Show PROBE WATER A R PROBLEM Irrigation Congress Opens Important Session RESERVOIRS FOR ARID LAND Delegates Outlined Projects for Storing Stor-ing Waste Water and Utilizing I for Reclaiming Arid TnndG Reservoirs Reser-voirs Suggested for a Number of Favorable Locutions Throughout the State Special Committee Appointed Ap-pointed to Ccnider the Matter and Make Report to Congress Today T + + + + + + + + 4 + + + + + t + 4 + 4 + I + + WHAT IRRIGATION CONGRESS + + CON-GRESS DID + 4 + + f Heard suggestions from dele 4 1 gates regarding needed roser + + voirs + Discussed plans for reclaiming + + 4 reclaim-ing tho thousands of acres of + + arid land in tho State + + Appointed a special committee + + to consider the different sug + + gcstlons of delegates regarding + I reservoir sites The committee + + f is composed aa follows + + L R Cropper Millard county + + J C Whcclon Box Elder + + county + + A P Doremus Salt Lake + + county + + f Jacob Johnson Sanpeto county f + coun-ty + tyW + t W 0 Creer Utah county f f + + + t + + + + > + + + + + + hAll + + h-All day yesterday the third annual Irrigation Congress wrestled with the vital question of reclaiming thousands of acres of arid land In the State land that with water can be transformed Into stretches of magnificent farms homes for hundreds Attention was given to the equally Important matter of devising systems by which a greater supply oC water can be given to tho lands now under cultivatIon From the various Jiddresscs and reports of dele gafes It was made apparent that there la sufficient water now going to waste in the State to answer all purposes Reservoirs and canals arc regarded as the solution of the difficulty and n special spe-cial committee of live delegates was selected to consider the different suggestions sug-gestions offered before the Congress regarding re-garding icservolr sitcK rho Congress will probably conclude Its labors today DISCUSSED RESERVOIR SITES The sessIon was called to order at 10 a m by President Abel John Evans Mr Evans J explained that the alms and policies of the Congress were not well defined owing lo the fact that every minute of the lust session had been devoted de-voted to a gist of routine business He said that I tiny suggestions or projects regarding the muter of Irrigation would be discussed by the Congress as presented by the delegates On motion oC VIccPrcaldeiH A F Doicmus It was decided that the discussion of the forenoon session be confined as nearly as possible to the matter of reservoirs BEAR LAKE RESERVOIR Prof G L Swcndson of the Agricultural Agricul-tural college was the first to take the speakers stand Prof Swendecn poke on the feasibility of establishing n reservoir res-ervoir at Bear lake He said that much consideration has been given to the matter in the past and that the conditions are generally regarded as favorable for the project Much water Is I now going to waste he wild which could be preserved to irrigate 70000 acres of choice land in Box Elder and Cache counties In order to establish such a reservoir it would be necessary to divert the Bear river Into the lake which ho thought I would be a matter of no great dlfllculty WYOMINGS POSITION At the conclusion of Prof Swendscns remarks the question was raised of whether Wyoming would not object to having the river diverted from Its channel Inasmuch as the river runs into Wyoming and Is utilized In that State by scores of fanners Chief lly drographer F II Newell was called upon to give hls opinion In tills muter and he stated hat I Wyoming would In all probability have no objection to the project a is the water was to be taken from the river principally I i during the flood season In 1 case any dispute WUH aroused Mr Newell thought It could bi easIly adjusted The piojcft wasdiscussed 1 also 1 by J iVWhPi 1 lon the engineer of tho Dear jiver canal Mr Wheelon thought hem he-m sl practical scheme Oc furnishing water I to the J3u river regl6n volld be by the onstruction of a cnnnl I direct to the lands vhIh were to receive the advantage of water lie wild that such a canal would bring about 276000 acres of land under cultivation I und would cost no less than I 5170090 probably more expense than the land would warrant GRAND RIVER RESERVOIR The establishment of a canal or reservoir reser-voir for the waters of the Grand river in southern Utah would result In the setlleimnt and cultivation of 1000000 acres of lane said Judge Jacob Johnson John-son the next speaker Sunklcnt water could be taken from the Grand river he said to Irrlgat a tract of land twenty by sixty miles without infring lug in any way on the water rights of those now using water from that river Mr Newell spoke briefly upon the Grand river proposition uaylng It Is I a matter that hal already been given much consideration by the Government He thought tho Idea was entirely pruo tlcuble Jn Colorado a project to estab lish u system of canals to be fed by the river IK now being carried Into ef c and there la every indication that t tH plan will be successful Mr Newell tool occasion to suggest that Utah In conjunction with the llf cell other Stolen corning within the jcope of the new Irrigation law should mibiuit I prepared report of the more desirable Irrigation urhemeB to be nub inltted at the National Irrigation congress con-gress This would prevent the dliTlcul ty caused the geographical survey by the presentation of schemes by the sep ui atc delegations UTAH JAKE RESERVOIR Slate Engineer Dorcmua gave a detailed de-tailed cxplnnnllon of the project of making ma-king Utuh lake a reservoir I In order to do this ho said more water would have lo be 1 put Into Uv lake and whlit Is now there more clowly I preserved Tho latter could be effected by diking such portions of the lake where the water Is shallow along the shores making ma-king the loss of water by evaporation extremely heavy By turning more water into the lake and reducing the urea exposed to the sun it would be necessary he said to broaden the Jordan river outlet With the Increased volume of water In the Jordan river Mr Dorcmus was of the opinion that fully 00000 acres of land in the Salt Lake valley now lying useless use-less could be brought under cultivation cultiva-tion Thousands oC acres would also be < thrown 10Isn he paid by excluding the I water from the shallow portions of Utah lake At the conclusion of his address the session was adjourned until un-til 2 p m THE MAMMOTH RESERVOIR At the t opening of the afternoon sea slon 1 II Grace of Ncphl told of the I I mammoth reservoir which Is now being be-ing constructed In Sanpetc county ten miles east of Falrvlcw Between 60000 mlcs 70000 has already been expended on the reservoir but when completed tIm cost and expense of maintenance will he a mere trifle as compared with the benefit that will accrue The reservoir res-ervoir will be fed by the Gooseberry rlvor l watershed The mammoth reservoir was also discussed dis-cussed briefly by State J Engineer Dore brlc1l mus and Judge Johnson Mr Dorcmus expressed the belief that the water from the Gooseberry will be aufllclcnt lo nil the reservoir when it 1 is completed com-pleted pletedTO ASK GOVERNMENT AID AHrS M Cannon the next speaker said It was the Intention of himself and others lo recommend to the hoard of canal presidents that they r Invite the stockholders of the various companies to Join in soliciting the Governments assistance In making the water of Utah lake more available Mr Cannon said ho hoped to see the lake made into a grand reservoir which would give the gmne people of Salt Lake valley ample water TO SECURE DUCHESNE WATER Regarding the feasibility of putting the water of the Duchcsnc river to > ome use Bishop Henr Gardner of Spanish Fork advanced a plan of utilizing part of the water in reclaiming 50000 acres 0 of arid land lying l in the southorn part of Utah count He thought there would be no dUIlculty In securing the required consent of the Government and no great dlfilculty In getting the water from the Strawberry to the land In question Heber C Jex oC Spanish Fork Indorsed In-dorsed Bishop Gardners suggestion saying the want of proper Irrigation in parts of Utah county needs immediate attention We have Investigated the matter thoroughly said Mr Jex and have found that there is but one source from which we can gel the uatcr that That is I is so much needed one source the Strawberry valley We have had a competent engineer go over the ground to Investigate and he has reported that the scheme of running the water across the mountain range into Utah county Is practicable We Intend to askthe Government to help us get the vator upon the 50000aere arid strip The qost of FO doing would be comparatively small I smal COTTONWOOD WATER Frank McDonald oC Big Cottonwood suggested a method by which the water from the Cottonwoodw can be paved during the > weeka of the spring floods He suggested piping the water I from both Cottonwoods to Utah luVrcdttylng the time of high water in order tosaVe a large quantity of water that Is now running to waste L R Cropper of Mllhml county thought the establishment of n reservoir reser-voir to he supplied by the Sevier river would result In the reclamation of thousands thou-sands of acres of the sparselynettled regions of Millard county He said there Is a largo volume of water going to waste during the spring floods thai could be made to serve a good PUlp cat c-at a small cost as there are a number of suitable reservoir sites A sum of 5300000 would be enough he thought to complete the work of building this reservoir Prof Tanner did not favor this project pro-ject lie said there was not enough water running to waste through lie Scvler river during flood seasons to water 10000 acres of land APPOINTED SPECIAL COMMITTEE I The matter of taking sonic definite l I action In regard to the various projects exploited during the day was then suggested sug-gested and it was unanimously decided to appoint a special committee of live to consider tie different propositions President Evans named the live rom millcemen who will hold a meeting thin morning at 0 oclock Their report will probably be heard at the afternoon sos slon today There are matters of much Importance remaining to be brought up at todays session which opens at 10 oclock |