Show UTAH EXPERIMENT STATION An Interesting Letter From Top J srapher F H Xevrell To the Editor of The Herald I send herewith the latest publication of the Utah Experiment Station bulletin 3S together with a letter from F H Newell New-ell topographer of the United States geological geo-logical survey in reference tQ the value of this brief publication The subject of irrigation and water rights have been extensively discussed of late and the work of this station should be an aid in the intelligent discussion of these topics The last bulletin is summarized as follows fol-lows During the summer or 1834 many measurements mea-surements were made of the canals and tributaries of Ogden and Weber rivers to determine if possible whether water could be diverted and applied to the surface sur-face of cultivated areas in the upper valleys val-leys without injury to the priority users in the lower valleys The preliminary investigations which extended through July and August period pe-riod much too brief in which to base accurate ac-curate resultsseemea to demonstrate the accuracy of the following statements FIrstThat the diversion of water from a stream and its application to the soil in the upper valleys in the early part of the irrigation season when water is abundant abun-dant increases the available supply to the irrigators of the lower valleys in the latter lat-ter part of the season SecondIn most cases a time Is reached usually about midsummer when no por PfIi tion of the water diverted from the stream in the upper valley reaches the lower irrigators in time to benefit them Such diversion and use damage the irrigators irri-gators of the lower valleys ThirdIn some Instances the outflow from the upper valleys during July and August was much greater than the inflow in-flow although a large part of the inflow was used for irrigation purposes FourthThe behavior bf Irrigation waters wa-ters in any drainage system can be de ermined only after a series of carefully made measurements extending over a period pe-riod of years and that much illfeeling trouble and litigation would be avoided If the state would collect the necessary data Folowing is the letter to which reference refer-ence has been made Department of the Interior United States Geological Survey Washington D C April 24 1895 Prof Samuel Fortler Logan Utah Dear SirI have lately received two copies of Bulletin No 38 and have read your paper with very great interest This is I think one of the finest pieces of work in the line of hydrography I have V yet seen and has value not only to Utah but to all western states The manner in which you have worked up the subject and prepared the data for publication is admirable and should serve as a model for investigators in other parts of the country I hope that your efforts and the results will be appreciated by the people I of Utah who if alive to their own interests inter-ests should hasten to enable you to carry car-ry on this work to a far larger degree of completeness There is no investment which the future state can make which will yield as large a return as the continuation con-tinuation of this thorough Investigation of the water resources and problems ot I seepage and I do not know a man who is as well prepared as yourself to push this matter successfully Very truly yours F H NEWELL Topographer As the demand for the bulletins quickly exhausts the supply all Utah people especially Interested In the subjects of seepage the underflow of rivers water rights etc should secure a copy of this bulletin The bulletins are sent free to any person in Utah that will write for them The next one now in press treats of farm and orchard Irrigation Respectfully J H PAUL Director |