The Monte Vista journal., 1913-04-05
THE TERRACE RESERVOIR

| The construction on the bitches
and canals in the Terrace Irrigation
district is progressing very satisfac-
torily under the contracting firm OF
the Midwest Engineering company.
There are at the present time about
100 teams employed on this work
under the sub-contractors-Ow &
Co., L. j. Chapman, Pridmors &
Wetzler, Christensen & Co., and
Miller & Pollock.
They have at the present time
eight miles OF main canal completed,
| and eight miles of sub-main nearly
completed. besides thirty-six miles
of laterals. The headgates on the
main canal on the Alamosa river
VIII be completed in about a week or
ten days, and the headgate on what
is known as the Old Alamosa creek
canal and the dam in the Aamosa
| river is now in process of construc-
tion, with a force employed of about
25 men. Construction work on the
bridges and culverts will be COM
menced in the next few days, and
they will be raised to completion as
fast as possible.
The La Jara reservoir Is now filed
with water, and the Terrace reser-
voir will begin to store water as soon
as the floods commence to come
down the Alamosa river
1t is estimated by those in charge
of the district that there will be ap-
proximately fifteen thousand acres
of land in cultivation this coming
spring. A large portion of that will
go into peas, and there will be a very
extensive acreage planted in alfalfa.
During the past three or four
months, there have been erected a
number of new homes in the district
by the following parties: F. H.
Lauer, Charles Lauer of Norman,
Okla, Harvey Brownell, Frank Ber-
nard, Ralph Carey. Frank Bowdish.
G. w. Hawkins, r. l.. Stitt. c. C.
Hemming, and John E. Field All
of these are put up in permanent
fashion, and go great ways to in
dicate the permanency OF this new
cultivated area which will mean so
much to Monte Vista and vicinity.
1t is estimated by the engineers of
the district that the entire ditch
system, with something over 25
main headgates, 100 individual
headgates. and seventy miles OF
canals, will be completed by the lat
ter part of May of this year In the
water distributing system OF this dis
used. which is considered by the en-
gineers of the district and other
water men to be of 4 very superior
type, delivering an exact amount of
water to each individual user.
The water supply of the district
will be among tho best in the San
Luis valley, having approximately
three acre-feet of water for the en-
boundaries of the district. $1,000
acre-feet of this will be stored water
from the La lara and Alamosa reser-
voirs-the La Jara having a capacity
of $4,000 acre feet, and the Ala
mosa a capacity of 1900 acre feet.
The balance Of the water will come
from direct flow priorities from the
Alamosa river now owned by the
Terrace Irrigation district-ranging
from priority No. l to No. 35.
The Terrace dam has the notoriety
Of being one of the highest earthen
dams in the world and containing an
amount Of excess material equal or
exceeded only by two dams on this
continent, viz: the Wauchusetts dam
of the Boston water works and the
Gatun dam on the Panama canal
When this system is entirely COM
pleted and in operation. 1t will be
OF marked benefit to the towns of
Monte Vista and La Jara; and owing
to its location will be a source of
food supply for the new mining dis
tricts up the Alamosa and Conejos