The Holly chieftain., 1924-01-10

dams were constructed in the bottom of the canya
and IN nearly all the available draws leading int
the main channel where flood waters could be I,
tercepted and storedk The highest dam SO ia
round Is few inches over five feet in height, an
.he extreme length of any dam Is approximate
ioFty ieet. These were SO built In series (eightl
SIX IN quarter mile In the main canyon) that tn
extreme water level in the lower one reached t
Tue Dase OF the next dam above. Many Of ther
are less than fifteen feet apart, and some ar
put foot or two In height
water could have never been carried directl
from the reservoirs to the fields above becaus
ofrthe depth OF the reservoirs below the availab,
farming land Women and children evidently fo
lowed the method of many Of the present PuebL
indians, carrying Jars Of water on the head owe
the trails to the crops to be Irrigated
During heavy showers the upper reservoirs wer
the first to fill and as they overlowed, the lowe
dams were filled. Since they were oil for the mos
part built directly on the great sandstone cap whic
forms the upper $50 to 200 feet Of the Mesa Verde
the water was rapidly absorbed by the sandston
and soon disappeared from the reservoirs above
But 1t was not lost Separating the upper cal
Of sandstone from the lower of equal thickness
is an impervious seam Of shae from few ipche.
TO foot or more In thickness, and since this ha,
a slope to the southwark, the water seepins
through from the reservoirs above saturated tht
sandstone to this impervious shale searn and fol
lowed 1t southwark with the slope of the c6un
try to the point where 1t was exposed at Its con
auence with the main canyon. Live springs vert
maintained at the exposed shale seam and onl,
In this way could water be obtained through Ion,
periods Of drought which still persist on the Mes.
Verde
Adopting the methods of the ancient ClIn Dwell
ers, two large dams were constructed on the rim
rock at the head of Spruce Tree canyon above tht
old stock reservoir, and drainage bitches were con
strlcted to increase the surface of that cou;
be conducted to these reservoirs. Four more res
ervoirs will be constructed above this first serie,
this coming seuson At the head of the canyon 1O(
to 100 feet below trench nearly $50 feet Ions
gathers the water which filters through the thicb
sandstone cap natural filter, md conducts 1t te
cement cisterns from which It Ia pumped 175 feet
above to the storage tanks where II is held foi
camp uses
The larger the series OF reservoirs above, the
greater the area OF sandstone that Is saturated
and since the movement OF the water through the
great bed of sandstone Is slow, the wnter which
enters the reservoirs in the early spring from the
melting SHOWS is the water which carries the
camp through the long summer periods of drought.
"The water when regained Is of the finest Qual.
ity no matter how dirty 1t appears above" saic
Mr. Nusbaum. ITO corroborate this statement
the state chemist ut Boulder reported that even
when the water was nt Its worst and lowest stage
in the reservoirs above, only 42G bacteria were
remarkably low count. Because of the vast filter
in use the water is particularly clear and is nearly
MS cold as ice water"