The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-05-15
ARTESIAN WELLS FOR LAKES

ARTESIAN WELLS FOR LAKES
Col. John II. King and Uncle Sam %
Not A1ree Upon It
When the government gave it out
that none Of the money appropriated
by congress for reclaiming arid and
semi-arid lands by irrigation was to be
used in sinking artesian wells in South
Dakota east OF the Missouri for the
purpose Of filing dry lake beds they
forgot about Col. John 81. King of
Huron, S. D. Later the secretary Of
the interior heard from him, and, in
turned addressed the colonel through
H. G. Rizer, acting director of the de-
partment OF the interior, in which the
Huron real estate boomer was told
that 'chimerical propositions are not
to be exploited" and that the creating
of artificial lakes upon the supposltion
that the air will be charged with
greater humidity is in the ssopinion OF
students of meteorology not appreci-
able"
This naturally made the colonel hot
and he forwith proceeded to write Mr..
Rizer caustic letter and in which he
was particular to tell him that he
didn't know what he was talking
about.
Without knowing definitely the ir.
tent OF the law governing this appro-
priation by congress just how and for
what purpose the funds are to be used
yet the GRAPHIC is inclined to agree
with the meteorology students Mr..
Rizer tells about: that increased hui
midity from artificial lake beds and
streams is more imaginary than real.
1t is pretty general acknowledged
that there was an alfred heavy rain
before there was a flood-in Noah:s
time and we'll bet dollar and half
il you drain all the great lakes and the
contributing streams, from Duluth to
Buffalo, and as dryas a bone, they'd
all fill up again from the natural rain
fall. Admitting, however, that nu-
merOus lake beds scattered all over the
Dakotas do increase the humidity, we
do not believe that any possible appro-
priation by congress could sink enough
artesian wells to supply sufficientlakes
to accomplish any practical good in
this direction. In 1883 and for two or
three years following every lake bed in
South Dakota was full to the brim:
there was more water on the surface
than could be put there by artificial
means in the next ten years and all
the money at the command OF the
government to back it up. In spite OF
this there was no increase OF rainfall
and the lakes all went dry for want of
it.
There is another point to be consid-
cred by those coinciding with Col.
Kings ideas and a most important
one. The supply Of water in the ar
tesian basin has limit. Would it not
be better to conserve this supply and
use it exclusively through individual
effort: for stock purposes upon the
farms and municipal use in the towns
and cities? The government could
not and would not expend enough
money on artesian wells to create a
sufficient number of artificial lakes to
make any appreciable difference in
either the humidity Of the atmosphere
or increase the rainfall, while those
that were put down might seriously
interfere with the smaller ones owned
by individuals.
If money is to be expended by the
government for the purpose Of placing
more water upon the surface of South
Dakota it had better be done by con-
(structing dams across the many great
draws scattered over the state, thus
conserving the immense amount
water running to waste from the nat
ural rainfall. This idea isn't original
with us; we've been thinking about
it ever since Col. King conceived the
plan twenty years ago OF damming the
| Missouri at Chamberlain. We recall
that when the GRAPHIC asked MIN
what he'd do with all the sand that
would accumulate. we were told that
| they'd use every bushel of it for NOR
Jar in constructing buildings IN that
embryo city. Since then we've hardly
peeped at any Of Col. Kings projects
knowing how eminently practical they
all are and how little given he is to
any visionary schemes. But great
public duty cannot always be ignored
and for once we are compelled to adj
NIT that here and there through the
Igreat white buildings at Washington
may now and then be found man who
knows something, too. 4
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