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Show State Engineer fill Investigate, May Serve Same Purpose as Proposed Guckhorn Flat Site. Examination to Bo Mado TJndor the Daw Passed, by tho LnBt Legislature, State Engineer Doremus yesterday sent a deputy to Carbon county to make surveys and estimates on the proposed pro-posed Huntington reservoir site, for the Stato land hoard. Tho site Is contemplated con-templated to serve tho same purpose as was the proposed Buckhorn Flat site, which the Stato Engineer Investigated Investi-gated some time ago and found impracticable imprac-ticable on account of tho large channel required to carry the volume of flood water during the thirty or forty days of the year that tho flood discharge would be on. It Is thought now that canyons by the headwaters of tho stream may be utilized to store the waters in the natural channel, to be released as required. It is to determine deter-mine the feasibility of this plan that the present Investigation Is to be made. Using' an Appropriation. The investigation Is being carried on in pursuance of the provisions of tho law passed by the last Legislature, which placed at the command of the State land board an appropriation of $3000 from tho fund derived from tho sale of State lands, to be used In locating' lo-cating' in the State two reservoirs for the benefit of land owners and prospective pros-pective land owners under the proposed reservoirs. The work of the hoard under this law is to end when the State Engineer makes his report on two feasible reservoir sites, with estimates of their cost and benefits, the findings to become a matter of record in the office of-fice of the State board for the Information Informa-tion of the public, and any citizens being be-ing at liberty to carry out the projects outlined if they choose to do so- The sections of tho State in which tho sites were to be sought out wore left to the discretion of tho land board. One Site Is Chosen. . Ono of these sites authorized by the Legislature has already been located by the Stale Engineer. This Is the Strawberry valley reservoir si to. the exploitation of which gave Sir. Dore mus me iaea ior ine great utan irrigation irriga-tion project, upon which tho Government Govern-ment Is now working. The proposed reservoir site was found to be feas- j Ible as a unit In a project too largo in scope to be undertaken by private enterprise, en-terprise, but with the Government behind be-hind It promises to operate to more than treble the amount of land under cultivation In Utah's largest three valleys. val-leys. State Act Proposed. State Engineer Doremus is now of the opinion that the L'lah Legislature should pass a reclamation act pat-1 terned after the act of the National Government, which promises to prove such a great benellt to the arid West. As is generally known, the Government Govern-ment presented to the State of Utah a half million acres of the public domain do-main to be iibed exclusively for the development de-velopment of irrigation sites. The sale of these lands al $1.50 an acre will give the State a lurgo fund to work on. It would not he large enough, however, to build outright all of tho reservoir sites that would be demanded, and then would come up the sectional Interests to Interfere with an unbiased selection by the Legislature of the most meritorious meri-torious projects. But by adopting the plan of the National Government, that of building the Irrigation works and permitting the land owners to repay their actual cost In ten annual payments pay-ments without interest, ns good service could he rendered, and as the money was paid back it could be used over anil over again for the same purpose until every available reservoir site in the State was utilized. In this way the Stato could take jp the projects that are too small for the National reclamation re-clamation service to handle, and, as there would bo no profits to be made, it could develop projects that private capital would not undertake and serve the peoplo better. |