Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-04-26
COMPLEX
PROBLEMS
Confront the Reclamation Service
in the Construction of Re.
seryoirS in New Mexico.
ENGINEERING
DIFFICULTIES
Many Examinations and Surve, S Demon
strate That Conditions Hard to
Overcome Exist.

''The Territory of New Mexico ha
been especially favored in the amour
of work and attention devoted to
by the Geological Survey and the Rec
lamation Service" recently said Chic
Engineer F. H. Newell. ''In most o
the states only one river system ha
been thoroughly examined, but in New
Mexico simultaneous work has bee1
carried on, both on the Rio Grande ant
its tributaries, and on the Pecos. 4
preliminary examination has just beer
ordered of the San Juan River in the
northwest part of the territory.
New Mexico being the Oldest irri
gated portion of the United States, il
in many respects the most fully devel
oped. It's irrigation opportunities have
been examined more frequently ant
during longer periods of time thar
any other part of the arid west. The
great Mexican land grants including
much of the most valuable lands o1
the territory, have been studied by
their owners, and in many instances
their development.
The Geological Survey began in
1888 a systematic study of the Ric
Grande its fluctuations and the oppor
tunities of utilizing it to the most com
plete extent. The problems due tC
private ownership and the vested
rights of an old settled country are
particularly difficult. The physical
conditions also are among the most
trying in the United States, as the Rio
Grande has cut for itself deep, mar
row gorge in the northern part of the
territory; this gorge extends to a
depth below the tough lava which lines
the gorge and the river now flows over
bed of sand and powders, which in
turn lies over soft sandstone or clays
not affording safe foundation fo1
high structures; thus, although there
are a number of basin-like valleys, il
has been found impracticable to close
these up by means of dams because OF
the dubious nature of the material on
which to place the foundation.
Private enterprise has studied the
situation again and again, and has al.
ways found some insurmountable diff.
Guilty either in the engineering work
or in financing the project. The gov.
ernment engineers in their work ulti'
mately discover these unfavorable
physical points, some of which obvi-
ously prevented the construction of ir-
rigation works in the past.
''The citizens of New Mexico, and
particularly the eDlegate and the Ter.
ritorial Commission on Irrigation, have
been quite active in bringing to the at.
tention of the Geological Survey many
sections of the territory. A great num-
ber of projects have thus been studied /;
but the majority of these are found to
possess insuperable obstacles, either
physical or in the nature OF vested
rights and land ownership.
ION the Rio Grande the great ques
ton is one of water storage, and OF
finding locality where this can be
safely accomplished in spite of inse
cure foundations, and the enormous
quantity of sediment carried by the
river The flood-fow at various points
is now we'll known through measure
ments extending over many years; and
this is, in some respects, disappointing
ly small, showing that the water, il
stored. must be carefully guarded from
evaporation.
Some of the storage sites found are
so broad and shallow that the loss
from evaporation would be far greater
than the amount which could be used
Other reservoirs are so narrow ant
deep that dam higher than any thing
of the kind ever yet built must be con
structed on the weak and yielding
sandstone. The question of the prio
claims of irrigated lands in Texas ant
Mexico must also be given weight
since no enterprise undertaken by th'
government can properly neglect th'
rights of other people.
con the PecOs the question is not s,
much one of water supply, but Of tn
quality of the water, and particularly
the ability to store it. An excellen
site on the Hondo River, one of tn
principal tributaries of the Pecos, ha
been selected, but upon detailed exam
ination it is found that the bottom O
the reservoir is underlain by gypsum
the conditions being somewhat simila
to those existing on Lake Mcmillan
where serious loss of water result
from the dissolving of the gypsur
walls of the reservoir and the escap
of stored water into f1ssures and undel
ground caverns, resulting from the so
sil'ty of the gypsum. This in brie
. outlines few Of the complex prol
lens which confront the Reclamatio
engineers in their work in New Me,
loo. The people are impatient and as
for results, but it is obvious gres