| Show TESTIMONY MONY ON irrigation ON athe the senators constituting the ir on COMM commilee IKee and party ar in th this is city august and next morning at the gov annor s office for busi business nem they Oak auit elst of senator wm M stewart k t IT evade evada chairman senator J B R beagan D of texas senator P B plumb of kansas senator jas jaa ja K JO jones nes of arkansas major J koweil Po weil of the U S geological survey who is the guest of the futy aut and nd to whose familiarity with ac topography by of the country the 91 less be indebted for duty V in doubtless much hseh of their information col B J hinton irrigating engineer of jhb h geological survey whose work te is mainly organizing the working force mr boswell official steno aber er an 1 dr J M hines Apa nying the party proper B also the following z named gentle men mr warman wannan private wre secre major powell captain clar baoe E Dut buttor toll U S A chief boneer em of the irrigation survey aj newell assistant engineer of the utah basin who has been stationed here I 1 is the territory for some months and A D foote civil en alner aldeer in charge of the snake river biver awn work the party left st cr paul on en the dinst in stand and since then have acted waited the two dakotas montana and idaho and hold held at lout least twenty sessions and examined witnesses besides collecting a vast fund of documentary I 1 evidence bearing upon the import b abot subject w which C they are invests gating ng after collecting all the in wr matlion available here i i pow POBO to proceed to nevada stopping on oil the way at elko carson an and d reno beno and inspecting lake tahoe in m toe the way to california 1 which latter state they will re ten days they will then return eastward by way of arizona sew new mexico northwestern texas southwestern kansas colorado ana and eastern wyoming in all of which places they will pursue their investigation and finally adjourn at cheyenne ADur during inic their tour of investigation they alu travel about miles nom about 20 sessions and probably take the testimony or of 1600 1500 witnesses besides collecting SH all toe the official data available for fu tafe consideration from which it i nay may be inferred that 16 is not I 1 much of a junketing tour but one of serious application and real hard bard work which they are on of course in this connection it will bounder be under stood that the present prescient ent labors of the party apsay are am largely of a preliminary nature the more difficult part of the labor before them being to evolve or formulate from the vast fund of information which they are collecting a 16 comprehensive report embodying all toe the facts and presenting them in nuch aeh a shape that they can be made me of in toe the enactment of laws upon this most moat important subject governor thomas on august mad filed with the committee for future reference the laws of the territory on toe the subject of irrigation and the of companies for the construction of canals and control of streams after which the committee went into session calling before them as the first witness judge elias A smith he was closely catechised catechi sed in regard to the system of irrigation followed in this county and the manner in which water rights had been obtained he explained bained that originally having no I 1 laws ws to govern them in the matter the people associated themselves together by mutual agreement diverted the streams from their natural courses and irrigated their land therewith in the absence of statutes providing for the distribution of the water tho the probate courts in an early day granted charters for utilizing sti earns eams for irrigation but that system was superseded on the passage of laws on the subject by the organization of corporate companies who built canals ana then con controlled trilled the streams the stock usually being held by owners of land for their personal use but sometimes being rented out in no instance however had companies rented out the water or built the canals canal 8 for speculative purposes the only instance thus far to his knowledge of a company being organized in the territory with a view to appropriating streams and renting water was that now constructing ting what is known as the bothwell canal to bring water out of B bear ear river and there was a question as to their right to appropriate that butream the largest number of shares in a canal he had ever known of one man owning in salt lake county was that was in the utah salt lake canal which was thirty miles in length and which had been largely constructed ted by county funds as had also some other canals in the county the public fund in that way with a view to bringing more land under culli and rendering it possible to utilize the resources of the country the farmers as individuals not being able to do so in some instances the county had taken stock in the in corporations for the means thus expended and then disposed of it to land owners for work on roads etc being asked if he had known of any trouble arising from a monopoly of water or excessive charges being made for a rental of the fluid he replied that he had never known of but one case of a man claiming more water than his land required and then the court decided that helas only entitled notwithstanding his prior claim to what he actually needed d for his land the ques tlona a asked by judge smith covered a wide range of subjects aside from irrigation properio eluding the character and relative value of land in different parts of orthis this county and other portions of the territory and the average yield and value of agricultural pro products duets etc to all which satisfactory anders were given As to the average size of farms in salt lake lake county he thought they would not exceed 15 acres and the largest cultivated farm in the territory owned by one man so far as hip knowledge extended was only acres in extent that was in cache county others owned far more land than that but only cultivated a portion of it he thought the cultivated laud land in the territory might be increased one third by the storage of water in reservoirs at the close of judge smiths testimony he proffered to make arrangements range ments for taking the committee out for a drive to any portion of the county they might choose to visit and it was agreed that they would go upon such a drive some time the next day jesse W coxsen Fox Sen who was introduced as a former territorial surveyor general was the next witness and in answer to the numerous questions propounded to him gave the result of his past forty years experience peri ence in the business of constructing canals and irrigating land he gave it as his bis opinion that 25 per cent more land might be cultivated in the territory by the construction of reservoirs also that persons having small farms in the territory had as a rule prospered more than those attempting to cultivate a greater area in locating farms originally he had aimed to allot to a lone man not more than twenty acres and to one with several boys to help him from forty to sixty acres since the land had come into market of course larger lar er areas of land had been obtainer obtained by individuals divi duals C H wilcken W icken the city was the next witness who explained how the irrigating fluid was distributed throughout the corporate limits as well as in the country districts he gave eve it as his 0 opinion V nion that utah tah lake was the most feasible source of water supply for salt lake city for irrigation purposes but explained bained that it was not sul suitable table for household Eo household use that body of water was about 15 by 25 miles in extent but had been subsiding for several years past and a large number of settlers had crowded down clown upon its shores who objected to its surface being raised senator stewart explained that the utah lake had bad now been set apart by congress as a reservoir so that question would be settled the flowing wells 60 in number lately obtained near the point of the mountain and which were now yielding 11 6 1 1 gallons per day were alluded d ed to as a hopeful source of future supply and it was agreed that the committee would take a run down on the utah central F starting 3 at 2 to see them and ana t take ake observations on the subject in hand james jamea A little of kanab was the next witness and explained the difficulties which had been met with in the extreme southern portion of the territory and on the kanab creek in particular in making and keeping in repair Irrig irrigating atin an canals he was prompted several several times by major powell who seemed to be thoroughly familiar with all the circumstances attending the settlement of southern utah the committee seemed greatly surprised at learning that we ae tax on town lots in kanab for the construction of the canal to bring water to them had bad amounted to 16 each last year and 30 each this year goo geo M ottinger was the final witness and reeled off valuable statistics from memory on the water question as fast as the stenographer could take them down among many other facts he stated that city creek the principal source of water supply for salt lake city had a watershed of acres that the stream yielded in the spring about gallons daily but only a little over gallons per day now that the storage of water in arti artificial Acial reservoirs in this vicinity for irrigation was not practicable as to tons as or 27 gallons were required for a single irrigation for one acre of land that the reservoir now being constructed east of this city with a capacity of gallons was only expected to supply water for culinary purposes and that it could be fed by pipes from city creek or canyon creek that the canal from the J jordan covers about acres of the city but did not bring water to irrigate that area that utah lake was the natural source of supply it being melesin extent and to use gallons daily through the season would only lower it one foot at the conclusion of mr ottin gera testimony the committee adjourned fer burned to 8 in the evening with the understanding that during the interim they would take the proposed trip by rail to the south end of the county at the evening session JOSEPH B R WALKER was the first witness called he said there is a chain of six or eight lakes at the head of bi big g cottonwood canyon which by their outlets could be made to store large quantities of water and I 1 think that these are the only reliable sources of water for the city senator plumb called major powells attention to the statement of mr walker suggesting that behave he have the ground surveyed at once and a re report PO A made on the feasibility of the plan mr walker continued oy by a brief description of the lakes he said he had no doubt that if they were properly arranged they would store enough water to supply the city more water goes to waste from big cottonwood creek during flood time than Is 18 used during the entire season major powell stated that the cottonwood lakes have already been listed and sent to washington as sites for reservoirs JUDGE J 3 E JONES of utah county was next called he produced the immense map of utah county prepared for the committee and proceeded to explain it he said that the land on the east side aide of the lake is pretty well watered but there is a large area of land on the west side of utah county that is irrigable but is now without water utah lake is too low to be used by utah county the only objection to the raising of utah lake was that if raise six cr seven feet it would flood a vast area of good land the land is owned as a rule by poor people and they would not be able to do it themselves senator plumb would these peo ale ale be willing to borrow the money from rom the government to make these improvements answer yes I 1 think they would 0 J HOLLISTER secretary of the chamber of commerce read an able paper on irrigation lands waterways etc throughout the territory he also made a statement in regard to the bothwell both well canal scheme senator stewart fc was of the opinion that the government would not interfere with anyone who took hold of a natural reservoir and improved it hut senator plumb advised private citizens not to risk their money in anything that the government would have an opportunity to spoil F A HAMMOND of san ban juan county stated that there are acres of very fine land that could be irrigated there are only about forty five families in the valley but if they were furnished with surveys and estimates that people would come in if provided with means for irrigation and settle there in answer to questions by senator plumb mr hammond said that this was the county into which it Is proposed to move the ute indians and the committee diverted its ite attention to this subject for a few minutes mr hammond stated that he and the other settlers so far as he know knew would be perfectly willing to move out senator jones asked if a progressive gres sive and intelligent citizen like yourself cant make a good living there how do you expect the indians to better adapted to chasing jack rabbits than I 1 am was the reply HON WM B R SMITH of davis county answered a few qu questions relative to the supply of water in that locality and the committee adjourned till 9 am today this mornings session commenced about the first witness called being PROP PROF NEWELL who has been making observations on the subject of irrigation for some months past in utah he dwelt at len length th upon the opportunities afforded foraz in and around sevier valley for establishing reservoirs and increasing the area of cultivated land he stated that the bed of sevier river biver was completely drained at four different places in sevier county yet sufficient water sprang up below the last dam tolma to imade kethe the stream when it reached deseret in millard county as large as where it entered sevier county but not nearly large enough to irrigate the extensive plain in the region of deseret dt seret tha th residents of that part felt the necessity of reservoirs being established in their vicinity which would supply the deficiency during irrigating season ganging stations would also be necessary at various points pointe on the river to determine how tir water should be distributed H hek remarked that the customs in ia raw gard to the use and control 1 rf streams in utah differed from thoro in vogue in other places priority i of right is here interlocked with system of equal distribution IA stead of the original ampro a stream having sole control of ft in many places here the settler were divided into groups t go cording to the period of ehte location those having mirite V use of a stream before a certain ym yf 4 being considered entitled to the not right for the extent of land then thed 0 attl tiva ted and land cultivated subsequently up to another set date being va entitled to secondary right etc so a that a single individual might own ova ij first second and third rights to tho the same stream in case of scare scarcity the possessors of the latest were first deprived of the use of am U water then the next and lp eol eo l cases only those holding 1 rights were mere allowed to irrigate Irrig aw t to the extent of the land I 1 cultivated the general sen g in the territory was opposed to a 1 l monopoly of the water because bebau of prior rights being asked about the feasibility of using utah lake as a reservoir he replied that soon after cona iny here he was of the opinion opinion that to ik 1 make it available for that pur popA the water should be held back in the 60 4 j lake and its surface raised but hm bb views upon that subject had ahli changed and he now thought tha better plan would be to lower the 90 outlet of the lake and drain it to a greater depth as raising it boux 3 greatly increase its superficial super floW raj vi and evaporation without much jw creasing its outflow thee |
