The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1906-03-28

and four sluice gates. They will re
lease the heavy, silt-laden water tina
sinks to the bottom. At the lowe
n of the inlet canal, a mile and i
half from the intake, in a weir, which
will permit only the top part of tht
settled water to spill into the reser
voir. In this way the blacklist o.
water entering the canal is absolutely
clear when run into the reservoir. A
test has proven that the theory is
correct. Only one-third of the water
that runs into the inlet canal goes
into the final receptacle, but with the
average head of water that comes
down the Hondo every Spring, the
reservoir can be filed in ten days,
nevertheless.
To increase the capacity of the ma
tural basin tt an amount considered
practical, six fills a to be made,
the maximum height of these embank
ments being % feet. In each case
hes fills are made $50 feet wide at
the bottom and 20 feet wide at the
top. They were made by the placing
immense machinery in thin layers.
The tops of these entertainments now
make splendid d~riveways. Although
they are made of dirt, they are so com
pact that even after a rain heavily la
den wagons made no material i'm
preston on their surface. The best
material found in the vicinity was re-
served for the inside face of the en-
bankments and over this was placed
riprapping to. a thickness of twelve
inches. This riprapping, as it is call
ed, is really like paving. one of
various thickness but invariable a
foot wide have been set On edge, close
ly fitted together, until their surface
is almost as smooth as a paved street.
This will form the side walls of the
artificial part of the reservoir.
The outlet canal taps the reservoir
in the middle of Fill No. 5. Two i'm
mense iron pipes, each Sc inches in
diameter, lead from a point well To-
Gated SO as to carry water from the
lowest point in the basin. run through
this fill and spill into the outlet canal
which is nothing but a huge ditch a
mile and a half long, leading back to
the bed of the Hondo river. This ca
empties into the river at a point
a mile below the intake. The flow
of water through the iron pipes is reg
through a concrete tower, built
yer their openings into the lake and
provided with valves. This tower
was constructed with ingenuity and
so arranged that, in case of break liz
pipes, valves or h machinery.
it can be drained and de-
to repair the fault. A bridge
Of all this immense work, the six
fills are completed except about ten
days of riprapping on Fill No. 5, and
months work on Fill No. A.,
which is being done by Wood, Ban
croft & Doty, contractors from Oma-
ia, Neb. The fills are 800 to $500
feet in length. Fill No. 4 is about
per cent finished. 1t is the long |
est of the six. There is yet a few
work about the outlet tower and |
canal, but that is hardly worth con
'ideration. Five of the gates that are |
o release the muddy water from the |
lotion of the inlet canal have been |
inished. The sixth and last is nearly |
lone. Two of the structures are com
but the iron f~astenings and ma |
come. They were shipped last week |
rom Oklahoma City and the work on
his portion of the project can be
completed in thirty days. |
With water, will have a surface of
900 acres. From east to west it will
two and a half miles long and from
lorth to south it will be two a
over three miles long could be
-rawn, however, diagonally across the
AXE. The water will have an average
.epth of 20 feet, making its capacity
5000 acre feet of water. 1t will ir-
igate 10000 acres of land, supplying
acre with a depth of AZ inches
very year. Alfalfa, the most thirsty
f all crops, requires no more than
o inches of water, per year. But the
ngineers have been liberal il their
n nnnIIfofianC and arn uafn in fnojr nS-N
imates regardless of seepage and
Roadways and building
ties in the irrigated district fig
re to the advantage of the water sup
L