These punctures or
washes were covered or filled with clay from 1 to 4 ft. deep. During the
first season the leakage, above the 6-ft. contour, was at the rate of 2
in. per day.
As the water fell, due to leakage, evaporation, and use, a herd of from
300 to 400 cattle were worked around the shore line. This reduced the
leakage to 3/8 in. below 8 ft., and to nothing below 6 ft., above the
outlet. As the flow line rises higher each season, the puddling will be
continued to the top. The leakage at 12 ft. above the outlet, or 17 ft.
above the bottom, is still approximately 1 in. per day. The total
puddling, to date, covering two seasons, is equivalent to 11,150 days'
work of one cow, and covers an area of 1,500,000 sq. ft.
The clay packed densely, the final hoof marks being not more than 1/4
in. deep and remaining distinct under the water around the shore line
for one year. Apparently, the reservoir will finally become water-tight
at all elevations.
The soil in which the four service reservoirs on the railway are built
proved to be about the worst for such work. In its natural state on the
prairie, after the excavation for the reservoir was completed, it
filtered water at the rate of 3 ft. per day. Tamping and puddling still
left a filtration of 12 in.
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