The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-08-28

ltine ard money IN ~cnpltaiiring our
natural resources Ne advertise
widely our health giving climate. vs.
Advertise the mineral Of the
state. We advertise the great OPP
pottuniues. open TO the newcomer,
hut We fail 10 realize the one great
resource b = We have NJ our very
door n that ~ the agricultural pos
sihiliiies Of the RIO Gmnue valley.
I We have. according 60 the French
report or 1878. s3.uo acres Of land
that can be Irrigated In the county.
The city Of Albuquerque occupies
about f.teo acres and estimating the
other little villages " Inc valley oc.
cupying i-bOo more. leaves practically
40. zoe acres that can De- irrigated,
but last assessors report A. hat there
are S.1b1 acres ms cultivation. which
leaves practically $4,000 acres Of
hind IN vega and waste land In the
valley. The valuation OF this land
aecordinE 20 the assessors report Is
81. sso. ooe.
Because Of the peculiar situation
OF Albuquerque. hundreds % miles
from the nearest city. IN q country Of
hleh freight rates, practically alt the
enln used for feeding or home con-
sumption has to be shipped In. and
yet yer 10000 acres OF our land Is
lying idle.
All who are familiar with our con.
ditions realize that there ~ only one
salvation for this country and that IL
drainage. and everyone who II at ail
Informed on he question agrees that
we must have drainage. although
there is a difference OF opinion among
the people AZ how 20 arrive NJ al
some people wish to BEGIN draining
the valley by separate districts, and
the writer believes that IN the only
feasible a Others want to walt
until the government assistg In put
ting n storage reservoir on the uppcr
Rio Grande and Their establish the
irrigation and drainage at the same
time II the government finally de-
cides TO make this n reclamation pro- !
icct and establish a storage system
on the ppcr river. and includes the
drainage system. OF course. the land
VIII have TO pay for tho cost. We
have. OF course all agreed that n the
government will do that. II will solve
our drainage and irrigation troubles
IN this valley as a has already been |
solved In the Mesiiia valley.
Drainage Costs.
There are others who feel that the
drainagc will cost more than the and
Is worth and OF course that proposi-
ton must be considered.
There are stin other who believe
that the Rio Crande should he
dredged and river bank protection
provided for. before any drainage l.
put In. But this. Il seems to the
writer. II absolutely folly. In the
first place the cost Of the dredging
would be 40 excessive. as to render
Il impracticable. One engineer esti-
mated the cost OF dredging 10 be
sls.00o.000. while the unofficial fig
ures for a storage system wouid be
only $4,000. 900 and very much more
satisfactory and beneficial. In the
second pace there is a very serious
question as to whether the sand
would stand up and not cave IN and
render the dredging useless. Besides
this, on the other hand. there Ok
danger. that II Il should stand up.
that a deep gulch would be cut to
get u from the river for irrigation
because we would be unable To get
u from the river for irrigation pur-
poses A dredged river. IL IL worked
properly. would carry the water past
us, 10 that We would have no water
In the dry seas0n, where a storage
system would give us ample water
for our irrigation necessities.
There IL thing 10 be borne In
mind. md that H. that It make no
difference how his work is done. |
whether by individuals. districts, or
by a reclamation project. the ex-
penses eventually are paid by the
land that Il drained, Even n the
government would do u through n
reclamation project. due to red tame.
and the slow motion OF government
affairs Il would take at least ten
years or possibly longer before we
would get any relief from our water |
logged condition.
According Ia - recent government
report, We had 10 per cent less Hand
IN cultivation In 1890 than VI had
IN 1910, m as water-iogTod condi-
Tons are becoming worse rvary year.
In less than five years time, we
viii have not more than 1000 acres
of land In cultivation.
In addition to the agricultural adj
NantagcH above referred to. there are
some other conditions hat are to be
taken into consideration, This chy
IL threatened from year 10 year dur
INK high water with breaks in the |
Alnmcda lcvee, II the present ievee
system IL not continually kept In re-
pair. from time 70 time raised
with the rising of tho river bed.
a good many people believe n
break ia the lcyee would cause q
flooding ~ the lower mart III the |
city With tho drainage system as
projected. the dirt being thrown on
the river side of this ditch. H viii
act as "a barrier or ievce which viii
prevent the water from coming any
nearer the city and the city would
receive "a very great protection from
flood water.
MAY Eadangcr Road.
In addition To this. tho Fourth |
street concrete road. which cost up
wards ~ s5io.000. h built on quick
sand and n the water table conttin-
ucs 10 rise. Il rs bound 90 soften the 4
grade. which viii In time. %cndanpcr 4
the raoad. People who build IA tho
OVER THE ma.