Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-04-23
THE GREAT BAsIN or THE
WEST.


Between the Rocky Mountains and
The Sierra Nevada lies a great area OF
relatively low land. though portions
of u are several thousand feet above
soa level. This is designated by ge-
ographers as the Great Basin for the
reason that few OF It's rivers flow be-
yond these mountain barriers. but
lose themselves In the desert sands or
empty into lakes whose waters are
losl' by evaporation.
Nearly al of the country included
la tho Great Basin rs truly desert land,
though the aspect of some parts has
been radically changed by irrigation
Most of the land Is exceedingly pro-
ductivo when water it supplied to IT,
as was demonstrated many years ago
by the MOrmOnE, who settled In Utah
aud founded "a strong aud prosperous
community that has since grown and
hranched out in many directions.
Many thousand desert acres have
been reclaimed I'm the Great Basin
and are supporting prosperous homes
nnd yielding large annual returnE.Ins
locations of two irrigation projects of
the government TruckCc-C arson
project. IN Ncvudn. ana the Straw
berry Valley project IN Utah. are IA
this arca. Tho new water supply for
the city OF Los Angeles IN taken from
the Great Basin through a long con
duit. the conception and construction
of which have been noteworthy fca-
lures in recent engineering develop
mcnt. Along certain edges Of the
basin. where II ascends TO mountain
crcsts like the WasatCh range in Utah
and the Sierra la California. There are
many valuable sources OF water pow
rr, some or which have been profi,a'
bis developed.
Naturally Ia such u region, the Geo
monte development at which H. So en-
tirriv dependent ON its water re-
sources. studies OF the flow nf streams
can not tail tu be Of the utmost Inn
portaucc During tho last twenty
years or more work at this kind has
been carried on by the United States
geological survey, ana the results are
! published annually In survey reports.
! Water supply Paper $40. just issued.
1 covers the results uf stream measure
mcnts made in tn Great Basin In
1911 Tho work was done In all parts
of the basin ana tho report which
contains zee pages, Includes records
of flow obtained at Sa stations. II
| is nude up largely pf tables giving
records of the Flow of the streams at
the gaging stations during the year
aud contains only such text as IL ne
| cpssary "a explain the tables. The Io-
port u intended for use of engineers
and others who desire Information IN
| regard To- tn quantity Of water In the
| streams at various times ian the year
/ in connection with the utilization of
/ the streams for various types Of ny.
| drnulic construction.
Great Salt Lake is the largest of the
water bodies OF the Great Basin, II
| receives and dlsposca of the discharge.
| except that which Is diverted for ir-
| rigation. of q number OF rivers, the
most important being the Bear, The
| Weber, ana the Jordan. other lakes
/ are owens Lake. which receives the
| flow from the owens river basin
Walker lake. into which Is discharged
the water from the Walker river ba
sin; carson sink, including Humboldt
lake. into which flow the waters OF
Carson and Humboldt rivers; and
| Pyramid and Winnamucca lakes
which receive the discharge OF True
! koe river. An these lakes Urc io'
! Gated In Nevada except the Great Sail
| AXE. which is In Utah. and owens
lake. which ~ Ia eastern California
In the oregon portion OF the Great
| basin there are number OF lakes In.
Guiding Malheur. Harvey and Warner
Lake Tahoe. which lies partly la Cal
lfornio and partly Ia Nevada. l. :
high Scrr0 lake, which receives tbs
water from the surrounding mountain
peaks and discharges " through True
lSee river into Pyramid and Winnie
mucoa lakes There are many Othel
bodies OF water Of greater or less in
p0rtahoe.
Cepies of Water-suppiy Paper al'
may be obtained free 81 charge on ap
I =