The Greeley tribune., 1908-01-23
ALL ENJOY IT|HAVE VALUE
PUMPING PLANTS FOR IRRI-
NATION CONSIDERED.
PRO- =. G. Carpenter of State
hcultural College Gives
His Views on That I'm
portant Question.

Pumping will undoubtedly be used
to 9 Greater extent in the future
than in the past. There has been
an Increasing tendency during the
past Jew years for its use. The un-
fofttnnte experience in pumping
About. .nfteen or twenty years ago and
thss disappointing experiences due to
Eexpecting too much from pumping,
ihavs. prevented further attempts at
using It,unti recently.
Within proper limits. great deal
may be expected from pumping.
Whsn the water Is within moder-
ate distance of the surface of the soil
In quantities large enough to supply
= apod stream of water. and where
tlie material In the soil and sand is
co1lbe enough to furnish sufficient
stf9em, great deal may be expected
Of ~. Many of the earlier failures
Were due to lack Of mechanical skill
on the part of the people who tried
TO pnmp, SO that they were not able
to Keep their engines In repair, or to
m1Ae small repairs. A number,
however, have continued pumping
forsmany years, and some with great
su0eess
The cost Of a plant may be set
against the cost OF water rights In a
ditDh. Ths sost OF pumping will be
|pol idsiahay more than the usual
- lot nmepts; hence, unless the
f0S ed aAnt is lsas than the cost
|EUts4 q Sl4ht, sissfe u utaatiy M
economy. On the other hand, there
is the advantage that water may b.
had under favorable conditions.
whenever needed.
The scope of pumping is generally
limited. 1t is best adapted to small
areas. 1t is easy to overestimate
the amount OF water that we'll will
furnish. We very often hear of In
exhaustihle wells. Some OF these
statements are laughable, were 1t not
that sometimes they may be mislead-
ing. 1 have heard people say that
we'll was inexhaustible-that 1t
supplied enough water for five head
of horses.
When water is taken for irriagtion
it should be remembered that the
amount required for = good many
head of cattle would not furnish
much water for irrigation, and that
when 4 steady draft is made on the
we'll the water is lowered by . no.
ticeable amount; and unless the
water 10 furnished as fast as 1t Is
Withdrawn, tue volume of water
stored In the soil will be materially
reduced and the capacity of the we'll
diminished. No we'll has an mex
haustible supply. 1t should not be
forgotten that the water must come
from somewhere, and that it Is
either the rainfall or the inflow from
bitches around. Where the water
stands In the soil 1t Is practically q
small lake. and hence, as the water
is reduced in level, the supply may
be permanently lowered. and it will
be unless the inflow is equal to the
discharge and there Is time between
the periods OF pumping for the level
to recover.
Fortunately there are many places
in the river bottoms where the gravel
and sand Is coarse and where the
water can flow with relative ease
Under these conditions the we'll may
furnish one fourth of gallon OF
water per minute for each foot that
the water is lowered, and for each
square foot of area of the whole sur
face. The rapidity of the inflow
would increase Us the water Is low
cred, within certain limits, so that
for every ten feet of lowering of the
water table, every square foot VIII
be apt TO furnish in the neighbor-
hood of three gallons minute. This
lowering of the water may be ex-
pected and especially under severe
pumping II it RECEIVERS rapidly AZ
ter the pumping has stopped, then
there need be no particular anxiety
felt about the supply up to that ex-
tent.
The effect on the permanent sup
ply may be examined by sinking
some small wells, or holes. which
will 60 down to the water surface