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Show ECHO RESERVOIR WATER PROJECT To Furnish Water For Weber and Davis Counties Request Made to Abandon the South Fork Resexvoir Project, Which is Declined. Southeast Bench a Controversy "An important conferenco was held In Ogden Wednesday noon, when a number of local capitalists mot with W. R, Wallace and H P. McArthur, reclamation engineers of Salt Lake, relative to an irrigation project, which will probably involve the expenditure of more than a half million dollars. "Tho principal part of tho enterprise for the present will be a huge dam, 100 feet In height, located In Webor canyon, near tho town of Echo. From this point a high-line canal will convey con-vey tho impounded water of a number num-ber of mountain creeks and rivers, down Webor canyon to its mouth, from which point approximately 30,-000 30,-000 acres of arid land will bo irrigated irrigat-ed and made productive. "It is rumored that those backing tho project mentioned are largely Salt Lakers, who own considerable land on the adjoining foothills At the meeting meet-ing Wednesday the Ogden men In attendance at-tendance were asked if they could not raise at least $160,000 toward tho project and it is considered likely that this can bo done. . . . K this project is carried out n is oenevcu that the proposed South Fork reservoir reser-voir will be indefinitely postponed, as tho other will furnish an abundanco of water for thl6 section as well as far to the south." The foregoing is reprdouced from tho Morning Examiner, but it only tolls part of the story. The gentle-mon gentle-mon interested In tho scheme asked that the matter bo kept out of the papers, but, as somo of the Examiner Exam-iner owners were on tho committee, we presume tho seal of secrecy is now removed. The fact3 are that the Utah Conservation company of Salt Lake City proposes to turn the headwaters of tho Weber river into the Provo river and then Into Utah lake to irrigate the land south and west of Salt Lake City, and this in addition to the proposed Echo dam explained ex-plained by the Examiner. A committee of the Conservation company from Salt Lake City met with a number of business men some time ago and the president of tho Weber club was requested to appoint a committee com-mittee of five to investigate the Echo dam as well as the dam higher up, which is to turn the Weber headwaters head-waters in to the Provo river The committee appointed was made up of M. S. Browning, A. L. Brewer, A. G. Fell, H. M. Howe and William Glas-mann. Glas-mann. This committee met yesterday at noon at the Weber club with Messrs. Wallace and McArthur of Salt Lake City. M. S. Browning stated that he thought there was not room enough for both the South Fork reservoir and the Echo reservoir, and suggested that the South Fork dam be abandoned aban-doned for the present. Mr. Glasmann stated that it was too late to give up the South Fork dam, that Ogden city had Invested $10,000 and the Ogden River Reservoir company com-pany more than that sum and that the South Fork dam would be built this coming summer and winter. The Salt Lake people invited Mr. Glasmann to give up his company and Join them, which ho refused to do. But Mr. Glasmann did say he would give up his plans for watering the southeast Ogden bench if the Coif T obn rm rn " wrn1l olta o onni tjuib Lbirtv vuiii yaiij nvuiu o buu' tee to proceed at once to supply that section of the country. The Salt Lake company made a counter offer, saying they could furnish fur-nish the water for $125 per aero and that the company that could furnish the water the cheapest should cover the sautheast bench. This was accepted ac-cepted by Mr. Glasmann as final. The latter says that the South Fork reservoir dam can be built for less money than the Echo dam, that the Echo dam is 10 miles away, while the South Fork dam Is only IS miles distant; dis-tant; that both companies would have to build practically the same length of flumes and pipe lines and that the cost should be about the same to each company. Therefore the question Is entirely one for the owners of tho land on the southeast bench to settle. set-tle. The statement in the Examiner that the building of the South Fork reservoir reser-voir will bo indefinitely postponed Is, therefore, an error, as the southeast bench will not affect the building of tho South Fork dam, as the work is now progressing as fast as possible and actual work on the dam Itself will begin within 30 days. The Standard hopes that there will be no effort made to postpone the erection of the South Fork dam. There has been too much delay already al-ready and no Salt Lake or other Interests In-terests should be used as an excuso to hinder the building of the South Fork dam, as the farmers north of the Ogden river will suffer for July and August water until the South Fork dam ia completed. Ogden City, too, is in great need of water. Both can have the water next year from tho South Fork, while the Echo water project could not possibly possi-bly furnish water by that time. |
