El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-11
By R. BEDICHEK, DEMING, ". N.
New States

understood. the popularity Of the pump
ing system in New Mexico has sur
prlsed even its most enthusiastic adTO-
Gates. In the Roswell country, pump
ing plants have been installed in fall
ing artesian wells, and the farms and
orchards carried on as successfully as
before. In the Rio GTande and Nesilla
valleys pumps have been installed to
gravity bitches, and often to furnish
water to farms which have no rights
under the gravity system.
The Plant at PortnIes.
At Portales, in the eastern portion OF
New Mexico, a gigantic central power
plant has been installed Of 500 horse
power capacity. which furnishes cleo
tricity TO run motors that in turn Oper-
ate the pumps on the surrounding
farms.
In many portions OF New Mexico the
development Of arid lands by means Of
the irrigation pump has been almost
phenomenal, and especially is this true
Of the MimbreS valley in the south
western corner Of the new state. The
conditions in this locality are peculiarly
favorable to development by this meth
3D. and hundreds Of pumping plants
have been installed in the vicinity Of
Deming within the past Is months The
Deming district furnishes g typical eN-
ample OF what may be accomplished in
underflow valleys by means of the
pump.
In the 3IImbres Valley.
In the vicinity Of Deming in the
AIimbres valley, sand and gravel strata
carrying water in ineZhaustible Quanti-
ties occur at dspths varying from 90 to
200 feet This water comes from rains
and SHOWS which fall upon the vast
mountain ranges to the north, and
sink into the underflOW as the river
leaves the mountains The first water
bearing stratum is encountered in the
town Of Deming at about As feet. This
stratum becomes shallOWer east Of
Demtng until, eight miles out, It rises
#r MI d anH# he r-arrs H~-.-a
Of the town it sinks gradually. being
encountered at a depth of so feet one
mile west, 20 feet four miles west and
The depth at which this first stratum
is found is an index to the pumping
depth, for when the well drill pune
lures the stratum at $50 feet the wa
ter rises In the hole to point five or
10 feet above the first water line or
Water-bearing stratum. There have been
so many wells sunk in this valley and
the dip Of the water-bearing strata IS
50 uniform that it is possible to pre-
dict at almost any given point the ex-
act distance which water VIII have to
be pumped
Vary in Thickness.
Each Of the Water-bearing strata
vary in thickness from five to 30 feet.
and when the well is cased. a screen or
perforated casing is inserted In the
Water-bearing formation so that the
water can flow into the we'll When
pump delivering from 500 to 1900 gall
Ions of water per minute is set IN Oper-
alton, much Of the sand and small
gravel is pumped out. allowing the
cOarser gravel TO settle against the
screen, thus insuring ready ingress Of
the water to the pump. This process is
termed developing a WE'LL and fire.
uuenuy as much as a carload Of the
finer formation is discharged onto the
surface OF the ground
Since the installation Of the first ir-
rigatiOn pumps I'm the AIimbres valley.
land within the pumping area has
steadily become more valuable. With
the advent Of the pump. # became GER
tain that alfalfa, vegetables and various