Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-08-16

below Rio Grande City is possible
and practical. Such reservoirs
would become a protection against
floods in the Lower Rio Grande VAL
le. In 1911 every irrigation COM
pany used all water wanted, or fully
$50 thousand acre feet, from Mis-
sion TO Brownsville.
Above this amount used the sta
.tion at Brownsville registered three
million acre feet gone by and to
waste in the Gulf of Mexico. Be-
tween Roma and Brownsville at
flood times millions of acre feet of
water leave the banks Of the river,
this water never being measured.
For instance, the discharge meas
urements at Roma station for Sep
TENDER IL. IS, 10 and 20 was H.
339 second feet, or in four days,
200,46O, O96, 1000 gallons of water.
This water on reaching the Browns
vile station on September 10, 90, q
and % registered only 24,70S sec
ond feet, or in four days 62,947,-
1876, 900 gallons. Consequently
there were lost through the spillway
80, $50 second feet for four days, or
1892, 1876 gallons of water. If
this water had been stored only four
days would have given us an amount
sufficient to irrigate fully 100000
acres Of land twelve inches deep.
Considerable of this water leaves
the bank Of the river and goes into
the Olmos creek, in the st. Domingo
bank, in the Negro ranch, in La
Giulla, in Lake Aguaicha, in Lomita
ranch, in Santa Anna lake, and in
the Arroyo Colorado, and through
hundreds of other spillways. This
amount of water in the course Of a
year is greater than the water reg
istered at the Matamoros-Browns
vile station.
BY retention Of this flood water
during the period of precipitation,
or high river, the flow Of water in
! the river will be equalized and made
uniform, and would not be so de-
, structive to the lands of Hidalgo
and CanaroD counties
The National Irrigation Congress
at Spokane drafted ONE resolutions
demanding five billions of dollars,
which included one for drainage,
one for irrigation, one for water
ways and one for forest preserva-
ton. President Taft approved the
plan for distribution of the money
as advised by a special board of army
engineers, recommending the appor-
tionment Of twenty million dollars
for reclamation and protection work
to be done as follows:
Salt river, Arizona, $495,0OO.
Yuma. Arizona and California
81, 200, 600.
Uncompagre Valley, Colorado, ST.
SOC, 900.
Palette Boise, Idaho, $4,000, 900
Milk river. Montana, $1,000, 900
North Platte river Nebraska. 81
100000.
Turkee, Carson City, Nevada
s1,193,O00.
Rio Grande, Texas. New Mexico
and Mexico, $4.5OO,OOO.
Umatilla, Oregon, s325,00O.
Klamath. Oregon and California
$500. 900.
Strawberry valley. Utah. So
272,OOO.
sunnyside and Pietors, Washing
ton. $1,125,0OO.
Yamina. Washington, S665,OO0.
! Everybody's business is nobody:
business. No is in a position &c
outline a plan. No individual OF
/ corporation will spend the money
necessary to employ the high class
engineers TO decide on locations and
go through the matters in details,
and further the movement to secure
the necessary permission from state
and federal governments.
The rainfall in Mexico and this
section i very erratic and this
proposition of the storage for water
on a large scale is and will become
interesting.
Outside the possible 100000 acres
of land which at present has and
viii have irrigation facilities. there
are a million or more acres of good
Agricultural land contiguous to the
Rio Grande river which would be
first class tillable soil provided that
water which today goes to waste
and really destroys, will be stored
to irrigate it.
One million and more acres of this
land would be worth fully two hum