The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-09-08
NDgSItR RESERVOIR.
,.oming Plans a Gigantic
| Scheme for lrri-
CATION
cpFAT ARTIFICIAL LAKE
|, to Make the Arid Plains Bios
som as the Rose With
Fertility
GREAT ARTIFICIAL LAKE

:. Of Securing National Legisla-
or to Help In the Enterprise
notors and Representatives Will
1. Called Upon to Urge the Scheme
j Congress.
link of an artificial lake of water
4 nm on the crest of the continent,
4 feet above the fight Of seagulls,
/. H. is TO he stored for irrigation pur-
during the dry months 40,S17,-
.c6O cubic feet Of water-a lake ten
II in length, three miles in width,
4 feet in maximum depth, 60 feet in
IN depth, and covering 1861 acres
hand with water deep enough to
4 an ocean Steamer-a deep, wide
\ long enough to irrigate $50 900
i of desert land and thus make
'ses Of plenty, where 2,S12 farmers
4 each dwell upon 100 acres of per-
sslly yatered land and never give
.nrIe thought to rain This is the
s reservoir that the people of the
nropose to build on the Laramie
||ps in Wyoming.
4 Is said to be the greatest irrigation
& Iect ever evolved, and the arid West
Knitted upon it. Western Senators
4 representative have been advised
Z heir constituents to assemble at the
4 Congress fortified with enough
.sOns to convince the Government
4 Il is its duty to render substantial
10 the enterprise. The West will
rs part in the way Of State appre-
'stions and private subscriptions.
4 the building of this gigantic reser-
i Il IS proposed to divert the surplus
hers of the Big and Little Larmarie
ms. and store them away in a nat
4 depression known as the Big Hol-
4 the northeast end Of which is five
|bs west of Laramie City. The de-
sssion lies between the Big and Lit
4 Laramie rivers in the Laramie
ms The surrounding land slopes
Ar from the rim of the basin in all
sctions thus making it an admirable
IA in which to store water for irri-
l|op purposes. The basin itself has
a formed by erosion and has no
III Nature has walled 1t around
a rocks and no leak has been found
IA enough to interfere with the stor-
4 of such an amount Of water.
Il the food season when these noun
4 streams are debouching their mad
hers upon the plains, thus dealing
hster to the hopes Of the farmers
i ranchmen, it is the intention to di-
4 their entire surplus flow into the
basin and there confine it until the
i months. The ditch to supply the
.eryoir with the waters of the Big
famie River vii be nearly twenty
les in length, but through an easy
sntry for its construction. The ditch
IN the Little Laramie will be much
brter.
d the dry season it is proposed to
4W the water from the reservoir
-Ough tunnel at the northeast end
the basin and discharge It again into
Big Laramie River a short dis
ce below Laramie City, thus keep
the river well filled with water dur
a season which has been usually
lost dry. The outlet ditch Is to be
miles long from the reservoir to
river. In its construction it will
necessary to construct three-quar-
of a mile through solid rock. In
ring this tunnel will be found the
den Of expense in carrying out the
feet.
he Big Laramie flows into the North
tie River, and the waters thus
ned into 1t would serve for irriga-
not only in eastern Wyoming. but
} into the western part Of Nebraska.
Thile the reservoir at Laramie is the
gest, it is by no means the only one
{ the West proposes to build. 1t is
purpose of the West to make the
annie reservoir a trial proposition at
shington, and should national legis-
on be gained it's in favor then will
Government be told that it has L.
600 square miles of land that might
reclaimed and subdued.
he West at present has a number of
at reservoirs either completed or in
W for immediate completion. The
owing are among the most impor-
{ sites:
aramie site, capacity 100000 acre
weetwater site, Wyoming, capacity
,965 acre feet.
iney Creek system consisting of
pe sites, Cloud Peak, Piney and
ie De Smet,), capacity 10000 acre
onth Platte site, Colorado, capacity
10 acre feet. ....
Oyeland site, Colorado (storing wa
from Big Thompson and Cache la
ARE rivers), capacity 1874 acre
he function of reservoirs Is primari-
but great stress is laid
the argument that the reservoir
serve as a possible amelioration OF
conditions. Many Of the greater
ryoir sites are along the headwa-
or the Missouri River and its trib-
lies, and 1t is claimed that when
'e reservoirs are constructed they
hold the surplus water in times
lnnual floods and freshets and thus
'ent flood devastations along the
er waters of the Mississippi River.
Rats at War.
white rat" said man recently
Is supposed to know, sis the NOR