Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-12-11
RECLAMATION IN NEW MEXICO

Washington D<~ ll--!a h4s al
naai Fep0rE made public today The
secretary Of sh+ intersur has this 10
Say respecting The irrigation projects
in New Mexico territory:
The Carlsbad project provides VA
ter for ~iFEiSating = small area i'm shs
vicinity Of Carlsbad. =. NJ. The work
includes storage reservoirs an peeos
river and the repair and reeOnstrae-
lion al canals that Werr constructed
by private enterprise, The develop
q Of PeNfss Valley was brought
about by a private irrigation company
which installed an extensive system
Of irrigation SOrk~ representing az
outlay u maOre than a million Il H.. rs,
Ia October, 1904. Ii flood de- lt.v.i
= laTg" poFsIon Of the Awaken lam.
"aT3n which III" canal 81 ter, c.ra..s ii
81 for lis Supply, The uans : If
'1F system were unable s",nlr 'ae
damage. and as pcoier'. valuel ~
ret le*s than s9"'0."H was thr. o,eu.
ID with destruction unless a water
supply was provided. an APPEAL was
made tn :Ae government 10 lahe the
WORKS and prevent tn" lands from ~
verFIng to desert conditions. The
transfer az III" property Of IN. P,.roS
Irrigation company 10 the United
States has '.s..'n completed and cor.
s'ructioA worn is under way. bids
were invited fur the construction of
the Avalon Jam. but as none wer,. r..
Ceived II was necessary for the gov.
eminent la construct, This work lv
day labor, and about - per c+nr Is
completed.
The Rio Grande project c0ntcm.
plates the erection Of a concrete dam
across the Rio Grande near Engle.
New Mexico. about ln0 miles above
FL Paso. A. this dam the flood wa
tiers will ne stored and will te car,
ried by a canal system to a large
area OF rich valley land. The gen,
eral surveys for the Rio Grande pro-
ject have been completed and detail
surveys are in progress on the L"as-
burg diversion. which Is a part of
IN" Rio Grande project. and which
will he the first unit 10 he construct.
ed. The Leasbure diversion dam will
be built OF concrete. with the nec"s.
sary sluica gates. head weir. and head
gates. and will he connected with the
old Las Cruces canal by about two
miles of full size canal. An allotment
of $200.0 00 has been made for this
portion of the Rio Grande project.
and the Elephant Butte Water Users
association of New Mexico and the
FL Paso Water Users association Of
Texas have signed a general contract
for the repayment in ten installments
Of the 5000. 600 allotted for this work.
The Hondo project contempla;es
the diversion Of the waters OF the
H0ndo river near Roswell. y. NJ. II
has been necessary TO carry on a
large part of the work on this pro,
ject directly by the government, as
the Taylor-MoOre Construction com.
pany. which had the contract for the
canal, spillway. and the main canal,
went into the hands Of O receiver.
The company's equipment was so
small that II was necessary for tho
government to install an adequate
plant for carrying on this work. The
failure of the company caused con
siderable delay. but the work was
carried on satisfactorily and il now
practically completed. Work on the
inlet and outlet canals and the diver
sion dam Is nearly completed. as we'll
as almost all the embankment. The
structures. head gates. lateral gates,
and drops are being built directly by
the government. Water will soon he