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-~- 0061 The District Canal i3 90 l71i1c5 in length. If we ta!:c .0. section ;.d.dway or its lenGth 110 \1il1 helve an approxi.matc averago coat per mile, the upper end costinG more <1nd the lower end less because of size. The size of the concreto ditch l1l1dl,Ja1 ,,{ould be abO\lt 12 I \lide on the bottOTil and would be (ll deep. One to. one sid.e slopes. Concnt rcquircncnts alone \muld. be over 21000 sac~:s per mile. Gradinc, c;ravcllL'1.(;, placinG ccrnont and tho other problCf.l:!l of providine crossinGs J fencing bOt:l side' <llld chan~nG aliGlIDcnt in pl<1cCS .,lOuld mal;:o the cost about .,[lOJOOO per r.ti.lc or ~J71200,OOO for the job. (",350 for cvcr:;~ acro or land in the District). A bentonite lininG is somctL:1Cs used cmd rcccntl~r an asphalt mcr.lbral1c covored uith earth has been successfully used. Th050 ether methods are a Ii ttlc cheaper than concrete but they have the disadvantago of . eroding; and no livestocJ: can bo pcrr1uttod in tho treated area .1.t ~r time, In tho caso of the asphalt lining erosion llould in places remove the protective earth cover and l-le liould have troublc L, bUr:1iilg out tho 'iccds that accur.rulata in the ditch cver;r ~rear uithout dcstro~ril1g the asphalt.. If onr ditch lia~ l1nccl., we could deliver about h70 acre feet co~p~cc to 2621 acre feet that wa arc nOW delivering and tho seeped land problems \/ould larGely disappcitt. It, is ph~r~ica1l:r possible to prevent a lot of secpa.;c froIll the resorvoir 1tself by constr\1etin~ a::-.. impervious Cl,.toft uall to the ~halc and impervious clay~ that lie at varin.blc depths bolou the sides and cmbanlJllent~ of the reser- voir. This wall 'W0\1.1d hnve to be at le<1st 6 r.uIcs lone and <It least an averaGo of 401 hiGh. The cost is absolutol;' prohibitive. '1'0 place an asphalt raombrano over the entire bottor.l of the reservoir no wuld have to cover 4000 acres at A cost of about S( f1er square foot \o1hich would total ..;3,5oojooo, If it uerc dono, ~ could increase the effective QI,10unt of water in ~torage 'rJy about lGooO acre feet annually, The cost again is prohibitivo. The inta1:e canal could be lined at a cost of '2j 750,000 which lIould not 1n- -c.}'" crease our supplies in the better ye<lr5, but would materially reduce losses and . pCI'l'U t use of ;"';ir:;-Thor:1pson water directly in tho years when wntcr supplies were short. The cost again is r.ru.ch too largo for the benef! ts to be obtained. .. " ,"J" ..Jf/ part of the abc"lo ilnprovDr.1.cnts liQuId ir.1provc our Frater 5uppl~r and it all '"rore done lTC would h:tvc <1 perfect s~rstcm. /In CJC.a1Ilination of the costs involvod rnal~e it apparent t~1at they can only 'oe wishful thinLi.ng, since this area uit:l its ~uing sea.sOil can not produce enOUGh annual crop va.lues to ever pa~" for st'.ch an \U1derta.!:ing even in part, :'le arc no\] loft 111 th the other method of sct;l.lrin~ ~ClrGcr and marc cc:"tain \ro.tcr supplies at the faTl~l of securi:1g a lar~;cr aild l,lore sure vater supply fror.l the South Platt.e i"'.ivc.r durinc the su;,mcr months. The District hM contracted for a supposed .5000 acre feet arUII.\ally of ::J1l':;- Thonpson uator as a step touard obtaining larccr su:>plics. This volume is all that e.1I1 be economicall~' purc:msed and run in the aiverside District Canal since -, to ma1:e feasible use of this uater th~ valul;to is ulr.i.tcd to \'lhat can be. ex- chanced to other d.i tches that no\{ mm RiGhts in the ;;i vcrsido :1cservoir in place of the uatcr they nou dr:l.U frOM the reservoir. tic lrill probC1bl~r have to lllal-:c up a sr,\~l shrin1t dOlffi the river, but \Te can b~/pa, the losses in the intal:c and l1Cr09S the reservoir so t:lat out of the 6000 acre feet purcha.sed 'lie can deliver about 2500 acre feet to the larr.lj thereby ma"ing the delivered cost about ..),60 an ncre foot.. If W'C rUn direct froIll the river throllGh the intal~e and across the reservoir, we could deliver about 1500 acre fect out of the 6000 acre feet purchased <4,d the cost :)cr acre foot to the farm. uould ue about .6.00. -.Ie :lavc been and are still in the !'lroces:!I of cnlarL:;in::; and strenGthoning the reservoir so un can ma1:e marc use of the 'ITintor river floll.. The reservoir is so 5i tuatcd \-n. th respect to inlet location that if t~1C cx'!'>cctcd increase in return flou durinG the 1nnter months is certain enOUGh and l~rgc cnouG'l1 to justify enlarGement o.bove uhnt we non contemplate 'IJO can do 3'0 easily. Thero arc very felr tJlaccs 1.n the District '.lhc'!'c tho farmel' il.:lr:'i5c1.t can ob- tain an irrigatiol1 well, 'i':!e [e1-1 placos alan!'; nnd- clo.sc to t;le canal \1:~crc thc:t could be obtainedJ have beel] examined to asccrt.:lin if it raiGht be feasible to install a battel""} or 11ells and ~lUmp into the ditch. There is a POi;lt just belon lmere we divert fror,l the South Platte niver that vould suppl:r a large volume rdth a ver~r SMall lift. D;" the tir,tO this ::'..bsolutely clear unter uas run throuch tho intal;:c and Q.cross the rcscI"\'oir tllen dOlnl to the point of use it would ill have seeped m-ray before an~. us~ could be r.lade of it, there~T c1iminatill~ the proposal. Some 6 r:liles belolT the reservoir there is .motll.:;r 2.oc~_lit:~ from uhich larce volUJ1lcS could be obt.1.ined Hith a snall lift, bl~t Hould require a Il'ile of pipo- line to reach the CilI1al. Thc added cost of the pi:~cline tuld <l still hca.v~,r seep- age 1055 r.Jal:es this locQ.tion ir,lpractical, 'f'hc last point uhere '\J!'J11 could be fcr.md. rrit.h an <ldOCllatc V01Ul'le 'Would. b("! ~ln.c:n t." t.h,- ,..~-r....,.. ~"..+ n......foh ....f'