The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-09
they will carry off any possible tor

they will carry off any possible tor
rent.
The delivery canal is 6 u feet deep,
6 5 feet wide at the bottom and As feet
wide at the top, cut through the east
bluff. Two main canals carry the
water to the fieldS-one. on the east
side of the river and one on the west
side. The water divides near the dam
The west canal is carried over the
river by a cement aqueduct 400 feet
long, by As feet wide, and beneath
Dark canyon, torrential stream, by
a cement siphon $50 feet long. Not
a foot of wood is used in the construc-
ton of any part of the Carlsbad pro-
ject, from the reservoirs to Black
river and Red Bluff. The entire work
is of cement and iron, except of course
the earth and stone achievements
Even the gates are of iron and cement
1t is a work that will endure for all
time. In it's construction the englneers
have had the lesson of the failure OF
earthen dams and spillways which were
adopted by the Water Users assocla-
ton, which originally established the
Carlsbad project For a short time this
association supplied water for limited
area of land, which became no less pro
ductive than the land adjacent to the
northern canal near Roswell; but hoods
project was taken over. by the gov
eminent and now it has come to stay.
What 1t Will Cost.
The Carlsbad project will cost about
S27O OOO including maintenance, which
is to be refunded by the water users
in ten annual assessments. The govern
ment, by the terms of the reclamation
act operates this and all other lrrlga-
ton projects it constructs until the
cost, without interest, or profit, is re-
antee that the work will withstand
floods or leaks, but when government
builds it builds wells. Before 1t sticks
a pick in the ground, lays stone or
,olx five
it takes measuI ements of floods ana
normal flows and otherwise gathers in
formation. Thereby when it begins
work is promised every guaranty with
the work will endure.
The first apportionment of water from
the Avalon dam is 10000 acres, and gov
eminent experts have selected the
lands. This is for the normal flow OF
water. In addition, there are within
reach of the canals $4,000 acres more
which later, by allowances from time
to time. as the government engineers
may determine, will be given water.
Beside all of this, there is an area of
$4,000 acres, which the engineers de-
which may in time be given water. No
person, by the reclamation act, may
have water for more than 100 acres.
The Carlsbad and the Hondo pro-
jects have been under the direct SUI
pervision Of Mr.. w. NJ. Reed. an ex-
perienced civil engineer of Roswell.
Mr. Reed also is member of the
board of consulting engineers for the
entire arid region of the United States.
This $4,000 acres or more which the
Hondo and the Carlsbad projects will
bring in is new land, reclaimed LAND,
which heretofore has been only pas
ture for sheep and cattle. 1t is some
thing to boast of and for the enter
prise of the towns of Roswell and
Carlsbad, whose markets especially
will be benefited by the reclamation,
to advertise.
However, it only is a fragment of
the vast acreage of the valley which is
accessible to water and which will be
made productive by irrigation. Even
now much more land in the valley is
under cultivation and made productive
by the artificial use of water than the
maximum area to be reclaimed by
these two projects amounts to; but
every added gain augments the whole.
and to subject this new land to the
uses of man a generous government
has made it available. The whole
Hondo and Carlsbad area planted in
alfalfa would yield in a single season