Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-10-18
PUMPING RECOMMENDED,
An Observer Says 0rchardists Must Get
Underground Supply.

much about the water problem IN the
Rio Grande valley, in his last article up
Oh this subject, appears to have come
to the conclusion thatorchardists should
do as the New Mexican has advised
go to pumping from the underground
supply. He says:
Last spring the flow of the Rio Grande
in Colorado, as reported in the crop
service bulletins published by the
weather bureau, was about one-half the
average flow for many years past. The
water supply was exceptionally and
necessarily short throughout the Rio
Grande valley. 1t does not afford much
comfort or hope to the agriculturist for
the reason that, whatever the amount
of water which the Rio Grande may
bring across the Colorado line into New
Mexico, each year sees a larger proper
ton of it detected to irrigate the lands
of northern New Mexico, and a small
proportion of it left for the lower val
ley. At the present rate Of increasing
yearly consumption Of Rio Grande wa
ter in northern New Mexico for irriga-
ton, it will not be many years until the
farmer and fruit grower in the lower
valley may expect the dearth of water
he suffered last May and June to be-
come the rule. The Utmost that he can
count on then will be n to three irri-
cations in early spring and a dry river
bed during the rest Of the season. Once
in five or ten years he may get a sum-
mer freshet, as ne did during the past
summer, and make a quarter or a half
crop. But without artificial storage or
the pumping of water from the ground
it Is hopeless to try to cultivate the val
ley lands whereabouts in future"
FORTUNATELY, the question has already
found it's answer in successful efforts to
pump water from the inexhaustible res
ervoir that underlies all lower parts of the
Rio Grande valley. Surface water is
reached at a depth of ten or twelve feet
everywhere. But for practical purposes,
in order to get water in sufficient guam
tity and with sufficient rapidity of flow,
it is found necessary to sink pipes, so as
to tap the underground reservoir at a
depth of 60 to 70 feet. The water then
rushes up in these pipes until 1t reaches
the level of the surface water. The ac-
tual necessity lift for irrigation is there
fore but ten or twelve feet, provided the
water is piped up from below in suffi-
cient quantity to supply the pump.
"The Chinese gardeners and a few
Americans in the valley have demon
strated that even with crude pumping
machinery and horse power it is practi.
cable to raise vegetables and fruit in a
small way at a profit. But these crude
pumping plants are in fact most ex-
pensive in their operation, both because
of the small quantity of water which can
be raised by such process and because
of the cost of keeping horses to run
them.
"Mr. Rowland Of Shalem Colony, and
Mr.. Roualt of Las Cruces, are the only
men in this part of the southwest who
have undertaken to pump water on a
large scale, and they have done it sue
cessfully. They got their motive power
from the steam engine. But for the
average man who has from one to so
acres in orchard, or vineyard, or vege-
tables the steam engine is too eXacting
in It's demand for personal supervision,
and in most cases too expensive to run
on account of the cost Of fuel. Forum
atelv the gasoline engine meets the case
admirably. There are orchards up and
down the valley which, with a good gas
oline engine and pumping plant to sup
ply water at the critical time, would
have netted the owners enough money
during the single season just past to
have paid a half, two thirds. or perhaps
in some cases the entire cost of the en-
CINE and plant. This is no random
guess. Facts and figures can be ad-
duced to prove 1t.
"This then is the only present solution
of the irrigation problem in the Mesilla
and Ell Paso valleys. 1t is a solution
which in no way affects the question of
building a great storage reservoir, or
the question Of government control OF
irrigation waters. All these great and
good things belong to the future-the
neal future we may hope, but still a fu-
fore too far away to permit the present
owners OF the lands affected to rely up
on them for present needs. For the
present the farmer can count with rea-
sopable certainty on n to three irriga-
tions in the spring from the how of the
river. Beyond that he must be prepared
to pump water to make his crop. Ii
he gets a summer rise OF the Rio Grande
to help him out, so much the better.
But he must be prepared to get along
without it if it does not come. And for
his motive power he will in nine cases
out of ten find the gasoline the cheap
est and most efficient source"