La Junta tribune., 1911-08-19
o.ero Canal and II. s.or.s. a,9h...

the residents OF the Garden OF Eden
in which he propounds some Ques-
tons which he hopes will be duly con-
sidered and answered We referred
the communication to one OF the di-
rectors Of the Otero Irrigation Dis.
trict. Mr.. J. b. Craighead. who kind
ly consented to answer the interrog-
atories propounded. We hope that
the inQuisitor will receive some light
upon the storage rights OF the Otero
reservoir. and also as to just what
may be expected OF the reservoir In
both favorable and unfavorable years.
1t may not satisfy him completely.
but We hope 1t will at least enligh-
ten him TO some degree.
The letter from the resident OF
the Garden of Eden is as follows:
Il would like to submit the follow
ing question or questions to the col
umns of the great family journal to
be answered by you or some one who
u u PpSiNtoh w w Ho DpuEhA
land three years ago from the La
Junta Land Company IL WAS my
personal understanding from the com
pany. and also from the literature de-
scribing the land that bought
under the Otero canal, that the stor-
age reservoir OF the Oiero lrriga.
Ion ftt. L..
times each irrigation season. giving
twenty days irrigation each time.
which would make sixty days irri-
CATION each season. Now is II fact
face TO face. that II the reservoir fills
with flood water during the irrigation
season, that pait o. the water Is
decreed by the state water commits
sioner To belong to other bitches
The intent Of the above article is
to get u fun explanation as to
whether was uhsinformed at the
time bought the land from the com
pany. Has the Law been changed. In
tut last two years, governing the
. NV HNEANA W VI bt'fF AfN'i WI
Mr.. craishea1's Z ply follows:
In reply To the above communica-
ton as to whether the interrogator
was misinformed Ms to the water
'fssppiy me Orero- -ranaf. especial
4 ly that part OF II derived from the
Clear Greek reservoir. II is impossi.
BILE for the writer to say.
We. however. can possibly throw
some Eight on the storage of water In
the Giles Creek reservoir. Under the
law, AS enforced up To this spring.
no water could be stored In any res.
ervoir until. first. all direct appropri.
ators were supplied and second. until
all senior reservoirs were storing to
the full capacity OF streams supply.
Ing them. That is to say, all pri.
orities applying water directly TO the
land must be supplied first regardless
OF the date of such prlorities ss
compared to date Of storage right.
then reservoirs are allowed to store
In the order OF their priorities.
This was the ease up to March q.
1911. on which date u decision was
handed down In n case In the north.
crn part Of the state defining a
storage season and fixing the dat.
from November LIST TO March 3ist
Upon the handing down OF this de-.
cision the Clear Creek reservoir s,or.
I'd four days and has stored since on
various dates whenever under the
law water WAS available.
Now. at times this summer. the
volume Of water flowing In Clear
creek was greater than could be dis.
charged through the outlet at the
reservoir. Consequently. this was
stored and held until the flow In the
creek was low enough To permit of
Its discharge Into the river. when
II was distributed to the canals 10
which II originally would hay. gone.
! do not think any one would be
foolish enough 10 promi-. filling any
reservoir In the Arkansas Valley
once. twice or thrice In given year
because conditions vary too widely
from year To year
Data on the stream flow Of Clear
creek would indicate that We can
reasonably expect. In good seasons.
under the old law To fill the rcser.
voir three times: but In dry years
one filling may be IN. maximum
Under the new law and the recent
decision defining tho siorag. season.
W. arr sure ~ having n full rcarr.
voir ~ 900 acre feet by the first
Of April each year.
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