Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-09-22
VALLEY TOBE
DOTTED With
SMALL LAKES
Storage Reservoirs on
New Districts Elk
pected TO Provide
Many Resorts

ing from 100 acres TO several thou
sand acres in extent, according 20
plans Of new irrigation districts
which are required under the
receEt ruling OF the state water
board to supply water storage upon
the basis Of one acre foot for ev-
cry acre irrigated.
All districts formed since that
ruling went into effect. including
seven In Cameron. In Hidalgo
and one in Willacy counties. have
already submitted their plans I'd
the water board. each district pro-
viding for storage upon the basis
demanded
The largest OK these lakes Oh ar
tificial reservoirs will be those or
the Willacy county district, which
H. required To carry over 10000
Pacre feet iii storage. a. one acre
foot i equivalent 10 one acre COW
cred with water TO a depth Of one
foot. these reservoirs, If they are
or an average depth Of ten feet.
will cover $4,000 acres or about I'D
square miles. The plan Of the dis
trict IL to construct two reservoirs.
assuring two huge bodies OF watef
In the eastern Hidalgo and western
WilIacy counties.
The Engelman district ON the
Mestenes tract in Hidalgo county
north OF Elsa viii provide two res
ervoirs, one Of about 100 acres IN
the southwest part of the tract, and
the other covering over 800 acres
In .e eastern part. I'm Cameron
county, District No. IS. developing
the Beckam lands west Of Rio
H0nd0. win construct a large reser-
voir in the northeast corner. ami
on the Barreda tract between
Brownsville and San Benito. resAca
beds and q depression near the Rio
Grande will be- transformed into
artificial lakes for water storage.
Cameron districts Nos. 10 and II
are utllizin gthe Los Fresnos and
Cuates resacas for storage. form
ing broad and deep water courses
several miles in length. District
No. IA, which will water the La
guna Vista. BOX, Boyd and Boory
tracts in the coast area, have So
cured a reservoir site two miles east
of the east line of El Jardin on the
Boca Chica road. This reservoir
will have IA capacity or $4,000 acre
feet and will form am artificial lake
with az area exceeding three
50 are miles.
Utilize Old Laguna
III northeastern Cameron county
the Laguna Atascosa, formerly fill
ed with brackish water. has been
transformed into a fresh water
lake with a maximum width Of
three miles. The Cayo AtascoSa.
which formed the connection be-
tween the Laguna Atascosa and
the Laguna Madre, Is also being
utilized for storage and forms a
broad water course over even miles
In length. The water from these
will be used To irrigate the Parker
lands. To the north OF the Los
Fresnos district, the developers or
the Kemper lands, who have or
ganized district No. AZ. will utilize
"A depression I'm the eastern part Of
their tract for an artificial lake.
The tentative permit recently
granted owners of the Franklin pro-
ject in Hidalgo county, provides lor
$4,000 acre feet Of storage, but
where this huge reservoir viii be
located has not been announced
In Hidalgo county many Of the
development projects now under
way include construction or artifi-
cial lakes as adjuncts to beautlfica-
ton, these bodies Of water 20 range
from 3 or 4 to so acr-s in extent
On the Progreso development south
or WeSlaco two natural lakes have
been utilized III connection with the
Identification plans and arrange
ments made to maintain the water
at a certain level AT numerous
places along the reSacaS which
parallel the Rio Grande in both Ill
dalgo and Cameron counties, dams
have been constructed to create
large bodies OF water either for irri-
cation OR Identification
SpOrtsmen Delighted
While Valley irrigators are Offer
ing no serious objection to the ruiz
ing of the state water board, most
Of the districts regarding storage aa
n form Oh necessary insurance, VAL
ley sportSmen express their APP
prevail in enthusiastic terms. Prac-
tically all reservoirs already COM
pleted have been stocked with game
fish, and screens constructed rn
prevent gar. carp and other I1ne-
sirable varieties from entering. The
long reaches on the resacas viii Of
fer excellent courses for motor
boats, and many Valley enthusiasts
r preparing to take advantage Oh
them.
Developers see in the numer0uf
artificial lakes an invaluable ad-
junct Nd Valley Identification Ir
many OK the districts plans have
been made TO provide eating anc
bathing facilities. and developer
are checking off the water front
\ acreaGeS aS the most desirable ion
: homesites. They point 10 the fact
that Valley residents win enjoy