The state herald., 1902-03-14
RESERVOIRS NEEDED
THEIR VALUE BEING RECOGNIZED
Facts and Figures In Regard to Many
Now In Use in Colorado.

1
The Office Of Irrigation Investigations
OF the department of agriculture has
been engaged during the past year in
the collection Of statistics concerning
the number of reservoirs In use in the
country for the purposes Of irrigation,
the amount OF money expended In con-
struction and the benefits derived.
Wherever there are favorable natur-
al opportunities the framers under
bitches are building dams and storing
for use when streams are low. As
result of this the area cultivated is
being Increased and 1t Is made possible
to grow more diversified and valuable
| crops.
In one valley in Colorado there are
twenty-seven of these reservoirs and In
another thirty-four. In one of these
valleys the reservoirs hold enough
water to cover all the land irrigated
to depth of four inches, in the other
to depth Of six inches, and furnish
twOthirds of the water supply for the
last half Of the year.
or these the Cache Ia Poudre has an
area of 600 acres and holds 5000 acre
feet. 1t Is owned by farmers and helps
to irrigate 10000 acres of land. 1t
cost to build S1O5,OO8 and 1t is now
worth 100000. The drOuth In 1901
was so severe that all of the crops
under this reservoir would have been
failure without 1t and 1t Is estimated
that it saved the farmers of the valley
over SoOO,OOO, or five times Its original
cost.
The Windsor reservoir has surface
area Of 700 acres and a capacity Of 49,
ia acre-feet. Its first cost was about
$4,000 and it is now valued at $780,
600.
The Tom Wood reservoir furnishes
water for COO acres. 1t cost originally
$1,000, and 1t now furnishes $1,000 Of
water to irrigators each year.
Lake Loyeland is the largest reser-
voir In these two valleys. 1t cost $685.
600, Its ownership is divided into 800
shares, which are worth $1,000 each,
making the value of the reservoir more
than twice It's original cost.
The largest reservoir in Colorado Is
at Twin lakes, on the Arkansas 1t
has surface area of about 1900 acres
and capacity of 69,O66 acre-feet. The
value Of this reservoir to the farmers
along the Arkansas river Is greatly
increased because this has proven
one of the most favored regions for
growing sugar beets. Without late
water supply their production would be
impossible, but with this reservoir to
draw on farmers are assured of an
adequate supply for the entire season
and this has led to the building of
additional sugar factories and a great
increase In this industry.
Another important reservoir on the
Arkansas river Is the Koen, situated
near Great Bend, Kansas. This reser-
voir Is now In course of construction.
When completed Ii will have an area OF
over sixty miles and will hold when full
4o0,Si3 acre-feet of water, enough to
cover 2JO,OOO acres TO a depth of two
feet. II is planned to I'LL 1t from the
Hood waters of the Arkansas river,
which will require n main canal thir-
teen and one-half miles long. The land
which can be irrigated from this reser
voir lies In three counties and has
nm area of between 100000 and 300,-
900 acres. 1t Is believed that the con-
struction of these two reservoirs will
do much to relieve the friction which
has existed between the states of Kan
sas and Colorado over the division OF
water on the Arkansas river, as 1t will
make IL possible to utilize much OF the
flow which formerly ran to waste.
A reservoir at Wheatland, Wyoming,
which cost $4,000 to construct, served
to irrigate 2,GJ0 acres OF land In 1901,
ON which the crops grown were worth
S3J,3OO. This reservoir holds 2,1vJ
acre-feet. Without II the crops would
have been n complete failure: hence.
the value per acre-feet for last season
was about SIT.