The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-09

basin for the~captnfe of the heavier
silt; and sluice gates and spillways
On the deepest or south side of the
basin is cement outlet controlled by
a headgate, through which and a short
canal below the water is discharged
into, the river again. Below in the
river are three dams, by which the
water will be diverted to the fields
three canals on the south side of the
stream and one on the north. By
these canals and their laterals the wa
ter will flow evenly without necessity
of changing Natures. grade.
The cost of fhe Hondo project, in
Guiding maintenance and operation
for 10 years, will be $2S0;00O- This
sum, by the terms of the Reclamation
Act, is to be refunded to the govern
ment in ten annual payments, the
same to be assessed per acre against
the lands benefited
Hondo reservoir is 400 feet higher
than Pecos river at Roswell, and the
perceptible. The lay of the land is
ideal, and the soil inexhaustible in fer
t1l1ty. Hondo's reservoir is credited by
the nrst appOrtionment of water with
10000 acres. and subsequent appor-
tlonments Will add 10000 more. When
the water is turned on and the farmer
plants his fields, this area, now arid
VIII ploom as garden, producing
nearly all the crops native to the tenn
perate zone. For it is the same soil all
over the Pecos valley, and wherever it
is watered andeplanted it yields in
wonderful abundance
In addition to this 10000 acres which
viii get the Hondo water, there is
vast area, of the same quality of soil
which will get no irrigation from that
source This land although it lays be-
yond the reach of the bitches and their
limited supply, is not without crop
value For it is underlaid with shallow
sheet water, which may be pumped and
turned upon the surface cheaply by
means OF gasoline engines. The farm
ers are doing this profitably in the Ar
kansas valley of Kansas near Garden
CITY, and why may it not be done in
Pecos valley? And it will be DONE Soil
so rich is not designed by nature to
lie desert forever, and science will
find the way.
The Carlsbad Project
From Roswell to the Avalon dam. 5
miles north of Carlsbad, it is 20 miles
The Carlsbad project includes two
reservoirs and system of canals
stretching p miles southwark to a
junction with Black river tributary
OF the Pecos, and below that nine miles
to Red Bluff. One of the reservoirs,
known as Mcmillan lake, is II miles
north of Avalon, and is to be used for
storage. Both are natural basins Me-
MILAN is similar in construction to
Hondo; earthen dams experimenting
intervening hills of the mesa. Avalon is
cement dam across the river, behind
which a natural sd depression of the
earth's surface makes room for an ex.
tensive reservoir. This reservoir is for
the distribution of the water by means
of delivery canal which runs aroun.
the dam.
The earthen entertainments of Nc
MILAN lake, supplem enting the mesa
aggregate 1900 feet. The lake, by an
irregular shore line, is 3 miles long by
wide. and its lower end 25 feet deep.
1t is shallow and its capacity is 10000
acre feet, but into it continually flows
at low water 100 cubic feet of water
per second, and at flood times 100000
cubic feet per second. For floods,
Mcmillan lake. water, when needed.
will be discharged into the river and
recaptured by Avalon dam.
Avalon lake covers 500 acres and
will hold 5000 faacre feet of water,
which Will be maintained by drawing
upon Mcmillan lake. Avalon dam is
at a narrow gorge of the river, and is
constructed of cement and iron, rein
forced with heavy stone on its lower
side and earth paved with stone on its
upper. The cement and iron are set
twelve feet into the bed of the stream
and the dam stands As feet above low
water. Including the earth and stone |
the base of the dam at the river bed
is 2G5 feet wide and at the crest IS
feet. The dam is not confined to the |
narrow gorge of the river, but extends |
the west side of the stream to the |
highest mesa. The total length of the |
crest is 1 $50 feet. The other end of |
the dam is set into a limestone bluff. |
Floods escape by cement spillways so |
firmly constructed and wide that