrows between the rows from openings in the ditch. The 

amount of labor required for the operation and to make the water run 

properly depends upon the general level of the field and the care with 

which the furrows are laid off with regard to the slope. Small grain 

and fodder crops are laid off by throwing two furrows together, back 

to back, as a border, every 8 or 10 steps, to hold the water, and flooding the land between these borders. Some farmers use an Acme
36 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

harrow to finish off the land after planting, running it between the 

borders so that the small furrows left by it help in directing the flow 

of the water.

As to the amount of water required per acre, one man who irrigates 

40 acres of land uses 40 inches of water, and occasionally needs a little 

" more. On another farm they use 15 inches of water on 12 acres of 

garden truck. On the upper part of the ditch above town the water 

is measured and distributed by the inch; that is, if a man wants 20 

inches of water, the gate opening on his ditch is set for a 20-inch flow 

and so remains through the season, giving him his 20-inch constant 

flow. From town down they use the water in rotation, as, owing to a 

mistake originally made in laying out the distributaries, the use of 

water above interferes with the flow below. So they alternate every 

seven days, those above using all the water that reaches them for 

that time, and then the lower owner having all the water for the next 

seven days; this farmer, having some 500 acres under irrigation, distributes the water over them as necessary.

The amount of water required for an acre of ground here is more 

than that needed for sandy fields. The soil at Menardville is a clayey 

loam containing a large proportion of lime. Both soils require the 

same amount of water for the first irrigation, but the sand packs and 

requires less at each succeeding irrigation, whereas it is claimed that 

the limy loam seems to rise instead of pack, and requires as much 

water for the later irrigation as for the first.

The ditch which supplies these farms is nearly 10 miles long. The 

dam is built across San Saba River some 4 miles above Menardville 

and returns to the river some 5 miles below the town. The charter 

was obtained by the Vaughan Agricultural and Improvement Company in 1874, and the ditch was built soon after. It is claimed that 

this company put $12,000 in the work. This was excessive, an extra 

expense being incurred by the refusal of right of way in one instance, 

forcing the company to make a cut 16 feet deep and several hundred 

feet long. Further, the methods of work were rude and costly. 

Wheelbarrows were used to move the dirt, and in the cut the dirt 

was thrown on staging and passed from man to man. There are 97 

shares in the company, valued at $180 each. One year $1,200 was spent 

in improvement; another year $1,000 in the same way; but the ditch 

pays all running expenses, cost of improvements, and 10 per cent on 

the shares at the above quotations.

The grade of the ditch after construction was found to be irregular 

and unsuitable, so work has been done each year cutting and filling, 

to reduce the slope above Los Mores flume to a nearly uniform grade 

of 30 inches to the mile. At the flume is a fall of 14 inches in 128 

feet. At the point of the mountain where the ditch curves with the 

hill and runs through rock it is lessened in size and has a much 

steeper grade. The grade of 30 inches to the mile was established
HOTSON.] MENAEDVILLE DAM. 37

experimentally, and satisfies as nearly as possible the necessity of 

avoiding silting on the one hand and erosion on the other. The ditch 

runs through coarse gravel part of the way, and there is a heavy 

loss from percolation.

The straightening of the ditch, reduction of the grade, and tightening of the dam have given an available flow of water sufficient to irrigate 2,000 acres of land, which is the amount estimated to be under 

irrigation from this ditch at the present time. This taxes the flow to 

its full capacity.

The dam is built of rough limestone quarried at the spot, averaging, where seen on the front of the dam, 2 by 3 feet by 10 inches, 

laid in courses without cement. The. blocks are tied by bolts fastened 

to a log under the dam at the bottom and passing up through the 

dam and fastened at the top by taps to cross-ties lying along the top. 

The dam is slightly concave and is about 200 feet long and 5-J feet 

high at the middle of the front, with an irregular batter. It is 13^ 

feet wide on top at the center. It rests partly on rock, partly on 

gravel, and is backed with earth with a slope of nearly 2 to 1.

The water stands within a few inches of the top of the dam and 

runs over at every rise in the river. There must be 10 or 12 feet of 

water passing over it at times, judging from the high-water marks. 

Below the dam is a pile of loose bowlders which holds the leakage 

through the dam and forms a water cushion to receive the fall. The 

dirt is washed from the back of the dam at every high rise, and is at 

once replaced when the rise goes down, by scraping the dirt from the 

north side of the river. The dam backs the water up about 500 

yards, the deepest hole being about 15 feet. The water is taken out 

on the south side 100 or more yards above the dam and carried in a 

cut to the sluice gate a little below the dam.

A section of the ditch made a few hundred yards below the sluice 

gate gave the following: top, 15.2 feet; bottom, 8feet; depth, 2.7feet; 

wetted perimeter, 16.5 feet; area, 29.83 square feet; maximum surf ace 

velocity, 2.17 feet per second; mean velocity, 1.54 feet per second. 

The velocity was measured for 100 feet above and below the section, 

where there was no very great difference in the dimensions of the 

ditch. The fall of the surface was found to be at this point 0.1 foot in 

195, or 1 foot in 1,950, or 2.7 feet in a mile. This, with a coefficient of 

N=0.03, would give a velocity of 1.57 feet per second, which is very 

nearly the observed velocity of flow. This gives a discharge of 46 

cubic feet per second, or 2,300 inches, estimating 50 inches to 1 foot.

Taking the estimated acreage irrigated as 2,000 acres, we have from 

our calculated flow a little over 1 inch per acre, which is the allowance 

in actual use, as above stated, and a water duty of 44 acres per cubic 

foot per second of flow for the water entering the main ditch. These 

measurements were made at but one point and can be considered as 

only approximate for the whole ditch. For accuracy they should be
38 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

repeated at a number of points and proper allowance made for percolation and leakage. In general, the estimate is that three waterings 

of 4 inches will make a crop. From the above it is readily seen that 

before a calculation can be made with any degree of certainty as to 

what water is necessary to irrigate a crop in this country, there must 

be further experiment and careful consideration and comparison of

FIG. 4. Water wheel and wing dam turning current against wheel.

soil and subsoil, percolation, evaporation, and the best method of 

applying the water to the crop. The duty at Menardville is, under 

the present system, 44 acres per cubic foot of flow per second, or a 

trifle under 1^ inches per acre.

At San Marcos is found a system of water wheels for raising water 

for irrigation. They are all of the same type, consisting of an under-
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. II

PORTION OF WATER WHEEL , SHOWING BUCKETS RAISING WATER.

HUTSON.] WATER WHEELS AT SAN MARCOS. 39

shot wheel of a size varying according to the height of the river bank. 

The wheel is run by the direct current of the river, which is quite 

swift, and is brought against the wheel either by a wing dam of planks, 

which turns the current against it, or by a ditch taken out about 50 

or 100 yards above. The river, coming from immense springs which 

burst out about three-quarters of a mile above the town, as shown on 

PI. I, is not subject to rises, the only flood on record having occurred 

when a flood in the Guadalupe backed up the water of the San Marcos 

for eight hours. This renders secure this seemingly unsafe way of 

locating a wheel. There are three of these wheels on the river, all 

used by truck gardeners. The wheels are of wood and are the simplest form of undershot wheels, with a metal bucket fastened to the 

perimeter of one side of the wheel, in front of each paddle, as shown 

in PI. II and fig. 4. These buckets fill in succession as the wheel 

turns and empty into a trough above, thus raising the water very 

nearly to the height of the diameter of the wheel.

The wheel owned by Capt. John Richards (PI. II) is the oldest and 

the one on which all of the others are modeled. He states that before 

he built it he tried a number of pumps, which required too much 

attention and repairs, and afterwards several kinds of water wheels, 

with no satisfaction until he finally hit on the present arrangement of 

his buckets, which has lasted satisfactorily for about ten years. The 

wheel runs day and night, and needs no attention save oiling twice a 

week. It is 20 feet in diameter and 8 feet wide, and is supplied with 

water by a ditch 150 yards long, taken directly from the rivei* and 

running through low ground to the wheel. It pumps into an artificial 

reservoir of about 50,000 gallons capacity. The average speed is three 

revolutions per minute, and in that time it raises about 90 gallons, or 

0.20 second-foot. The water is used to irrigate 3 acres of grapes and 

vegetables for the market.

The wheel at D. C. Garrett's place, shown in fig. 4, is larger and 

carries 16 buckets of 6 gallons capacity, pumping on an average 144 

gallons per minute, or 0.32 second-foot. He uses no reservoir and 

irrigates about 12 acres in vegetables.

These wheels furnish a cheap and convenient method of irrigation, 

being easily built, and running expenses being practically nothing. 

They are highly successful at San Marcos, but would not be elsewhere 

where the conditions are not similarly favorable. Here the river has 

a swift flow and steep banks, from which the wheel may be hung with 

relatively little expense for scaffolding, and the stream, coming from 

a great spring, has an even flow summer and winter.

At Austin, the State capital, is one of the largest hydraulic works 

of the country, impounding water of Colorado River. Although this 

was built primarily for the purpose of furnishing power, there was at 

the same time a belief that the surplus water could be used for irrigation above the lowlands along the river at times of summer drought.
40 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

This project for thus employing the surplus flow of the stream was 

abandoned, if not completely destroyed, by the low water of the summer of 1896, when the surface of Lake McDonald was lowered some 5 

feet below the crest of the dam. Thus, although there is an immense 

amount of surplus water carried by the river, it is probable that other 

works must be built to utilize it, for the steady increase of demands 

for power tends toward the requirement that the stored water shall 

be held for this use during the summer months.

The dam at Austin was built by the city with the intention of supplying water for municipal purposes and power for lighting and for 

manufactures. It is located at a point about 2 miles west of and 

above the city, where the river flows in a narrow valley between limestone cliffs. At this point the Colorado River drains about 40,000 

square miles, and has a usual summer flow of 1,000 second-feet. In 

times of flood it rises to from 200,000 to 250,000 second-feet, a contingency which necessitated the construction of a strong masonry dam 

which could be submerged by the highest floods.

The dam is 1,150 feet long, wifch the crest 60 feet above low-water 

mark and having a maximum height of 70 feet. It is 66 feet thick at 

the bottom and 16 feet wide on top, constructed of solid limestone 

rubble laid in imported Portland cement, faced on each side and on 

the top with cut granite blocks from the same quarries that furnished 

the stone for the State capitol. In order to provide for the great volume of water coming down the river in flood times the dam was so 

designed as to allow the surplus water to flow over it in a sheet of 

uniform thickness along the entire length. To avoid the impact and 

erosive action of the falling water, which may sometimes be as much 

as 15 feet in depth at the crest, the front of the dam was given the 

shape of a reversed curve of ogee form. ,-This allows the water to 

glide down its face without shock and expend its force in a horizontal 

direction against the pool in front of the toe.

There are three iron sluice pipes 36 inches in diameter inserted in 

the dam, near the west end, for use in possible emergencies. The total 

cost of the dam, exclusive of the sluice pipes and engineering expenses, 

was $611,300; the latter amounted to some $58,000 more. The total 

cost of the whole enterprise, including dam, power house, electric 

lighting, and waterworks system, was nearly $1,400,000. Lake 

McDonald, formed by the dam, is over 25 miles long and averages 

three-fourths of a mile wide. The power available is estimated at 

about 14,000 horsepower. The power house, shown in PI. Ill, is 

located on the same side of the river as the city and just below the 

dam. The water is carried directly to the turbines through iron penstocks.

The water for the city is pumped from the lake into the mains, 

the pumps being directly connected with the turbines operating them. 

The management is preparing, however, to move these pumps some
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SUSv/EV WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. Ill

AUSTIN DAM AND POWER HOUSE.

HUTSON.] WATER SUPPLY OP AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO. 41

distance down the river to beds of gravel forming natural filters, 

from which perfectly clear water can be obtained at all times. This 

is the same water as that in Lake McDonald, but it is purified by 

filtering through these beds. It will be obtained by sinking cribs in 

the gravel and pumping from them by electrical energy transmitted 

from the power house. At present the amount of work done varies 

from 800 to 3,000 horsepower. This is employed for waterworks and 

electric lighting, and for running all the car lines and most of the 

manufacturing enterprises in the city, such as planing mills, printing 

presses, and many others. It has been demonstrated that it is cheaper 

for a man who uses no more than 200 horsepower to rent his power 

from the city in the form of electrical energy and to use an electric 

motor instead of a steam engine.

Up to the present time most of the earnings of the plant have been 

spent in improving and adding to it; but it is hoped that in the near 

future these will increase and materially relieve the people of the 

heavy burden of taxation under which they now labor and enable 

them to pay off the debt incurred in construction.

Another notable water power which may in the future be partly 

used for irrigation is that supplied by the Comal Springs at New 

Braunfels. These springs burst from the base of the hills at many 

points for a distance of a mile or more and form the head waters of 

Comal River. New ones can be made at any time by blasting in the 

limestone rock along the line of those already existing. The fall is 

so great for the first half mile that no difficulty is found in carrying 

the watfer by a simple canal to the point where the accumulated flow 

can be utilized to good advantage. At present the power is used to 

operate a cottonseed-oil mill, a flour mill, and an electric-light plant 

owned by the Landa estate, on whose property the springs are situated. The power used amounts to about 500 horsepower, which can 

be increased almost indefinitely, if desired.

SAN ANTONIO AND VICINITY.

Under this head is included a description of irrigation works at 

San Antonio, and also in the areas southerly and southeasterly near 

San Antonio and Guadelupe rivers down to the Gulf coast. The irrigation ditches at San Antonio are historically the most interesting in 

the State, for here are found the earliest systems and structures, which 

have been in use for more than a century. Additional interest is 

derived from the association of the ditches with the early missions 

and with the efforts of the Franciscan fathers to settle the Indians 

upon these lands and employ them in agriculture. The old missions, 

now in ruins, were rendered habitable by these ditches, and the lands 

adjacent were the garden spot of the frontier, making possible the 

growth of the city which now is the center of civilization and trade of 

the Southwest. These ditches are now almost completely concealed
42 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

by the ancient trees and the luxuriant verdure that line the banks, 

and through the lapse of time they have assumed the character of 

natural drainage channels, so that it is almost impossible to believe 

that they were artificial works. The facts concerning the origin and 

present condition of these ditches were obtained mainly from Mr. Z. O.

FIG. 5. Map of ditches and artesian wells at San Antonio.

Stocker, of San Antonio, who has made a thorough study of them, 

both from an interest in the subject and with a view to developing 

irrigation enterprises in the vicinity. A view of the river, illustrating 

its size and character, is given in PL IV.
U, S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL, IV

SAN ANTONIO RIVER AT MILL BRIDGE.

PUTSON.] DITCHES AT SAN ANTONIO. 43

The original mission ditches built by the Franciscan fathers between 

the years 1716 and 1744 are the Pajalache or Conception ditch, the 

Alamo Madre, the San Jose, the San Juan, and the Espada ditches, all 

dug to supply the lands belonging to the respective missions. In addition to these mission ditches there was one, the San Pedro, which supplied water to the Villa Capital de la San Fernando, settled in 1730 by 

the emigrants from the Canary Islands; and one built much later than 

any of the others under the superintendence of the governor, Baron 

Bipperda, for the supply of the citizens of the town, and called the 

Upper Labor ditch.

Beginning at the head of the San Antonio River, as shown on fig. 5, 

this last-named and most recent of the Spanish ditches is the first 

encountered. It was begun in 1776 and was ready for use in 1778, 

under the general direction of the royal governor, care having been 

taken that no infringement of the prior rights of the five missions and 

Canary Island settlers should occur. The work was done by those 

citizens who desired to enlist themselves for that purpose, each furnishing his own tools and at the completion of the ditch receiving a 

share of the land commanded by the ditch under royal grant, on the 

condition that he should aid in keeping the ditch and all its appurtenances clean and in repair, and hold himself, with one horse, arms 

and ammunition, in readiness at all times to meet the enemies of his 

king. The lands were divided into lots called "suertes" (suerte 

meaning luck or chance), each one containing the amount of land that 

could be irrigated by the ditch during a given space of time, usually 

a day, but sometimes less. The assignment of suertes was always 

accomplished by lot. The original grade and side slope of these 

ditches are unknown, but the latter is quite steep, probably about 

i to 1, or at most % to 1, yet on all of them the banks, owing to the 

character of the soil, have withstood the elements remarkably well. 

The ditches will be described in the order in which they are met with 

in descending the river.

The Upper Labor ditch takes its water from one of the large springs 

at the head of the river by means of a loose-rock dam. The ditch 

follows the contour of the land on the west side of the river and ends 

in the San Pedro Creek, and once commanded about 600 acres of 

land, of which only about 100 acres are now irrigated and used as 

truck gardens. Water rent is $2 per acre. In 1877 the city replaced 

the old loose-rock dam by a masonry one and built an extension to the 

ditch, called the Alazan branch. The latter was abandoned in 1896, 

because the land irrigated was devoted to residences.

The Alamo Madre ditch, built between 1718 and 1744 to supply 

water to the Alamo Mission and irrigate its lands, derives water from 

the river on the east side, at a point just opposite the Labor ditch, by 

means of a low dam. The ditch then follows the contour of the land 

and runs through the business part of the city. Its length is 6 miles,
44 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

and it .irrigated about 900 acres, of which only about 220 are now 

cultivated.

San Pedro ditch was commenced in 1738, and furnished water to 

the Villa de la San Fernando, the parish church of which, now

VI

t

ion

San Jose[

man

Espadf

FIG. 6. Mission ditches below San Antonio.

called the San Fernando Cathedral, is the geographic center of 

San Antonio. The water for the ditch, taken from the San Pedro 

Creek, follows down the east side of this and runs through the center
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVFV WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. V

OLD STONE AQUEDUCT CARRYING ESPADA DlTCH ACROSS PlbDRAS CREEK.

HUTSON.] DITCHES BELOW SAN ANTONIO. 45

of the city, irrigating 430 acres of land below town. Its length is 

about 4 miles and it is 2 feet deep and 6 feet wide. The management 

of the above-mentioned ditches long since passed out of the hands of 

the landowners and into those of the city authorities, and is intrusted 

to a ditch commissioner appointed by the mayor. The annual water 

rent is $2 per acre. The general location of this and lower ditches is 

shown in fig. 6.

The next ditch of importance is the Coneepcion, built in 1729, and 

abandoned in 1869 after being in use one hundred and forty years. 

This was discarded on account of the dam, which was in the center of 

the city, causing much damage from overflow when there was a rise 

in the river. This ditch was constructed to furnish water to the 

Mision de la Coneepcion, and was the largest of all the old ditches.

The San Jose ditch was built, probably, about 1720, to supply water 

and irrigate the lands of the mission of that name, 5 miles below the 

town. The water was taken from the San Antonio River, on the 

west side, at a point about 2 miles above the mission, and, following 

the contour of the land, ran through the mission and returned again 

to the river about 1 mile below, after irrigating 600 acres. This 

ditch was abandoned in 1860 on account of the repeated washing 

away of the loose-rock dam across the river.

The San Juan ditch taps the river on the east side at a point opposite the mission San Jose. It follows the contour of the land and carries its water down to the mission of the same name. It was built in 

1731 and is still in use. It irrigates over 500 acres of land, which 

rent with water for $7.50 an acre per annum.

The Espada is the last ditch taken from the San Antonio River, 

though one of the earliest in point of construction. It takes its water 

from the river on the west side at a point 6 miles below the city by 

means of a loose-rock and brush dam 270 feet long, and built on a 

natural ledge of rock extending across the river, making the total 

height of the obstruction 8 feet. This dam consists of layers of brush 

weighted by loose rock, with gravel and earth thrown in in front, 

forming a very effective dam, the rock becoming gradually cemented 

together by a deposit of lime salts from the water. It crosses Piedras 

Creek on a stone aqueduct, shown in PL V, which consists of a series 

of massive arches that seem in as good preservation to-day as when 

constructed, more than a century and a half ago. The old Mexican 

who lived close by asserted that he had seen the water in the creek, 

in time of flood, flow over the top of the aqueduct, sometimes topping 

it by as much as 6 feet.

This ditch fell into disuse about twenty years ago and was abandoned until 1895, when A. Y. Walton, jr., who owned several suertes 

of land, organized the owners of the lands commanded by it into a 

company (the Espada Ditch Company), cleaned out, widened, and 

deepened the old ditch, repaired the dam, and made some change in 

its course, the total cost being about $3,000. The ditch is now 3 miles
46 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

long, with a bottom width of 5 feet, and carries 10 second-feet of 

water. It commands 400 acres, of which 300 are irrigated. The 

annual cost of keeping the ditch in good working order amounts 

to 25 cents per acre. The principal crops are 100 acres in corn, 150 

acres in cotton, a considerable area in Johnson-grass meadows, and 

the rest in truck gardens for the city market. The appearance of the 

crops under these ditches, even in a time of such abundant rainfall 

as the first half of 1897, is a remarkable proof of the value of irrigation. The land is mostly an alluvial valley soil, very productive when 

watered. On irrigated fields it is customary to make at least a bale 

of cotton to the acre, while the average on unirrigated fields for .the 

last five years has hardly been more than one-fourth of that. Truck 

farmers raise all kinds of vegetables, from early spring until frost, in 

the greatest profusion.

Three-fourths of a mile above the head of the dam which supplies 

Espada ditch is the head gate of the Trueheart ditch, the only modern 

canal taken from the San Antonio River. This was begun in August, 

1895, and completed in May, 1896, at a cost of about $18,000; it has 

a total length of 10 miles and is designed to carry 30 second-feet of 

water. There is no dam, the canal entering the river directly and the 

head gates being of wood with brick abutments. The cut for the first 

3,000 feet averages 14 feet in depth, with a bottom width of 6 feet. It 

now carries much less than the registered amount of water, a freshet 

having washed away the head gates and largely filled up the first few 

hundred feet of the canal, allowing only about 1.5 second-feet of 

water to enter it. This is, however, amply sufficient for the land at 

present under irrigation, which is this year (1897) about 400 or 500 

acres, though the canal commands 1,500 acres. The principal crops are 

alfalfa, Irish potatoes, corn, cotton, and vegetables. The water rights 

are held at 115 per acre, and the annual rental is $2.50 per acre, but 

all of the land irrigated so far belongs to the owners of the canal. 

This canal has seven flumes, one of which, shown in flg. 7, is 1,000 

feet in length, with an average height of 20 feet. It carries the 

water across a valley at Minita ranch, 11 miles from San Antonio. 

The slope is given as ^ to 1.

There is some irrigation practiced in and near San Antonio from 

artesian wells, a view of one of which is shown on PL VI. 1 The most 

extensive is that of H. D. Kampman, who has a well on his place with 

an estimated flow of 1^ million gallons in twenty-four hours under 20 

pounds pressure, or 2.32 second-feet. This well is 970 feet deep, 

and was drilled at a cost of $3,000. It is allowed to flow on 250 

acres of the owner's land, this, being in alfalfa, needing only a small 

portion of the water. It has been stated that this well would irrigate 

1,000 acres of land through a system of ditches or storage tanks. A

1 For details see paper by Robert T. Hill in Part II of Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, p. 29tt
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NO. 13 PL. VI

ARTESIAN WELLS AT CITY WATERWORKS, SAN ANTONIO.

HUTSON.] SAN ANTONIO SEWAGE FARM. 47

second well near the same place discharges about one-third as much 

water.

Below the city of San Antonio is an irrigation farm which is probably unique in the State, but which may be considered as being 

typical of others in various parts of the United States. This is the 

sewage farm, to which is brought for purification and disposal the 

waste from the city. This method of disposal is one which is rapidly 

growing in favor, not only in arid and semiarid regions but in humid 

countries as well, being extensively practiced in New England and 

in various European countries. The city sewage farm consists of 

about 400 acres, subdivided into a number of small tracts or gardens 

sufficient in area to take all of the present output of sewage. These 

gardens occupy a space about 400 feet square. Near them are a

FIG. 7. View of flume on Trueheart ditch.

number of broad basins surrounded by low dikes to receive the flow 

from the sewer outlet when water is not wanted on the gardens. It 

is intended to plant most of these basins in crops which will not be 

injured by a considerable amount of Avater, so that the surface will 

be covered by vegetation throughout the greater part of the summer.

Along San Antonio River below the city are several pumping plants 

operated by steam. A small one at Elmendorf, owned by C. M. 

Rounds, is very conveniently arranged for supplying water to a 

dwelling house and also for irrigating purposes. The water is pumped 

into an elevated wooden cistern near the river bank and thence piped 

to another cistern at the house and to the garden and orchard.

Thirty miles below, on the same river, near Floresville, in Wilson 

County, are reported two more similar plants. That of A. G. Pickett
48 IREIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

is the more important. It was set up in 1893 and consists of a 

40-horsepower steam boiler, operating a Blakeslee duplex steam pump, 

which is connected to the boiler by a 2-inch steam pipe. From 12 to 

15 horsepower only is used at present, it being the intention of the 

owner to extend his plant by the addition of more pumps as more 

land is brought under irrigation. The average distance from the 

pump to the water is 15 feet, and the average lift is 50 feet. There is 

no reservoir, the water being pumped directly into the ditch. The 

total cost of the plant is estimated at $2,500, and it requires one man 

at a cost of 12^ cents per hour to operate it. The pump is covered by 

high water in the river from two to four times a year. This plant 

was built with an idea of irrigating from 300 to 400 acres, and has 

sufficient boiler capacity, but will require additional pumps. The 

present pump has a 7-inch suction pipe with a 6-inch discharge, andis estimated to pump about 750 gallons per minute, or 1.67 secondfeet. The present capacity is sufficient to irrigate from 75 to 100 

acres. The annual cost of water is estimated at from $2 to $6 per 

acre, according to the amount of rainfall and pumping done. There 

has been difficulty in getting on the place tenants of sufficient intelligence and progressiveness to use the water on their crops or to grow 

crops that will repay the cost of water and labor. They prefer to 

continue planting cotton.

The other plant is located 7 miles from Floresville, and is owned by 

W. E. Crandall and J. O. Dewees. It was first used in 1896, and consists of a 10-horsepower boiler operating a Blake pump set on the 

river bank at a distance of 70 feet from the boiler, and with a capacity 

of from 75 to 100 gallons per minute, or from 0.17 to 0.22 second-foot. 

The average distance from the pump to the surface of the water is 22 

feet and the total lift is 48 feet, the water being pumped into a reservoir 50 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 8 feet deep, formed by building an 

earthen wall on all sides. The total cost of the plant is estimated at 

$295, and it is used for raising vegetables.

About 50 miles easterly from Floresville is located the enterprise of 

the Buchel Power and Irrigation Company. The plant is located 3 

miles west of Ouero and is to consist of a permanent stone-and-concrete darn across the Guadalupe River, which, when completed, will be 

165 feet long on the crest, or 200 feet long including abutments, 23 feet 

high, and will raise the water 10 feet above the usual water level. 

The darn was begun in December, 1896, and in June, 1897, was about 

one-half completed. The 10-foot head of water will be used to run 

turbines which will operate force pumps, raising the water a total 

height of 60 feet to a reservoir about 500 feet distant from the dam. 

From this reservoir canals will lead to the land to be irrigated. The 

reservoir is to be an artificial one with earthen banks, and is calculated to have a capacity of 10 million gallons, or 30 acre-feet. The 

area to be irrigated consists of rich valley land along the east bank of
H0TSOH.] BEEVILLE EXPERIMENT STATION. 49

the Guadalupe River, 2,000 acres of which are owned by the company 

and will be first put under ditch. If successful with this tract, the 

company expects to extend the system to cover 2,000 more acres of 

the same valley. The growth of all varieties of crops is contemplated, 

but especially alfalfa, fruits, and vegetables. Guadalupe River has 

an estimated average flow of 800 second-feet, and with the 10-foot 

head it is expected to develop about 700 horsepower. Probably one- 

.third of this will be used for irrigation, the remainder being converted 

into electrical energy and carried to the town of Cuero.

South of Cuero about 30 miles, near Goliad, G. W. Simmons has put 

in a plant consisting of a 2^-horsepower gasoline engine and a pump 

with a capacity of 33 gallons per minute, or 0.07 second-foot. The 

water is obtained from a small stream across which has been placed a

FIG. 8. View of irrigation tank at Beeville experiment station.

wooden dam 60 feet long and 3 feet high, and is raised 20 feet and 

pumped directly into the ditch. The total cost was 1450, and the plant, 

while it has not been fully tested, is expected by its owner to irrigate 

10 acres.

In Bee County, at the State subexperiment station, under the direction of S. A. McHenry, superintendent, is a pumping plant erected for 

the purpose of irrigating the orchard and lands devoted to horticultural experiments. It consists of a 5^-horsepower gasoline engine and 

a windmill, pumping from a well 74 feet deep, in which the water 

stands 32 feet. The pump has a cylinder 3^ inches in diameter by 36 

inches long, with a 24-inch stroke when run by the engine and a 9-inch 

stroke when the windmill is used. The capacity with the engine is 24 

gallons per minute, or 0.05 second-foot. The water is forced 600 feet 

IRR 13 4
50 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

to a reservoir at a height of 16 feet above the top of the well. The 

reservoir is 32 feet long, 52 feet wide, and 8 feet deep, and contains 

about 100,000 gallons, 0.3 acre-foot. It was built by excavating 4 feet 

deep and building earthen walls of the same height around it, the 

total cost being 1140. On account of the very porous nature of the 

soil, all tanks in this region must be lined with some artificial material cement, asphalt, or coal tar. That at the experiment station 

(shown in fig. 8, p. 49) is lined with a mastic consisting of 73 per cent 

sand, 25 per cent 'coal tar, and 2 per cent lime. The sand and lime 

are mixed together and the tar is boiled until it will string and is 

mixed hot with the other ingredients. It is spread on the bottom and 

sides while hot at the rate of 52 pounds to the square yard. On top 

is put a varnish formed by boiling pure coal tar and flashing it with a 

lighted match to burn off the light oils. The plant was completed in 

1897 and has been used but little yet. It is estimated that 20 acres 

can be handled in the present condition of the plant. The engine 

uses 5 gallons of gasoline in one hour.

On the Kaylor and Heldenfells place, near Beeville, is a circular 

tank 80 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep in the center. It is lined 

with cement and supplied with water by two windmills pumping 

from wells. It commands 40 acres in orchard and vineyard, but has 

been used very little of late for irrigating and not at all for the grapes. 

An attempt has been made to subirrigate by means of wooden troughs, 

but this method has fallen into disuse. In Beeville, W. C. McDowell, 

since 1893, has been irrigating his truck garden, consisting of one-half 

acre. Water is raised by a windmill, pumping from a 70-foot well 

into a wooden cistern of 2,800 gallons capacity.

NUECBS RIVER AND LOWER RIO GRANDE.

Nueces River receives the drainage from that portion of southern 

Texas lying between San Antonio River on the east and the lower Rio 

Grancle on the west. For convenience of description the irrigation 

projects within this drainage basin are given in geographic order from 

the head waters to the Gulf, and after these the similar enterprises 

along the Rio Grande from the mouth of Pecos River southeasterly.

On the head waters of Nueces River, about 4 miles northeast of 

Leakey, is a brush-and-stone dam across Frio River 45 feet long and 

2 feet high, built in 1896. This supplies a ditch 2 miles long, with a 

top width of 5 feet, bottom width of 3 feet, and depth of 3 feet. It 

was first used in 1897, and commands 300 acres, of which 115 have 

been cultivated. Sixty acres are in cotton, 50 in corn, and the remainder in oats and vegetables. Two miles below on the same river is a 

ditch irrigating 50 acres. Toward the east, on Turtle Creek, in Kerr 

County, a small amount of land is irrigated, and in Bandera County 

300 acres are irrigated by small ditches taking water from Frio River.

At Batesville, and southerly at Carrizo Springs, on the west side of
HCTSON.] PROJECTS ALONG NUECES EIVEE. 51

Nueces River, is a considerable amount of irrigation, or rather a 

large number of irrigation plants operated by windmills, and at the 

latter place some irrigation from flowing artesian wells. The appliances are of the usual type, and the acreage commanded by each man 

is very small, and consequently -expensive. In Zavalla County are 

also 3 miles of ditches and 500 acres under irrigation from artesian 

sources.

A number of schemes have been proposed for bringing under irrigation considerable areas along Nueces River, especially about the 

middle portion of its course. The success attained by the present 

methods, though crude, has been such as to encourage others to 

attempt the construction of better devices. Actual work has been 

held back to a considerable extent by the defective laws, but since the 

passage of more favorable legislation in 1895 several projects have 

been revived.

Nueces River, with its tributaries, has a catchment area of about 

20,000 square miles. The amount and distribution of rainfall throughout this territory is such that, with the sandy soil, a comparatively 

small amount flows, even in the main stream. Few of the tributaries 

can be said to be perennial in flow, many becoming nearly or completely dry at certain seasons of the year. The Nueces itself and several of its tributaries, such as the Frio and Lena, head in large springs 

on the edge of the plateau. Here are admirable localities for diverting water for irrigation. On leaving the plateau country the streams 

tend to diminish, a considerable portion of the water being lost in the 

sandy channels, occasionally reappearing when forced to the surface 

by impervious strata. Throughout the area to the south of the line 

of the Southern Pacific Railroad the perennial flow is so small or 

uncertain that irrigation on a large scale must depend upon storage 

reservoirs holding storm waters.

By consulting a map it will be seen that Nueces River flows from 

its head in a general southerly direction, but at a point about 35 

miles west of Cotulla it turns toward the east. At this point the 

wagon road between Cotulla and Carrizo Springs crosses by means of 

a bridge. The region west of the river contains a number of long, 

deep, narrow bodies of water, known as Soldier, Espantosa, and Caiinanche lakes. The two former are practically parallel to the course 

of the river and are connected by a slough or arroyo, while the northern end of Espantosa Lake is connected in a similar manner with the 

main channel of the river. In time of flood the water rushes through 

the connecting channel into Espantosa Lake and returns again to the 

river, either through an independent channel which issues from the 

south end of Espantosa Lake direct to the river, or through Soldier 

Slough or Lake, which in its turn discharges its water through a channel connecting it with the river. In other words, in time of flood the 

river splits into two, one portion passing through the main channel
52 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

and the other being diverted to the west, passing through the lakes 

and returning again to the river.

Caimanehe Lake is quite different in its nature from the two just 

mentioned. It lies northwest of the Espantosa about 3 miles, and at 

an elevation of 15 feet above the latter. This lake gathers the water 

of a large drainage basin, extending from the Rio Grande divide on 

the south to many miles beyond the Southern Pacific Railroad on the 

north, a region containing springs and an easily obtainable supply of 

artesian water. Its water is discharged through Espantosa Slough 

into Nueces River, and ordinarily its volume is double that in the 

main channel of the river itself before its junction with Espantosa 

Slough. It is proposed to convert Caimanehe Lake into a storage 

reservoir by means of an earthen dam If miles in length and 20 or 25 

feet in height. The area of the reservoir ao the height of 170 feet

FIG. 9. Map of the proposed Caimanehe reservoir and canals.

above an assumed datum wiU be 8,500 acres; at 177 feet, or with a 

dam 20 feet high, it will be 10,000 acres; and at 185 feet it will be 

12,500 acres. The original estimates were made for a 20-foot dam, 

but it has since been concluded that a dam 25 feet high is equally 

feasible and will make a much greater volume of water available. 

The spillway will be constructed 5 feet below the crest of the earthwork. Though in possession of no accurate data as to the hydrography of the drainage basin, the projectors are confident that the 

flood discharges are sufficient to fill the reservoir several times in 

the course of a year. In addition to the natural drainage of the 

basin, they expect to avail themselves of the waters of the main 

stream of the Nueces.

The old channel, connecting the northern extremity of Espantosa 

Lake with the river, has been already mentioned. Except in flood
HTJTSON.] PROPOSED NUECES RESERVOIR. 53

seasons, no water enters the lake through this channel, there being a 

high, rocky barrier in its center, known as Rock Falls. By constructing a diversion dam on the Nueces River below the point 

where the slough to the Espantosa leaves it, and by cutting a channel 

If miles long from the upper side of Rock Falls into Caimanehe 

Lake, the river and the reservoir can be connected.

To use the water so stored it is proposed to pass it down the slough 

connecting Caimanehe and Espantosa lakes, through the Espantosa, 

and finally into the river channel. From the channel it is to be 

diverted by means of a dam some distance below the Carrizo Springs 

bridge into a canal on the east bank of the river. Soldier Slough,

FIG. 10. Map of proposed Nueces reservoir and canal.

already mentioned, must also be closed by a dam of the same height 

as the diversion dam on the river. These dams themselves would 

impound a considerable quantity of water; just how much has not 

been estimated. At the lower diversion dam the company expect to 

avail themselves of, first, the water impounded by the dam itself; 

second, the natural flow of the river; and, third, the storage water of 

Caimanehe Lake. After a diversion line of less than a mile the 

water of the canal can be taken out on the land. The grade adopted 

is 1 foot to the mile. The land covered by the canal is among the 

richest in Texas, well adapted for corn, cotton, sugar, or alfalfa, 

and the upper-line canal would reach very fine fruit lands. Allowing as much as 2 feet of water per acre per annum, it is estimated
54 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

by the promoters that there will be sufficient to irrigate 50,000 

acres.

About 35 miles below the diverting dam on the Nueces Biver turning water into Caimanche Reservoir, the river passes from Dimmit 

County into Lasalle County, and for about 10 miles below the county 

line the valley widens, the topography being favorable for the creation 

of a reservoir. By constructing a masonry dam 2,600 feet long and 

50 feet high in the center, it is proposed to create what is known 

as the Nueces Reservoir, having an area of 12,700 acres. Such a 

reservoir would receive all of the waste and seepage water from the 

storage works and irrigation canals above, but, being situated on the 

main line of the river, would be subject to floods. It is proposed to 

take out water on the north side of Nueces River by means of a 

canal, which, winding along the slopes, ultimately passes northeasterly over the divide between the Nueces and Frio rivers, thus 

commanding a great area of agricultural land. The expense per 

acre irrigated is estimated to be about double that of the Caimanche 

project.

About 100 miles farther down Nueces River, at the junction with 

Frio River, surveys have been made by private capital to ascertain 

the feasibility of constructing an immense system of storage reservoirs with a view to the irrigation of the valley lands and also that 

portion of the coastal plain which can easily be reached by high-line 

canals from the uppermost of the intended works. Fourteen storage reservoirs are proposed for this system, and the sites for these 

have been examined, located both above and below Live Oak. Their 

total holding capacity, as stated by William Harrison, who has made 

all of the surveys, is approximately 1,792,300 acre-feet. Though of 

so comprehensive a nature, the project can be completed in sections 

should sufficient water be available, each part becoming a source of 

revenue possibly years before the final completion of the system. 

The two most important of the proposed reservoirs will be those 

formed by permanent masonry dams across the Nueces and Frio rivers, respectively, at what are probably the outlets of ancient lakes, 

through the beds of which the rivers flow.

The total area which it is estimated may be brought under irrigation by the system of canals supplied by these reservoirs, if filled, is 

something over a million acres. The soils are principally of three 

general characters, known under the local names of black mesquite, 

sandy loam, and resaca lands. The black mesquite comprises most 

of the coastal slope and valley lands of this region. It is a dark, 

sandy loam of great depth and richness, easily cultivated, and capable of producing a considerable range of crops. The sandy loam 

proper is found in the live-oak lands, and is also fertile, though not so 

well adapted to a variety of crops as- the black-mesquite soils. The 

resaca lands are dark and waxy, being composed of river silt, and 

possess the fertility always found in such soils. They have been but
HUTSON.] PUMPING PLANT ON NUECES RIVER. 55

little cultivated as yet, owing to their liability to overflow. This latter fault could be remedied by the building of storage reservoirs, 

which would largely control the flood waters.

Farther down the river is the pumping plant of the Grover Irrigation Company, the most extensive of its kind in this region. It is 

located on Nueces River, 8 miles north of Matins, and consists of a 

100-horsepower boiler and a 75-horsepower engine, operating, by means 

of a belt, as shown in fig. 11, a JVleiige pump with an estimated 

capacity of from 5,800 to 6,700 gallons per minute, or from 12.92 to 

14.92 second-feet. The pump is set in a well 8 feet in diameter, on 

the banks of the river, and connected with the water in the river by 

a tunnel 4 feet square. The average lift is 48 feet. There is no resFIG. 11. Pump and flume on Nueces River.

ervoir, the water being pumped directly into the ditch. The total 

cost of the plant is given as $5,000, and the running expenses, including engineer at $1 per day, fireman at 75 cents per day, 3 cords of 

wood at 60 cents, and 70 cents for oil and incidentals, amounts to 

$4.25. The manager states that he has watered 10 acres in twelve 

hours on land located near, but never more than half that amount on 

a tract three-fourths of a mile distant from the pump. This is apparently a low efficiency. The total length of the main ditch is 6,300 

feet, with a top width of 6 feet and a bottom width of 24- feet. It 

carries about 2 feet of water. This plant has not had a thorough test, 

as it lias never been run steadily. Each individual owner has the 

use of it alternately for twenty-four hours. It is designed to cover
56 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

500 acres, but not more than 70 acres have ever been watered. The 

principal crops were corn and the vegetables of a truck garden, also 

a young orchard and vineyard. The corn is irrigated about twice in 

a season, but in 1897 it was irrigated only once.

Five miles west of Mathis, on the same river, is a pumping plant 

owned by S. G. Miller and Lon C. Hill, which was built in 1893 and 

consists of a 40-horsepower boiler connected directly by a steam pipe 

with a double-action pump having a capacity of over 134 gallons per 

minute, or 0.29 second-foot, lifting the water a total distance of 39 feet 

at low stages of the river. The total cost of the plant was about 

$3,000, and it commands 140 acres in cultivation, of which not more 

than 70 acres have ever been irrigated. One of the owners states that 

he has had three years' experience irrigating vegetables, and has not 

made anything out of it, owing mainly to frosts. Lack of railroad 

facilities and difficulty of getting goods on the market in good order 

have been other detriments. He claims that it is a question whether 

irrigating by steam will pay when raising the ordinary crops of corn 

and cotton. The continual expense attached to it is too great. Experience has taught him that a man can not irrigate more than 4 acres 

per day of twelve hours with 1 million gallons, or 3 acre-feet, of water. 

Ribbon cane has here been found to be the surest and most paying 

crop tried.

On the Rio Grande below the mouth of Pecos River one of the most 

important irrigated areas is that along San Felipe Creek near the 

town of Del Rio. This short creek is formed by four large springs 

about 1 mile east of the town, within one-fourth of a mile of one 

another. In the 4^ miles from the springs to the Rio Grande the fall 

of the stream is 62 feet, thus furnishing an excellent water power for 

manufacturing. There have been four ditches taken out, two of which 

are for irrigation. These are supplied with water by means of two 

permanent masonry dams, 65 and 150 feet in length, respectively, and 

each 8 feet high. The first-named, shown on PL VII, A, is nearest 

the springs and is the starting point of the Madre ditch; the second, 

about a mile below, supplies the San Felipe ditch, .as shown by 

PL VII, B.

These systems of water supply were first used in 1879. They are 

owned by the San Felipe Agricultural, Mechanical and Irrigation 

Company, in which the shares are held by owners of the land commanded by the ditches. The total cost of the enterprise was about 

$25,000, and the annual cost of maintaining it is about 50 cents per 

acre per annum. The main ditches measure about 4 miles in length 

and are 10 feet wide at the top, have perpendicular sides, and carry 

about 2 feet of water. The laterals are four in number, with an average width of 4 feet and a total length of 6 miles. The total area irrigated is 3,600 acres, in meadow, cotton, corn, gardens, orchards, and 

vineyards.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. VII

A. DAM SUPPLYING MADRE DITCH AT DEL RIO.

B. DAM FOR SAN FELIPE DITCH AT DEL RIO.

HUTSON.] PROJECTS AT EAGLE PASS. 57

There are about 3,000 acres of irrigable land unutilized on the east 

side of San Felipe Creek. The land has mainly what is called an 

"adobe " soil. It is fertile when watered and seems peculiarly adapted 

to the grape and the pear. All kinds of fruits and vegetables are grown 

in profusion. On June 15 melons, plums, and apples were ripe. The 

impression made on the traveler who comes from the droughty and 

sun-scorched plains to such a spot is not soon forgotten. This cultivated tract has been so isolated from the rest of the agricultural 

world that none of the diseases which so reduce the profits of the 

grape or fruit grower elsewhere have been introduced as yet. Grapes 

produce from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds to the acre, and are mostly made 

into wine, the above yields giving from 10 to 16 barrels of wine.

East of Del Bio an attempt made to use the waters of Pinto Creek 

has been unsuccessful because the supply failed just at the season 

when it was needed. Dams for the purpose of storing the flow of the 

creek for use in the summer are necessary before anything further 

can be done. On Mud Creek, C. Vivian, by means of a solid masonry 

dam 100 feet long, irrigates several hundred acres of land.

At Eagle Pass, about 60 miles below Del Rio, there is a promising 

enterprise for irrigating a considerable area from the Rio Grande. 

This river, though dry each year near El Paso, has here a minimum 

flow of not less than 3,000 second-feet, due mainly to its tributaries, 

the Pecos and Devil rivers, in Texas, and the Concho, in Mexico. The 

company building the Canal is called the Eagle Pass Irrigation and 

Waterworks Company. It is proposed to take out a canal with a 

capacity of 200 second-feet at a point on the river 35 miles above 

Eagle Pass, where a ledge of rock furnishes a natural dam site and 

opportunity for locating regulating works. From there the canal is 

brought down for 12 miles along the base of the hills, which here skirt 

close to the river channel. Two and one-half miles from its beginning 

it will empty into Pinto Creek, which will be dammed and will form 

a settling basin for the coarser silt and sand.

The dam across Pinto Creek will contain scouring sluices for the 

purpose of keeping the channel free from sediment and of letting the 

flow of the creek pass in time of flood. At the end of 12 miles the 

canal comes out on the valley to be irrigated. An old lake bed is 

surrounded by a semicircular line of ridges which abut on the river 

at the northern and southern ends. A similar line of hills bounds 

the Mexican side of the valley. Through this valley the river has 

cut its channel some 40 feet below the surface, leaving two-thirds 

on the Texas and one-third on the Mexican side. The canal is 

designed to skirt along this boundary line of ridges to the end of the 

valley, where it empties into the river after irrigating 20,000 acres. 

There is a plan to enlarge it at some time in the future and carry 

it to Eagle Pass to irrigate some 100,000 acres. The total length of 

the main canal, as it is to be built now, is 28 miles, with an average
58 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO.13.

bottom width, of 25 feet and carrying 3£ feet of water. It was begun 

in 1888, when 3^- miles were completed, and the work was then temporarily abandoned. There is little rockwork, and the expense will not 

be excessive. The estimates for the main canal complete are about 

$133,000. The side slopes are to be 1£ to 1 and the grade 13 inches to 

the mile. This is expected to give a current sufficient to largely prevent the deposition of silt from the water before it reaches the land. 

The land is very nearly level, with a descent down the river of 3|- feet 

to the mile. The soil is a fertile alluvial loam. The company, which 

owns all of the land to be irrigated, expects to largely reimburse the 

shareholders by selling farms of from 40 to 100 acres in area. The 

annual charge for water will be $1.50 per acre.

At Laredo, about 100 miles below Eagle Pass, considerable interest 

has been manifested in irrigation by means of pumping. One of the 

largest plants is that owned by Albert Urbahn, which was completed in 

1897 and consists of an 80-horsepower boiler, operating a pulsometer 

with a nominal capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute, or 2.23 secondfeet. The steam is conveyed to the pump directly from the boiler by a 

4-inch pipe reduced 1^ inches, and the lift is 65 feet. The pump is 

operated twelve hours each day, having an actual capacity of 500 

gallons per minute, or 1.11 second-feet, and is expected to irrigate 125 

acres. So far only 50 acres have been watered. The land is planted 

in grapes, corn, sorghum, alfalfa, and tomatoes. The water is carried to the land in a 12-inch iron pipe, 2,000' feet long, with outlets 

at intervals, thus avoiding waste by seepage. The intention is to 

put in a pump which will utilize more or all of the power as soon as 

the agricultural situation warrants it. Another pumping plant owned 

by J. S. Taylor, a successful grape grower, is reported as consisting 

of two 80-horsepower boilers and a pmnp having a capacity of 1,250 

gallons per minute. E. T. Lamphere has a 10-horsepower Weber 

gasoline engine with a triplex Van Wie pump, raising 300 gallons of 

water per minute. Attention is given to this about once in six or eight 

hours, and at one time during the summer, under pressure, the pump 

was operated continuously four days and nights, stopping only to oil 

the machinery.

Three miles from Laredo, L. D. Sterneberg has a windmill by which 

he pumps from the river when there is sufficient wind, irrigating 3 

acres, except in the months of October and November. The cost of 

his outfit was $220. Three miles north of Laredo, C. A. Charleston 

has had better success with windmill irrigation than anyone else in 

that section. He uses a 12-foot wheel and pumps from a 30-foot well 

into a reservoir of 5,000 gallons capacity, irrigating about 5 acres. 

The total cost of the plant was $425. He finds his present reservoir 

too small and is building one of 300,000 gallons, or 0.92 acre-foot, 

capacity.

At Hidalgo, down toward the mouth of the Rio Grande, is a steam-
HUTSON.] PUMPING PLANT NEAR BROWNSVILLE. 59

pumping plant owned by Closner & Lipscomb. It consists of a 25- 

horsepower engine operating a centrifugal pump with a capacity of 

4,750 gallons per minute, or 10.58 second-feet. The water is pumped 

from the Rio Grande and is used for irrigating 100 acres in sugar 

cane and corn.

In the vicinity of Brownsville, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, 

there has been considerable interest shown in irrigation by pumping. 

The plant of Rabb & Stark, located 6 miles east of Brownsville, on 

the river, was built in 1891, and consists of a 50-horsepower boiler 

and a 40-horsepower engine operating a Menge pump with a theoretical capacity of 9,000 gallons per minute, or 20 second-feet. The 

average lift is 18 feet, and the pump is run about twelve hours each 

day during the irrigation season. There is no reservoir used, the 

water being pumped directly into the ditches. The estimated cost of 

the plant is $2,000, and it irrigates 200 acres in sugar cane, cotton, 

and corn.

George Brulay, of Brownsville, also has a pumping plant worthy 

of attention. It is located 8 miles below Brownsville, in Cameron 

County, and was completed and first used in 1896. It consists of 

two boilers having an aggregate capacity of 100 horsepower and a 

45-horsepower Morris centrifugal pump with a maximum pumping 

capacity of 8,000 gallons per minute, or 17.82 second-feet. The total 

lift required is 22 feet, and the pump is run about fourteen hours per 

day when used. It is designed to cover 300 acres, but so far only 200 

acres planted in sugar cane have been irrigated.

E. H. Goodrich reports having put in a 10-horsepower Priestman 

engine on a resaca on his place, 6 miles north of Brownsville, in March, 

1897, but has used it very little, owing to the favorable weather and 

the ditches not being finished. With two 12-foot windmills on the 

same place he irrigated last year about 35 acres in corn, cotton, and 

garden truck. He has also irrigated between 15 and 18 acres on his 

place 3 miles north of Brownsville with a 14-foot windmill, pumping 

from a well dug on the bank of a resaca. The distance to the water 

varies from 5 to 12 feet, and the pumps, which are three in number, empty into a flume connecting directly with the ditches. He 

is confident that he could have accomplished much more with the 

windmills if he had used a reservoir. The total cost of the last-named 

plant was $300.

LLANO ESTACADO.

The arid portion of Texas, or that part with an average annual rainfall of less than 20 inches, consists principally of the Llano Estacado 

and Trans-Pecos regions. These differ so widely in topography and 

climate that they should be discussed separately. The Llano Estacado has been described as a great plateau having an area of about 

36,000 square miles and with an almost perfectly flat surface, which 

rises gradually toward the northwest. No rivers cross its surface and
60 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

at only a few widely scattered localities, and for short distances, is 

flowing water to be found. The soil is of such character that it readily 

drinks in the rain which falls upon it. This water, or that part of 

it which is not soon evaporated, percolates downward and is reached 

by wells of from 40 to 200 feet in depth. Many of these wells are 

capable of furnishing a supply almost inexhaustible to ordinary means 

of pumping. The soil is too dry to be successfully cultivated without 

irrigation, and this can be practiced, if at all, only by means of water 

raised by pumps. Pumping is most cheaply accomplished by means 

of windmills, these being particularly successful owing to the almost 

constant winds that sweep across the plains.

Windmills have been used for many years to furnish water for stock 

purposes, and they have been tried successfully on a small scale for 

irrigation. The settlers of this region have learned to appreciate the 

value and limitations of devices of this character for raising water. 

Reservoirs or tanks are almost always used in connection with the 

mills. These are made by scraping away the surface soil and piling 

it in a continuous wall, forming banks from 4 to 6 feet high. The 

sides and bottom are made impervious by turning in a little water at 

a time and puddling the soil by driving horses or cattle about in it for 

a day or more. The following instances illustrate the progress within 

this area:

About the center of the Llano Estacado, in Hale County, T. W. 

Morrison owns a plant consisting of two aerniotor wheels, 8 and 12 

feet in diameter, respectively, pumping from wells 50 feet deep, with 

water at 20 feet below the surface. Each windmill lifts the water 35 

feet. One wheel is used for supplying the residence; the other 

pumps into a reservoir 125 feet long and 100 feet wide and 4 feet 

deep. This irrigates from 5 to 6 acres, besides furnishing water for 

the stock. His wheels have been in use since 1891. J. H. Wayland, 

of the same county, has three aermotors pumping from wells 35 to 60 

feet deep into a reservoir 300 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, 

and expects to irrigate 25 acres, of which 15 were irrigated in 1896. 

The total cost of the wells, pumps, wheels, and reservoir was $505. 

The total cost of the plant, which must include land and fencing, is 

given as $1,000. Southeasterly from here, at Emma, in Crosby 

County, J. W. Murray has an 8-foot windmill pumping from a well 

174 feet deep, with water at 124 feet. He pumps into barrels, from 

which he irrigates about 1^ acres. The total cost was $222.

Along the Texas and Pacific Railroad, especially at Midland and 

Marienfeld, there has been considerable interest taken in this form 

of irrigation. It is claimed by a man of experience A. Rawlins 

that two 8-foot aermotors, pumping from wells 40 feet deep, with 

water sufficient to keep a 4-inch pump running into a tank 100 feet 

square, with a 6-foot bank, will give sufficient water to irrigate 10 

acres in fruits and vines the first year, 12 acres the second year, and
LLANO ESTACADO. 61

15 acres the third. Grain and garden vegetables, which require more 

water, will cut down the average. Fifteen head of horses will puddle 

a tank satisfactorily. He is irrigating 10 acres in cotton with two 

12-foot aerrnotors, pumping from wells 125 feet deep into a tank 65 

feet square.

This region is so sparsely settled and accessible with such difficulty 

that it has not been practicable to obtain full information concerning 

the small irrigating plants scattered here and there. Sufficient has 

been learned, however, to justify the belief that this method of agriculture is becoming a more and more important factor in the development of this area, reducing the cost of supplies, and thus aiding in 

the main industry, that of cattle raising.

Willard D. Johnson, hydrographer of the United States Geological 

Survey, states that at not more than half a dozen places in the Panhandle, probably, is there irrigation, from a single plant, of more than 

a small garden patch, and that of these but two show any development worth mentioning. These two are headquarter ranches of large 

cattle companies. At the majority of such cattle-ranch headquarters, 

however, there is absolute barrenness. The exceptions are the 

"L. E." ranch, on Rornero Creek, a small spring-fed tributary of the 

Canadian from the north, and a ranch on Adobe Wall Creek, another 

spring-fed tributary of the Canadian from the north. As a result of 

irrigation, practically from springs, these two large ranches are able 

to supply themselves with a variety of vegetables and fruits, and in 

addition grow several hundred acres of alfalfa and oth^r forage crops.

At the "L. E." ranch the garden produces much more abundantly 

than is demanded for the needs of the ranch, and much of this extra 

produce is given away to neighbors. The fruit trees which bear successfully are the apple, pear, peach, apricot, nectarine, plum, and 

cherry. Of shade trees about the house there are locust, ash, willow, 

osage orange, and cottonwood. There is also a vineyard yielding 

several varieties of excellent grapes. This ranch was visited by Mr. 

Johnson. The other ranch, not visited, is reported to have more 

alfalfa and about an equal display of garden produce. Each of these 

ranches is located below the edge of the plains, in the little valley of 

a spring creek of which it uses all the water. More can be done in 

each case by storage, which, in fact, is contemplated in the case of 

the "L. E." ranch. The great "X. I. T." company does a little in 

irrigation at several of its headquarter ranches, but much less than 

might easily be accomplished.

The two garden spots referred to are notable object lessons to the 

whole of the Panhandle. Spring creeks in the region are not numerous, but only in these two cases have they been fully utilized, and the 

examples thus set are destined to be rapidly imitated.

Of the future of irrigation here in general, it may be said that there 

is opportunity for but the little indicated, at these widely scattered
62 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

spots, but that this little will prove to be just that small amount 

needed for rendering practicable the utilization of the high plains 

for stock raising, under conditions that will be bearable for those who 

have to live upon these great pasture lands for the conduct of the 

stock industry.

PECOS VALLEY.

Pecos River rises in the northeastern portion of New Mexico and 

flows in a general southerly course through the southeastern part of 

that Territory, crossing the western prolongation of Texas and finally 

entering the Rio Grande at about the lower third of the length of that

FIG. 12. Map showing location of Margueretta Canal.

stream. It is supplied to a considerable extent by water from large 

springs which issue from the limestone rocks of the region, of which 

Roswell is now the principal town. These maintain the perennial 

flow of the river, the run-off from the catchment basin being irregular 

in character and shrinking at times to relatively small amounts. Large 

irrigation works have been constructed in the vicinity of Roswell and 

at points below, utilizing the greater part of the summer flow of the 

river, so that during the dry season of the year little water crosses 

the Texas line. That which does flow in the stream is largely derived 

from the seepage of irrigated lands above and is heavily charged with 

alkaline salts. Irrigation canals have, however, been constructed
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. VIII

FLUME ACROSS PECOS RIVER.

HUTSON.] PECOS VALLEY. 63

along the valley in Texas, principally near the town of Pecos, at the 

crossing of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The valley is fertile, and 

where properly irrigated large crops are produced.

The most important irrigation system along the river in Texas is 

the one nearest the New Mexico line, known as the Margueretta Canal. 

This was begun in 1887 by the Pioneer Canal Company, afterwards 

consolidated with the Margueretta Canal Company, which now owns 

the whole system. Water is diverted by means of a brush dam, it 

being deemed impracticable to build a masonry structure in the 

sandy river bid. The dam is 90 feet long and 5 feet high. The canal 

is built, as shown in fig. 12, on the western side of the river for 3 miles, 

then crosses the stream on a flume (shown in PL VIII), and runs in a 

general easterly direction for 12 miles. There is also a branch continuing down the west bank for a considerable distance, being the 

main part of the old Pioneer Canal; but this has been abandoned, 

there being no farms in cultivation for more than a mile or so below 

the flume. The dimensions of the main ditch are: top width, 30 feet; 

bottom width, 18 feet; depth of water, 4^ feet. There are three 

principal laterals, with a bottom width of 12, 6, and 8 feet, respectively.

The canal was first used in 1889, and the extent of land irrigated 

by it is steadily increasing. The total cost of the system was over 

$150,000, and the acreage it is designed to cover is about 40,000, only 

6,000 of which are as yet under cultivation. The water rights are 

sold at $10 per acre, a permanent right guaranteeing 25 inches of 

water to the acre. The annual rental is $1 and $1.50 for each acre 

served with water. The principal crop is cotton, of which there are 

about 3,500 acres. The other crops cultivated are alfalfa, sugar beets, 

and all kinds of forage plants, fruits, and vegetables.

Sugar beets tested in 1896 showed between 14 and 20 per cent of 

saccharine matter. Peaches, apples, and grapes do well. Cotton 

averages 500 pounds of lint to the acre. The annual rainfall is about 

12 inches. Owing to the high elevation (2,700 feet) the seasons are 

much later than in most of the irrigated parts of the State. The 

enterprise seems to have been conducted with energy and care, the 

canals and head gates are well planned and well built, and all together 

the scene about Barstow, the center of the irrigated portion, has a 

general air of healthy growth and prosperity that is very pleasing to 

the eye after the many miles of desert scenery between it and El Paso. 

There are, however, a number of problems that must be solved before 

agriculture will be successful in all places. Much of the land is 

impregnated with what is known as alkali. At first this does not prove 

troublesome, but after a few years of cultivation it may be brought 

to the surface by injudicious treatment. The river water used in 

irrigation continually adds to the supply of this mineral matter. The 

only remedy so far applied is drainage, this being as important in 

its way as irrigation. The land is very nearly level, and considerable
64 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

care will be required to provide means by which the accumulated 

alkali can be washed from the soil. One of the principal crops is 

alfalfa, which sells at $8 per ton on the cars at Pecos and at $10 per 

ton retail.

Flowing wells have been obtained in this valley near the town of 

Pecos. Most of this water contains mineral matter in solution, sulphur being especially noticeable. The water from the wells is used 

for domestic purposes and also for irrigating kitchen gardens and 

fruit and shade trees.

About 28 miles below Peeos is the canal of the Pecos River Irrigation Company, on the west side of the river, running in a general 

southeasterly direction for 12 miles. It is the oldest ditch on the 

river in Texas, having been built in 1875 and 1876. It was enlarged 

in 1889 and used again in 1890, but has never been entirely completed 

in its enlarged condition. It takes its water by means of a brush-andstone dam about 60 feet long a'nd 5 to 6 feet high. The total cost of 

the undertaking is given as about $35,000, and the cost of the water 

rights as from $2.50 to $5 per acre, with an annual assessment of 50 

cents per acre. It is designed to irrigate 20,000 acres, but only 600 

were irrigated in 1896. There is complaint that the water supply was 

very short for several years, especially in 1892, 1893, and 1894, just 

after the dam at Eddy, New Mexico, was completed. The flow has 

increased since then, but the river becomes quite low and the water 

bitter in March and April of each year. On this account it is fortunate that the season is so late here that cotton is not planted before 

April 15, corn about May 15, and alfalfa in June. The soils and crops 

raised on them are similar to those at Pecos and Barstow.

The Grand Falls Irrigation and Improvement Company takes out a 

canal 4 miles below the headgates of the one just discussed, but on the 

opposite side of the river. It was begun in 1896 and is finished for 

16 miles; it is supplied by a brush-and-stone dam across the river, 100 

feet long and 7 feet high. The water rights are valued at $15 per acre 

and the annual assessment is $1.25 per acre.

On Comanche Creek, near Fort Stockton, in Pecos County, are two 

farms irrigated from ditches. That of the Southwestern Irrigation 

Company is nearest the head of the creek; it is on the east side, 6 

miles in length, with top width of 7 feet, bottom width 6 feet, and 

depth of water 2^ feet. It is filled by means of a loose-rock dam 20 

feet long and 6 feet high. More than 1,000 acres have been cultivated, though only 400 were tilled in 1896. The principal crops were 

alfalfa and corn. The 200 acres in alfalfa gave an average of 5 tons 

to the acre, the alfalfa being cut five times. Corn yielded 25 bushels 

to the acre. The lands are cultivated entirely by the company owning the canal. The only other ditch of importance is that of the 

Rooney Irrigation Company. It runs on the west side of the creek 

for a distance of 7 miles, its dimensions being 12 feet wide on top, 8
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLV PAPER NO. 13 PL. IX

PECOS CANYON AT SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY BRIDGE.

CANALS AT EL PASO. 65

feet wide on bottom, and having water 3 feet in depth. It was built 

in 1875 and commands 1,200 acres, of which 1,000 were irrigated in 

1896. The principal crops were corn, wheat, oats, cotton, and alfalfa. 

At the lower end of its course Pecos River flows through a narrow 

canyon, illustrated on PI. IX, taken from Part II of the Eighteenth 

Annual Report 1 of this Survey. This shows the new bridge of the 

Southern Pacific Railroad crossing 10 miles above the Rio Grande.

TKANS-PECOS TEXAS.

That portion of the State west of Pecos River is commonly known 

as Trans-Pecos Texas. It is a peculiar country, rough and mountainous, with no perennial streams. The storm waters rush out upon the 

lowlands and are rapidly absorbed in the sandy plains, from which 

the mountains rise abruptly as isolated peaks or ranges. The soil of 

these plains is of remarkable fertility and when watered produces 

abundantly. Irrigation, however, is practicable only by means of 

storage reservoirs holding the storm waters. Such reservoir sites 

occur in many places, and several of them have been mapped by the 

topographers of the Geological Survey.

Trans-Pecos Texas is bounded on the west and south by the Rio 

Grande, fr,om which water is taken for irrigation mainly in the vicinity of El Paso. There are, however, a few tracks watered by small 

lost streams, there being in particular about 75 acres irrigated from 

Lympia Creek.

At El Paso the principal canal is that owned by the El Paso Irrigation Company. It was begun in 1889 and completed in 1891. Later 

the affairs of the company were put into the hands of a receiver, and 

the property was bought at receiver's sale by Thomas Worthington, 

of Manchester, England, the trustee for the bondholders. It begins 

1 mile northwest of the town of El Paso and runs in a generally southeastern direction for 30 miles. At the beginning its width is 30 feet, 

but it gradually diminishes to 15 feet at Fabens, where it returns to 

the Rio Grande. Water is diverted by a masonry wing dam, extending diagonally up the river for about 300 feet and about half way 

across, as shown in PL X. The original cost was approximately 

$150,000, and some $70,000 has since been expended for protection 

from overflows and for repairs. The water rights under the new 

management have not yet been issued. The yearly water rental is 

$2 per acre. The canal was designed to cover 30,000 acres; 3,000 

were irrigated from it during 1896.

There are three old Mexican ditches taken from the Rio Grande 

below El Paso on the American side, at Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario, irrigating from 1,000 to 1,200 acres each. The total area watered in 

the county is estimated at 8,000 acres. Irrigation has been practiced

1 Geology of the Edwards Plateau and Bio Grande Plain, adjacent to Austin and San Antonio, 

Texas, etc., by Robert T. Hill and T. Wayland Vaughan, PI. XXV, p. 308.

1KB 13 5
66 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TEXAS. [NO. 13.

here probably longer than in any other part of the United States. 

The old Spanish records say that when this pass of the river was first 

reached by the exploring party of Coronado, villages of Indians were 

found on the Mexican side on the site of the present town of Juarez 

and on the American side at Ysleta and below. These Indians had a 

system of irrigation of seemingly great antiquity, which has been continued and carried on by the descendants of the aborigines and those 

of their conquerors continuously for three hundred and fifty years.

During the spring of 1897 the large canal was damaged by the flood 

that submerged so much of the town of El Paso. This flood reached 

its height on M.ay 26 and quickly subsided. The banks were badly 

cut and the canal was completely obliterated in some places. The 

truck gardens and orchards near the city were flooded and damaged, 

a layer of mud about 3 inches thick being deposited over the surface. 

It was noticeable that while most trees withstood the flooding comparatively well, the peach trees were almost uniformly killed. Fortunately for the farmers lower down, a portion of the river cut for itself 

a fresh channel, curving inward, crossing the canal, and then recrossing it at the last point at which the banks were damaged. In this way 

they have been supplied with water and are able to save their crops, 

which otherwise would have been ruined.
U. S. GFOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 13 PL. X

WING DAM OF EL PASO IRRIGATION COMPANY; LOOKING UPSTREAM.
INDEX.

Page. 

Acre-foot, definition of term............... 21

Alamo Madre ditch, irrigation from........ 43-44

Alldridge, G. "W., irrigation plant of....... 33

Artesian wells, irrigation from............. 46-47

 locations of............................. 27

view of................................. 46

Austin, diagram showing rainfall at....... 23

hydraulic works at..................... 39-41

view of dam and power house at....... 40

Baker, J. B., irrigation plant of............ 33

Batesville, irrigation, works near........... 50-51

Beeville, irrigation plant near.............. 50

Black, W. L.. irrigation plant of........... 33-34

Brackettville, diagram showing rainfall at. 23 

Brownwood, irrigation near................ 32-33

Brownsville, irrigation works near........ 59

Broussard, J. E., irrigation by............. 26

Brulay, George, pumping plant of......... 59

Buchel Power and Irrigation Company, 

irrigation works of....................... 48-49

Caimanche Lake, map showing ............ 52

proposed irrigation from............... 52-53

Carrizo Springs, irrigation works near..... 50-51

Catron, F. H., irrigation plant of ........... 26

Central Texas, irrigation works and projects in.................................... 28-41

Charleston, C. A., irrigation plant of........ 58

Climatic and geographic divisions of Texas. 24 

Concho Uiver, irrigation from.............. 31-32

Colorado Kiver, irrigation from ............ 33

pumping plants on..................... 33

Comal Springs, water power of............. 41

Concepeion irrigation ditch, account of .... 45

Connell, J. H., work suggested by.......... 7

Cost of water, table showing............... 12-13

Crandall and Dewees, pumping plant of.... 48

Del Rio, irrigation near .................... 56

view of dam at......................... 56

view of San Felipe ditch at............ 56

Duty of water, definition of................. 20

Eagle Pass, irrigation at.................... 57

Eagle Pass Irrigation and "Waterworks 

Company, works of....................... 57-58

El Paso, diagram showing rainfall at...... 23

irrigation works at and near ........... 65-66

El Paso Irrigation Company, view of wing 

dam of .._.............................. 66

works of............................... 65-66

Espada irrigation ditch, account of........ 45-46

view showing.......................... 44

Expense of irrigation, data showing.. 12-13,20-21 

Fort Clark, diagram showing rainfall at-... 23

Page.

Fort Da vis, diagram showing rainfall at... 23 

Fort Elliott, diagram showing rainfall at.. 23 

Frio Kiver,irrigation from.............. 50

Galveston, diagram showing rainfall at.... 23

water supply of........................ 27

Garrett, D. C., water wheel of.............. 38,39

Geographic and climatic divisions of Texas. 24 

Glenn, J. J., irrigation plant of............ 32

Goliad, irrigation near..................... 49

Goodrich, E. H., pumping plant of......... 59

Grand Falls Irrigation Company, works of. 64 

Grover Irrigation Company, pumping plant 

of ........................................ 55-56

Guadalnpe River, irrigation from .......... 48-49

Gulf coast region, irrigation works and 

projects in ............................... 25-28

Hidalgo, irrigation works at ............... 58-59

Hill, R. T., acknowledgments to ............ 7

Hill and Miller, pumping plant of.......... 56

Irrigation, methods of...................... 17

Irrigation works and projects, description 

of ...............^........................ 25-66

Kaylor and Heldenfells, irrigation plant of. 50 

Lamphere, E. T., pumping plant of......... 58

Laredo, irrigation at and near .............. 58

Leakey, irrigation works near.............. 50

Lewis, Hugh, irrigation plant of............ 31

"L. E." ranch, irrigation at................ 61

Lindsey, J. H., irrigation plant of.......... 33

Llano Estacado,irrigation on .............. 59-62

L ytle "Water Company, dam of........... . 31

McGee Irrigation Company, works of...... 32

McHenry, S. A., State irrigation plant conducted by ................................ 49-50

Madre ditch, view of dam supplying....... 56

Margueretta Canal, irrigation by.......... 63

map showing location of ............... 62

Mathis, pumping plant near ............... 56

Measurement of water, units of............ 21

Menardville, irrigation at and near ........ 34-38

Metcalfe, C. B., irrigation plant of......... 31-32

Mexia, irrigation works at................. 29

Morrison, T. W., irrigation works of ...... 60

Mill Bridge, view of San Antonio River at. 42 

Miller and Hill, pumping plant of ......... 56

Murray, J. "W., irrigation works of........ 60

Nash, "W. H., irrigation plant of........... 27-28

New Brannfels, water power at............ 41

Newell, F. H., introduction by............. 9-16

letter of transmittal by .......-.---.-.., 7

Nueces reservoir, map showing............ 53

Nneces River, irrigation from.............. 50-56

67
68 INDEX.

Page. 

Nueces River, view of flume on............. 55

Pecos Canyon, view of..................... 64

Pecos River, view of flume across.......... 62

irrigation from......................... 62-65

Pecos River Irrigation Company, works of. 64 

Pecos Valley, irrigation in ................. 62-65

Pickett, A. G., pumping plant of........... 47-48

Piedras Creek, view showing............... 44

Eabb and Stark, pumping plant of......... 59

Eainfall, distribution of.................... 21-24

Katler, irrigation at........................ 33

Eice, methods of irrigation of.............. 25-26

Richards, John, water wheel of ............ 38, 39

Eio Grande, irrigation from ................ 57,59

Rooney Irrigation Company, works of..... 64-65 !

Rounds, C.M.,pumping plant of........... 47 I

Sam p son, H., irrigation pi an t of............ 27

San Antonio, irrigation at and near........ 41-50

map showing ditches and wells at and 

near.................................. 42

map showing mission ditches below.... 44

view of artesian wells at............... 46

San Antonio River, view of ................ 42

San Pelipe Agricultural, Mechanical, and 

Irrigation Company, works of............ 56

Sail Felipe Creek, irrigation from.......... 56

San Felipe ditoh, view showing............ 56

San Jose irrigation ditch, account of....... 45

San Juan irrigation ditch, account of....... 45

San Marcos, irrigation at................... 38-39

San Marcos Spring, view of................ 9

San Saba Ei ver, irrigation from............ 33-38

pumping plants on ..................... 33-34

Simmons, G. W., irrigation plant of......... 49

Page.

Southwestern Irrigation Company, works of 64 

State Subexperiment Station, pumpingplant 

at ........................................ 49-50

Steam pumping plants, description of...... 47-48

Steam pumps, cost of irrigation by......... 20-21

Sterneberg, L. D., irrigation plant of........ 58

Stubenrauch, J. W., irrigation plant of..... 29

Swinden Pecan Orchard Company, irrigation works of............................. 32-33

Taylor, J. S., pumping plant of............. 58

Texas, climatic and geographic divisions of. 24

map of ........................ ...... 22

(central), irrigation in ................. 28-41

(Trans-Pecos),irrigation in............ 65-66

Trueheart ditch, irrigation from............ 46

view of flume on....................... 47

Upper Labor ditch, irrigation from ........ 43

Urbahn, Albert, pumping plant of...... ... . 58

Vaughan Agricultural and Improvement 

Company, irrigation works of............ 36-38

Water, duty of............................. 20

units of measurement of............... 21

Water-supply systems of Texas, table showing cost and capacity of.................. 12-13

Water wheel, view of...................... 38

Water wheel and wing dam turning current 

against wheel, figure showing............ 38

Wayland, J. H., irrigation works of ........ 60

Wichita River, map of drainage basin of.. 30

proposed irrigation in valley of........ 30-31

Willis, J. D., irrigation plant of ......... 33

Windmills, cost of irrigation by............ 20

use of............................ ... 27
1895.

Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1894-95, Part II, 

Papers of an economic character, 1895, octavo, 598 pp.

Contains a paper r>n the public lands and their water supply, by F. H. Newell, illustrated 

by a large map showing the relative extent and location of the vacant public lands; also a 

report on the water resources of a portion of the Great Plains, by Robert Hay.

A geological reconnoissance of northwestern Wyoming, by George H. Eldridge, 

1894; octavo, 72 pp. Bulletin No. 119 of the United States Geological Survey; 

price, 10 cents.

Contains a description of the geologic structure of portions of the Big Horn Range and 

Big Horn Basin, especially with reference to the coal fields, and remarks upon the water 

supply and agricultural possibilities.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar year 1893-94, 

by F. H. Newell, 1895; octavo, 176 pp. Bulletin No. 131 of the United States 

Geological Suryey; price, 15 cents.

Contains results of stream measurements at various points, mainly within the arid region, 

and records of wells in a number of counties in western Nebraska, western Kansas, and 

eastern Colorado.

1896.

Seventeenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1895-96, Part 

II, Economic geology and hydrography, 1896; octavo, 864 pp.

Contains papers on "The underground water of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado, 1 ' by G. K. Gilbert; " The water resources of Illinois," by Frank Leverett; and "Preliminary report on the artesian waters of a portion of the Dakotas," by N. H. Darton.

Artesian-well prospects in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region, by N. H. Darton, 

1896; octavo, 230 pp., 19 plates. Bulletin No. 138 of the United States Geological Survey; price, 20 cents.

Gives a description of the geologic conditions of the coastal region from Long Island, 

N. Y., to Georgia, and contains data relating to many of the deep wells.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar year 1895, by 

F. H. Newell, hydrographer in charge, 1896; octavo, 356 pp. Bulletin No. 140 

of the United States Geological Survey; price, 25 cents.

Contains a description of the instruments and methods employed in measuring streams 

and the results of hydrographic investigations in various parts of the United States.

1897.

Eighteenth Annual Report of -the United States Geological Survey, 1896-97, Part 

IV, Hydrography, 1897; octavo, 756 pp.

Contains a "Report of progress of stream measurements for the calendar year 1896," by 

Arthur P. Davis; " The water resources cf Indiana and Ohio," by Frank Leverett; " New 

developments in well boring and irrigation in South Dakota," by N. H. Darton; and 

" Reservoirs for irrigation, "by J. D. Schuyler.

Water Supply and Irrigation Papers.

This series of papers is designed to present in pamphlet form the results of stream measurements and of special investigations. A list of these, with other information, is given on 

the outside (or fourth) page of this cover.

Survey bulletins can be obtained only by prepayment of cost, as noted above. 

Postage stamps, checks, and drafts can not be accepted. Money should be transmitted by postal money order or express order, made payable to the Director of 

the United States Geological Survey. Correspondence relating to the publications 

of the Survey should be addressed to The Director, United States Geological 

Survey, Washington, D. C.
WATER-SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION PAPERS.

1. Pumping water for irrigation, by Herbert M. Wilson, 1896.

2. Irrigation near Phcenix, Arizona, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

3. Sewage irrigation, by George W. Rafter, 1897.

4. A reconnoissance in southeastern Washington, by Israel C. Russell, 1897.

5. Irrigation practice on the Great Plains, by E. B. Cowgill, 1897.

6. Underground waters of southwestern Kansas, by Erasmus Haworth, 1897.

7. Seepage waters of northern Utah, by Samuel Fortier, 1897.

8. Windmills for irrigation, by E. C. Murphy, 1897.

9. Irrigation near Greeley, Colorado, by David Boyd, 1897.

10. Irrigation in Mesilla Valley, New Mexico, by P. C. Barker, 1898.

11. River heights for 1896, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

12. Water resources of southeastern Nebraska, by Nelson Horatio Darton, 1898.

13. Irrigation systems in Texas by W. F. Hutson, 1898.

15. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part I, 1898.

16. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part II, 1898.

In press: ' ^

14. New tests of certain pumps and water lifts used in irrigation, by O. P. 

Hood, 1898.

In addition to the above, there are in various stages of preparation other papers 

relating to the measurement of streams, the storage of water, the amount available 

from underground sources, the efficiency of windmills, the cost of pumping, and 

other details relating to the methods of utilizing the water resources of the country. Provision has been made for printing these by the following clause in the 

sundry civil act making appropriations for the year 1896-97:

Provided, That hereafter the reports of the Geological Survey in relation to the 

gauging of streams and to the methods of utilizing the water resources may be 

printed in octavo form, not to exceed 100 pages in length and 5,000 copies in number; 1,000 copies of which shall be for the official use of the Geological Survey, 

1,500 copies shall be delivered to the Senate, and 2,500 copies shall be delivered to 

the Houseof Representatives, for distribution. [Approved June 11,1896; Stat. L., 

vol. 29, p. 453.]

The maximum number of copies available for the use of the Geological Survey 

is 1,000. This quantity falls far short of the demand, so that it is impossible to 

supply all requests. Attempts are made to send these pamphlets to persons who 

have rendered assistance in their preparation through replies to schedules, or who 

have furnished data. Requests made for a certain paper and stating a reason for 

asking for it are granted whenever practicable, but it is impossible to comply 

with general demands, such as to have all of the series sent indiscriminately. 

Application for these papers should be made either to Members of Congress or to 

THE DIRECTOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

Washington, D. C.