Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-06-27
THE EARTH TELLS
OF VALLEY OF
RIO GRANDE
Rare Opportunities Along fer
tile Strip Between Here and
FL PaSo Are Set Forth,


The current number OF THE
Earth the interesting periodical is
sued monthly by the Santa Zee in the
interest of the great southwest. con-
tains a number Of most interesting ar
ticles on the opportunities afforded by
the great valley Of the Rio Grande
between Albuquerque and El Paso.
The article is embellished with beau
tiful and typical views along the Rio
Bravo near Albuquerque, in So
zorro county. the Mesilla valley and
elsewhere. T.. l.. Nandegrift writes ON
"Irrigating the Fertile Valley Lands
of sunny New Mexico in which he
gives a detailed description OF the i'm
mense Elephant Butte reclamation
project. work on which IS now in
progress. The following figures on
the big dam, which have of curse
been published before, are OF inter
est:
The United States reclamation SER
vice has begun work ON an irrigation
project in the Rio Grande valley VI
New Mexico. which win reclaim from
the desert and make productive Tor
all time 200, 600 acres of land. 70
the present. only a diversion lam acd
bitches under it for the irrigation Of
the Mesilla valley, a subdivision cf
Ailt larger AdlltN Will We NNAlallutiTu
and the rest Of the work left until the
engineers perfect their plans. How
ever. since il will cost $500, 600 and
win water o 1000 acres. the diversion
dam is no small enterprise of itself.
The dam proper is about completed
and already water has been turllal
into bitches that have been III opera
ton under the community system
many years. These bitches supply
water for $1,000 acres, and the rest Of
the little valley will be given water
by the new bitches. 1t is a very pros
porous district, containing about H.
600 inhabitants
The entire project VIII cost 81, POO
900. one million has been appropr,-
ated by congress and the remain ltr
viii be derived from the sale of gov !
eminent lands lying within the dis
trict traversed by the Rio Grande in
that region. The plan is to construct
a big Ian in the river for the storage
of water. and to use the he'd of rhe
stream below by means of diversion
dams for its delivery and distribution,
The site chosen for the dam is a mar
row gorge of the river. about 12O
miles above El Paso, Texas. and nine
miles west of Engle station on ihe
Atchison. Topeka and Santa Re rail-
way. From this, the project takes its
name. "Engle.'
The Largest in the World.
The dam, which will be of cement
aud rubble concrete, will be set de-
tween bluffs OF solid rock. It's base
will rest on solid rock IS feet below
the bed OF the river and it will stard
1919 feet above low water. Al bed
rock the dam will be $50 feet long,
at river bed 400 feet, n at the crest
1850 feet, At the bottom the dam
will be $50 feet thick n at the top
20 feet, The spillways will be Is feet
below the crest Of the dam, making
a reservoir 1T5 feet deep at the lower
end. A roadway will be on top of
the crest. The dam viii be As miles
long and the width OF the valley. II
will cover an area of 3S,400 acres and
it Will have a storage capacity of
. ,000, 900 acre feet. 1t will be the
artificial lake in the world, Ii
Is proposed to capture and hold in
reservoir, until it is needed for
use, all of the flood waters of the
watershed above the dam IN New
and Colorado, tributary to the
Rio Grande. If 175 feet will not do
this, 20 or 40 feet will be added to
height of the dam, thereby maxi
ing the capacity Of the reservoir
000, 900 or 5000, 600 acre feet in
of 1000. 900.
But it is not probable that there will
be any need for a larger storage
capacity than 1000. 0G0 acre feet. That
Is a great deal of water. 1t means
water enough to cover 1000, 900 acres
IF land a foot deep. If it were posi-
Bile to put it all in a tank an acre
the tank would nave to be. $40
high to hold it. The lands Of
he valley below the dam will require
ibOut 500, 600 acre feet a year, leaV-
ng, if the reservoir once be full.
/ 400, 600 acre feet, less loss by evap-
)%ration, for dry seasons.
The yearly flow of the river Is $780,
acre feet. This has been learned
)y the engineers by sever years of OBJ
iervation. The purpose Of so large a {