Show I r LEfT TO HITCHCOCK If j r 11 1 I Result of f Conference With i Hydrographer Bien 1 MUST GET ITS MONEY BACK l l Government to Be Secured for All Money Spent Here 1 I Status or Salt Lake City In the Utah F ft Imko Hescrvolr Project Is a Matte Mat-te of Serious Concern It was made pet fectly clear to Gov Wells and the other men who met with Morris Blen of the Interior department yesterday morning ihal Utah will have f to get busy 1C our people are to derive any benefit from IhesvrJd land reclamation reclama-tion fund I I The conference begvm at 11 oclock al the ofllce of the Governor Besides Mr Blen and the Governor there were present pres-ent Prof G LJ Swenson of the State I Agricultural college Senators Kearns I I and Smoot Secretary ctf State James I Hammond George Austin of the Utah Sugar company State Engineer Dore must George C Lambert chairman of the Irrigation committee of the Commercial Com-mercial club and Attorney F S Richards Rich-ards I ardMr Blen who was appointed by Chief Hydrographer Newell of the United States Qeologlcal Survey to visit Utah i and report on the plan for transforming I transform-ing Utah lake Into a storage reservoir j was interrogated by Mr Richards ands and-s I I others The gist of his statement was I ns follows t NO DONATION Yi The Government appropriation Is not I Intended as a donation to property owners I 1 own-ers but ns a means of Improving the public lands of the United States The Government expects to be reimbursed for the money expended In watering 1 arid lands by the sale of the lands In this manner the fund wiil be perpetuated perpetu-ated until the entire arid region Is reclaimed re-claimed In this Instance however the land to be Irrigated Is all appropriated by private pri-vate owners The Government could not hope to realize any considerable I amount from the sale of public lands I Hence the total amount expended on I the lake must be charged against the It 1 land benefited by the work Each private pri-vate owner must make some provision to pay the Government a stated sum i for each acre reclaimed by the construction con-struction of the reservoir I MUST POOL INTERESTS Mr Elen pointed out the Impossibility II I of negotiating separately with each I land owner and ditch company In the territory around the lake and said that some plan would have to be devised by which the various Individuals and corporations cor-porations could pool their Interests and deal with the Government through a plngle recognized head The Arid Land Reclamation Fund commission appointed ap-pointed by the Governor under authority J author-ity conferred by the last Legislature was cited as a suitable medium through I I which such negotiations could be conducted fi con-ducted 4 The Department of the Interior said = Mr Blen Is ready to undertake at once the task of collecting data on which an 1 estimate of the cost of the work and un opinion as to Its feasibility can be W based In the meantime the commls I sign can busy Itself In combining the land owners and ascertaining how IT i much they are willing to pay for the I I enlargement of their water supply The Investigation by the Government engineers engi-neers will consume the greater part of one year ample time It would seem for The commission to arrange a scheme by which the Interests of the land owners can be consolidated and security for I the reimbursement of the Government l given to the Interior department GOVERNMENTS SECURITY In answer to a question Mr Blen said the usual security for the repayment of the money advanced was a Hen on the lands Irrigated Asked If any other security se-curity would be acceptable he replied that he could not speak for the department depart-ment but presumed that any businesslike business-like proposition would be considered The Government does not Intend to force the benefits of the act upon anyone any-one and it will not undertake to secure any land by condemnation or purchase SALT LAKE CITYS STATUS I One of the most important questions that came up at the conference was the status of Salt Lake City in the pending negotiations Mr BIen said that a final decision on this point would have to come from the Secretary of the Interior He thought however that the municipality li munici-pality could participate in the benefits oC the project in so far as It had already al-ready acquired water rights to the flow I from the lake but that the prospective I rights of the city In the Increased water supply would have to be relinquished He suggested that the proper source of the citys water supply was to be found In the streams flowing from the mountains moun-tains to the east and that the Increaser Increase-r derived from the lake should be given to the users of th < mountain streams II i by ° way of compensation and exchange I REFERRED TO SECRETARY I If f The decision of the conference was I that the questions which Mr Then had authority to answer should be re ferret to the Secretary of the Interior That official has been engaged ever i I since the reclamation fund was est < b II dished In formulating a system of rules to cover the administration of the fund I Almost every locality has problems pe I cul ur to Itself and for this reason the task of the secretary Is an onerous one The points on which his decision will I be awaited with the most Interest by the people of Utah are I 1 The nature and form of he sccur I I Sfnl required for the repayment of funds I expended by the Government in im proving occupied lands I 2 The form ° c organization which will be recognized by the Government I In negotiating for the irrigation of oc i enpled lands 3 Thc extent to which municipal cot I porations may participate In the hene its to nei derived from expenditures of I the arid land reclamation fund LACK OF EXPERIENCE As the experience of the department hlth ItrlgaUolt Problems l becomes twirler the q ues t Uons which now puzzle the ple of t pco the c Vest will be b el1 regulated y 1 Stallestalllshed rules and celentn prece I a Ift the Inca p iron oC reservoir projects 1411 ho up simple na tlw lot atloa 9f PUb r 1 lie lands Until this experience is attained at-tained however there Is likely to he more or less uncertainty and friction There Is little I doubt that the department depart-ment on receiving Mr Blens report will order the Immediate commencement commence-ment of the survey and measurements necessary to an estimate of the coat and practicability of the Utah lake project pro-ject Up to this time the Arid Land commission and the State engineer have only the vaguest Ideas as to the manner man-ner In which the desired result can be best attained State Engineer Dorcmus said yesterday GATHERING DATA In older to gain the Information that must be obtained before any definite plans can bo made the Government engineers en-gineers probably talce soundings InC In-C part of th lake and make a complete com-plete map showing the formation of the lake bottom in every part measurements measure-ments of Ute banks will doubtless be made all around the shore surveys and computations ot x the dipof UT ground around the lake will be made Then and not until then will it be possible to say whether he reservoir l can best be constructed by 1 dyking ono portion of the lake or inundating the land somewhere some-where elite Olany people do not understand the difficulty of elaborating an entcrprlse of this character and seem to imagine that I have a guilty secret which I am afraid to divulge When I was In Utah county the other day several men came to me and said What Is this scheme you have up your sleeve why are you keeping us In the dark etc when the truth was I had not much more of a conception of what is likely to be done than they had TECHNICAL QUESTIONS After the adjournment of the conference confer-ence at the Governors sanctum at 1 oclock Mr Blen and Mr Doremus met with Mr Richards in toe State engineers engi-neers office and discussed some of the technical questions thathad arisen earlier ear-lier in the day One of the difficulties that is likely to arise it was pointed out Is that of delivering water through private and corporate ditches to persons per-sons who wish to reclaim arid or semiarid semi-arid tracts Unless this difficulty is foreseen and provided for some of the patrons of the reservoir would be at the mercy of the canal and ditch owners own-ers and the Government could not deliver de-liver the water desired without the consent con-sent of the said owners Such a contingency con-tingency must be anticipated In closing a contract for the Irrigation of lands on the completion of the reservoir The Utah Arid Land Reclamation Fund commission will be culled together togeth-er early next week by State Engineer Doremus in order that the results of Mr Blens visit may be communicated to the commissioners Mr Blen will leave today to report to his chief Mr I Newell |