Show WATER SUPPLY FOR SALT LAKE COUNTY Not much has been done during the pat year toward enlarging the supply of water used in Salt Lake valley and Salt Lake county This locality is more highly developed than any other part or the State and a more intensive method cultivation Is carried on by the farmers than elsewhere Salt Lake City Is also dependent for Its domestic supply on water that would otherwise be used for Irrigation so that the value of water Is much mono In this valley than In any other parts of the State Ao the full supply by the natural flow of tho streams was long since appropriated appro-priated and used the questIon of storing stor-ing the waters that now run to waste during the nonIrrigation season has become more and more pressing The necessity of this for insuring a reliable supply for the lands already under cultivation and dependent I on Irrigation Is urgent let alone the desirability of brlnglt additional land under Irig tionTho Tho question of an enlargqd usa of Utah lake as a reservoir has boon much discussed for a number of years and it Is hoped that within the coming year apme dec Met steps will bo taken that will result in a full utilization of th lake for storing the waters that generally run to waste during the late winter and spring months Utah lake is a natural reservoir and ao far about all the Improvement that has been made to render It of such great value has been tho construction of an impounding im-pounding dam in the Jordan river Its outlet at the head of the Jordan Narrows Nar-rows thereby holding back tho water in the lake during the tlmo when not needed and regulating Its outflow during dur-ing the Irrigation season Tho height to which water may be raised In tho lake Is limited by the compromise level decided upon as the result of the lawsuits brought by the owners of land bordering on the lake who objected ob-jected to the raising of the water and the consequent flooding of tholr lands To raise the water above this level will require the purchase or condemnation of the additional lands covered The principal owners of tho water coming from Utah lake are the city of Salt Lake and four large canal companies Nearly two ear ago the city made an appropriation of the surplus sur-plus waters of Utah lake and did much work the following season to make Its appropriation good An Important part of the citys plan as devised by ex City Engineer F C Kelscy was the radical Improvement of the channel of the Jordan river so that the water of tho lake could be drawn out much more freely and to a lower level than before Conferences have been had between the citys representatives and the canal ca-nal companies with 3 view to undertaking under-taking this work Jointly but no Understanding un-derstanding has been reached A description of the plan proposed together with an account of the progress pro-gress of affairs up to that time were given in The Tribunes last New Year edition During tho last two seasons on account ac-count of the light snowfall In the mountains much less water than ordinarily ordi-narily has reached Utah lake and anew a-new problem has arisen namely that of a sufficient supply to flll the lake I is seen that the proposed enlargement enlarge-ment of the lake would do comparatively compara-tively little good unless there Is enough water to feed It With an outlet channel for easily drawing down the water below the low water mark one seasons deficient snow or rainfall would not amount to much as the reserve held in store would mostly make up for It but a succession oC two or more seasons of the kind Is and has been a serious matter So during the pat season the proposition prop-osition has come up to divert the surplus sur-plus waters of the Weber river into the Provo river which latter Is the principal feeder of Utah lake These two rivers head near one another east of the Wasatch range though the cut through this range on their way to the Great Salt Lake basin at widely separated sepa-rated points In the neighborhood of Kamas where they have both attained considerable size It is qultQ feasible to divert the waters of either one to the other A survey leading from the Weber river two or three miles abovo Peon across the Kamas bench to the Provo river shows that It can be done by a canal nine or tn miles long As proposed pro-posed this canal would be twenty feet wide anI four fet deep and would cost 10000 to 50000 The construction construc-tion of the canal would be neither difficult dif-ficult nor expensive I has been estimated that a supply of 100 to 500 cubic feet per second can bo thus diverted during about six months of the year Including the winter win-ter and spring Last August a committee on behalf of the four canal companies and the city filed In Summit county notices of appropriation of these surplus waters and work was started t hold the appropriation ap-propriation The legal difficulties that will confront con-front the attempt to divert tho waters may be more formidable than lhe physical phy-sical ones as the users of the water from the Wober river will likely strongly resist any effort to divert theater the-ater into another watershed I would seem however that as tho water has not been used heretofore there should be no reasonable objection to running It Into Utah lake and storing it for Irrigation Ir-rigation purposes The latest project of the city and canal companies however and which will be urged by Utahs representation In Congress this winter is for the general Government to undertake the conversion of Utah lake Into a permanent perma-nent reservoir Until the outcome of this Is known It Is not thc Intention to push any of the other projects J the Government raises the permis sible water level by two feet and improves Im-proves the Jordan river channel as Is Intended water can be stored to two feet above compromise level and drawn down to one and onehalf feet bclojv lowwater mark giving an effective storage under present conditions This combination plan of raising the lake during the winter and drawing It down to a lower level during the summer is undoubtedly the best one One decided advantage to the ownera of land bordering on the lake Js the better control of the level of the water secured by the Impioved outlet channel chan-nel Under present conditions when stonage of the water la begun during the winter there hi no certainty of telling what height the water will reach after tv spring floods us the amount wil run Into the lake cannot can-not bo foretoll I I this amount IK I larger lar-ger than usual tho lake Is very liable to rise much above the compromise level eon though the gates of the Impounding dam be left wide anon In the spring of 1SS1 the lake rose to five feet above the compromise hey ol although the water was not held back by the dam In the spring of 1 C the wator failed by five Inches of I reaching compromise level This was not on account of C lace of supply but bccaiiFc the commissioners had refused re-fused to store the water I with the mistaken mis-taken belief that iho spring floods might bring 1 It up above compromise 1C I the storage was begun ton parly With the more perfect control th u t would be o cured by an IJTprowl rhnn nel there should be no hosilutlon about storing the water during the winter trusting to the enlarged channel to take care of the spring floods to such dfl extent that the desired level need not bo gratly exceeded nee I has been proposed also to divert the surplus waters oC the DU diver nver Into the Provo river if ouch can be dono c without too great expense Thb stream lies within the CXPCIe In dian reservation and but little reervaton hut ltte of Its water haa been actually used aa yet for Irrigation Permission would have to be obtained from the Government to divert the water Strawberry creek tho main tributary would mfln probably bo the stream to be tapped b During tho PDt season have been tried and settled the disputes between the Salt Lake City Water and Elec trical Power company and the city and canal companies as to the rights to use of water from tho Jordan river Theao suits involved all the claimants to tho water Over two months were required for the taking of testimony In the main suit making It the longest trial l cvcc had In a Utah court By the decision of Judge Morse Irt this case tho rights of all parteD were defined and it Is hoped that no other difficulties will arise to provent tho city and canal companies from uifcer tahlng any Improvements to ettcr their supply The only case t Issue remaining la that between tin city and the power company regarding the right of tho latter to use the water belonging to tho fomer aa long as it is diverted through the present city canal such water of course to be returned to tho city canal undlmlnlshcd in volume at n point opposite the power plant An action brought last summer by the power company to perfect such a right resulted in the court granting it but the city a once secured an injunction from the Supreme court enjoining such use of the citys water The city also appealed to the Supremo court from the lower courts decision and the case ha been argued and now awaits a decision de-cision from the Supreme court W P 1IAKDESTY C E |