The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-10-15
Small Storage Reservoirs.

Inc storing Oh WAFER 1rOm springs,
creeks and streams furnishes another
means of providing limited water sup
plies for dry farms. During the past
few years large number of reser.
voirs have been built in Colorado. Ac-
cording to the State Engineer, sufti-
cient water was stored in reservoirs
in 1906 in Division No. l to cover more
than third of a million acres II
inches deep. The chief purpose OF
this stored water is to supplement the
flow in canals that are short during
the last half of the irrigation season.
If the Colorado irrigator considers it
a paying investment to store water
to increase his supply, the dry farmer
who eats canned vegetables the year
through because he lacks water to
grow them should not hesitate to do
likewise. 1t seems to me that for
every reason that might be advanced
in support of reservoirs for water
users under a canal. two might be
given in favor of the dry farmer above
the canal. The excuse SO often made
by the dry farmer that neither water
nor good sites can be had is seldom
true. Such reservoirs may vary in
size from the small one on the farm
supplying water for one or two acres
to the large cooperative reservoir sup
plying water to small portions of
score or more of dry farms. AS
sources of supply, there are the spring,
the small creek, the dry stream at
flood time, and the river. The cost
of storing water depends principally
on the site selected and the size. A
small reservoir costs much more per
acre irrigated. In the larger class OF
reservoirs water is usually stored for
less than $25 per acre-foot. Under
careful use III acre-feet will irrigate
an acre of orchards or vegetables. The
cost per acre for this class would thus
vary from $40 to $40; in the smaller
reservoirs it would be more. This,
however, seems small in comparison
to the net profits per acre that can be
had from such crops as strawberries,
tomatoes and decidous fruits.
WindmiIIs.
On dry farms where no water is
available for either winter irrigation
or storage reservoirs small supply
can often be obtained by means of
windmills. These wind motors may
reservoirs, lakes or wells for the irri-
cation of a small orchard and garden,
as we'll as for domestic and stock pur-
poses The extent of land which a
windmill is capable of supplying water
for depends on large variety OF con-
ditions. The chief of these are the
lift, or head, the kind OF mill, the We
locity and uniformity of the wind, the
economy practiced in using the water
and such like conditions.
One of the best types of windmills
operating under an average wind
movement of IL miles per hour should
pump sufficient water in season
through a lift of 20 feet to irrigate five
acres. The cost Of a mill of this kind
erected would average about $3.50.
Then, one should have as a necessary
adjunct to a mill tank or small res
ervoir to store the water until it was
needed for irrigation. A plant of this
kind if carefully looked after would
prove a paying investment even If the
first cost reached the sum of $500.
The annual interest on this sum, when
added to the expenses for operation,
maintenance and depreciation, would
be small as rule in comparison to the
net profits derived from five acres OF
irrigated orchard and garden.
Pumping Plants.
When water has to be pumped from
deep wells, or when a considerable
area of land has to be irrigated, some
kind of engine or motor is to be pre-
ferred to windmill. Pumping water
for irrigation purposes has reached it's
highest development in Southern Cal
ifornia, where about four-fifths of the
water used in the irrigation of citrus
orchards is pumped from wells. The