Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-13

feet from bank to bank: the debr
from floods left on the prairies f;
beyond the banks of the streams: II
+ uprooting and Judgment of lare
! trees; the rolling of huge boulders
80 to so tons weight down the car
? ons, and the data available in III
records OF the engineering departmer
OF any railway company in New Me2
leo, in order TO fully appreciate tn
volume and violence of the water
contained in the elemental deIuges n
the hills. Travellers and drovers com
PEELED to camp for several DAYS be
side any one of these streams waitin,
Tor the turbulent waters to subside 81
they can cross, fully recognize tn,
enormous quantity OF flood waite
wasted from the watershed. Will.
they are permanent streams in thu
sense that they always carry some
water, they are, near their source
%torrential in character. often one OF
these streams carries a volume of
water Of from 5000 to 10000 cubic
feet per second for Twelve to twenty
Tour hours. / know Of one measure
ment at Logan, New Mexico, on the
Canadian river in 1909, which showed
that the river carried 100, 900 cubic
feet ncr second and most of it came
IRON flood in the Cimarron, Vermeio.
and Red rivers in Colfax county, For
ages, these waters, more valuable than
all the minerals in the mountains
upon which they fail, have rushed on
to utter waste TO the Gulf of Mexico.
Lying to the eastward of this
range beginning just below the Ever
green foothills, and extending to the
eastern limits of Colfax, Mora, and
san Miguel counties, are vast stretches
valley, prairie, and mesa lands OF
such gradient and conformation as TO
be adapted perfectly to artificial APP
plication of these waters.
Natural Reservoirs.
Scattered Owe this entire scope of
country, as well as in the higher lev
OF the mountains and foothills, are
depressions and lakes, which,
small expense, cal be utilized as
'~eserVotrs; while, in the upper levels,
nearer the sources OF the streams,
ire many favorable sites where large
'eserve reservoirs can be constructed
It reasonable cost.
Farmers have learned that the
'est water right is the one with a
~esefVoir behind it. In most irriga- ;
ion systems which have not suffi- (
tent storage capacity, the streams {
re naturally short of water In the
ryest part of the season when the
lrmers need the water most. The (
III n subsoil Of this whole district {
re quite uniform in character and s
'vorable to the highest duty of /
alter. Tn soil is mostly q deep, rich,
locolate-colored sandy loan, with v
ay subsoil which holds the water a
here it is most available for plant a
This feature in connection
in the fact that the principal rain h
IL occurs during July and August Y
nders the duty of water extraordin- a
lily high. i,
Annual Precipitation. n
vernon l.. Sullivan, territorial en- q
neer, has expressed the opinion that il
this portion Of New Mexico, nine o
ches OF water, properly used, in adj ]
lion to the natural rainfall, will be te
itlcient on an average farm. on e.
1uiry of the farmers near Maxwell
~, Springer and Las Vegas. | have AZ
assured that this estimate is ST
lple. As a matter Of fact, irriga- D
n here may be regarded as supple Ia
'ntary to the natural rainfall. sc
The government records Of precipi- be
over the prairie and mesa por- -
n OF this area show a great deal -
re rainfall than most ~so-ca1led Il
sections have, with the M
'cipitation better distributed over w
growing season. w
precipitation at Ration. during N
was 1902 inches, of which 17.3I Xxx
occurred in May, June, July. W
gust and September. w
No records have been kept Of pre- TX
itation on the mountain watershed W
ntiohed but 1t is much greater NJ
n for the lower elevations. Ny
From such measurements Of RIM w
as have been made from the an W
i estimated precipitation. and W
n evidence on the ground of w
DIS in the streams. there can be M
deuot that this mountain water W
OF many thousand square miles w
furnish water to irrigate several W
area thousand aT99S of land In W
J OF the counties l have men rs
ed. W
'he government figures for the w
Off from the entire drainage area XXX
he Rio Grande in Colorado are W
acre feet for each square mile of w
ace or q runotf of nine inches per M
I'M Estimating the runoff from XXX
mountain and foothill area Of Col W
county at only six inches at alti- ~
$ of 1000 and 1900 feet gives nv
100 acre feet of water available III
rrigating the 513,000 acres of ir-
Die land, or nearly two acre feet So
acre. The average rainfall w
Z ABOUT seven TO eighteen inches III
would a a total water supply XXX
rty-nine inches per annum. W
theoretically, it is possible to store
utlilze nearly all Of this runoff. III
hcally 1t is easily possible to store W
utilize o and more of il each NJ
until with the increased flow of w
the raising of the ground ~
Z ana the Increased humidity of XIX /
lr, caused by irrigation of large M |
, an the farming land of this w f.
P district can be broght under w |
llghest state of cultivation. XXI
What Storage Means. p.
nat this mean in New Ncxico W l
De realized by seeing the wonder M /
suits Of irrigation in certain dis w /
IN Colorado, which only a few w |
ago. were ~treeless plains used III I
Tor grazing purposes. Now thew M 4
coupled by a numerous -popula- So 4
i prosperous farmers. with n st- w
NH every Few miles and lands XXX
at $500 to SAOO per acre. or XXI
districts where land is worth
; l,Voo To $1,000 per acre. having W
caring orchards. w
e native people and settlers Of "
Mora, san Miguel. and Taos w
"s have successfully groWn GER
i"ps-sUch as wheat. beans
season corn. sorghum and kafnr SIS n
without irrigation. for over fif- w 4
rs. n the Mexican people have M Il