Arizona republican., 1901-05-08


 ater throughout the valley in the shape of natural basins--into which water could be subsequently, drawn off, through outlet tunnels or cuts, to sup ply sthe demands of the underlying crops. This plan of obtairing an addl- tional water supply has' been found so eminently satisfactory that the valley now possesses system of fifteen reser- voirs ranging in capacity from mini- mum of GA acre feet to a maximum Of 14,004 acre feet. These figures sound very small to the citizens of Salt River valley, who are wont to hear of reser- voirs with capacities ranging from 200 to 500 thousand acre feet, but before We are led into making any compari- sons 1t will be well to remember that these small Colorado reservoirs are a reality, while our large reservoirs have yet to be constructed,
 A few words concerning the unit of measure. known as an acre root or water. might render more clear some Of the data and comparisons herein sub mitted. and take the liberty of brief Aggression to explain 1t somewhat in detail for the benefit of those not famil- | far with the full meaning of the term. l Primarily. it signifies one acre of ground covered with water to depth of one foot (4S.560 cubic feeD and it is the unit of volume which Is being gen. erally accepted as the most intelligent ! and useful---whether the water be meas | ured from reservoirs or wells. The l taxpayers of this county will need to have a very clear idea of this unit, and | its full significance, before they can act
 intelligently in the matter of storage
 reservoirs. as much of the information submitted to them. through their board | of water commissioner. will deal large ly With this term. It is the most com prehensive measure in which to express
 the volume necessary for the proper
 cultivation of our crops. and investiga- :
 tions are being carried on by the de- ! partment of agriculture to ascertain the number of acre feet 1t Is necessary to
 apply on our valley lands to raise the
 various kinds of crops grown. We need | approximately four feet of water for
 each acre throughout the year for di-
 versifed farming and horticulture in
 this valley. and the gross cash returns per acre from such farming operations divided by the number acre feet of
 water used gives the approximate cash
 value of each acre foot. With this
 knowledge gained it is easier to calcu-
 late the amount We would be justified
 in expending to develop an acre foo,
 of water. whether by reservoir con
 struction or pumping.
 The gross returns from an acre foot
 of water on the Mesa lands was found
 to range from $3.57, for diversified farm ing operations. to 80 00 in almond cul'
 ture. The cost per acre foot to thu
 farmers, under the old south side ca
 nals, ranges from 50 cents for lands ia
 vorably located near the head of thu
 canals, to S5 cents for farms situated
 near the extreme lower ends of the
 same.
 | It is a convenient unit in which tf
 express the cost of reservoir construc'
 tion, and on the whole Is a term witt
 which we should become thoroughly ia miliar.
 Cache La Poudre reservoirs hav' proven a success, and although thu
 combined capacities of the entire nun Der (fifteen) only aggregates 69.00
 acre feet, they have made it possible
 to successfully farm over 10000 acre of and in the valley. whereas befor,
 their construction the normal flow o , the Cache La Poudre river during tn
 irrigating season, wa. only sufficien
 for the requirements of 62,945 acres
 The cost of constructing these reser
 voirs averaged about 8 per acre foo
 of atorage capacity. making a total ex . penditure of $344 500. As to whethe they have proven a financial success submit the following extract from Mi l Nettleton's report; d u . l'It has already been suggested tha l, the present advanced stage of agri : culture in the Cache La Poudre valle | was made possible by the constructio
 of the storage reservoirs which hay 7 been described. The water stored : not saved by scrimplng in one perio n for use in another. it is saved fror
 waste and is therefore an addition t o the available supply. Before the da ], of reservoirs. crops often failed for lac n of water; the increased supply ha Q made possible a good crop every yea = But the most noticeable effect of stoi = age is the farming of higher price h crops than could be raised before. PC d tatoes, for instance. could be raise e only by those having priorities, an t thia would limit their culture to a yer h small area. Now potatoes are one ( If the leading crops of the valley, and the y depend almost wholly upon store l. water" ,s4
 Q The above statements are reinforce Is by table giving the values of the p' e tato crops in the Cache "a Poudre Va le ley from 1879 to 1900 inclusive: also Il s values of that portion of the crop dl e to storage water. The results are { e follows: . .s..s.- .-.... ...,.,s.
 Total value of potato crops from 1S Is to 1900 inclusive. s4.011. .000; value n potato crops due to storage water fro IT 1897 to 1900 inclusive, $30eS,0 ,0S?. H
 The above figures are startling " their significance. and 1t seems almo l. incredible that this system of sme le reservoirs could give gross returns of nearly nine times the original cost Q. period of four years.
 n, The experience of the citizens o. Cache La Poudre valley should be mo ,- useful and encouraging to us at tn l. time. and is strong argument in fav le of the impounding of our flood water of We have magnificent valley, with st d. as fertile as could be desired, yieldir