PROPOSED RESERVOIRS AMONG THE SIERRA.

147

with an elevation of 5,481 feet, then through Dutch Valley, with an elevation of 5,277 feet, and this also about 2 miles in length; thence into Long Valley, which has an elevation of 5,078 feet above the sea and about 200 feet above the head of Carson Valley. There are already three ditches running from Hope Cañon and conveying water through Diamond Valley to Dutch Valley, whose natural drainage is into Long Valley. One of these ditches can be enlarged into a canal, aud the flood and natural water from the West Fork of the Carson can be secured to Long Valley, which is a good, natural, safe location for a grand receiving reservoir; all outside of any river channel.

With a dam 100 feet in height at a narrow neck of Long Valley about 1 mile above the head of Carson Valley nearly or quite 4 square miles of surface water with an average depth of 50 feet can be obtained. This will give 5,625,680,000 cubic feet of water for distribution by a canal on the east side of the Carson Valley, which will supply not only the Empire Mills, but also all that the 100,000 acres of land on the east side of the Carson River (that now has no water for irrigation) may require. A canal from the left side of this dam out on the benches at the head of the Carson Valley may be supplied from this same source. The east or main fork of the Carson River runs almost parallel with Long Valley for the 3 miles east before debouching into the Carson Valley proper. At Horse Shoe Bend, a point about 2 miles from its mouth, there is a narrow saddle ridge, where with an overflow dam across the East Fork or main river can be turned through a tunnel or cut of about 1,000 feet in length. This will turn the water through a 10 by 10 feet tunnel or cut 10 feet wide at bottom and with its slopes of 1 to 1.

Pleasant Valley, on the Middle Fork of the Carson, in Alpine County, Cal., 12 miles south of Hope Valley, which is about 3 miles in length and 1 mile in width, can be made from 40 to 50 feet in depth as a reservoir, with a water-shed of 50 square miles, and it has good rocky flanks at the lower end of the valley. This location is 3 miles above Markleville, Cal., and in it can be stored 3,345,408,000 cubic feet of water. Below this reservoir and above Markleville are the waters from Burnside Lake, Hot Springs Creek, Charity Valley, and other mountain creeks. At Markleville, 18 miles above Long Valley, the East and Middle Forks of the Carson unite, thus making the East Fork the main Carson River, so that by the diversion of the East Fork at Horse Shoe Bend, Long Valley can receive the water of all the branches of the Carson to its full or maximum capacity. Twelve miles above the junction of the Main and East Forks of the Carson River Silver Creek joins the East Fork. Five miles farther southeast Wolf Creek empties into the East Fork. One mile above the mouth of Wolf Creek is a meadow, where from 1 to 2 square miles surface of water can be stored with a depth of 40 feet. Two miles above Wolf Creek, at Silver King Valley, on the East Fork of the Carson, another reservoir can be located with a water surface of 2 square miles. Now, all the above-named reservoir sites in Alpine County are above 6,000 feet elevation. Other sites have been examined, but found impracticable. The water-shed for the Carson River and its branches is fully 1,000 square miles.

At Wadsworth, Nev., 34 miles below Reno, the Truckee River turns north and sinks into Pyramid Lake, 15 miles from Wadsworth. At a point on the Truckee 5 miles west of Wadsworth an admirable location for a diverting dam is found, which can be built of stone in rocky bluffs 116 feet higher than the water surface at the Wadsworth bridge. A dam and reservoir has also been located there, and our men are running levels for canals on either side of said river to conduct the water out

on the plateaus and benches north, east, northeast, and southeast from Wadsworth. The bridge, which is now 30 feet high, can be filled up, and a 10 by 10 feet outlet and canal put in on each end of the bridge to guard against any possible flood or overflow or accident. This water can be extended along the benches if required.

By storage of the flood waters at the head of the Carson and Truckee Basins and other water-sheds along the eastern slopes of the Sierras at least 500,000 acres of fertile lands in California and not less than 2,500,000 acres of good arable lands in western Nevada can be reclaimed and cultivated; all this in addition to the area now under cultivation. It will be seen that the aggregate amount of water in the reservoirs already selected is estimated at 133,229,968,000 cubic feet of water, and from the best information obtainable the reservoir can be filled annually from natural water-sheds. The demand for water in this State is at the rate of 1 cubic inch per acre, and is much in excess of that generally required in the State of California. The estimated amount for the reservoirs now located will furnish an acre-foot for 3,000,000 acres of land. I am convinced that we shall be able to find reservoir sites that will hold an amount sufficient for another 2,000,000 acres of land; that is, having an acre-foot of water for each acre. This will make 5,000,000 acres that can be reclaimed in this division by the storage of water sufficient therefor. The waters of the Truckee and Carson and auxiliary springs have been carefully gauged daily, giving the velocity and quantity and discharge in cubic feet per second. A sample of the gauging of the Truckee River at Essex above the ditches and canals is as follows:

The Rio Pecos rises in the northern part of New Mexico, northeast Santa Fé.

It flows in a southeasterly direction to the neighborhood of Fort Sumner, and then a little east of south across the Territorial line into Texas, finally forming a junction with the Rio Grande.

It is a mountain stream, subject to alternate flood and drought, until it reaches the neighborhood of Roswell, N. Mex.; thence for 100 miles, in a due south line, it runs a tortuous course of probably 250 miles, receiving at intervals large quantities of spring water.

These springs generally flow into it along its bed, following the gen eral limestone strata of the country.

They represent the drainage from the eastern slopes of the Capitan, Sierra Blanca, Sacramento, and the Guadalupe Mountains, and the waters of the upper river which disappear below Fort Sumner.

Careful measurements show that the permanent supply is sufficient to fill both of the canals now in course of construction, and calculated to carry 1,600 cubic feet per second, or 80,000 miner's inches.

1

EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND IRRIGATION.

149

The drainage area, or catchment basin of the Rio Pecos, within the Territory of New Mexico, and available for irrigation purposes, is approximately 20,000 square miles, at varying altitudes from 3,000 to 11,000 feet, and extending across four degress of latitude from the thirtysecond to the thirty-sixth parallel.

The lands of the valley between Roswell and the Territorial line subject to irrigation are of the choicest limestone soil, and the total area between the foot-hills on the west and the river is nearly or quite 1,000,000 acres. Of this fully 400,000 acres are below the level at which it is practicable to deliver water from the Pecos.

The 40 miles of the Northern canal, now under contract, will cover about 75,000 acres of bottom and mesa land, and more than that area can be covered by extending the canal farther south.

The Southern canal is much the larger one, and will irrigate more than 100,000 acres on the west side of the river, north of the Texas line, while there is practically unlimited area that can be made available, by extending south of that line. Several bodies of choice land can also be covered on the east side of the river if desirable.

The Northern canal is being constructed 30 feet wide on the bottom, with sides sloping 1 to 1 foot, and to carry water 5 feet deep, taking its supply from the Hondo, the principal tributary of the Rio Pecos, below the junction of the North Spring and Barenda Rivers, deriving its chief supply from permanent springs of great volume. Three miles from its head it crosses and receives the waters of the South Spring River, and is deepened to 6 feet to accommodate the increased supply at that point. These streams are all fed by permanent springs.

The Southern canal was constructed a distance of 11 miles, with the capacity to irrigate 30,000 acres. It is being enlarged to 45 feet wide at bottom, 63 feet at the top, and 6 feet deep, and by careful computation is intended to utilize all the available water of the river during the entire irrigating season. Its length within New Mexico will be 55

miles.

It is taken from the east side of the Rio Pecos a few miles below Seven Rivers. Although the waters of the Pecos are sometimes enlarged by floods, at the point where this canal is taken from the river, a dam 3 feet high, built at trifling expense, suffices to turn the water to fill the canal. It is controlled by head-gates, and the fall of the river is so great at that point that the rise does not exceed 6 feet-indeed, it never gets out of its banks. The river is a succession of rapids, and the fall within 6 miles amounts to as much as 50 feet. Very much of the water can be utilized at the crossings of arroyos for water-power, and then be discharged so as to cover large areas of agricultural land, without any loss of water. The canals are secure from floods. On the Hondo the reservoir at the dam backs fully half a mile up-stream, making dead water, and giving perfect control.

BLANKS AND FORMS USED IN DITCH MANAGEMENT.

[Northern Colorado Irrigation Company, Denver, Colo.]

RULES FOR EMPLOYÉS ON THE PLATTE CANAL.

D. W. Payne, division superintendent.

Division No. 1.

and ends at

This division of the canal commences at You are specially under the orders and directions of the engineer, and you are to carry out faithfully and promptly all his instructions. You will frequently and closely examine every part of the canal in your division, and enter in your weekly report any remarks that you may think necessary regarding the general condition of the works. Should there be a necessity for immediate attention to any part of the canal, report immediately on the telephone to the office, or if before 9 o'clock a. m. or after 4 o'clock p. m. ring the number on the telephone for the engineer. Failing to get an answer from the engineer ring the manager's number.

Should a serious leak, or break, or overflow occur, you will immediately make every effort to stop it, and to accomplish this you may hire such assistance as may be necessary and close at hand. Open the nearest waste gates above the leak, or break, or overflow, and if necessary to have all the water shut out of the canal, telephone to Denver to any of the three calls there. Should the accident be one that you can overcome without great difficulty, do not lose time by leaving it and trying to telephone, but get such assistance as may be nearest. If necessary, send or go to the nearest telephone and give notice to the engineer.

All employés on the canal are required to promptly render assistance to each other whenever there is any necessity for so doing. Each division superintendent shall keep a daily record of the depth of water on the guage or guages in his division, and will report the same to the engineer by telephone daily.

Each division superintendent shall provide himself with a suitable horse and cart, if such conveyance be required, and shall at all times carry with him a shovel, hammer, nails, screw-driver, wrench, measuring rule, and telephone tools, all of which, except the horse and cart, and feed for horse, will be provided by the company. In addition to these tools, there should be on each division oakum and sacks, and division superintendents will promptly notify the engineer when additional supplies are needed.

Expenses.-Except in cases of emergency, such as leaks, breaks, or overflows, or danger of any of these, no materials or tools shall be purchased or obtained on the credit of the company, except by the engineer or on his order, and no labor shall be employed except in emergencies as above stated, without first having the authority of the engineer. In all cases where laborers or mechanics are employed, the person in charge of the division where the work is being done shall keep a full and complete record of the time each person is employed and the wages to be paid, unless the engineer shall place some other person in charge of the work.

All payments for wages or hire of any kind and for material shall be made at the office of the company in Denver, and then only upon properly stated and certified accounts first approved by the president or manager.

Care of property. All property of the company must be carefully watched and protected on each division by the division superintendent, and he shall be responsible for locks, keys, gate-pins, tools, bolts, bars, or other effects. He shall report promptly to the engineer or manager all cases where the property of the company has in any way been tampered with or damaged, such as the cutting or breaking of gates or weirs, or interference in any way with the banks of the canal or flumes. He shall also report all cases where any damage has resulted to the property of others by reason of overflow or breaks, or in any other way.

Distribution of water.-Such water as may from time to time be in the canal shall be divided pro rata to all persons entitled thereto by reason of their ownership of water rights, and each person in charge of a division shall in the most impartial and careful manner turn water out of their respective gates in strict accordance with the directions given from time to time by the engineer or from the manager's office, and under no circumstances is any person to be allowed to open a gate or in any way to obtain more water than the quantity stated in the directions. The gate on every outlet must at all times be kept locked and the division superintendent must at all

BLANKS AND FORMS USED IN DITCH MANAGEMENT.

151

times carry the keys with him. He shall carefully inspect all gates, weirs, and outlets every day to see if all be in good order; also to discover if the gates are being tampered with, and he shall measure and record every day the depth of water flowing over each weir, and enter the same in the reports prepared for such purpose. Look sharply for persons having duplicate keys.

All outlets are to be kept free and clear of drift-wood and all other floating matter, and the gates should be frequently examined to see if there be a free flow under them; also that no wedges have been driven under them by persons trying to get more water.

Do not accept the statement of any person about water; all instructions pertaining thereto will be given on the telephone, or in writing, from the proper authority. Řeport promptly the name of any person who offers any bribe or any inducement to get more water than is then being allowed under the directions given you.

Whenever there is a rise in the water in the canal, not caused by floods from the prairie, the quantity running over the were in the lateral ditches should not be allowed to increase by reason of the greater pressure on the outlets. The gates in the outlets should be partly closed down so as to give just the same depth of water over the weirs as was running before the rise, unless orders contrary to this have been given from proper authority. In almost every instance when more waste is taken into the canal from the river, the extra quantity is intended for the divisions at the end of the canal. When a sudden great rise occurs in the canal by reason of flood water from the prairies, caused by a storm, make haste to the water gates and open them, also let out at all the outlets in the canal as much water as the lateral ditches will fairly carry without overflowing or doing any damage.

Whenever there are indications of a storm and a flood, the waste-gates should be opened before the flood comes. Good judgment and prompt action in emergencies of this kind will determine the efficiency and earnestness of the employé in the duties assigned to him.

Whenever you see that water is being allowed to run to waste by any irrigator, reduce the quantity running over the weir to the extent of such waste. If you see that a lateral ditch is broken, and the water is running to waste, shut off the water and notify the superintendent of the lateral or some person who is using water from it. Make a record of your action in every case of the two above kinds, and state the particulars in your weekly report.

NOTE.-There must not be any absence from duty unless permission first be obtained from the engineer or manager.

There must not be any scolding with, or rough language applied to, farmers or users of water. You can perform your duty better without this. If any one assaults you without just provocation the company will assist you in a prosecution.

Any case of intoxication or any neglect of duty, or apparent indolence or indifference on the part of an employé will be met with prompt dismissal.

All reports must be carefully and accurately made, so that, if necessary, they can be sworn to.

S. J. GILMORE, Manager.
GEORGE G. ANDERSON, Engineer.

THE NORTHERN COLORADO IRRIGATION COMPANY.

Record of depths of water at the weir, at the city limits of Denver, for the week ending

188-, at 6 o'clock p. m.

I certify that the depths of water entered above in the first two columns are true

and correct.

I certify that the depths given above in the first two columns and the average depths given in the third column show a total delivery of water for the week ending as above, of

cubic feet, or the equivalent of - gallons.