La Junta tribune., 1909-01-30
SATURDAY. JANUARY 80. 1903.
One Of Our crsa, irrigation Enter.
prises.

PoJcCt III NOlOTduO, Ntitco No, 6iNhhs
some interesting Information concern
ing the present status Of the canal
and Its reservoirs. which Is as fol-
lows
AS great many irrigation propo-
sitions have Leen developed and are
under construction at the present
time, 1t makes one wonder how and
where the great work will end. and
what is in store for the Arkansas
Valley in the way of irrigation en-
terprises In the near future. So far.
with very few exceptions. there has
been too much land for the water
supply. a condition that has worked
a great hardship upon the people who
depend upon agriculture as a means
OF sustenance. The difficulties are
usually overcome in time. but very
seldom by the people who first at
tempt to solve the problems encoun-
tered. This Is for the very simple rea-
son that II you have not sufficient
water supply direct from the river,
your ditch must be backed up by res
ervoirs, which in most cases cost as
much as the first outlay in bui ding
the ditch.
Being a water consumer under the
Fort Lyon Canal we will take this en-
terprise as an example. In 1884 the
ditch was constructed from the pres
L. 10
tance of sixteen miles, and it had a
decree OF 164 cubic feet per second
of time. In 1887 the Fort Lyon was
enlarged and extended. and II is now
113 miles long. with an additional de-
cree OF 597 cubic feet. making total
OF 76l cubic feet of very early water.
In after years. however, 1t was found
that during dry seasons there was a
shortage OF water. and the company
commenced looking up reservoir
sites. The Fort Lyon now has a
chain OF reservoirs with capacity of
101 ,55S acre feet and 10000 acres of
land to use this great water supply
upon. This amount of land, with the
761 cubic feet of cary water backed
up by the immense reservoir system,
makes the canal second to none. In
fact, do not know Of any irriga-
tion project that can equal 1t.
An idea of how these reservoirs are
filled, and also how the water is run
in the main canal. will probably be OF
interest The Fort Lyon Canal Com
pany has constructed an entirely
separate ditch, several miles above
the main canal 1t is forty-three
miles long with a capacity of 500
cubic feet per second of time. This
ditch supplies the Horse Creek and
also the Adobe Greek reservoir. and
is used exclusively to carry water
during the flood season and in the
winter time.
The company has also taken a
ditch out OF Horse Creek. five and
one-half miles long, with capac-
ity Of 1000 cubic feet per second.
which Ills the Horse Creek reser-
voir, and one out Of Adobe Creek,
, five miles long. with capacity OF
! 900 cubic feet per second. that
empties into Adobe Creek reservoir.
These two creeks carry immense
floods every year.
The Thurston lake Is filled through
the main canal. and takes out and
empties back further down the canal.
The Queen reservoir is filled by the
Great Plains reservoir system. and
We are entitled to this water through
. trade.
The capacity Of each reservoir and
IT. location to the main canal Is as
follows /:
The Horse Creek reservoir empties
Into the main canal sixteen miles
from the headgate. The outlet ditch
is four miles long. and - the DIS
tance is 70 short from the reservoir
there Il NO loss or waste in getting
II ino tthe main canal. The reservoir
has . capacity Of $500 acre feet.
The Adobe Creek reservoir Is about
ten miles east Of the Horse Greek res
ervotr. With = capacity Of 61.b75 acre
feet. Il empties into Adobe Creek
and Il taken up in the canal about
five miles from the outlet. The
Ihurston Lake q 5000 acre feet ca
pacity. and also the Queen reservoir
u 6.4sa acre feet capacity. are fur-
tAsr depn Ne cenal. Win vefy con
venisat eutlst ditchss.