Cañon City record., 1903-10-15
ANSWER OF COLORADO
To The Suit Of Kansas In The
Matter Of The Waters Of The
Arkansas River. lrriga-
tion Systems Damage
From Floods.

From Floods.
O.. g. Dawson went to Washington
d. 6. last week in company with At
torney General Miller and other counsel
in the Kansas Colorado water litigation
where a replication was filed with the
clerk of the supreme court OF the
United States to the anne ded com.
plant of the attorney general OF Kan.
sas. It4i
Among the new things set up by
Colorado in it's answer is the fact
that Western Kansas upward OF 1000
wells have been sunk and that they're !
lieve the river of large quantities Of
water; also that the present system of
irrigation practiced in Colorado is an
aid To Kansas at certain periods, as i,
tends to lessen the danger frrm, Hoods.
The answer says that the channei al
the river near Wichita is becoming
choked with drifting sand and debris
and that vegetation is growing 10 the
bed OF the river. This causes the flood
waters to seek another outlet and the
result 10 that IL overfiows the bottom
lands in the vicinity of Wichita. Colo
radios system OF irrigation tends to
diminish ,h- trouble rather than
intensity it. the reply alleges.
ASS further answer Colorado says
that the water OF the Arkansas river is
as vital TO the people who reside in the
portion of the stat- through which il
flows as the land they dwell upon. as
without the free use OF the water the
land would be uninhsbisable. 1t denies
that there Is any diminution Of the
flow OF the river in Ka sas b-cause of
diversions In Colorado. The amended
answer concludes ~ folloux:
= The Arkansas rive leaves the Goos-
Hills Of the Rocky noun tsins At an ele-
vation OF $40 feet above the sea level,
and thence flows eastward over an ele-
vatesi pss eau kno-n as the great
plasas' for several hundred miles. with
prac,,caliy uniform decent +, the east.
passing into he state Of Kansas at m
Elevation of 8 40 feat .nd intp shp, ser-l
ritory OF okishons at an elevation Of
GOO feet. Through Coloraao and Kan
sas 1t hiss broad, level bed .f sand,
seidnn, entirely covered with water,
che ordinary ho~ running in thin sheets
In tortuous and constantly changing
channels in the river bed.
From the n,ounsains for 400 miles
eastward the wAtsrshe1 of said river Is
naturally barren. treeless. and without
any vegetation, except the abort, sparse
grass common to the great plains. The
annual precipitation Of moisture is
falls IN local sad violent storms In its
uneultivaied condition the land rapidly
sheds the rainfall. discharges IL into
the river and prevents the sAturation
of the soil and the formation Of the
spring. by which said river and the
tributaries along its cours. might be
fed. The tributary streams are ususl-
ly dry, carry ing and dischsrging water
into tn. river only in case or storms :.
The sun is seldom obscured. and COM
mencing near the state line between
Colorado and Kansas and continuing
eastward for at least 200 miles, the
wi ds are dry and constant and In the
summer >eA-on becomes SO heated as
to burn and destroy the vegetation and
10 absorb such water ms may be in the
bed Of said river
The water supplied to said river for
bout 400 miles OF its course after leav-
ing the mountains Is irregular In dis
charge and constantly varying in quan
tity, ARE not sufficient to cause
steady and permanent flow during any
season OF the year.
"The main supply OF the ordinary
How of that part OF the river described
above is from the SHOWS and storms of
the mountains. As the snow melts
during warm days this supply is also ir-
regular and unceri ain, and the volume
OF water in the river therefore, changes
daily and even hourly.
Long before irrigation Was practiced
In Colorado II was observed as the wa
,ers from the mountains flowed east
ward the volume constantly diminished
and this diminution was the more
marked ~ the river passed beyond the
area OF local storms caused by the
mountains. During the summer sea-
son, except when flooded by violent
showers, the river at n distance from
2Oo 10 400 miles from the mountains
would show no surface water other
than occasional poole In the sand, and
none Of the water coming into said
river In Colorado would aow to or
across the lands In the central or humid