Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-02-04
THE WATER
SITUATION
Manager Friedman in Reply to
Adjutant General Whiteman's
Interview on the Alleged
Water Famine in Santa Fe.

The following interview with Adju-
tant General w. H. Whiteman of this
city appeared in Wednesdays issue of
the albuquerque journal:
There is absolutely no water in the
reservoir. the Rio de Santa Fe is froz-
en- up tight and there is no likelihood
of any more water coming into the
reservoir until spring Many of the
people are going to the river and chop
ping ice and taking it home and melt
ing it, The condition is really serious,
and something must be done at once
or the town will have to depend on
what few wells there are in the city
limits for water.
''In early fall the water company re-
leased what water they had stored and
cleaned out the reservoir, and since
that time but little has run in. All
water motors have ceased running and
many of the public houses have had
their supply shut off and water for all
except domestic use is denied the citi-
zens of the town. For the past several
months the water has been shut off
for one or two days at time. The
question is what can be done If Santa
Fe should have serious confiagratiOn
the town would burn. as there is not
enough pressure in the pipes to fur
nish even partial protection"
w. H. Friedman, manager OF the
Santa Fe Water and Light Company
when spoken to concerning the above,
said to New Mexican representative:
"It is true that the abundant water
last November in order to have the
reservoir thoroughly cleaned, as it was
plain that the water had become foul.
This was done in anticipation of the
usual snow fall in December and Janu-
ary which had it come, would have
been instrumental in again filling the
reservoir AS. however, the past three
months have been very dry and as no
snow whatever has fallen during those
months, it has been impracticable to
get water into the reservoir. Howev-
er, at no time during these three
llOutuS has lllC WdlCl supply bCOh
shut off entirely for any one day. 1t is
true the water waj shut off between
the hours of 9 a. IN. and 4 p. m. at
times in order to allow larger supply
to accumulate for the nights. During
the cold spell thiS last week the water
in the Santa Fe River few miles from
the town, froze and therefore the cur
rent coming to town was greatly re-
duced, during that time. This has
been obviated now as the ice is thaw-
ing out on account of the warmer
weather and a fair amount of water is
this is not nearly as large as it would
be had there been the usual amount of
snow fall in the mountains east Of
town No one has chopped ice in the
river and taken it home in order to get
water The water meters have not
been shut off, as you we'll know, that
the water moter in the New Mexican
Printing Companys Office has been
running when needed all this time.
The situation here is not worse and no
better than it is in most of the other
towns and sections of the Territory.
This condition of affairs is to be at
tributed to the extreme dry fall and
winter. We are now tapping and con-
Quoting to the main pipes the water
from several permanent springs in the
and are daily increasing the
supply of good water for all purposes
for the city. We are also figuring on
using the seepage and underflow in the
upper portion of the Santa Fe River
bed and may shortly utilize this by
wells and pumping stations. The wa
ter situation here is not what I would
like to see it, but as said above this
town is no worse off than are the other
towns and cities situated in the noun
famous regions and even in the val
leys of some of the large rivers like
the Chama and Rio Grande."