| Show utaji UTA SALT LARE LAKE cabal CAAL historical sketch of a valuable public improvement 0 when the pioneers arrived in salt lake valley forty years ago last july toey found the conditions of the soil ana climate such as to require the adoption of a new system of agriculture new at least to that valiant vanguard of the early settlers of this region who had bad never before lived in a country where irrigation was feces bary and in fact differing in some respects from any at than time in vogue elsewhere the tact fact that the system yf of irrigation adopted at that early day has thus far proved to be the best yet discovered tor for this region li is a strong proof that its inauguration was prompted by inspiration the streams issuing from the wasatch range and running westward into the valley were the first to be utilized in irrigating the parched and barren boil but at a very early day the idea was conceived of conveying the water from utah lake out upon the western side of the valley to BRING cultivation the many thousands of acres of fine land there situated instead of allowing it to flow to waste down the jordan As early as january 1854 an act was passed by the legislative assembly of the territory providing tor for the construction of a canal chica was waa to extend from the point labove the rapids in the jordan near tue the southern extremity of salt lake county around the western side ide of the valley as near the base of the oquirrh mountains as possible to the salt lake little more was done however than surveying and estimating the cost until antil the year 1857 when hen a new survey was made heading considerably liwer down the jordan at the point where the dam of the tae utah 6 salt lake canal is now located the ground for a canal broken by president young and its site dedicated by president jedediah M grant some grading at the head of the canal was done during that same year yea r under the dir director dl recon ecton of robert wimmer who at that time kept a iash trap in the river at the point of the mountain the invasion of the territory by the U S army and the removal of the saints southward however during the tol following tollo lowing year put a stop to the work and although spasmodic efforts were made to renew it at various times during succeeding years but little practical ne headway adway was made until the year 1872 when the salt lake county bials took charge of the canal and pushed its construction in the meantime other canals had been constructed from points lower down the stream and utilized several years prior to the completion of the pioneer canal mentioned which after being known by various names was incorporated in the year 1880 under the name of the utah salt lake canal and used for the first arst time the following year it was a long time in course coarse of construction st but this is not to be wondered at when it is considered that it is about 30 miles in length and has cost about indeed it may be said that it is not yet completed and probably will not be for some time hence so BO that all those interested in it will share alike its bene benefits tits but the improvements made during the past few ew months involving an expenditure of nearly it if not quite will go g a longway long way towards securing that de aired sired end itis it is now 30 feet wide at the bottom at the upper end and aad tapers gradually to 8 feet in width at the lower lowe end rend when it is considered that lor for a long distance tte the canal is IB located on a steep hill side its success Is almost wonderful A few breaks from freshets fresh ets have occurred and some damage resulted but the malu main difficulty thus thas tar lar in the management ent of the canal has been manafe found foun regulating InT in regulating the water so as to make an an equal distribution of it all along its entire length this was formerly attempted by means of wiers situated at various points along the canal but which were frere not found to answer the purpose well one reason for this was that extending across the canal and not being set on a regular grades grade some were raised considerably above above its surface and tended to THE FLOW of the water besides it was by no deans easy to gauge the volume of ef the streams which flowed another plan has now been devised which it is believed will produce better results A series of boxes are to be seen in the street near the taylor romney armstrong mill in this city which are so peculiar in their construction as to attract the attention of every passer by twenty seven or more of these boxes are to be placed in the lower bank of the canal at the various points where it is necessary to take streams from it iland and if 11 placed on a level according to the design can be made to aern late the outflow of the water with absolute certainty the boxes are con strutted astruc ted of red pine plank two inches thick and are 18 feet in length 20 inches wide wida in the clear and t two wo and two and a half feet im ia height according to the location along the abe canal at which they are to te be placed in each end of every box a gate Is arranged which by bv means of a mill screw can be raised or lowered as desired regu dated to the sixteenth of an inch and so fastened at aut any desired height by meats means of a padlock that BO ad person ex capt the holder of the key can changa them the rate gate in the end of the box next the canal is intended to regulate the pressure on the delivery gate of the other ena end and as before intimated the outflow can b be e measured to a nicety the boxes were constructed under the supervision of brother peter reid the president of the company to whom by the way is due the principal credit tor for designing them and it if they succeed as expected they will doubtless soon become VERY POPULAR for the use for which they are intended salt lake county is a long lone way ahead of any other county la in the territory in the number and costliness of its canals and it is only proper that she should take the lead in the matter of inaugurating a perfect system of distributing the irrigating fluid which is to be hoped the project mentioned will prove to be there are pix ix large irrigating canals issuing front froia the river jordan tour four on the west side and on the east and the probability is that they will corn coin plemely drain the river bed during the present year and it is doubty doubtful ul whether even then nearly enough water can be obtained from the river to irrigate the land located under binder the canals as the utah lake is said to be very low and much less snow in the mountains than usual it is a pity that the water now flowing to waste down the river can not be held back in the utah lake the season for irrigating arrives the utah lake is a natural reservoir with sufficient capacity to irrigate the whole of salt lake county lyng lying below its level and it is to be hoped some amaca amicable ble arrangement may yet be made between the two counties to secure this desirable end |
