Show beeping U up P wi cien t e A er v e e science service waters of color colorado ado soon to irrigate the philia valley ity by L IVES denver colo waters now roaring down the unvisited canyons of the upper colorado river soon will ripple placidly through the irrig irrigation ditches of the platte v ell ley lcy 40 miles to the last east of the river gorges and across the foot high colorado colored 0 front range work has begun on the long debated colorado big thompson tain diversion project armed with good maps and hard rock men of the united states bureau of reclamation have started their drills roaring in the first bores for the 13 mile tunnel through the backbone of the con grand lake carved long ago a 9 0 from the living granite by ice ago glaciers will become an irrigation reservoir storing water that will later gurgle through the great tun nel to issue near the little town of estes park and tall fall into a power penstock after generating power tho the water will flow to storage reservoirs at the edge of the great plains and later go to the thirsty beet fields of the platte valley designed to remove e forever tho th e spectre of water shortage from the farms of northeastern colorado and to generate cheap power p ower for form farm machines and mining equipment this diversion project will bring no now new land under cultivation cul only lands now under irrigation will re celce water from the colorado river fast becoming a dust bowl with surface water entirely used tor for irrigation and underground water supplies mined out during the last drouth the water needs of the platte valley colorados sugar bowl have increased yearly ditches already have been run miles back into the hills to catch each little stream at its source now all the streams on the eastern slope are harnessed and there thera is no possibility of getting more water from them colorado river water until now largely wasted in violent spring floods caused by sudden melting of the mountain snow and flowing through lands unsuited to cultivation seemed the only solution to the platte valleys problem the front range rising more than a mile above the river valley presented only one of several obstacles no now W with tunnel construction planned and storage reservoir construction starting the trans mountain water diversion will soon be an accomplished fact from the reservoirs ditches will extend like the arms of an octopus to gather in the water of each little stream in the region A lower reservoir built in the melting basir basin of the long extinct monarch valley glacier with a dam in the deep cut granite canyon of the colorado river will collect the water as it runs in above at the tunnel mouth grand lake will be enlarged and fitted with special spillways spill ways to keep its level constant power generated tit at the eastern end of the tunnel will bo be wired across the storm swept range and used to pump water from the lower reservoir to the upper |