The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1905-06-16

with a grade of wenty feet to the
mile. down the bed of Rocky Arroyo.
which is forty feet lower than the
Hondo at this point. Rocky Arroyo
is a narrow valley which comes down
from the foothills in a ours nearly
parallel to the Hondo, and which
empties into the latter about eight
miles above Roswell.
Now at Missouri Plaza the Hondo
north bank, and a broad one-two
miles wide-on the south bank, which
drops down grade forty feet in this
two miles. Hence it is evident thai
whenever there is a great Hondo ov-
erfiow, that a large part of it will
the Rocky Arroya-and it is a fact
that during all the big floods more
water has gone dow to the arroyo
than has kept to it's own valley. 1t
is equally evident hat if this water
can be diverted from the arroyo be
fore it gets down to the Hondo again,
and sent down to the Peco through
another channel, then the valley
above Roswell will be guarded ag-
ainst the larger portion of this over
flow water-and this is what the
committee recommends to have done.
Now comes in the Hondo reservoir
as an important factor of the situa-
ton. Some three miles below the
great overflow point of Missouri Pla-
"a. the intake canal of the reservoir
is being built. 1t is supposed that
when this work is completed, that
the reservoir will receive and store
practically all of the end flow that
oes not escape its own valley at the
Plaza, as above described. With
these two things one-the reservoir
built to take in the water that comes
down to it. and the arroya water Iii
verified entirely away from the neigh
borhood of Roswell. there will no
longer remain any water to run down
the. Hondo through our city. except
what it gathers from the limited wa
tershed this side of Missouri Plaza:
and overfiows will be known and
dreaded no more.
The reservoir will be built. 1t will
be doing its part of the protective
service within the present year. 1t
remains for the people of this city
ed by the committee. 1 happen 20
know that this is feasible. The phys
ical structure of the country vor
il. At a point some six to seven
miles above the junction of the ar
roy with the Hondo. and about 2
there is a point where a dam across
the arroyo about twelve feet high
will throw all the food waters il may
carry out on to the prairie. This prai
RE falls away to the eastward at a
good grade towards the sag which
Mile" Arroyo, or draw Once in the
broad shallow valley of mine Mile"
all this water will run directly east
toward the Pecos, leaving Roswell
ten miles to the northward. and pass
ing under the railway ack below
Orchard Park. and under the high
fume of the Northern Canal. it will
escape to the Pecos in a perfectly
innocent manner
A broad levee. some five or six feer
in height. running eastward some
two miles from the dam above spg
gested will carry all the floods that
spill over at the Plaza from the a
row and crooked Hondo channel. TO
gether with the drainage of the Rocky
Arroya's own basin. safely away to
mine Mile.' and entirely clear from
Roswell
1t does not take a very big rise
in the Hondo to begin to overflow m
to the arroyo. The very %tortnous
ditch called the Hond river car only
carry about 1000 feet per second be
fore it gets out of its banks And