Salt Lake Tribune | 1904-05-15 | Page 6 | The Irrigation Plans

THE IRRIGATION PLANS. The flood waters of tho Duchesne are to be measured; Professor Swendsen Is about to send a party under the direction direc-tion of Mr. C. Tanner to make these measurements. Mr. Tanner measured the ordlnury flow of the Duchesne some weeks ago, and found It to be two hundred hun-dred and forty second-feet. It Is practically prac-tically certain that the flood waters will Increase this many fold, for tho high mountains and wide area the headwaters headwa-ters of thin river drain afford ample source from which to draw a Hood' Indeed. In-deed. It is exceedingly gratifying to see the activity and constant work of tho Govornment'3 engineering force in this region. In pursuance of the preparations for the great Improvements that It is expected the Government will put in. It is also excellent to note the Interest In and approval by tho Interior Department Depart-ment of Utah's advancement In preparations prepar-ations for these improvements, as re ported by Mr. P. S. Richards. By the work of Professor Swcndscn and associates, asso-ciates, and that of the Utah Arid Land Fund Commlsison, a programme has been presented to the Department which in comprehensiveness and practical practi-cal feasibility, is not touched by tho schemes presented from any other State. The beginning of the whole scheme Is of course the Utuh Lake proposition, which Is In fair shape now, so far as the lines of general agreement are concerned; con-cerned; but much remains to do In Ailing Ail-ing In the details. Then comes tho Bear Lake Improvement, the preliminary Investigations In-vestigations on which are progressing well under the energetic and competent guidance of Mr. W. P. Hardesty. Then these examinations of the Duchesne, Du-chesne, which will undoubtedly result in the diversion of tlie water being undertaken, unless somo unsuspected obstacle presents Itself. The general plan Is to Investigate and map out all the water resources of tho State, with a view to their thorough utilization. That the Government will, on the proper showing, undertake the work of rendering all such attention as will make them available to the utmost, there is no reason to doubt. And on that being done, the doubling of the population of the Stato Is easily ,ln sight,