Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-14
MAPPING ARTISAN WELLS
The Work Being Done Under the Geological
Surveys Direction.

The work Of examining and mapping the
water sources of the United States, with
especial reference to the artesian wells OF
the western states, is being carried on
steadily under charge of F. H. Newell of
the geological survey. Mr.. Newell is now
preparing summary of the more recent
work, which will soon be ready for publ
cation.
California stands at the head of the
artesian well states, having about one-half
of all those in the country inside her bor-
ders. Utah and Colorado come next, fol-
| lowed at a long distance by Texas and
other states
Artesian well boring is of comparatively
recent origin, few wells being more than
dozen years old. Since 1884 attempts to
find flowing water have been made all over
the west, but have been successful only in
limited areas although wells that furnish
an important supply which can be pumped
out by means OF machinery have been
found nearly everywhere.
Can't Irrisnte Large Areas.
It has been ascertained in many places,
however, that the stream of water secured
from the wells is too small to irrigate a
very large area. In the hotter parts of the
country the thirsty soil drinks up the water
before it gets more than hundred feet
from the well, and it can only be carried
further by means of wooden cutters, or by
accommodating 1t in a reservoir until enough
a
travel for some distance before drying up.
An additional advantage of a reservoir is
that the water is allowed to get warm be-
fore being put on the vegetation. Artesian
water is usually cold, and sometimes in
jures crops if admitted before being
warmed.
1t is very difficult, by any means short of
actual experiment, to determine whether
artesian water can be found in any given
district. The regions where 1t is most GER
tain are what are generally termed the SUBJ
humid, as opposed to the arid lands. In
the Dakotas there is a great belt where
the lower strata of the rocks are COM
paratively uniform and unfaulted, although
covered over to a considerable depth by the
glac ial drift, and in this water can always
be found. In Texas there is another belt.
also subhumid, where the wells are reliable.
Around Denver there is a district tina.
once was very fine artesian country, but
SO many wells have been bored that the
water has been pretty nearly exhausted
and many of the wells have ceased to flow.
There is a series of wells to the east
of Salt Lake, in Utah, which are of excel
lent quality and persistency. The water
comes from the Wasatch range of noun
tains, and is Intercepted on its under
ground way to the lake. 1t would be diff
cult to exhaust this belt by any number
of wells. The Denver supply was
hausted because the water came only from
short distance away and was not very
plentiful.
There is small artesian belt near Miles
City, Montana, and another near Las We
gas, New Mexico.
The Most Interesting District.
The most interesting district lies in east
ern Colorado and western Kansas Here
the ground slopes from the west down to
the east, and there are continual faults in
the strata preventing the water from trav-
cling for any very great distance. Where
the strata are not faulted. they are
dulating, and wells sunk near the center
part of the long undulations usually tap
water that has flowed there from each
side of the undulation. Few of these wells
flow, but they can be worked by wind
mills, motive power that is seldom ex-
hausted in that part of the country.
These wells are small and will irrigate
only few acres at the best Mr.. Newell
thinks that If the farmers there would try
to cultivate only as much land around
their houses as they could irrigate by
means of their wells and devote the re-
mainder of their farms to grazing. or per-
haps to wheat occasionally, they would be
far better off than now.