El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-26
fBy R Bedichek.,


desert land is reclaimed un-
der one gigantic project such as
the Elephant Butte dam, or the
Roosevelt dam. or whenever q large
system Of drainage canals Is put IN
at tremendous cost, and thousands OF
acres Of swamp lands are turned into
productive fields-whenever reclama-
ton is done on a large scale. the
world hears about it through the
press. because it is big news. 1t is a
featurable event for which the news
papers and magazines hunger. It is
different however. when this work of
reclamation is done by bits and piece
meal. A pumping plant costing, say
$4,000, and retaining 200 acres of
land is not heralded through the pa
pers as a triumph of engineering skill:
the president of the United States
cannot be drawn from his official du-
ties to touch the button that starts
the pump as he started the water
through the Gunnison tunnel No; the
little pumping plant is started off
with no fanfare of trumpets. no OBJ
streperous rejoicing, and there are no
reportfrs photographers and magazine
writers on the spot to chronicle the
event with pen and camera The min
iature reclamation work is entirely too
small to be featurable. and hence 1t
attains no great publicity
starting a New Era.
But. curious as it may seem, the
starting of the first pumping plant in
the Mfnbres valley, unheralded as it
was.was nevertheless, just as important
as the turning of the water into the
Gunnison tunnel or the dedication by
Roosevelt Of the great dam in Arizo-
ma which bears his name.
tt was Just as important because of
the fact that it meant the reclama-
ton of just as large an area, and the
consequent production of just as much
wealth. If not more.
Tt is true that water did not begin
coursing Immediately down hundreds
of bitches, but the first season Of it's
successful operation meant that be-
fore another planting time there
would be so pumping plants just like
it in successful operation, and that
before another spring that there would
be $50 pumping plants. and so on In
short, it, meant that the reclamation
of the entire Mimbres valley was be-
gun, and that before the movement
stopped there would be over 100000
acres OF barren, desert lands converted
into productive farms and gardens and
orchards.
Gradual Development.
But this work is being carried on
gradually
Pumping plant after pumping plant
is put in: here 20 acres is reclaimed,
there 200 and each individual unit is
too small to create much comment or
draw the attention of the feature
writers and still the aggregate even
at this date staggers the imagination.
BY the end Of the next season II is
safe to say that $4,000 acres of land
in the Mimbres valley will have been
reclaimed, and the rate of reclama-
ton is constantly on the increase. In
short. we desire to impress this point
that the Mimbres valley has not at
tanned as wide a publicity as num-
Der of the big government irrigation
projects not because its reclamation
meant lessor was unimportart, but
simply and solely because its reclama-
ton is being carried on by different
and less sensational method and be-
cause newspaper and magazine writ
ers have as yet failed to realize the
significance of what is being done
source of ssunderfIow.''
The Minbres valley is what is
known as an "underflow' valley. The
water under it is not static, but it has
a definite and perceptibie flow Its
rate of motion can be determined, ana
hence the water is fed into the under
flow from a certain source and has a
certain outlet The source of the un-
derflow of the Minbres valley is the
rainfall upon the vast mountain ranges
to the north. Comprising some 400
square miles of rough and precipitous
mountain drainage, and where the
average annual rainfall is from "a TO
25 inches as shown by the records
kent at Fort Bayard for the last 80
wears. Competent engineers have es-
firnated that there is a loss of SO per-
cent of this precipitation by seepage
and evaporation, leaving a run-o1f OF
40 per cent A few moments calcula-
fion upon this basis will indicate the
tremendous volume of water that is
thus annually discharged into the un-
derflow of the Mimbres valley.
Realizing that an estimate of this
character might be misleading gov
eminent engineer in the year 1891
actually measured the water passing
a certain point on the Mimbres just
as the stream leaves the mountains
and before it sinks into the under
flow. and, by accurate computation,
discovered that at least $4,000 acre
feet of water passes annually into the
underflow from the Mimbres river
alone. This leaves out of account the
Silver City draw, which discharges
nearly as much water into the under !
flow at a point down stream from
the place where the measurement on
the Mimbres proper was made. 1t is
thus the absolute inexhaustibility of |
the underflow Of the Mimbres has
been demonstrated
Natural Filter.
The medium which conducts the !!
water under the entire valley consists |
of various strata of sand and gravel, |
sort of natural filter of the most eff |
fective kind The water percolating |
for 20. 80 and so miles through this |
material is purged of all impurity. It |
is pumped from the wells about DEM |
ing in q state OF nimaginabIe purity. |
Indeed, photographers everywhere |
smile fncredu1ous1y when we state to /
them that Deming water is 99.99 per- /
cent pure. They scott at it as the |
statement of 1ayman unfamiliar with /
chemical analyses v S. Hills. Sec
rotary of the Deming chamber of COM !
merce. received short time ago a let |
ter from an old friend of his, NJ o. /
Leighton. chief photographer in the
service of Uncle Sam, in which Mr.
leighton says: 'T wish your chamber |
of commerce would not advertise your