The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1920-05-29
DRAINING THE CENTRAL
RIO GRANDE VALLEY

to Do therefore 10 plan carefully and
Without haste nc ideal system for the
area IL u contemplated to reclaim.
pian u i~rreapeciiyc Uf apparent prHc-
ucability or cost and see where YOU
htndf That IL the conclusion the late
colonel Hopcwcll and I came 20 after
subject.
With this preliminary design once
determined upon all lesser projects
within the proposed area should, a.
Tar az possible. be made to conform
WIN u 20 that ultimately they would
constitute parts Of the completed
Whole. II seems probable from what
you have been saying in your paper
u from the preliminary invcstiga-
iUns We mhdc hat there are ynriour
areas Of considerable extent which
could now be ORGANIZED INTO drainage
districts under u present laws COR
undef amended laws1 aud have drain
age syftems completed on them which
would properly be integral PARTS OF q
completed. Whole.
Justifying Tiled Drainage.
Tho great initial expense OF a tiled
drainage system can only be Justified
on the basis that the land to be
drained thereby is to be- intcnHlvcly
cultivated and most i~rteiiigentlv used
No lands otherwise handled can stand
the cost. Drained land In this state
must aisn be irrigated. No irritation
project, public Or private 1 ever heard
OF was constructed y maintained for
the acreage cost originally cuntem-
plated, IL you know OF any such
would IKE to hear OF Il. No drain
age project ! have YET become ne
punintcd with u been Installed or
maintained at tho originally coutem-
Plated cost. White the Rio Urunds
water rights are good aud now fur
nish much water. any thorough drain
hte project there viii undoubtedly in
NolNc a complete reorganization Of
the irrigation systems now Ia vogue
aud consequent large expense. II Ia
pretty certain therefore That you will
not be able 10 properly drain the Rio
Grande basin without its cnstinr
large acreage cost. OF this fact your
neopie might as well. In the beginning
take notice.
How Costs Pile Tn.
As q recently appointed commits.
sioner of the Roswell drainage dis
trict. of the five districts In this
valley, ] am In touch with the details
or IT, affairs. when this district wns
re-organized five Gears ago IL vas
contemplated mat the proceeds OF The
Of s2e0. 600 of bonds would De
to huild the syatom COM.
rrising. ~ hen planned. Of approx
lmately ~ miles OF tiled drain lines.
When Major Hamilton aud / became
commissioners three months ago We
found that. after five years. oniy IS
miles or these lines had actually been
installed ana that the cost OF their
including The discount ON
the sale OF the bonds has been $500 .
1924 to date. 1 do moi cite this
ease with a view OF criticizlng the
management OF this district but to
illustrate % costs can Pile up. The
overhead eNpenscs have been consid-
The overhead expenses Of ans
public or nuasi public buSincs- are
The unforeseen expenses. due To rock
and quicksand aud other rauso. hay.
been considerable. The construction
have been seemingly endless
and are now u subject al contro ersy
with the contractors
study Pcco~ valley Districts.
This is tho first OF the drainarc
organized In this slate. Your
people would do well To look care
rully into our experiences over here
embarkiuE into the drainage
on "a large scale FOR there
b much to be learned from as. There
II much To be- learned about the un-
wisdom OF lily digcstcd preliminary
about the bad results OF faulty
about waste In poorly or
;anized bond snies-thorc Is % good
to be learned In other lines. In
he districts In the PrcoE valley AZ In 3