The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1920-01-02

The Elephant rultc dam uernos
the rio cfnnte N New Mrxlco says
the las Cruces Citizen. ciahly-lwo
miles north OF m paao, completed
~ The II. 3 Reclamation Service.
May AZ. iola forms the greatest
El0faRc reservoir IN The u0rld. The
dam u the largest structure Of ~
Kind ever undertaken By lhe gov
cfnmrnl ~ foundation lies 400 feet
below the he'd OF the river with q
base 2l5 feet thick. IT. crest Is 3oi
feet above The bed rock. with a
width Of eighteen feet exclusive Of
pararcia which form a permanent
roadway from wall 10 wall Of The
canyon. a distance Of t.21t feet The
dam contains 100000 cubic yards Of
masonry.
The maximum length Of the rcser-
Volr Is Is miles; the shore line y 200
mica The average width Of The
reservoir u one and ihroe-qnnricrt
miles. The available capacity Of
wafer for irrigation a 2.00o.ooo acre
feet, Tie total capacity 4000oQ0
noro-feel which equals o2 2o0.OOo-
600 SALONS or iiAeo8ooooo cubic
feet
1ho water n spread one foot deep
would cover l16 square miles. or
On ARA twice that Of the state Of
Delaware.
The maximum depth OF The rescr-
voir near the dam IA l93 feet; the
average depth OF The entire lake.
IS feet The area OF the surface Of
the lake. nlll. will be 10000 acres
M AM.NIA".A A..A|..N.|A ~
weir and tunnel. Tho length Of the
weir Is 2l5 feet divided into Eve
sections. The elevation 81 The crest
Of the weir h 100 feet above The or
ieinnl river level. The height OF The
weir. from crest 10 roadway 10 seven
feet. The spiilwny u SPAWNED BY
eve eQncreie arches Of nfiy-nve feet
There are two sl~uico-gnles IN The
dam. six peusiock- eates, four SER
vice-entes and four balanced valves.
The lower three ponstock gates and
the two slulco-galea are twenty feet
above river level; The lower service
gates sevcn feet All gates are in
stalled Ia a separate structure near
the east side of The old river bed.
This leans against the dam but sep
arato from II.
Sufficient water will be lmpound-
Cd IN this reservoir b irrigate The
entire Rio Grande valley for three
years should no rain or snow fall
IN the mounlaina 80 that there BE-
no need OF fear Of dfauehl there
being a all times an abundance Of
water.
This water h 70 Irrieate the VAL
ley lands two hundred and twenty
miles below aud sixty south Of VI
paso IN Old Mexico.
The reservoir dealgncd 10 hold The
precipitation Of the rain aud snow
OF Two and a half years over the wa
lef<hed Of the hio 0rande valley
above, will water two hundred thou
sand acres below, Of which only six
ty-ive thousand acres arc now in
cultivation. The system o. canals
lying below the dam comprises 49,
miles.
The river bed a being used BY the
man canal Of this great irrigation
system and diversion dams are built
al necessary Intervals below 10 lufn
The water into The tornls and bitches
TO be- spread over the fields.
The LcaSbnrE Division dam. A
miles north Of Las Crucps, furnishes
water 10 irrimie all the land south
on The east side 0f The river Ia
some lNeulV miles south 81 Las
Cruces. This dam Is 100 feet long,
sixty feet wide AZ the bottom and
thirty feet wide a. the Top. The main
canal Of which this dam ferns The
heading Is l~offy-nfo feet wide and
has a carrying capacity Of atty cu-
bic feet per nctond Six miles below
thia hcodente thr cunnl divides into
Iuo branches, Supplying smaller
canals over different portions Of Tho
valley
Tho Garfield division dam ~ built
similarly 70 The Leasburg diversion
dam. described oeloW and supplies