North Park union., 1902-03-21
RESERVOIRS NEEDED
THEIR VALUE BEING RECOGNIZED
Facts and Figures In Regard 70 Many
Now In Use In Colorado.

Faets and Figures In Regard 70 Many
Now In Use In Colorado.
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 10
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 4 depth of four inches, In the other
to a depth of six inches, and furnish
two thirds of the water supply for the
last half of the year.
OF these the Cache In Poudre has m
area of 600 acres and holds o,OOO acre
feet. 1t is owned by farmers and helps
to irrigate 10000 acres Of land. II
cost to build $1O5 600 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 it and it is estimated
that 1t saved the farmers of the valley
over 100000, or five times its original
cost.
The Windsor reservoir has surface
area of 700 acres and a capacity Of 49,
TIA acre-feet Its first cost was about
SO, 600 and 1t is now valued at $780,
900.
The Tom Wood reservoir furnishes
water for 600 acres. 1t cost originally
$1,000, and 1t now furnishes $1,000 Of
water to irrigators each year.
Lake Loveland is the largest reser-
voir in these two valleys. 1t cost $125,-
600. Its ownership is divided into 800
shares, which are worth $1,000 each,
making the value of the reservoir more
than twice its original cost.
The largest reservoir in Colorado Is
at Twin lakes, on the Arkansas. 1t
has surface area of about 2,GOO acres
and capacity of G9,O66 acre-feet. The
value Of this reservoir to the farmers
along the Arkansas river Is greatly
mCTeuSGu DtCttuSc ploNVu
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 great
increase in this industry.
Anpthnr InlnOrtnnt RESERVOIR on the
Arkansas river Is the Koen, situated
near Great Bend, Kansas. This reser-
yoir Is now In course of construction.
When completed 1t will have an area OF
over sixty miles and will hold when full
496,875 acre-feet of water, enough to
cover 25OOO0 acres to depth of two
feet. 1t is planned to fill 1t from the
flood 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-
yoIr lies in three counties and has
IN area of between 25O,OO0 and 3OO,-
900 acres. 1t is believed tha< 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 1t possible to utilize much Of the
fow which formerly ran to waste.
A reservoir Mt Wheatland, Wyoming,
which cost $4,000 to construct, served
to irrigate 2,G5O acres of land in 1901,
on which the crops grown were worth
$35, 800. This reservoir holds 2, 1vO
acre-feet. Without it the crops would
have been a complete failure; hence,
the value per acre-feet for last season
was about SIT.