The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1911-05-03
Irrigation Systems

state of Kansas and the state of
Colorado. over the question of pri-
ority rights to the waters of the
Arkansas river. before the Supreme
Court of the United States. a few
years ago. testimony. absolutely
proving these return waters. saved
the case for Colorado. For by the
use OF the water of the river by
the farmers first In Colorado. their
Fields. meadows. and orchards are
nourished and made to produce; the
water afterwards passing by seep-
age back to the river, to be used
by the farmers lower down the
stream. even in Kansas. This is
the condition now. and 80 IL ever
will continue. so long as artificial
irrigational Is practical In the upper
Valley. Irrigation engineers, who
have studied this great river of
the plain. and its habit of secret
ing its waters in the sands, esti-
mate that the moisture IL supplies
for irrigation Is made to do duty
two and one-half times before II is
lost.
The important canals which are
used for the Irrigation of the farms
OF the Arkansas Valley Beet Sugar
and Irrigated Lands Company are
the Fort Lyon. Buffalo. and Amity
canals. which are delivery canals:
Kicking Bird and Lone Wolf. which
feed the company's reservoirs: the
Comanche and Pawnee. which drop
from the reservoirs into the Amity.
The Kicking Bird conveys flood
waters from the Fort Lyon canal
to the reservoirs.
The Fort Lyon canal is II3 miles
hong and SIXTY feet wide. 1t has a
decreed appropriation of s33 cubic
feet of water per second. and
carrying capacity of 1000 cubic
feet. II carries water about fifteei
miles north OF the river in places.
and is designed to irrigate 10000
acres
Buffalo canal has a decreed ap-
preparation OF sixty-seven cubic
feet per second. Il is sixteen
miles long. ten feet wide. bears
away four miles north of the river
and is designed to irrigate 1000
acres.
Amity canal was dug and put In
service many years ago. at a cost
OF $750.0OO. Since then. It has
been very much improved and
strengthened. and lately II has
been enlarged. Its intake is near
the site of old Fort Bent. twelve
miles west Of Lamar. and original
iy 1t was ITO miles long. thirty
miles of 1t carrying water over in
to Kansas Since then. the Kansas
section OF u has been abandoned.
fore the recent enlargement. the
canal was twenty feet wide. carry
ing a decreed appropriation of 2S3s
cubic feet of water per second. and
utbA6hcu " hAA6"et "N'NN"
of land, some of 1t twelve miles.
distant from the river. Besides the
increased supply made by the re-
cent enlargement of the canal. 1t
has the Great Plains reservoirs
to draw upon. These are for the
storage of floodwaters. and their
capacity is $4,000 acre-feet; that
is to say, water enough to cover
$4,000 acres a foot deep. In this
altitude twenty-nine inches Of mois-
ture. yearly. including rainfall. are
enough for the irrigation OF an
Acre of land.
The Great Plains reservoirs. five
in eli, lie in theplain on the north
crn edge of Prowers County. with
in twenty miles north of Lamar.
They cover $4,000 acres. having so
miles of shoreline. and their great
est depth is ninety feet. The pur-
pose of these reservoirs. receiving
their storage in flood times, is to