The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-01-30
IRRIGATION WATER
ALLOWED TO WASTE
TOO MUCH IN STATE

Severe condemnation for the cur
rent practice In New Mexico Of allow
ing irrigation water to waste 60 "a.
large dcfree is cuntained In an ar
ticlo by r. L. BiNby. irrigation en-
gineer AT the state experiment station
at the Agricultural college. The ar
ticle is published In the collcge press
extension service ana Is az follows.
The universal prae,co OF %conye5ing
water In carthern bitches accounts Tor
the largest loss % irrigation water
fhia must be grouped under leaks,
CORPORATION and secpagc. Of these
the losses from scepagc are hy far the
greatest and che ouy way t.lH tau De
reduced or prevented is 1y providing
q inning of some imporeious material.
where clay ls available in sufficient
quantities IL may be made TO serve
very successfully as "a Iiuing for the
prevention OF scopwte. \ layer 90 clay
IL spread over the wcttCr portion ~
the canal or dilch and then mnistoued
sufficiently 10 make a pusty mass. a
herd OF goats should then De led or
driven up and down the ANAL untu the
bed of the canal and the clay cover
are as one mass. By addition OF
coarse gravel a clay cunctc1c may ne
made by rammiug the gravel into ths
clay mass before u has set ur hardch-
ed. During the irrigation season lt
would be well to keep such . inins
more or less muistcned 30 es 90 re-
o.t.. cracklnu to a minimum. rs the
addition of some sand thc ,.ay may
80 H . b.. .H....UNt 81. o. lin. IA
and when treated iu this mauue VIII
not crack as readily when exposed 10
the sun as when used without sand
Water diverted from our New Mex
leo streams carries more or less slit
aud In such bitches using this water
there Is very little need OF proNia'oH
TOT prevention of secpage. as the siit
performs that Office very well. MI
the development OF our underground
waters and the use Of the clear water
for Irrigation much water Is wasted
and land ruined through soepaRe from
bitches and carriers Of this 'lear
water. II BE- safe 10 estimate that oIteh
as much as nifty per cent Of water de-
uyered at the surface OF the Erouhn
whether from flowing wells or from
pumping NlNNhN - WAA'N
proper application and through Secp-
age. Both Of these losses can pc
rrmediod. The one through a sthdy OF
the proper use and application oil
water ana the other hy means oi con-
crete lined bitches and ilumes n %
means OF concrete pipes. Concrete
Innings are now regarded as b bcS'
for preventing secpRgc ana IN the
| long run the most efficient u ecu
nomIcal. The cost Of concrete lih'hs
varies with the thickness, n cost
OF materials aud laaor. Generally INC
/ highest cost does not exceed 10 t'hl.
per square foot Of surface covered ana
the lowest b. about @ cents per SQUARE
foot.
The frs cost OF concrete lining is
relatively high but where water Is ne
valuable as IL Is In u western states
this cost g. small compared WIN tI'
/ returns which might be made possiul,
with the water now wasiea' Nc"
/ Mexico irrigation farmers u p''
/ come alive To the fact thnt water u
! valuable and also that II must De con
! served and used economically both TOT
the sake of retaining larger areas
larger crop returns ana Tor tho pro-
/ lection Of areas already irlsateu'