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Show Further Control of State Water Urged By Engineer Humpherys Legislation that would give the state power to effect a greater conservation of surface and underground un-derground water in Utah, and appropriations ap-propriations to advance the small reservoir program, were recommended recom-mended recently by State Engineer Engin-eer T. H. Humpherys in his biennial bi-ennial report. Activities of the Utah water storage commission and the engineer's en-gineer's department during the bi-ennium, bi-ennium, ended June 30, 1940, are covered in the report, which is being submitted to Governor Henry H. Blood. Authority to enforce the law with respect to control of wells and to prevent waste of surface and underground water will be asked of the 1941 legislature by the state engineer. He will ask also for authority to institute suits to prevent unlawful diversion diver-sion of water from any source. An average saving of 38,000 acre feet of water has been affected af-fected by water users of the state as a result of an educational program conducted by the state engineer's department since the passage of the underground water law five years ago, Mr. Humpherys Humph-erys reported. An additional saving of 28,400 acre feet can be made, he said, "by tightening the regulations relating re-lating to wells when not in use and by repairing leaking wells." A survey conducted by the state engineer revealed that approximately ap-proximately 35,400 acre feet of water wasted from wells of the state from November 1938 to October Oc-tober 1939, the biennial report stated. Persistent violators who refuse to close their wells brought about loss of 13.000 acre feet of the wasted water, the engineer charged. Losses because of defective casings cas-ings and improper drilling of wells were 15,400 acre feet and could be prevented, Mr. Humpherys explained. ex-plained. Curtailment of the remaining re-maining 7.000 acre feet lost would be impossible without permanent loss of the wells involved, he said. The value of the water wasted during the survey period is set at 51.500.000 in the report, the esi-mate esi-mate being made on a basis of SoO an acre-foot. At least 15.000 acre feet of these losses could be prevented at a cost of S5 an acre-foot, acre-foot, the report asserts. Assistance in repairing wells is proposed for water users by Mr. j Humpherys through a WPA proj-1 oct. plans having already been ! drawn by the engineer and offi-j eials of the federal agency. An appropriation of $20,000 10, lid in financing the project is recommended in the report. -This water is the cheapest of all water available to users of Utah, and the repair project is designed to extend to private as well a public wells", Mr. Humpherys Humph-erys said. In proposing legislation to correct cor-rect faulty well drilling, one of the principal causes for loss of underground water, the engineer said that, "the law should be amended to place well drillers under un-der a moderate bond to assure compliance with regulations." Importance of advancing the mall reservoir development pro-,-ram as fnt as pn-sihle is stressed stress-ed by Mr. Humpherys in his re-' port. |