LAKE MCMILLAN – GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Traditional Cache
LAKE MCMILLAN – GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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If you are old enough to remember that there once was access to the coordinates from the west, this is no longer possible as the river channel has been rerouted. You can cross the Pecos River below the newer Brantley Dam.
Be on the lookout for those things native to the Chihuahuan Desert that stick, bite, sting, or make you hurt yourself!
Memories are about all that are left of this historic landmark. While you are searching for this cache, take a few moments to gaze on both sides of the structure you are standing on. Reflect upon the history this place has been a part of.
HISTORY (provided by the US Department of the Interior – Bureau of Reclamation)
The Spanish started irrigating the land when they settled in the Pecos River Basin around 1600. Irrigation in the early 19th century flourished under the Spanish land grant colonization system and was continued after 1850 by the American settlers. The early irrigation systems were community ditches which diverted the normal flow of the river without the benefit of permanent diversion structures. In 1888, a large ranch was located in the general area of the present Carlsbad Project. The ranch manager initiated the first large-scale irrigation attempt. Since the natural characteristics of the area required a more comprehensive treatment than the enterprise could afford, it failed. For the next 17 years, various private interests attempted to make this project financially profitable, but without success.
During this period, project facilities were built, including McMillan Dam for water storage. Avalon Dam for storage and diversion, the Main Canal, and a distribution system which irrigated 15,000 acres. Private operation of the project ended in 1904 when a Pecos River flood destroyed the central canal and much of the irrigation system and swept away Avalon Dam. Without water for the land, the project settlers faced complete ruin. Upon their request, in 1905 the Reclamation Service was authorized to purchase the system. Reclamation then began investigations prior to rehabilitating the project.
By 1907, the system was repaired and extended to permit the irrigation of approximately 25,000 acres. McMillan Dam was rehabilitated in 1908, but by 1932 silt accumulation had reduced the storage capacity of the reservoir and leakage through gypsum and limestone strata had reduced its effectiveness. As siltation advanced, about 13,000 acres of salt cedars grew in the upper reservoir area. After a careful analysis of all factors involved, it was decided to construct a new reservoir at a different site rather than to attempt correction of the defective conditions at Lake McMillan.
Sinkholes were an ongoing problem along the eastern edge of McMillan Reservoir causing extensive water losses. The east dike was extended about 1,600 feet in 1934-1935, and construction of an extended dike 10,700 feet long was initiated in 1954 to cut off additional sinkholes. The dike was extended an additional 1,000 feet in 1968.
Rehabilitated in 1908, this zoned earth fill dam was 57 feet high and had a volume of 234,000 cubic yards. The reservoir capacity as built was 82,600 acre-feet but siltation had reduced the active capacity to about 33,600 acre-feet (based on survey of September 1964). When Reclamation completed Brantley Dam in 1991, Reclamation drained McMillan Reservoir and breached McMillan Dam.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ebpxf bhg bs cynpr
Treasures
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