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Show . : :ais is not Msirs L3 LP-; 10 WEST- LEVEL IK BISIORY ; - Entertained, However, How-ever, That Wet Cycle : r.ny Result in the Old Level 'Betas: Reached ly. Deal Sea.; , It k not so many years ago that peo-i.'.ae peo-i.'.ae us great a clamor about Great ut lake rising and overflowing this va"oy, as is now being made about its l. .and, in . time, entirely disap-1 disap-1 ' -i in.?. ; , ; , . This great body of salt water la certainly cer-tainly a grand enigma, but there Is no r ore probability of one of the before mentioned events occurring than there li of the other. Etcry cf the Lake. Thousands and thousands of years ago this lake is believed to have been a great ocean; Twenty thousand years a so it is fuid to have been 800 feet higher high-er then it U now, and traditions among the Indians, are to the effect that not to many- years ago the lake began to rise ar i they were driven from this valley val-ley to seek safety In the mountains. But we need have no apprehensions . on that score now, It would take a twenty-foot rise to cause the lake to overflow and In that Improbable event It would flow first out upon the desert end spreading over that Immense area, evaporation would be eo great as to counterbalance the rise. Explains the low Level. True as it may be, that the lake Is lower now than It was ever known to be before, this does not necessarily warrant war-rant the belief that It may dry up or even become lower. There Is an explanation for the low mark the water baa fallen to during the last year. Mr. Murdoch ' when seen today said that the lake has fallen because the past three years have been the dryest consecutive years we have ever had and that a good rise will probably soon come because it is reasonable to expect a heavier precipitation for the coming years. " The lake has a fluctuation of about three feet each year, reaching its highest high-est mark along about June and gradually grad-ually falling until the end of the year, when it begins to rise again. Gets Below Zero Mark. Last year the high mark (four Inches below zero) was reached In May and it is at Its lowest now, being three feet six inches below zero. There is also the cycle theory that misrht explain much If data were obtainable ob-tainable for a longer period than is at our disposal. In 1827 the lake was nearly near-ly as low as it is now. From 1827 to ISC4 the annual precipitation was fifteen Inches and this period Is known as a dry cycle; from 1864 to 1SS7 the annual precipitation was 18.24 Inches and this Is termed a wet cycle; during this period pe-riod the lake reached the highest levels of which wo know anything about, having hav-ing twice, namely in 1868, and in 1876. been thirteen feet above zero; from 1SS7 until the present time the annual precipitation pre-cipitation has been fifteen inches, and this Is called the second dry period. Whether we are reaching the end of this dry cycle or not, we cannot tell; should it prove as long as the other we have twenty-one years more to wait When the Pioneers Came. In 1847, when the pioneers came here, (he level of the lake was about zero, according to the scale of measurement employed by Mr. Murdoch; in 1860 It was about one foot above; In 1863 it was one foot six inches above, the same level as In 1899; In 18S6 it was the highest high-est since 1876. being nine feet above zero. Since then It has fallen steadily each year until now It is between three end four feet lower than ever before since the State wa settled. The precipitation for the past two months has been greater than for the same two months for many years, and It Is fair to hope that the dry cycle from 1SS7 Is coming to a close and that a wet cycle is about to begin. |