Arizona republican., 1908-09-17

what quantity of moisture is OriginaH ly available on the watersheds.
 With that information there can
 then be considered the runoff, and all those questions that have q bearing on the main object which is to keep as much water on the shed as possible un- til the season when it is needed. Then by authorative data by which the water in a certain locality, can be closely estimated, the scientific men can more readily determine the quan- tity and usefulness of the available water supply and can also note more accurately the success of experiments to increase the conservation by con trolling the runoff Prof. Bigelow came here particularly to confer with Engi- neer Hill concerning the placing of what is termed an evaporation plant at or near Roosevelt. for observations and measurements of the evaporation.
 The subject of evaporation is a com paratively new line of work. That is it has been given less scientific atten- tion than many other meteorological matters and conditions are so different in different regions that common pop ular information on the subject is of but small value in a scientific way. It is known in 8 general way that it is much greater in the west than in the east where there is more cool weather and a heavier precipitation. Also it is known in a general way that in many places the amount of water evapOrated in a given length of time is two or three times as great as the amount used for irrigation. For instance Lake Tahoe supplies the Trukee- Carson pro ject wi.h water the project being in one Of the dryest spots in the world yet a years irrigation from Lake Ia hoe only utilizes about sixteen inches i of water, while the evaporation amounts to thirty inches
 ] One of the most interesting projects under the direction of Prof. Bigelow is i that of the experiments at the Salton
 sea which will be very comprehensive | A temporary camp was maintained there this summer for a couple of
 months but the real work of expert menting has not yet been undertaken The weather bureau is not in the ! slightest concerned as to the fate oi l the Salton sea, other than the curios- lity common to all It does not care a ! rap about it's effect on the climate there or in the southwest, only insofar as a knowledge of the results reveal scientific facts concerning evaporation | It is only the scientific principles that ! the bureau seeks to possess Itself Of | So far as the climatic effect of the sea ! is concerned the bureau has demon strated beyond a doubt. says Prof | Bigelow, that it is practically nil. The ! influence of the rising vapor and the ! cooling of the wind as it crosses the | sea can be noted for a few hundred 1 feet only, as it has been by travellers on the trains that skirt it's edge but 1000 feet inland from the shore there
 is not the slightest evidence of any ] effect.
 When the sea began to fill the gov lernment date farm at Mecca seemed to be in danger and another was i'm
 mediately established at Indfo. Close observations were kept at Mecca where
 the water came to within a half mil,
 of the farm. There was not only tn,
 fear that 1t might be submerged, but
 the fear that the climate might be SC changed as to interfere with the cul-
 ture of dates which require a very dry
 air. It was found that the year follow
 ing the filling of the Salton basin was
 the dryest one ever experienced a
 Mecca since the orchard was planted