The Bonito water is conducted to
and used at points 160 miles from its origin on Bonito Creek.
DISCUSSION
G.E.P. SMITH, ASSOC. M. AM. SOC. C.E. (by letter).--The author has done
great service to the West in demonstrating the practicability of
transporting small water supplies to great distances.
Close association with the desert is required to appreciate fully its
waterless condition. For most of the year there are no living waters on
the surface. As a rule, ground-waters are concentrated beneath very
limited areas of valley land. The great masses of valley fill in some
places are underdrained to great depths and in other places are so
compacted and cemented as to be impervious. Wells sometimes are driven
from 1,000 to 2,000 ft., without securing any supply at all. Moreover,
desert ground-waters are often exceedingly hard or alkaline, and,
therefore, are unfit for many uses.
In going to the high mountains for a supply, the author has struck a
principle of wide application. In many of the mountains of the Southwest
there are springs and small streams of excellent water. Often, as in the
case discussed, very little storage is required. These streams, however,
are absorbed or disappear before reaching even the mouths of the canons,
and the problem has been to convey the water to distant cities and
mining camps at reasonable cost.
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