| Show STORAGE reservoirs gladstone Is sold said to have bavo recently predicted that in years tho the united states would contain it a population of EtHu should this prediction over ever be fullil fulfilled led a great many economical abich eloch now ax ajr becom I 1 lne se serious s in must firs t be e s solved 0 in I 1 skirlo rlou br ibbe cu omo w way y r euial i h bonica 0 n w s must nu s t be pr provided fortha or the I 1 owl bowdel 0 1 po pt tl of 0 the cities 5 h homes w which h 1 c h m must u s t bo be owned and not rented un under do r p present it conditions the eastern part of 0 our r resl COU country n I 1 Is already becoming crowded and practically tho the only place whore here tho the increasing population can e iland new homes la Is in the arid west tan 0 f the acres of 0 public lands now open to act acres nearly one fifth of 0 which can bo be I 1 lla lie in ahat Is 13 known as tho the arld arid west whit which includes nearly all ot of our cour try lying west ot of the looch meridian nearly I 1 early one tenth 0 of this land lies willin the iho boundaries ot of our own state stale arid and ono ot of the greatest questions that edit calt engage the attention of 0 tho the people of 0 our great real commonwealth la Is how low much of this land arid can toe be brought under cultivation and how many new homes homer can bo be created for the overcrowded population of 0 the east and other countries estimates made by vt various ulous authora iles place elie total amount of 0 irrigated irrigate 1 and irrigable land in utah at al about retes ot of which only wiio 41 na awes acres were armed in 1891 according to tire iho statistics lit in that year by the territorial statistician so there remains not less than tb an acres of arid and land lit in utah that can be irrigated either cither by canals now ini in operation or by canals hereafter liMe after to bo be constructed provided that there la Is sufficient water it Is a well known know fact fac t that thal outside 0 of tho the indian reservations the ordinary oid inary now dow 0 of the streams during tho the irrigating lic naoni Is riot not more than sufficient to irrigate the lands lying under canals already conati acted therefore Ther elore the only solution to tc this problem ot of how to bring under cultivation this immense body ot of arld arid land in our state la is by the construction st of STORAGE reservoirs lir to store up ill the surplus water that ha has heretofore pone glone to waste luring during a tho the year when xoi hen the water u ater could not by old methods be ba used fortunately tor for us nature it has as provided numerous sites that by tho the erection tion of dams can bo be made into storage reservoirs but sufficient reliable liable rc data has hag not yet been obtained to determine dc definitely dennl tely whether or not this surplus liis w water ater when stored would be sufficient t to 0 irrigate I 1 such buch a large body of land tire tho amount 0 of precipitation has hab been fairly well determined but the amount auto lan ts 1 of evaporation and seepage from reservoirs ato are very matters to d de 0 tor teim lne and depend largely upon 1 ocal local cormine tormine mine conditions ccone eions prom from careful estimates and measurements compiled by sir mr F IL newell ot of the united states lutcs geological survey one ot of the most ablo able and conscientious ious engineers in this department it lias has been determined that about 66 0 of a second toot foot ot of water per square mile runs oft off from the drainage dral nago basins of utah on the basis that ono one square footit water la Is required require il for every SO acres which however Is a a too liberal estimate tor for utah this low flow it if entirely used would irrigate one acre in twelve about ono one acre re in fol fourteen arteen can be considered Irrig irrigable ablo land the summer how flow la Is only second feet act per square mile so it will be seen that the flow during tho the arri season Is ony only about one seventh of the total how flow ot of the streams during the remainder of the year judging irom from these figures and also itam fa m the measurements recently made 0 of our largest rivers s by othor other officials it to sato sate to conclude that should this how flow of 0 water be fairly well distributed throughout the state by the construction of 0 storage reservoirs all of the irrigable land la in utah could finally be redeemed red denied there Is hobeler lio ho neer neler in some counties much more water than is necessary to irrigate the dry lands in these counties so it Is probably safe to estimate that acres res more of desert land can bo be reclaimed in our state which would furnish rural homes for people I 1 HOW SHALL THEY EG BUILT tile the most moat difficult question however Is how shall these reservoirs bo be built many of 0 them costing enormous sum sumi i ot of money quite a number liae bane recently con t IV been built by private capital but it Is probable that the iho number built in this way will not be largely lArf fely increased under existing laws the reservoir system furnishes the most certain cort aill supply 0 of water and creates tor for that thai roast reason in the most valuable witter water t er right we have but b ut unless the iho conditions are L extremely favorable me excessive cost over the ordinary iret gation system will for some time discourage on capital pital from this kind 0 of irrigation enterprise the question lon then as 03 to how reservoirs shall be built Is most dill cult ot of solution 10 NO ko doubt tho the people of tire western states would be very glad clad to love have this done by the Nat national ionnI government and it would seem fl a bu business biness policy to pursue this course since comparatively little land can be b sold by the government to settlers until more land Is made capable of irrigation by met construction of 0 storage reservoirs but it seems to bethe unanimous opinion ot of men who are vell well poste posted I 1 on the sentiments ot of the at washington and ot of the congress that no hope of 0 national aid for or this purpose can ever ila bo expected th the e policy of tile the government seems to be opposed to this solution of 0 the question yet reservoir sites have been located and withdrawn fro aiom entry or purchase which aull make it seem room that tiled the policy of 0 the government la is not only to refuse to build these reservoirs but MOO also to prevent the states or individuals from doing so in the iho bill providing for tho the location ot of jhc thc ib sites the topo topographers rollers ers wor were e instructed ld to consider the pro bablo the supply ot of water tho the deall ity 0 of the adjoining slopes aril anil whether forest covered or 0 not tho ho qt location of the tha dam the nearness ot of irrigable IrrIg ablie lands and the caanal line required to convey the waters to these lands the only olvan tae that can bo be wen at present from this bill lt Is that this LIAS data might bo be very cry valuable when tho the opportunity and the time ormea for building theil thedo loo reservoirs lit in tills st state a to thirteen auell have been r mcg L g legated and withdrawn from sctt 1 mont ment it a total area ot of acres over cover acres of which ore are adli adjacent laut to utah uke lake these the sites em m braco brac not only large lares arena areas aa the lands landl tho the shores of 0 atall lakes but al also so biar bull beveill vel P 1 smaller Ein aller lakes and doa dea siOn in the mountains such as silver lake twin lakes I 1 mid ma harya avs lake at I 1 uie lie head of 0 tho the cottonwoods Cotton wooda woods in this county I 1 the rho estimate ot of tho the number ot of acres unit that would bo be lal altri gated from the water stored in these reser Is placed at 35 1 SOI 00 acres which loaves leaves out ot the utilization uti ot of ij ebli lalie lake as a reservoir tile the feasibility of 0 which I 1 its very improbable OTHER SITES there are of 0 course numerous other othe r reservoir SIUS sites in utah besides thero which have been located by the gon een aral ral lut but nit ast of etheln are located on voyce land and there is 13 no statutory law if ar giving individuals or corporations the tha right ot of way or tho the t title tle to reservoir and darn dam sites on land congress passed a law in pron aror viding aldine for or the th approval ao by ille secretary of 0 ilia hie interior of 0 perpetual rights odway for reservoirs dams dama arid irrl cation ean manali trIg bloh nelch could be by bv individuals and corporations by the proper maps and COMP another in other respects with the lk law w but the interior department him has steadily rei furson to approve any ot of these ulufa 1 on linda lands this condition of 0 analara an alra lidded added to the ot of tho the above mentioned reservoir sites bites by the hie government has prevented the tha construction of a great creat many projected reservoir ey ayo tonni atema not only in utah but la in other western states the gov should not act oa as I 1 dok dog in lh ai manget mf if it lt Is l t not tho the intention to tollow follow up the splendid work uly D u ali n e eil a aln aind d p partly w r t i y accomplished i th e 0 3 2 0 r reservoir e r oi r i t e s s leco bo immediately m m e d 1 thrown open for entry either to t individuals or corporations or turned over to the iho control of 0 tho the states stales to bis be u utilized tili zeI in such buch a way as to furnish born homes to the th largest large fit number of people fit at the th least possible cost the law of 1891 should also be amended anen led to provide that tile tl 0 individuals or corporations could obtain thi the right of way for reservoirs and canals on ands G POC NON |
