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Show MAGAZINE SECTION President ofthe University of TltaJb. f ffiyjOHh A.WlDTSOE, i.y 'X irsf 41 v . ' wKf Vs 'H- IV. -- -- f tt1' 4. i t- - v V Xv X ' ri y I'W. t -- L "v y5 v -- Sur . , gw v 4?- -' UV ; ", . N o .'$; As.' J J"( CEMENT LINED 'CANALS PREVENT LOSS OESEEPA C& 51 g 'VvSiJ s THEDEAUTYOF ' IRRIGATED LANDSCAPES Acreage of UTAH V4' .S '"''Sew? ' -- ' .S U. , M p a VJ 'C r:f f , ? l. tu?:--', L . .. iH !f I ) g S t w ' '' W xi J2&J, F- V FUTURE FARMER ? .w-'- H,.f ..- - ' ' 55,000,000 w A-- V i'', tr,VV $1 $ ; " 'I 4W' " h.V's ARABLE 4b ACREAGE .17 1 e. x X . X V .;NvVr H . Ve .'.els' 'et: L, Acreage thah can be put under HP r 5,000,000 MUST f r ? m. ' '.s . 1 1 , 4wV "1W 'i. iV-- .' 4 - .5- ?i - Acreage Con- 1,000,0 00 cerns; Map of Future Will Include System of Lined Canals and Laterals. the vast resources ot Utah the Increase has been almost Imperceptible. known, our small The first question before those Interwould be able to develop ested in I tah s future is: How may ira few of them. After near- rigation expansion, within the state, be of a century secured? With-- probably 20,000,000 acres ly of arable land in our total area of there are nearly 1B0 acres of land to acres, a larger acreage tinder 1 claims who woman child and every man, rlgatlon must somehow be secured. state Little cltlsenshlp within the state. Two Means of Expansion. development can b expected, unless our At first thought, it would seem that by population increases; and If we are to developing new sources of water must t maintain our place among our neighbors, our be secured. expansion f forging rapidly onward, we must hurry SoberIrngitlon second thought, however, conon our growth, both in development and vinces us that the better use of the Water already on hand may also increase population. our irrigated area. In fact, as a commonwealth, de- tremendously .Any state, the tnot . direct method of securing upon Its agriculture. pends primarily expansion (or the state of Utah Even states essentially of a mining or ia to make better use of the water almanufacturing nature, foster the agri- ready diverted from natural channels cultural deeloptnet of their lands and into Irrigation canals. Luring the last two decades much new the accompanying rural civilisation. This true of Inland empires, knowledge has been acquired concerning Is particularly states of the duty of water. There is yet much like the great Intermountaln to be learned, but we know enough to this country. make many definite statements. The duty of water in Utah Is still too low. Irrigation Imperative. Many engineers in private or state In Successful agriculture, however. still contend that upwards of turn depends upon markets upon the thirty-si- x Inches of water per annum presence of a large body of consumers to- should be allowed for the production of buslto and the make stahlhss vigorous crops, when. In fact, crops thrive on ness end of the farmer's activities. More d to of this quantity of people, to consume the produ ts of the water. won can be Utah best the by by farms, the late war a convention of Luring development of her manufacturing enterUtah Irrigation leadera was held, comthe conversion of her raw maprises posed chiefly of canal managers and men Into manufactured products. It appointed terials ly bv the courts to supervise may wsll be laid down as a dictum that large Irrigation districts. These men, Utah's future depend on the correlawit li little hesitation, agreed (bat.- even tive development of agriculture and man- under present condition, twentv-on- a ufacturing. Inches a year might be amply sufficient In Utah, successful agriculture depends for the production of the standard crops on the practice of Irrigation. True, the of Utah lists . tf : Irrigated One of States Chief . . Jrriqahory v MEASURE IRRCA TION STREAM WITH MOD.ERN DEVCES. Irrigation Expansion i. t.V ' '0 Jc s ' ; V at V-:-.' 9 . W.v AV u 'V v 6, , v " Mf A ' V if ' & r- - iVJ.M Y V yeewrA 1 ? pVtt i r;- -- - ) ' a WERE three-quarte- IRRCA TtOU REQUIRES GOOD JUDGMEhTT rs ir-,- AND STRENGTH OF , Irri-gati- - one-ha- lf one-thir- - average rainfall of Utah, something more than fourteen Inches s year, is suffi- cient to make dry farming successful in but experience has many localities, shown abundantly that under Utah conthrives only as an ditions All agricultural adjunct of Irrigation. operations In this state are primarily dependent upon the practice of irrigation. The map of Utah's future will remain sketchy or be well filled in, languishes or progresses. as irrigation Recent Growth Slow. In view of the tremendous Importance of Irrigation In the development of the 1 state. It is remarkable to note the slow the last during growth of Irrigation decade. Ten veare ago the census reover 99.000 acres of Utah land ported under Irrigation; the state engineer of today declared only a few day ago that in theflotal irrigated erea of Utah the neighborhood of 1.000,000 acres. 4haT It msv be, of course, some thoud sands of seres of tsnds haie been removed from the Irrigated and real Increase that the In statistics, Irrigated seres la somewhat larger than Indicated br these figure. However, with ths best use of the available data. ti wster-logge- Water Duty Too Low. The notable work of the Utah Agri cultural college experiment station on the duty of water makes it certain that the great margin between the quantities actually used and those really needed by crops justifies the doctrine that by more scientific irrigation, the. water already diverted by our present reservoirs and canals may he made to serve well twice as much land ai is now being irrigated The possibility of doubling tiie Irrigated Irarea by the better use of our present rigation water is certainly of such treas to warrant a mendous importance campaign of irrigation education or legislation in its favor. Vet. one must ruefully remark that Utah, the Pioneer Irrigation state, which has provided by legislative ensetment for the technical qualifications of fruit tree Inspectors, livestock Inspectors end other workers ,of like character, has not jet taken the trouble to set snv standard of technical qualification for the watwrmaaters of this slate, who have In their charge the very industrial life and full economic futurs of th state. Bv diminishing th loss of water by seepage, the present water supply may or special crops require special assistance, such centralised management could ordinarily save the crops and thereby serve th farmers best interests. Such reorganizations of existing Irrigation systems ars now being proposed In several localities in the state Dr. SamueF I Forffer, chief of the irrigation deof the State investigations Uite! partment of agriculture, is urging upon the farmers of Weber county Just such Irrigation reformation, which, if made effective, will be an excellent example for the other parts of tpe state, lu a recent address before the Utah Irrigation congress. Lr. Fortier stated It as his belief that, by such a centralization of the management of the irrigation Interests of U eber countv. the water now running through the canals might be made to serve very nearly double the present Irrigated area. The same thing would hold true no douht for other sections of the state. By modern reorganization of the irrigation systems, therefore. there is a strong possibility that the irrigated area mav be doubled without tbe building of another irrigation canal 1 e1 purposes. It is probable thaf some W athe will aiways move downward beyond reach of plant roots and conned with the table to rdlse It and thus standing water lower-lying lands. Buch to water-lo- g In most lands should he draltred; an the svstem has Wen rases, at 'east after drainthe some time, for in operation age water may be used again for. Irrigation purposes. The prevention of seepage, and the d larger use of drainage for lands, may easily Increase the present withor a third, fourth a area irrigated out the building of another irrigation canal. The problem of the reorganisation of tiie irrigation sv stems, which have gradually grown Into their present Legislation Needed. shape and condition since the early dajs Before Utah's future esn be safely proof the state, is also of first Importance vided for, the peorle of this state must In our Irrigation expansion. Mighty a he made to realize that by the more to tbe scientific use of water, th i'tahs Irrigation lesson has been prevention world, it originated humhlv and under of seepage, and the reorganization of exCement Canals Needed. most adverse conditions. As the populasvstems, the water now However drastic and visionary the tion grew, the email pioneer systems isting irrigation l.Oisl.ftCO acies of land witnin this statement may seem at the present time, were enlarged and made to serve lands serving b mav it la clear to any student of the subject, under new and more diverse conditions. state million made to serve from two to three acres. This ia a supjei-- t who has st heart the development of the Consequently iranv cramped and antistate of Utah, that- - most of our irriga- quated Irrigation organisations exist here worthv of the best consideration qf aur by and there which need legislature end certainly there are few tion canals must be made water-tigreadjustment. sublects, if any, in thia state worthv of the use of cement or other means now more careful thought among the citizens known or that may be Invented, If the Old Systems Handicap. overof Utah. waste of water by seepage la to be ' Moreover, there are great possibilities For Instance, there- - are a number of borne. The Wewr and Davis canal la already parallel canals, carrying water from the for increasing dreetlv the avaUahle supcement lined throughout a part of Its same source to almost adjacent lands. ply of irrigation water within th state. The expense was" great, but th One such canal, enlarged a little, could There are vast supplies of undei ground course farmers have profited greatly by th easily ha,, made to serve the purpose of asters scarcely tourned bv the Irrigator, venture, for not only haa the seepage the two now In. operation, and In that and there is a large surface runoff not yet brought Into irrigation canals. been reduced, but th water formerly lost way simplify exceedingly the manageTreme.ndous possibility reside In the la now available for further Irrigation. ment of the system and reduce considof use cost annual which of electric power for pumping waier. th The government canal tinder the Strawupkeep, erably from subsurface and surface berry project are also In part lined, espe. is alwavs a considerable burden upon the both where threatened In clailv seepage sources; snd there exist numerous opporplace irrigator. to become considerable for the tunities of reservoirs for building In other rases, a number of smaller Tiie map of Ulah's future will Include not necessarily parallel, but each storage and equalizing purposes A a ejstem of lined canals and laterals, canals, The Power Utah Light company has under independent management, serve a permitting ntt the water not loet bv series of adjacent lands. If the man- within the lari vesr demonstrated the evaporation to be applied an the land fv agement of these were consolidated the possibility of increased serv Ice to the tr the produition of crops. cost would be less and the centralized rigation famer by the equalizing Possessed by its storage reaer-watwould permit the rotation ofu,,l" Plnsely allied to th prevention of seenr age is the extension of drainage service to the farmers in the'olr n Bear lake. I Under tbe beat methods of ap- most effective In time of emerFor Instance, the runoff at th mouths plying water to lands for agricultural gency. when the water supply runs low'of streams wlthjn Utah contributing to also be made to serve much more land. In the From practically every canal whole state tere are tremendous losses a crosses canal a by seepage. Wherever Into gravel streak, water is pouredwould often land In quantities that suffice to build another large irrigation svstsm: and from every earthen canal there is constant large seepage. Some attempt has been made from the verv beginning of Irrigation practice lit this state to reduce this seepage, hut bv methods mostlv of a very primitive kind. Usually the natural silting of canals through the jears lias been relied upon The as sufficient to prevent seepage.g verv large and progressive Is an g lower-lyinlands eloquent of the presevidence of the Insufficiency of thewaterent methods of making canals use water excessive of. the of and tight. in Irrigation. low-lyi- water-logge- , water-loggin- exis-tln- g ht oppor-authort- tv er svs-tm- a. a, drainage astern averages 17,195,000 acre feet a jear. Of this, en estimate that gineers conservatively 6,000,000 acre feet may bn used In Utah; and, with a more heroic determination to build our stale Into its full possibilities, much more of fbls great runoff could no doubt be used. In any case, lining the Improperly large estimate of thirty-si- x Inches a year for tbe production of crop, the part of the Colorado drainage within our state that mav be used in Utah would reclaim 2,000,000 acres of land, or twice the present total irrigated area, with a right good chance of increasing that acreage with the same water, lut under more modern practices, to three or four million acres. the Colorado Possibilities Startling. Within the Great Basin a similar fctory is told. The aaveraae annual runoff at the mouths or streams contributing to Great Salt lake and to other Inland lakes amounls to 2,662 900 acre feet sufficient to irrigate practically l.ooo.ooo acres of land under low duty, or double tiie present toUfl irrigated area. These figures, no matter how well one knows them, are startling. Me stand before tomorrow with as great irrigation possibilities as awaited - the pioneers of 47. Let us carry thia examination just a step further. At Coilinston, below the lowest rannl. the runoff, in 1917, was ,9'ih.OoO acre feet; In 191. 1 210.0OO acre feel; and at riain City In 19i7. 999 000 acre feet; in 1916. 4U.OOO acre feet. That la within easy reach of Ogden and Salt City are wasted quantities of annually that would, if used, make these vallevs on continuous irrigated farm, making possible a tremendously larger and finer commonwealth than we have at the present time. What would Utah be without Irrigation? An InlKispilable and unfruitful desert. Bands of sheep and herd of cattle, might still range over its mountains and valleja; mines might be developed, but there would be here no state, attractive to great numbers of people, producing coincidentally abundant wealth and human happiness, and making a hfi.li place for (taelf In a union of forward-rrtovln- g states. Go into th desert ea it still remain and note the mines and the sheep, and rattle r arches, and ou sill come back wtth the conviction that without Irrigation this would not be a good place in which to Hve. Wiat has Utah become with irrigaUnder tlio ditch tion? lave arisen ten of thousands of farmsteads, rardgns, wonderful in contrast with ths surround 1 er BODY' ing biesk desert. Modern and comfortable towns and cities have been developed; men. reacting to a prosperous and beautiful environment, have taken courage and found pleasure In utilizing mors greatly than were possible in toe desert, the natural resources of the state, through mining and manufacturing; sheep and cattle ranching with the adjunct of irrigation has been perfected bevond any possible degree under desert conditions; the per capita wealth of th state is nearly $1750. A Public Necessity. All this, if ons will examine the problem in its details, haa been derived, more or less directly, from bp gat ion. .Elbert n Hubbard sawn all he tersely remarked that no people ever made money as fast as did the Utah pioneers as they built the first it rigation canals. Irrigation in an arid country must he placed on a par with other greet public necessities, like education and th preservation of health, and should not b looked upon merely In terms of the direct return of tbe investment in reservoirs and canals. Where a state depends for . its very existence upon a praetke, that practice should be accepted more and more as a state 'concern. An example or two may emphasize this thought. Under the Irrigation canal, the vatus- - ' tlon of the property within the state of Utah is approximately 27UO.OOO hop. This capital produces vast sums. Its 23.fi"0 farms prod iced in 191. a poor vear, more than 976.U0O 000. Th manufacturing producta during that same period were valued at more than 1M.00 000. Other state industries pro. pp red In like proportion. Whatever may have been tbe cost of the canals that made all tins poqulb'. It la rendering a royal ibute to th present genera I ion. This stale lalustoq Included not only the sgriculliiral lands and Improvement, but all Of the property within the state. It may be of interest, therefore, to consider a more specific instance of th effect of About thfrtv vesrx aro th Bear Fiver canals sere constructed to mnvyv tee from Bear river In the Narrow between Cache and Bovelder count es to an of desert land in Bovelder countv T.ie svsiem rod about ll.r'tO.ftm, ariordlng to the finding of Lr. George Thoms In his forthcoming lawk on ''Imiiiikm InsLOo- tlonr." It seemed impoesli !e t tUat Urn (Continued on fags riv ) a thls-w-he- ra |