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<br />11, "~,' ,.. t:< ') <br />0: iJ i 0 .:<! -3 <br /> <br />~)~~ <br /> <br />beginning to perceive. <br /> <br />Several years were to elapse before the <br /> <br />requested Federal aid for irrigation would become available, But <br /> <br />in the meantime, private capital continued to flow into New <br /> <br />Mexico and West Texas and development for irrigation continued in <br /> <br />the Pecos Valley, In 1889 and 1890, some 55 separate irrigation <br /> <br />companies were incorporated in New Mexico, 25 of which were <br /> <br />licensed to do business in the Upper and Middle Pecos Valleys, <br />By the turn of the century, more than 13,000 acres were under <br />irrigation in the vicinity of the present day City of Carlsbad, <br /> <br />and the outlook for the future at last seemed bright inspite of <br /> <br />natural disasters such as flood~, <br /> <br />Meantime in 1891, Nathan Jaffa, a prominent Roswell citizen, <br />$~? accidentally encountered a small artesian flow while drilling a <br />well to replace his shallow householq well. This discovery led <br />to the development of 153 flowing wells in and around Roswell by <br /> <br />1900, and more extensive development was made between 1905 and <br />1916 such that by 1925, more than 1,400 artesian wells were in <br /> <br />operation i:r:rigating about 45,000 acres near Roswell, <br /> <br />On June 17, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt had secured <br /> <br />passage of the "Reclamation Act", The Secretary of the Interior <br /> <br />was empowered to administer the act and the Secretary created the <br /> <br />U,S, Reclamation Service (now Bureau of Reclamation) as a branch <br /> <br />of the U,S. Geological Survey, After damages from the 1904 Pecos <br /> <br />River floods had been assessed, farmers faced with ruin requested <br /> <br />that the Service take over and repair the Car1sbad p:r:oject works, <br /> <br />15 <br />