The Lamar register., 1906-07-18
THE new ERA IN IRRIGATION
BROUGHT ABOUT BY RESERVOIRS
BY FRANK c. GOUDS.


| Of Denver delivered one Of the princf-
| pal addresses. The subject assigned
| to him was: "The New Era of Irriga-
;ion." and was as follows:
1.-The industrial history OF Colorado
| in written in seven chapters, each
forming a successive era of its prog
ress, The first era was that of gold:
| .hen came the live stock industry, and
with 1t the vast herds of cattle upon
the range; following in due time came
| the railways; next came the silver
mines, yielding fabulous fortunes and
starting afresn the tide of western I'M
| migration. Following naturally, agri-
| culture, which had been restricted to
| the maintenance of the home in the
scattering settlements, grew rapidly
| into one of the leading industries of
the people, and the towns and cities
founded in the agricultural divisions
| of the state have grown rich and pow
| ertul.
"Colorado's agricultural development
has demonstrated that 1t is the home
| seekers ideal. Our delightful, health
giving climate. the fertility of our soil,
and our excellent irrigation systems.
| together with our other varied indus
| front rank among the wealth-produc-
| ing states in the arid belt of our coun-
try.
Irrigation has transformed many OF
| Colorados once barren and arid plains
and mesas into beautiful farms, now
occupied by prosperous and enterpris-
| ing farmers, men whose notes and
promises to pay are always gilt-edge
paper.
"One journeying through Colorado
| will find in almost every valley fields
| of grain and grasses, and may behold
| orchards, and vineyards, which have
been made to flourish where but few
years ago was an uninviting desert,
where once unsightly and seemingly
useless stretches of land have been re-
claimed and transformed as though by
magic into wealth producing farms, by
| distributing over such lands, through
| artificial channels. the waters that flow
| from the snow-capped mountains OF
| Colorado.
"Colorado's irrigation laws, with one
exception, Wis: the irrigation district
| law, differ very materially from the ir-
rigation laws of the other states. Our
| state has been the scene of an inde-
pendent development of irrigation laws
| and customs. In years past there has
| been much litigation over ditch and
| priority rights. but Notwithstanding
| this we have made remarkable prog
ress, and titles to water rights have
| been cleared up by the decisions of
our Supreme Court to such an extent
| that the purchaser or dealer in irri-
CATION securities can now rely upon
| such security as fully as he can upon
| the titles to land securities.
when Colorado was first settled but
few of the pioneers paid any attention
| to agriculture, so that that industry
| was restricted to a few scattered set
Elements, but by 1870 the wonderful
fertility of Colorado's soil had become
known. and from that time on and par
ticularly from 1880. agriculture grew
rapidly into one of the leading indus
tries.
THE growth of our agricultural, hor-
ticultural and stock interests have al
| ready reached a value almost beyond
belief. For instance, the estimated
value of farm, range and ranch prod
ucts for 1905, aggregating $73.000.0O
far exceeded the value of the mineral
products of Colorado and the length
| of our irrigation canals has already
reached the amazing aggregate of H.
900 miles.
"It is estimated that the area of
lands improved and under cultivation
by irrigation in this state is upward of
1900, 900 acres.
I'm Prof. Elwood Meads work en-.
titled Irrigation Institutions, he says
of irrigation in Colorado: In number
of important particulars Colorado has
been leader in irrigation affairs.
There are more miles Of canals in Col
orado than in any other state. Her
| hn CT Va
| supplies the rivers flowing into and
through the surrounding states. To
| Colorado belongs the credit of having
| been the first to enact code of laws
for the public administration of
| streams The first settlers in
Colorado were MeXicans, who estab-
| lished themselves in the southern part
of the state, built small bitches and
| cultivated small farms. The present
irrigation system of Colorado had its
birth in the northern part of the state.
along the branch of the overland trail
which followed the South Platte and
Poudre.'
AT first small bitches were taken
out to carry water from the natural
streams to. the ranches Of the early set
tiers. Later large ditches and ca
nails were built by some mu-
tual or cooperative companies
| composed of farmers who used
the water on their respective lands,
and others by what are commonly
called or designated as common car
| rier' companies. But few of the latter
companies were a financial success, for
many reasons: many we're compelled
to go into bankruptcy, and most OF
them have since been reorganized and
are now owned and operated as mutual
or cooperative companies.
1.-The limit of development in most
of the older settlements, by means of
bitches taking their supply of water
j from the natural streams, has long
since been reached; that Is. all of the
flow of such streams has been appro-
priated except in food time. so that
the farmers who depend upon irriga-
zion and desire to be in position to ma
ture their crops needing late irrigation,
have been compelled to resort to the
| construction OF storage reservoirs, and
particularly for maturing such crops as
alfalfa, potatoes. sugar beets and small
fruits. In fact, as has been suggested
by one writer, the ability to obtain a
late water supply through storage has
| also led to a change in the character