The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
LARGEST ARTIFICIAL LAKE
,ssr,AN PROJECT SURPASSED IN
THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.
,,..l. sam to Erect n Dam Which VIII Make
AZ Miles L0ng The ImpOundcd
water TO IrriEAte 10000 Acres OF
Arid L~And-McxicO 70 DeneHt by II,

FL pAsO, lc1', JUNG u0o'y
,haring the waters Of the upper Rio Grande
rib Mexico the Government or the United
et.tes has brought about q complicated
.olation with that republic and with the
cote az Texas and the Territory OF New
NsIico that, it is thought, may force 1t TO
r.,sin control OF the Engle irrigation project
and u,pervise the administration OF tho
enterprise.
Rv the terms of the reclamation act
GAGGED by Congress by funds derived from
,.les Of the public domain in arid districts
The Government constructs reservoirs ard
i1iootion systems and is reimburse by
,bs local water users associations in ten
,,rusl assessments. In the meantime the
Goveroment retains control Of the projects
md administers them, but when the Gov
eminent has been reimbursed fully without
interest or profit the improvements become
The nroperty of the local associations abso-
lutely, $780,,
When the act was passed il contemplated
only irrigation enterprises for the distribu-
,inn or water upon lands within the United
States. but now zones a treaty with Mexico
81, which the United States contracts to
deliver upon the soil of Mexico at the boun-
d,rv onposite FL Paso 10000 acre feet OF
water a year. This puts the Engle project
in a class 10y itself.
The treaty was made in settlement OF
,,ivate claims of citizens of Mexico against
The United States ~aggregating S3j 600 600
The claims had been accommodating for
many wears and grew out OF prior rights
IN the waters OF the Rio GraDde. II is now
thought that the general Government to
;nsur, the performance Of its contract may
he compelled to retain control Of the project
and in all likelihood administer it.
By the terms of the treaty this is to be a
sst,lement in full of the claims referred
10 and Mexico su%rrenders all right to the
waters Of the Rio Grande above old Fort
Ouitnan. To pay its share OF the Engle
project in accordance with the treaty
the Government OF the United States has
appropriated 81. 600. 900 out OF the public
treasury. The remainder of the cost will
he paid ont of a fund derived from sales
If the public domain. the Government
finally to be reimbursed by the local asso-
cations. The total cost of the Engle prof.
ret will be 81, ?n1.Oo
Tho reservoir will be the largest arti-
icial lake in the world, the Assuan lake in
The Nile taking second place. 1t will be
behind a dam set in Il narrow gorge OF the
stream 10 miles above III Paso and nine
miles west Of Engle. a station on the At
Gibson. Topeka and Santa Fe; hence the
name Engle.
The dam. which will be OF cement and
hubble concrete, will be set between bluffs
VI solid rock. Its base will rest on solid
rock as feet below the bed OF the river
and Il will stand 100 feet above low water.
Al bedrock the dam will be $50 feet long;
at river bed 400 feet. and at the crest 1,l5o
ieet. At the bottom the dam will be 1870
feet thick and at the top 20 feet. The spill
wavs will he IS feet below the crest Of the
dam. making a reservoir IFS feet deep at
The lower end. A roadway will be on the
Top Of the dam.
The lake will be forty-fve miles long
and the width Of the valley. 1t will cover
an area Of IS. 400 acres and it will have a
storage capacity Of 1000, 600 acre feet. Ii
is proposed to capture and hold in this
reservoir until it is needed for Use all
water supplied by rain and snow in the
basin Of the river and it's tributaries above
the dam in New Mexico and Colorado.
The capacity Of the reservoir means
water enough to cover 100000 acres OF
land a foot deep. II il were possible tc
put it all in a square a n with a surface
area Of one acre the tank would have to be
80 miles high 10 hold it.
The lands OF the valley below the dam
sill require about 6OO,O 900 acre feet a year
leaving, If the reservoir once be full, l ,4OO,ON
acre feet, less loss by evaporation, for dry
seasons. The mean annual flow OF the
riyeris 800. 200 acre feet. In the flow nearly
?per cent. is silt, which will be captured by
the dam. drawn out by understanding and
to enrich the fields.
From the bottom OF the reservoir II If
proposed to draw and turn into the river
again water, in uniform flow, sufficient
for the needs Of the laItds below. The
saturated needs OF the valley are 600, 00
acre feet a year. This is for 200, 600 acres
hut for the present only 100, 900 acres ii
taken into consideration by the engineers
or this area 10. 900 acres lies in New Mexico
1000 in Texas and $1,000 in Mexico.
BY the reclamation act no person MAJ
have water for more than 100 acres, bu
he must nav the annual instruments for al
the land he NAV own. This means that
person who may own more than 100 acre
will have TO sell the excess. or let it lie idle
The lands lie in little areas where tn
valley widens. At the head Of these area
diversion dams will be constructed an
water sufficient for the irrigation OF tn
lands below turned into the mother ditch
The first Of these areas below the Engl
dam is Las Palomas valley. the next /
Rincon valley, the next is Mesilla vale,
and finally Ell Paso valley, which runs int
Texas and Mexico.
The Rio Grande valley, like the Peco
valley eastward in the same latitude, an
the Salt valley westward in Arizona, is
desert in it's native State, but with waite
added it is remarkably productive. Thi
approved by the orchards and farms alread
in cultivation by irrigation in the Mesill
valley.
For many years community bitches hav
been distributing the water over abou
1900 acres, and men have become rio
by growing alfalfa, grapes. almonds, pc
cans, English walnuts and the more hard.
products of the north.
The Rio Grande valley is narrow an
therefore the water is more easily carrie
10 the fields. Part OF il has been undo
irrigation from time immemorial.