El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-02
BIC DAM To GIVE
POWER AND WATER
WHEN DONE
Force of Water Will Be Utll-
lied to Operate the
Machinery.

Elephant Butte dam Will not only
supply the life giving waters OF the
Rio Grande to the chain OF valleys
along its course but il will also supply
power for operating machinery, Ior
lighting and transportation in these
valleys.
This announcement was made at the
chamber of commerce mass meeting
Thursday evening. R. F. Burgess, as
attorney for the Water Users associ-
alton. stated that the association mas
taken steps to have the power gener
ated at the big dam, developed anu
utilized as the common property Oh
the people of the valleys in connection
with the water rights. He said that
active measures are now being taken
for the utilization of this power
The gettogether meeting was the
largest that has been held in the
chamber of commerce building me
main room was crowded with business
men, ranchers and outoftown visitors
and the crowd remained until AFTER
the last speaker had finished, which
was midnight.
Pumping In Valley.
P E. Fuller, engineer in charge OF
the government pumping investga-
lions at Phoenix, Ariz., for more than
an hour gave a practical. business
mems talk on the possibilities OIL
pumping plants in the Rio Grande val
ley. basing his estimates on the re-
suits obtained in other valleys or
similar nature BY means of charts
and statistics engineer Turner estl-
mated the cost of operation OF pump
ing plants in the valley to supply wa
ter to the land until the supply from
the dam was available and to act as
auxiliary pumping plants in case OF
necessity even after the dam is DulIl.
He declared that such system OF
pumping plants was entirely practieal
for this valley.
Ideal Arrangement.
He said the ideal arrangement was
to have one pump for each $50 acres.
the farmers owning smaller tracts TO
cooperate IN establishing the pumping
unit. Electric transmission from a
central plant, he said, was the best
method of pumping water when IL
was possible to obtain this kind Of
power He advocated the use of pro-
Queer gas engines for pumping where
electric current is not available He
said that pumping against a 40 or 80
foot head was not Impractical when
producer gas engines are used He
submitted a table of figures for the Ell
Paso valley showing what could be done
with such system of pumping plants.
With a plant big enough to irrigate
would be S2S where a producer gas
pump was used, the power to be
originally generated from coal on a
cost basis of $40. The head against
which the plant would have to pump
! was fixed at 80 feet. The cost per
acre foot at the well was estimated at
81 90 and the cost OF water on the
land per acre per year, basing the es-
innate on three acre feet was $50.
he
vary directly with the head, increas-
ing as the head increased and MYERS
ley as it decreased. With alfalfa SELL
ing at SIS ton and with the land able
to grow five tons to the acre, the
rancher could make money on this
basis of water cost, he said.i
Engineer W. E. Anderson followed
the government expert with a draw
ing of, a pump showing just how it
could De Installed and how the water
could be handled He estimated the
cost of a completed power plant for
furnishing power TO drive these pumps
In the valley at $685. 200 or an average
OF s27 per acre, his estimates check
ing with those of engineer Fulier's as
TO the initial costs and amount of wa
ter to be secured.
Martinez Talks Business.
Felix Martinez followed the expert
speakers and gave characteristic
''gettogether talk" He urged cooper
alton among the people OF the city
and valleys and said that such a
plant could be built without difficulty
for putting water on the land until
the dam was completed. He said the
Water Users association would guar
antee one-half of the money for con-
structing such a plant If the farmers
would guarantee one-fourth and the
merchants one-fourth-
W. a. Sutherland, of Las Cruces.
spoke for the upper valley and
pledged their cooperation in anything
that was done for the welfare of the
Rio Grande section.
H. H. Schultz, agricultural expert
at the A. & NJ. college at Mesilla
Park. gave brief scientific talk on
the possibilities of the Soil in the
lower Rio Grande.
Judge j. NJ. GOggin closed the
speaking program with an appeal for
support for the chamber. of commerce
and for the things it stands for.