Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-01-10

dams were constructed in the bottom of the canyon
and in nearly all the available draws leading into
the main channel where flood waters could be in
tercepted and stored. The highest dam so Ear
found is few inches five feet in height, anti
the extreme length of any dam is approximately
forty feet These were SO built in series eighty
SIX III quarter mile in the main canyon), that the
extreme water level In the lower reached to
the base Of the next dam above. Many Of them
are less than fifteen feet apart. and some are
but foot two in height.
Water could have never been carried directly
from the reservoirs to the fields above because
of the depth Of the reservoirs below the available
farming land. Women and children evidently fol
lowed the method of many of the present Pueblo
Indians, carrying jars of water on the head, over
the trails to the crops to be irrigated
During heavy showers, the upper reservoirs were
the first to fill and as they overfowed, the lowe.
dams were filed. Since they were all for the most
part built directly on the great sandstone cap which
forms the upper $50 to 200 feet Of the Mesa Verde
the water was rapidly aosoched by the sandstone
and soon disappeared from the reservoirs above.
But 1t was not lost. Separating the upper cap
Of sandstone from the lower of equal thickness
is an impervfOus of shale from few inches
to q foot or more in thickness, and since this has
slope to the southwark, the water seeping
through from the reservoirs above, saturated the
sandstone to this mpervious shale seam, and fol-
lowed it southwark with the slope of the coun-
try to the point Wn0f0 1t WIS GApOSou Ut It's CON
fuence with the main canyon. Live springs were
maintained at the exposed shale seam, and only
in this way could water be obtained through long
periods of drought which still persist on the Mesa
Verde.
Adopting the methods Of the ancient Cliff Dwell
ers two large dams were constructed on the rim
rock at the head of Spruce Tree canyon, above the
old stock reservoir and drainage bitches were con-
structed to increase the surface run off that could
no conducted to these reservoirs -Four more res
ervoirs will be constructed above this first series
this coming Season. At the head of the canyon 100
to no feet below trench nearly 800 feet long
gathers the water which filters through the thick
sandstone cap or natural filter and conducts it to
cement cisterns from which it is pumped It's feet
above to the storage tanks where 1t is held for
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
oreat bed of sandstone is slow, the water which
on+ors the reservoirs in the early spring from the
melting SHOWS is the water which carries the
camn through the long summer periods OF drought.
"Tbe water when regained Is of the finest quail
itv no matter how dirty it appears above said
Mr. Nusbaum. '"To corroborate this statement,
tho state chemist at Boulder reported that even
when the water was at its worst and lowest stage
in the reservoirs above, only 426 bacteria were
found in the unit sample submitted, which, is q
remarkably low count Because of the vast filter
in use the water is particularly clear and is nearly
as cold as ice water"