The daily sentinel., 1907-06-29
COLORADO THE GREAT
do hou Know How Wonderful Is the
States Irrigation Sys-
tem?-Hard Facts.
a foM lacLs alout LLn IrrI.nLInn II.

\ Few facts about the irrigation sys
TEN of the state OF Colorado.
Ihere are S,IGO miles uf main dit
ohes canals and tunnels Zoo the state.
There are 4.51U miles of laterals.
This means that these bitches. nIac-
ed In q straight line. would reach half
way around the earth at the equa-
. tor. They would be long enough to
reach completely around the United
States approximately 10000 miles
with yet enough left over tu carry
the water of the Rocky mountains to
, the Atlantic ocean. They would
stretch four times across the United
states from Quoddy Head In Maine to
Cape Flattcry, Washington. with stiu
nearly 1000 miles left over.
Two million eight hundred and
thirty-siN thousand one hundred and
thirteen acre feet of water are used
ia these systems each year Could
this water be confined tn one huge
reservoir, the dams and walls OF the
reservoir being built on the bound
airy lines of the county of Denver.
10 would cover nearly IA l-2 square
miles OF Denver to an average depth
OF go feet and nine inches. Ouy the
highest steeples and the roofs of the
Equitable ana other high buildings
would show above the Hood
Ih's amount of water spread out
would cover the whole state of Della
ware TO depth of two feet
one million eight hundred and
nliy-two thousand nine hundred and
uliN-two acres of land are under ir-
rlHailul in Colorado or a larger area
thm the entire state Of Delaware.
There yet remain One million. for
. |HlTT.rrrI u
acres of land. according TO the state
engineer office that can De placed
under irrigation without exceptional
cost of labor. This is exclusive of the
large tracts of land which are at
present supposed TO be al TOO high
| am elevation or too far removed from
A wafer source to make irrigation
praC. icablc
January /. 1907 there were three
| thousand three hundred and sixty
/ One more miles of irrigation ditches
and five hundred and one thousand
One hundred and eighteen more acres
of land under irrigation than there
wero January I 1906
At present there are approximately
200 reservoirs iu Colorado wherein
waters are iWpomded for irrigation
purposes. ~ Us estimated that these
! A'H'i NhlIH llhNttNN stNtN hundred
and fifty thousand acre feet of water
| all the time.
I'm the state eugineers' office during
/ the past year plans were filed for
! 9ll more reservoirs. each with ca
pacity OF from 1000 TO 500. 900 acre
! feet the total capacity clnimed he
! ing 5.SG015O acre feet. Plans have
also been filled for 1878 additional
ditchos. the carrying capacity of
which per second claimed for these
being 179.IGI cubic feet.
Il Since the FIRST of the current ycal
4 q companies have been iucorporat
ed In the state under fits laws foi
the purpose of furthcrinE Irrigation
projects In this state. These com.
| panies have a total capitalization ol
more than five and one-halr million
of dollars. and each company has the
| privilege of mortgaging any and al
! fits assets and TO increase It's capital
stock Whenever Il becomes ncccs-
sary for it to raise more money Ia
push the project further than ordin-
arily planned.