The Grit-advocate., 1904-09-09
Reservoir and pite II Propositions.


in reference to building the JulesbnrE
reservoir. Mr.. Camtield was present
in person and presented proposit'of
in writing. The proposition in ofie'
is this: He will construct the reser-
voir, the inlet ditch and the high line
ditch. making the capacity OF the res
ervuir either 1000 or 200 water
rights, and will sell the whole WORKS
to the district at $4,000 per water
right. For the district organization
to accept Mr.. Camheld's proposition
for the larger capacity OF the reservoir
will entail an expense OF something
over Sl4. GO per acre upon the land III
the istrict.-Julesburg Grit-Advo-
cate.
From the above it appears that our
! neighbors "way down the Platte are
finding out with their experience. that
even in the train belt" irrigation is Il
necessity, and not only irrigation by
means OF bitches for direct diversion
OF water, but also by means OF storage
reservoirs to provide for the times ana
seasons when the Platte river runs
dry as all streams in eastern COLORADO
do during the last half of the irflga-
| tion season of each year.
The proposition OF which our con-
temporary speaks certainly looks a
very favorable one to the people In the
older irrigated districts where reser-
voirs have become so valuable.
Previous to 1870 the same trepida'
tion Of the farmers about investing in
reservoirs in this part of the valley
was manifest: but since the eXperl-
ment has been tried and retired by the
building Of many reservoirs in the
Cache la Poudre valley the wonder
now is that the good times thereby Sc
cured was so long postponed.
Reservoir rights here, Of the same
volume us those mentioned, are nov
worth anywhere from 100000 to
81 900 90. and in more than one season
have the farmers been willing to pay
| for Il single years use of reservoir
water more than half as much as Is
asked for the perpetual right from the
Julesburg reservoir, while measured
by the annual benefits received by the
| farmers from the use of reservoir wat
er in the production of bcets and po-
| tatoes no farmer would foregO the Use
of reservoir rights for single year for
| 81, I,ol., FluT m
ed by the Grit-Advocatc.
Indeed if the offer were made to our
farmers to forego the use Of their res
ervoir rights for single year it is
doubtful IL many of them would ac-
cept a proposition for $500 90: and IL it
were proposed to them to sell out their
reservoir water rights and no Others
were available, they could not be pur-
chased for 50 800 90 each; this, Of course.
is governed largely by the fact that all
the winter and flood waters Of the
Cache la Poudre river have been ap-
propriated and very little, il any, vat
err remains at any time of year to be
claimed or appropriated by Others.
But the same thing will happen at
no distant time on the Lower Platte.
We know of large number of reser-
voirs tnat have recently been built,
and are now in course Of construction,
in the Platte valley, and it is only 4
question of a short time until neither
the people OF Julesburg or any other
community along the Platte can 90 to
the stream and find water subject to
diversion and appropriation.
1t may be of special interest to the
people in the vicinity OF Julesburg to
know that the highest price for Which
any land sold in this vicinity, before
any reservoirs were built, was 5000
an acre, in the case OF the sale of
Jasper Prices land some years ago
| The highest price since the building
of reservoirs has been $3.50, in the
case of William Hopkins, sold last fall
after the crop had been taken of.
| This is the highest cash sale that has
been made, although there are numer
Gus farms in this vicinity which can
not now be purchased for $4,000 per
acre.
We would say to The Advocate,
and the people for whom it speaks, TO
take no chances by putting of and
waiting for more convenient season,
| for it will never come. nor for a lower
| price, when the prices of water rights
are constantly going up everywherc.-
Weld County Republican
An Insurance Against Loss By
Drought.
a water right in a well established
| ditch and reservoir is an insur-