H2Ooooo my!

wyOmn (did I do that right?) Head west on I-80, past Wamsutter, to the Red Desert exit nearest Moyer's (if it is still Moyer's) and start knocking on Homestead doors until one is opened to you. Don't worry, all doors there are homestead doors. A lot of folks bought "Red Desert Ranchettes" years ago and some had the moxie to stick it out. Hauling water, rain water cisterns and the like were necessary. No matter how dry your clime, gathering rain water is possible. That is being done in N Arizona among the pinon and cactii with considerable success. Ranchers in your area (as well as the BLM) are experimenting with snow fences to fill stock "ponds."

DW and I looked at several tracts up on the Mt border. Absolutely beautiful, well treed and snowy meadows. The avg well depth was 1200', so a well would have cost more than the land -- with no assurance of water or water quality. Soooo, we just closed on our homestead a bit east . . . Eastern Kentucky. There are a lot of tracts listed in North Albany County up by the North Laramie. A realtor might be able to tell you what sources are available to those tracts. You might also talk to the State Engineer's office and try to get a list of "appropriators" (the preferred word for owners of water rights) of your desired river water. There may be a rancher (or municipality?) who would assign you so many cfs or acre feet/year for your domestic use. I believe the Wheatland Reservoirs use Laramie River Water (or Rock Creek or Medicine Bow water) Perhaps the Wheatland irrigation districts may permit your obtaining rights and accessing some of their water -- even before it reaches their reservoirs??

Occasionally you will see a pickup truck with a green plastic tank in the bed. That pickup is hauling water -- a whole lot more than 5 gallon buckets. Good Luck

cowboyracer43
Thank you. I shall look into these things.
Yes we see lots of waterbarrels on trucks here.
Camped out on the place last night.
Wife made chiles rellenos (sp?) on the Coleman stove, accompanied by some ice chilled beers.
Watched the Milky Way for hours as we were serenaded by very vocal coyotes.
Jack-rabbits, antelope & falcons/hawks galore. Saw both Golden & Bald Eagles driving out this AM, along with a solitary red fox. Some butt-head road shooter left 25-30 dead rabbits in a short stretch of miles.
Deer and Elk are still in velvet. Havent seen any on our place yet, but have seen both as close as Rock River.
Many of the 'lopes twinned this year, hairy lil rockets are everywhere!
Prairie Dogs are carrying "the plague" this year. Been told there are fewer than in years past
Thanks again for the post.
Lex/Karen

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No lotus land ever cast its spell upon a man's heart more than Wyoming had enchanted mine.-The Virginian-Owen Wister-

I lived in the high mountain desert of NW CO for some yrs and hauled water. Get a poly cistern or two from a local farm supply and a 250 gal pickup size tank. Plumb the cistern to the house. Most folks I know use the 12v dc pumps because they are on solar. Usually you can find a water fill up place in the closest town.

I also had my roof guttered for rain/snow catch and you can get quite a bit that way. You will need a good bit of storage capacity tho because most of the precip is in winter. Put a metal roof on the house. About 6 to 12 inches from the roof edge put angle iron on the roof, parallel to the gutter. This will stop the snow from sliding down and taking out the gutters. If you have power you can put heat tape on the edge of the roof, otherwise try to have the roof so the sun will hit both sides at some point during the day.

If you are going to haul untreated water from any source or use roof water you might build yourself a slow sand filter for a few bucks. It will remove most pollutants. If the water is really dirty use a settling tank prior to filtering.

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I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)