water right and is entitled to 2 acre-feet per acre always demands and gets this amount, while the man who pays a higher price for just what he gets raises just as good crops on a smaller quantity. The average amount used per acre by those paying for just what they received under this system during 1902 was 2.03 acre-feet. This water was used on various crops, such as would be an average in any community about here. The reservoir would contain when full 40,000 acre-feet, and allowing 20 per cent for loss in evaporation, seepage, distribution, etc., there would be water for 16,000 acres (allowing the same duty as under the Felix Company's canal) for each filling of the reservoir. Up to this time no record has been kept of the annual discharge of the Hondo at this point. Gaging stations have now been established for that purpose, and therefore no attempt will be made to estimate the flow. It is well known, however, that the Hondo discharges annually a large amount of water. FEASIBILITY. The engineering features of this project are not difficult, but there are some flood-water rights held by private parties that must be adjusted before construction is undertaken. The committee of consulting engineers, consisting of Arthur P. Davis, George Y. Wisner, and John H. Quinton, after an examination of the Hondo project, in a report dated October 22, 1903, state that the project is considered feasible and make the following recommendations: 1. We recommend that the right of way be secured and the necessary arrangements made with the landowners as soon as possible, and that this project be pushed to completion. 2. That an examination of the lands in the neighborhood of Roswell, N. Mex., be made by an expert, to determine the nature and extent of the artesian water supply. URTON LAKE PROJECT.< CAPACITY. A contour map of the entire reservoir has been made, and the capacity, without any embankments, is found to be 189,000 acre-feet. By placing embankments at two points on the perimeter the capacity could be increased at small expense to probably 250,000 or 300,000 acre-feet. WATER SUPPLY. The water supply is usually, it is thought, sufficient for all purposes needed, but this year the flow of Pecos River, like that of other streams in eastern New Mexico, has been very small, the river not a Extract from report by W. M. Reed. having carried beyond perhaps 100,000 acre-feet. The drainage area is about 5,000 square miles. No record of the flow prior to the present year is in existence, and information as to the usual amount of water passing down the Pecos could only be obtained from the general knowledge possessed by the inhabitants. Three gaging stations have been in operation during the past summer, and the gage heights have been recorded daily; but, owing to the lack of the necessary meters, sufficient gagings have not been taken to enable a computation to be made of the amount of water that has passed since these stations were established. However, the gage readings will be of service whenever ratings can be established. CANALS. In the preliminary work for the location of the inlet canal a grade of 1 foot per mile was used, and the center line indicated on the topographic sheets is run to that grade. When the amount of water which it is desired to run through the canal has been determined and the form of cross-section to be used settled upon, it is possible that some of this grade may be saved, and by that means the dam made of a less height or the capacity of the reservoir increased. On the inlet canal line three obstacles of greater than ordinary import will be met with. These are indicated on the map as Buffalo Creek, Taiban, and Sunnyside. While these will be somewhat expensive, especially the Taiban, it is confidently believed that the crossings can be made sufficiently strong, and perhaps also used to some extent as a settling basin. Excluding the question of expense, they will probably be a benefit to the system. LOCATION OF DAM. The dam will be constructed at a point where sandstone outcrops on both sides of the river, and probably underlies the river bed. However, before making final plans and estimates, borings will be made along the river bed, not only at the point provisionally selected as the dam site, but at points both above and below. The entire section through which the inlet and outlet canals pass, and where the reservoir itself is located, is of a sandstone formation overlain with good alluvial soil. These conditions make the project appear to be a first-class one, for the reason that very little loss will take place from seepage. OUTLET. The outlet from the reservoir will be by means of a tunnel through apparently solid sandstone. The length of this tunnel, if the water is to be drawn from the extreme bottom of the reservoir, will be about 17,000 feet, but if a portion of the bottom of the reservoir is to be given up for silt, etc., the tunnel would be shortened, as will readily be seen by consulting the profile. LANDS TO BE IRRIGATED. The distributing canals will pass through a country naturally easy for construction, and will be located with a grade sufficient to carry on to the lands embraced within the scheme the amount of water required for irrigating them. The grade of this canal will be somewhat governed by the form of cross section adopted for this kind of construction. The lands under this canal system are rich, in most instances comparatively level, and can be easily prepared for irrigation. FEASIBILITY. The committee of consulting engineers, consisting of Arthur P. Davis, George Y. Wisner, and John H. Quinton, after an examination of the Urton Lake project, in their report of October 22, 1903, state that the project is feasible, and make the following recommendations: 1. That borings be made at site of diversion dam, on Pecos River, as soon as possible. 2. That the corners on all of the lands under this project be reestablished. 3. That the final location of the canal to carry 1,500 second-feet and the necessary surveys for making of plans for structures, as well as those for estimates of cost and classification of lands, be made as soon as possible. 4. That the district engineer be furnished with the necessary assistants to push this work to a point where a more accurate determination can be made as to the cost and feasibility of this project. SURVEYS ON EAGLE DRAW AND PENASCO RIVER.a One of the principal tributaries of Pecos River is Penasco River, which enters above the reservoir known as Lake McMillan, or about 25 miles north of the town of Carlsbad. The water supply is derived from the Sacramento Mountains and the area lying to the east of these. Along this stream are considerable bodies of arid land which might be irrigated if the water supply were sufficient. The flow of the river is, however, not large, and during 1903 the discharge was below the normal, this condition being similar to that on other streams of northeastern New Mexico; water storage is essential but difficult. The people residing in this portion of New Mexico have asked that examinations be made and have pointed out the benefits to be derived from reclamation of arid lands in this locality. A gage was established on this river in the spring of 1903. The results from the measurements have been unsatisfactory, the river having been in flood so little that no water could be relied upon for a Extract from report by W. M. Reed. |