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Show Utah Irrigation Experts Plan For Western Conference Here 11 States Will be Represented at Conflab. Significant strides' have- been' taken in irrigation research in ' Utah, but much remains to be t learned about one of the fundamental funda-mental aspects of the state's agriculture, ag-riculture, Utah Agricultural Experiment Ex-periment station leaders reported as they prepare for the first west-em west-em region irrigation research conference con-ference January 21 and 22 at Utah State Agricultural college. George D. Clyde, dean of the USAC school of engineering and ' irrigation engineer for the experiment ex-periment station, and Dr. O. W. ' Israelsen, research professor of irrigation and drainage, who will represent Utah at the conference, ' reported that irrigation has been . studied in Utah almost since the founding of the state experi- ment station. In a summary of progress and projects yet to be undertaken, however, they reported re-ported that knowledge of irrigation irriga-tion still is far from incomplete. The Utah report will be presented, pre-sented, along with reports from the 10 other western states, at the conference to help representatives represen-tatives draw up a proposed coordinated co-ordinated irrigation research program pro-gram for the west. , In the early Utah irrigation studies, the Utah official reported, particular attention was given to the quantity of water on the quality of crops grown, and it was found that, invariably, conservative con-servative irrigation produced crops of highest quality. One vital development of the Utah studies was the yield-water curve graph representing the relationships re-lationships between the amount of water applied and the crop yield. ;-' Studies also showed that few, if any, Utah soils under ordinary practice can absorb more than 1.5 inches depth of water per foot depth of soil, that "usually much smaller quantities are retained, re-tained, and that coarse-textured, shallow bench tends. ..of Utah usually us-ually sustain heavy deep-percolation . losses because water applied ' exceeds soil capacity. Research showed that long ir-' ir-' rigation runs and small .streams applied to coarse-textured soils result in excessive losses near f supply ditches and in low irrigation irriga-tion efficiencies. j The Utah program also has developed . the snow surveys and streamflow forecasts which en. able research men to predict water supplies in important state streams on the basis of snow-survey ' measurements. Researrt projects now being conducted have provided valuable valu-able information, including some of the following data: Basic snow-cover runoff relationships rela-tionships have been established on the principal Utah watersheds for forecasting seasonal April-September April-September and July-September stream runoff. Average efficiencies of less (Continued on page Eight) UTAH IRRIGATION EXPEETS PLAN CONFERENCE HERE (Continued from page Cne) than 50 per cent in the water application efficiency of 14 Utah county farms have been revealed Large-scale pumping of ground water from water-logged areas of Cache Valley to provide irrigation water and relieve hydrostatic pressure in gravel stratum appears ap-pears feasible, and theoretical studies of appropriate well networks net-works are under way. Progress has been made toward a complete state inventory of irrigated and irrigable areas and the water supplies used and to develop better administrative methods and irrigation practices. With a given amount of water, it would take 1400 years to erode the seven-inch topsoil layer from a .5 per cent slope, and only 23 years from a 3 per cent slope under identical conditions. A system of determining the justifiable cost of lining canals to save seepage water on the basis of the value of water saved has been developed. Basic studies of factors governing govern-ing soil erosion by irrigation water have provided valuable general information, which cannot can-not yet be interpreted in definite conclusions. ' . Considerable information on shrinkage characteristics and permeability per-meability of various soil materials has been assembled. Irrigation problems recommended recommend-ed for future study, in Utah include in-clude four proposed major projects aimed at: 1. Assembling, interpreting and reporting data on the management manage-ment of related irrigation and drainage systems with emphasis on possibilities of increasing efficiencies ef-ficiencies and economies in water storage, conveyance, control and distribution to irrigators and in drainage of irrigated lands. 2. Finding water requirements of irrigated valleys and large irrigated ir-rigated tracts to determine supplemental sup-plemental water needs, forestall fruitless water rights litigation, increase irrigation efficiencies and retard low-land waterlogging and alkali concentration. 3. Determining factors which influence in-fluence water properties of soils and relation of soil-stored water to supply available for plant growth, and developing soil management man-agement and cropping practices contributing to more efficient use of soil moisture. 4. Evaluating as to soundness present Utah policies regarding storage of water in artesian aquifers; determining effects of artesian ar-tesian pressures on perpetuation of waterlogging and alkali accumulations ac-cumulations in surface soils, and developing methods of providing replacement water supplies to satisfy sat-isfy existing rights in order to facilitate the use of artesion aquifers for irrigation water storage. |