The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-10-15
THE DUTY
OF WATER

Owing to the large number of calls
for the following article on 1.-The Du-
ty of Water" by ]. ]. Hagerman, the
Record has decided to publish it
again. The article follows:
The Duty of Water.
Mr.. Editor:- The water question
seems to be uppermost in the minds
of many people aereabouts nowadays,
and a few words on THE DUTY OF
| WATER" for irrigation may be inter-
| esting to your readers
When the Pecos Irrigation & I'm
| provement Co. built the Northern
Canal in 1889 and 1890, AID the ca
| nails in the vicinity of Carlsbad, for
| the purpose of supplying water to
land owned by farmers, it issued wa
| ter contracts, agreeing to perpetually
furnish enough water annually to Gov
| er an acre of ground one foot deep,
| for S1-25 an acre. l was assumed by
| the Company that an acre-foot of wa
ter in addition to the rainfall would
be sufficient to produce good average
crops with shillful irrigation and
cultivation
At first there was more water than
the land irrigated required, as the
farmers were few and but little land
was cultivated. Therefore no system
of measurement of water was put in
operation, and neither the farmers
nor the Company knew how much wa
ter per acre per annum was being
1sed Like most inexperienced irri-
eating farmers, those under the canals
had a notion that the main thing re-
quired to raise good crops was ta-
flood the land with water. This alb
surd notion, with the fact that they
had to pay no more for the water,
whether they used little or much,
caused an enormous waste, and the
result of trying to raise crops by this
method was disastrous.
On the failure of the p. l. & l. Co.
in 1898. 1 bought the Northern Canal
from the receiver as well as all the
lands belonging to the Company un-
der the canal At that time between
two and three thousand acres of land
were irrigated. The canal was in
wretched condition physically, but |
repaired and improved it, and put it
in perfect condition at a large ex-
pense. l knew it could never pay
expenses, and that the few remaining
farmers would all go broke unless
water was used economically, and |
put into operation system by which
the exact amount of water used by
every farmer could be measured.
When | did this the farmers came
% me and complained that one acre
foot of water per anaum was not
enough to raise crops, no matter how
well they worked their land. | agreed
with them, and after much discussion
and a comparison of information on
the duty of water / agreed to give them
two and a nalf feet deep per acre per
annum. cor so much thereof as might
n tn
crops with sBillful irrigation and cul-
and with clean bitches in
good ORDER without additional charge
that if farmer used more
than two and half feet tor thirty
inches) per acre per annum he must
pay for the excess.
It took rs some time to get the sys-
tenn of measurement in good working
order, and at first there was a good
deal of kicking about it; but at last
it was perfected and acquiesced in to
the satisfaction of both parties. At
the beginning of the season every far
mer was given a card showing how
many cubic feet of water, he would
be entitled TO for the season. When
ever a farmer used water, he was Civ
en- a card showing how mucn he had
used. and now much he would be en-
titled TO for the remainder of the sea
son lIlS worked IKE a cldEul- E1N-
cry farmer knew Just how much he
could expect, and became careful.
Most of them had learned by sad ex-
Derience that good crops could not
be raised by simply flooding them
with water, and that cultivation is
even more necessary under irrigation
han it is where moisture depends on
rainfall The grand result of this sys-
tenn was that better crops were raised
* oil
er before, or than they had ever
dreamed of. The Warmers became
prosperous, the value " land rose en-
ormously and the canal for the first
time in it's history began 20 pay pro-
fit to its owner.
When this system of measurement
was put in complete operation, the
superintendent of tie canal was re-
quired to send to my Office a tabulat-
ed statement showing how much wa
ter each farmer had used during the
month, and at the end of the year
complete statement showing how
much each farmer had used during
the eight months of the irrfgating
season, and mere give you the record
for the fonr years ending with 1906:
1903, 81 TO inches.
1904. 2S $40 inches: 500 acres new
land put in cultivation.
1908, 27 - inches; 1000 acres new
land put in cultivation.
1906. % 1-2 inches.
The water was measured as near
me land irrigated as possible. usually
at the head of lateral ditch which
served several farms.
When I bought the canal in 1898,
nearly every farmer was in debt to
the Company for water rentals. Soma
CONTINUED on Page Four.)