The Springfield herald., 1907-05-31
'PRAIRIET0 BLOOM
WILL FLOOD $4,000 AcREs IN
NORTHERN COLORADO.
2,ooo,o 100000 CUBIC FEET
The Spirit Of "Greater Colorado" 10
Spreading and Thousands Of Acres
Of Arid Land Will Become Fertile

Farms.
Fort Collins, Colo.-The most impor-
tant real estate deal ever closed in Lar
F. C. Cradle sold 4S0 acres nine miles
northeast of this city to the Cobb Lake
Reservoir Company for $4,000. Tho
size of the tract and the price paid are
commonplace events, but the accept
ance OF $4,000 by Cradle for land
worth double that figure rather than
delay the construction Of a reservoir
that will hold O00,OOO,00O cubic feet
of water, a sufficient amount to flood
$4,000 acres of raw prairie land two
feet deep, reveals greater Colorado
spirit that marks the beginning of a
new era in the state.
The construction of a dam that VIII
make Cobb lake useful as a reservoir
is received by the people. here with
about the same degree of enthusiasm
that most towns welcome the building
of a new railroad or n sugar factory.
This reservoir, when completed, Will
be the greatest in the state in point OF
capacity and at the same time 1t will
cost less to construct it than many
holding quarter that amount. 1t is
located nine miles northeast of Fort
Collins and covers / 100 acres. The
natural capacity of Cobb lake before
any work is done upon 1t, is 1000. .O00,-
900 feet. he remarkable character of
the land surrounding the proposed res
ervoir makes it possible to double its
capacity by the construction of a 500
foot dam.
The water stored in Cobb lake will
pe used largely in this capacity
through the exchange system. The
North Poudre Irrigation Company
owns forty-one per cent. of the water
and the Mountain Supply Ditch Com
pany of this city owns one-twentieth.
The remainder of the water probably
will be sent down past Ault to the
Crow Creek country. where large
area is to be under ditch.
Construction work has begun on the
Halligan reservoir twenty miles north
west of this city, the total cost being
estimated at 100000. The reservoir
will have q dam 200 feet wide at the
bottom and 400 feet at the top, which
will be 10 feet above the base. The
dam, when completed, will back water
for mile and half. The site of what
Is now known as Jack Bells resort will
have ten feet of water over ii. This
will be the greatest flood reservoir in
the state, as II is located in the edge
OF the mountains and drains an area
extending 10 and beyond the Wyoming
line, region where heavy rain storms
are frequent.
Commissioner Armstrong stated that
there is an abundance of water to fill
the projected reservoirs and that
though Cobb lake will hold 2,000,000,-
900 feet, 1t will be possible to more
than fill it with the regular flow from
the river three years oft of four at
the least calculation. With the addi.
tional water that is to be brought over
from the Grand and Laramie rivers
there will ue more than enough to fill
all the projected reservoirs.
The exchange of water, system OF
reservoir management peculiar to this
section of the state, under which a
farmer may store water a hundred feet
lower than his farm and yet avail him
self Of its benefit by taking water from
some reservoir located above his land
not only makes it possible to get the
greatest benefit out of every drop OF
water that comes down the Poudre
river, but it also enables the farmers
here to turn the recent storm that de-
stroyed millions upon millions of dol
lars worth of fruit from coast to coast
into dividend-payer of the gold mine
class.