OCR Text |
Show Here Are Facts To Ponder Concerning Utah's Future By William R. Wallace Upon the seeming narrow basis bas-is of 300,000 efficiently irrigated irrigat-ed acres and 1,000,000 inefficiently ineffici-ently irrigated acres we have 600,000 citizens with all the needs, the comforts and the joys of civilization ; churches, schools, universities, libraries, roads, parks, play grounds in the valleys and among the mountains moun-tains within the most delightful delight-ful climate known to man, spring, summer, autumn, winter each temperate and nearly perfectr - The pioneers are gone their spirit lives. The task of this generation gen-eration is so to plan and work that our children and our children's chil-dren's children may inherit that which our fathers built. Today our children do not remain re-main at home, We nourish them and train them and educate them and then they scatter to the four corners of our land. It appears to so many that opportunity oppor-tunity is greater elsewhere. We have not counted our potential po-tential wealth. We have millions of acres of fertile lands needing only water lo become wealth producing. We have within the Great Salt Lake basin hundreds of thousands of acre feet of unused un-used water supply. We own by treaty right jointly with Wyoming, Wyom-ing, Colorado and New Mexico seven and one-half million acre r . r i . i .. i i icci ux laigmy unusfu wuitT supply sup-ply in the Colorado River. Efficient use of our lands and waters would make it possible for our sons and daughters to remain at home and prosper. Two important facts stand out: lsl We must accurately define de-fine andsecure firm title to our share of the Colorado River waters this by compact with our sister states of the Upper Basin. 2nd Only by Federal financing finan-cing can we build the enormous works necessary to put our unused un-used waters to the highest beneficial bene-ficial use. How does water make wealth? Let us illustrate. Twenty years ago lands under the Weber and Davis Counties Canal produced a yearly crop value of $2,000,-000. $2,000,-000. Then was built the Echo Canyon reservoir capacity 74,-000 74,-000 acre feet. Several years ago the capacity of the East Canyon reservoir was increased about 20,000 .acre-feet.-making a tUat reservoir capacity of about 125,-000 125,-000 acre feet saved and stored for use by skilled farmers upon specialized crops. The right amount of water at exactly the right time to produce abundant crops of the finest quality. Last vear, 1945, the lands and waters of that area produced crop values val-ues of $13,000,000. The cost of the Echo Reservoir and the increased in-creased capacity of the East Canyon Can-yon Reservoir totaled less than $4,000,000 literally water makes wealth. Here let it be said that there is another job to do a worth while job on every stream with in the State of Utah and that under direction of the State Engineer En-gineer there is now the beginning begin-ning of an organization that will aid the water user to put all our mountain streams lo the highest use and to protect him in his right to the use thereof. But this writing has to do only with the putting to use of our full share of the waters of the Colorado River and the water of the Great Salt Lake basin, so coordinating the use thereof as to obtain maximum benefits from irrigation and the development develop-ment of electric power. We can put to beneficial use in Utah every acre, foot of water to' which if is pos'srbfe for" us to obtain title. The waters within the Great Salt Lake basin are safely ours no one can take them out of the state. Millions of acre feet of water are evaporated evapor-ated each year from Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake. Our share of the waters of the Colorado River can be put to beneficial use by our sister stales. Clearly we should agree with our sister states upon a plan for the use of all the waters of the Colorado River under which each state will receive its full share and concurrent development. de-velopment. We cannot wisely and efficiently plan how to use our share of Colorado River water until our share is clearly defined and title thereto assured "in perpetuity," |