Show LOSS OF CANAL WATER too stoop steep grades are sometimes responsible for leaks when ditches are built through gravelly solis soil seepage losses are naturally heavy unless measures are taken to prevent there to Is not an irrigating canal in this country from which there la Is not more or less loss of water in transit these losses looses aro are generally spoken of 0 as caused by seepage and evaporation Ilo however it has been demonstrated that the evaporation losses loafea as compared to those caused by oreepage are feo light that they may be disregarded the loss by seepage unusually occure from froia the character of 0 tho the soil eoll through which the cannis canals run says the denver meld and farm when tills this to Is a finely divided sandy team loam such buch as occurs oc curein in many places the losses from tills this cause ate aio generally light but when the canals aro are built through soils sells which are very gravelly or perhaps nearly dearly pure gravel the seepage loss losses eo are naturally natu rolly very heavy unless astren measures are adopted to prevent them in ili other places much water to Is lost loot along parts of the canals whore where the th excavation has haa been through seamy basaltic rock or decomposed sandstone too steep esteep grades Bome sometimes times are responsible for much seepage seep agg this condition to Is found on some of the smaller early ditches built through gravelly sold eol we have heard beard it argued that when tho the water la Is to bo ba conduct ed through gravel or a porous formation it should go fast but in canals canala built on this theory tho the velocities are buell buch a as s to prevent sitting billing of the channels and thus actually promote seepage in the construction of canals many fills are made across short gullies or depressions repressions where to follow the contour of the land would lecessi essi tata wide ilde detours and frequently the i upper banks ar are e either omitted or destroyed which allows the water to ta spread ad out over tile the land above the canal and form forini lakes in cases where the nils fills are of considerable older sid erable able height quite large areas ot landore land are sometimes flooded and below suph lakes lake are invariably found heavy seepage losses largo large enough often to run in small streams away from the th e c canal a na I 1 to prevent these losses the tha upper banks of the canals have been built up so as to prevent tho the formation of the lakes on the canals where the difficulty Is due to gravelly 9 soil eoll it has been the practice to some extent to excavate a toot foot or so below grade and then till fill in with clay or flue fine material so BO as to form a puddle the clay to Is tamped camped in the bottom and then the bottom and sides are plastered several inches thick with a mortar I 1 formed of the clay in plastic state this is then covered with a layer ol of gravel to io prevent washing i 4 the results ol of this work are quite satisfactory but it is difficult to find suitable clay tor for the purpose and cement has to be ba used which Is more expensive but considerably moro more durable some measurements have been mado made on oil our canals canala to learntee learn the extent of seepage but on the smaller ditches it Is almost impossible to got get any reliable results on account of the numerous diversions which there Is no satisfactory is means meana of measuring and aad it if these are shut off along a stretch two or three miles long the extra water will cause such a rise in the canal below as to be dangerous the loss often en aino unta to fifty per cent and this Is more than any business can stand |