cultivation have taken place to an entent such that, as previously stated, the water supply is inadequate to fill the demands made upon it. As a method of relief the farmers have undertaken the construction of reservoirs near the foothills, storing some of the flood waters of spring. The feasibility of larger systems of this kind in the parks and small valleys among the mountains has been often discussed, and movements are slowly being made toward the realization of storage projects. There are, however, many difficulties surrounding the construction of suitable retaining walls and the recovery and distribution of the waters, which as a matter of course must be brought down to the canals below in the channel of the stream, and in many cases past the head works of a large number of irrigating ditches. Without such methods of increasing the summer flow of the stream there can be little hope of extending the irrigated acreage except by more careful methods of applying water to the soil and by greater thoroughness in all other agricultural operations. SOUTH PLATTE BELOW GREELEY. After leaving the junction of the Cache la Poudre the South Platte flows eastward and then northeasterly through arid plains toward the subhumid regions. In the eastern end of the basin near the junction. with the North Platte, the rainfall is sufficient for many of the cereals if these are properly cultivated. Irrigation, however, is essential for the production of vegetables and fruit, especially on the lower grounds, and even in rainy years can be profitably employed by the farmer. Developments in this direction, however, have been retarded by the scarcity of water, the difficulty of diverting it, and the fact that the settlers can often make a living by what is called "dry farming." In eastern Colorado the South Platte is often dry during the summer, there being, however, a small amount of water seeping through the bed. Irrigating ditches have been taken out on both sides in Weld, Morgan, and Logan counties, irrigating lands near the stream. These obtain ample water only during spring floods, and having once saturated the land can obtain little or no more during the summer. This one watering under favorable circumstances may suffice, but there is danger of loss of crops later on. The streams which flow into this part of the river are usually dry and at times become torrents, so that it is almost impossible to utilize this irregular supply. On the highlands drained by streams flowing from the north or from the south agriculture has been attempted, but owing to the scarcity of rainfall has not been on the whole successful. Stock-raising is still and probably will be the principal industry. A few farmers, coming without experience in methods adapted to a dry country, have tried year after year to raise a crop, but without success, and finally, having lost everything, have been compelled to go elsewhere. There is bitter complaint that in the past unscrupulous persons have taken advantage of eastern farmers and have induced communities or colonies to settle upon lands absolutely arid and without means of water supply, or have built extensive canals in the river valley, selling water rights which are practically valueless. A few irrigating ditches have been dug along the South Platte in the vicinity of Ogallala, Nebraska. These receive water at the time of the spring floods, but during the summer the channel is usually dry and no water can be obtained except that which seeps from the pervious beds, an amount too small to be of any considerable value. As previously mentioned, hopes have been entertained that by means of deep drains. extending above the heads of these ditches a large amount of ground water could be had at all times. Large sums of money have been expended in the construction of these so-called underflow canals, but the quantity of water obtained has at best been small relative to the expense incurred. Much of the land in the vicinity of the town of North Platte is irrigated by a ditch from North Platte river, covering the long, narrow area between the north and south rivers. This locality may be considered as the most easterly in the Platte basin at which irrigation is regularly practiced. Further to the east, in the vicinity of Gothenburg and Kearney, are canals constructed for water power, from which it is proposed to obtain some water for irrigation, but the development of this method of agriculture in a relatively humid region is usually slow. In this, the western, part of Nebraska there are a number of streams which will undoubtedly be used at some future time for irrigation, especially after the results obtained along the North Platte are more widely known and appreciated. Most of these creeks and small rivers flow throughout the year, being fed by springs. On the north side of the North Platte in Nebraska are several such streams tributary to the river and so situated as to have many natural advantages for easy diversion of the water. Among the most important of these are Blue and Birdwood creeks, both of these being remarkable for the uniformity of discharge throughout the year. The quantity of water in Blue creek was measured on November 5, 1892, and found to be 105 second-feet. Birdwood creek on September 24, 1892, was discharging at the rate of 126 second-feet. Besides these mentioned are other creeks of smaller size, having a low water flow of from 3 to 5 second-feet. TABLES OF MEAN MONTHLY AND ANNUAL DISCHARGE. These tables give in cubic feet per second the average discharge by months of the principal streams measured by this Survey. Some of these figures have already appeared in connection with other data. The arrangement is that generally adopted in this report, beginning with the head waters of the Missouri and taking the various streams in their order toward the south, then those in the Rio Grande and Interior basins, and finally the rivers flowing into the Pacific ocean. There are also included a few computations of monthly discharge made from data obtained by the state engineer of Colorado. The following symbols are used to denote that the observations have not been continued throughout the month: (a) Observations on twenty days and upwards. (b) Observations on from ten to nineteen days. (c) Observations during less than ten days. WEST GALLATIN RIVER. [Gauging station below mouth of Spanish creek, about 20 miles southwesterly from Bozeman, Montana. Drainage area, 850 square miles.] Year. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept., Oct. Nov. Dec. Annual. 1889 See ft. See ft. Sec.ft. Dec.ft. Seft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec. ft. (b) 426 450 402 *400 *400 1890 1891 1892 *320 *320 (c) 320 [Gauging station below Hot Springs creek, 4 miles from Red Bluff, Montana. Drainage area, 2,085 square miles.] Means 1,303 1,380 1,439 1,563 3, 222 4, 681 2,596 1, 494 1,378 1,392 1, 401 1, 287 1,928 MISSOURI RIVER. [Gauging station during 1889 at Canyon ferry, Montana; drainage area, 15,036 square miles. Gaug. ing station during 1899 and 1891 at Craig, Montana; drainage area, 17,615 square miles.] 1889 1890 1891 Means.. *3, 000 *3, 000 *3, 000 b4, 662 10, 472 10, 074 5, 020 2, 216 1,873 2, 230 2,502 *2, 500 2,983 3, 250 3,500 5,228 9,743 11,859 7.067 3,315 2,394 2,706 3,057 2,821 4,307 5, 503 5, 229 * Estimated. SUN RIVER. [Gauging station at Augusta, Montana. Drainage area, 1,175 square miles.] Year. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Annual ber. 1889 1890 *175*175*175 Means..... Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec ft. Sec ft. Sec ft. Sec. ft. Sec ft. Sec.ft. Sec. ft. Sec.ft. Sec. ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. 715 691 YELLOWSTONE RIVER. [Gauging station at Horr, Montana, 4 miles below Cinnabar. Drainage area, 2,700 square miles.] 1889 1890 1891 1892 *550 *550 6585 1,417 7, 522 10, 086 7, 682 488 *500 316 1,086 5, 227 7, 592 6, 135 *500 570 713 664 3, 544 11, 201 10, 180 Means..... 512 540 538 1,054 5, 431 9, 625 7,999 3,600 1,999 1,316 b1, 660 1, 270 976 743 *650 970 695 891 475 952 *800 3, 181 2,421 3,202 [Gauging station at Deansbury, Colorado, below junction of north and south branches. Drainage [Gauging1 station 4 miles above Boulder, Colorado. Drainage area, 102 square miles.] [Gauging' station one-fourth mile below Lyons, Colorado. Drainage area, 209 square miles.] [Gauging' station 10 miles west of Loveland, Colorado. Drainage area, 305 square miles.] CACHE LA POUDRE CREEK. [Gauging station' at Fort Collins, Colorado. Drainage area, 1,060 square miles.] Year. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May, June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Annual. Sec.ft. Sec ft. See ft. Sec. ft. Sec.ft. Secft. Sec.ft. Sec. ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. Sec.ft. See ft. Sec.ft. 667 219 2,537 4, 812 2,144 792 305 6205 1884 1885 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 ARKANSAS RIVER. [Ganging station' at Canyon city, Colorado. Drainage area, 3,060 square miles.] [Gauging station' at Pueblo, Colorado. Drainage area, 4,600 square miles.] [Gauging station' at Del Norte, Colorado. Drainage area, 1,400 square miles.] [Gauging station' at Embudo, New Mexico. Drainage area, 7,000 square miles.] 1889 1890 1891 1892 Means [Gauging station' at El Paso, Texas. Drainage area, 30,000 square miles.] * Estimated. Data in part from state engineer of Colorado. |