rn 
 
 r 
 
 230 
 .25* 
 T.5- 
 
BANCROFT 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
IRRIGATION STATISTICS 
 
 TERRITORY OF UTAH, 
 
 WITH MATTERS RELATIVE THERETO. 
 
 COMPILED AND PKEPARKD FOR 
 
 IRRIGATION CONGRESS 
 
 TO BE IIKLD AT 
 
 LAKE CITY, UTAH, SEPTEMBER is. 
 
 BY CHARLES L STEVENSON, 
 
 SECRETARY OF UTAH STATISTICS COMMITTEE. 
 
 SALT LAKK i r, 
 
IRRIGATION STATISTICS 
 
 WITH MATTERS RELATIVE THERETO. 
 
 COMPILED AND PREPARED FOR 
 
 THE IRRIGATION CONGRESS. 
 
 TO BE HELD AT 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, SEPTEMBER 15, 16, 17, 1891. 
 
 BY CHARLES L. STEVENSON 
 
 SECRETARY OF UTAH STATISTICS COMMITTEE. 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 
 1891. 
 
" 
 
 /f tt 
 
To His Excellency Arthur L. Thomas, Governor of Utah ; Col. 
 
 J. W. Donnellan, Chairman of Utah Delegation, Irrigation 
 
 Congress: 
 
 The Committee on Statistics present herewith their report 
 concerning irrigation in Utah and matters relative thereto. In 
 the absence of a Territorial Engineer or other officer where full 
 information can be had, as in other States, your committee have 
 been obliged to adopt the following course: 
 
 First. By availing themselves of the very complete machinery 
 of the Mormon Church, as it is the most complete repository of 
 local data, and to which end the Church authorities have given 
 every possible ara, circulars of inquiry embracing the questions, 
 deemed most desirable, were forwarded to every President of 
 Stakes and Bishop of Wards throughout the Territory. 
 
 Second. Somewhat similar notes of inquiry, but much more 
 in detail, embracing thirty-two questions, ha/e likewise been sent 
 to every county assessor, county surveyor, and Committee 
 Delegate from Utah. 
 
 Third. Special letters to Utah Delegates from Scientific 
 Societies and to Departments at Washington. 
 
 Fourth. To private individuals and companies who are 
 owners or have been engaged in the construction of important 
 canal and storage works in the Territory, and 
 
 Fifth. The obtaining of all literature, maps, and public 
 documents pertaining to irrigation in Utah. 
 
IV 
 
 The number of letters thus sent was four hundred and 
 seventy-three. 
 
 By this method it was believed that so many checks would 
 be had upon the returns as to eliminate many of the sources of 
 error and wide differences of statement had in previous investiga- 
 tions. In this respect the result has been quite satisfactory, and 
 the amount of valuable data collected very large. 
 
 The Committee began their investigations the first week in 
 August, but owing to. circumstances beyond their control, and 
 several vexatious delays, the returns only began to come in by 
 September, so that it was not until September 6th that the work 
 of collating could be commenced. 
 
 Owing to the then short time at our disposal it was found 
 impracticable to carry out the original intentions and very 
 reluctantly we were forced to leave out some two-thirds of the 
 data collected. Much of this was quite valuable reading and of 
 great interest to Utah. It will be seen that the whole book has 
 been prepared and printed inside of eiglt days.* These facts are 
 mentioned so that our sins of omission and commission may be 
 condoned, and the few errors that have crept in be accounted for 
 
 Necessarily any book of statistics is a work mainly of com- 
 pilation, hence we desire to here extend the thanks of the Com- 
 mittee to all who have so willingly imparted information. 
 Especially are we indebted to Hon. John T. Caine, U. S. Con- 
 gressional Delegate; Professor Marcus E. Jones, U. S. Treasury 
 Expert; R. J. Hinton, Expert of U. S. Agricultural Department; 
 P. E. Newell, Expert U. S. Interior Department; General A. W. 
 Greely, Chief Signal Officer, War Department; Major J. W. 
 Powell and G. K. Gilbert, of Geological Survey; Joseph Lipman, 
 Territorial Statistician; O. J. Hollister, Statistican; the Territor- 
 ial and Church officers, and U. S. Senator Hon. Wm. M. Stewart. 
 
As a fact that may be overlooked, we would remind the 
 Utah delegation that at the last session of our Legislature a 
 memorial was addressed to the U. S. Congress petitioning it to 
 enact into law, Senate Title 326, "A bill ceding, upon condition, 
 public lands to the State of California and other existing States, 
 and to the eventual States to be formed out of the existing 
 Territories, in aid of the irrigation of dry and arid lands/' 'In 
 this memorial the Legislature says: 
 
 "We believe that such a law will greatly aid the important 
 work of reclamatoin of vast tracts of land now useless, and 
 would add to the population, wealth, and grandeur of this 
 country's western domain." We have endeavored to obtain a 
 copy of this bill, but unsuccessfully up to date. 
 
 Regretting that the time will not permit rendering more 
 complete work, we remain. 
 
 Respectrully Yours, 
 
 JESSE W. FOX, JR., Chairman, 
 CHARLES L. STEVENSON, Secretary, 
 
 Statistics Committee, Utah Delegation to Irrigation Congress. 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah, Sept. 14, 1891. 
 
puooes J9d 
 iooj ojqno aad 
 I9?jtt. J &WCL 
 
 ft 
 
 8 -s 
 
 uj suiB^unoK 
 
 .i.irfi) 
 S JO 
 
 y>- '- - - 
 
 ii 
 
 -J89J 
 
 O O O O O O 
 
 ,_, _ _ _j ^3 
 
 etaix V 8 P a 
 BI pt 
 jo ' 
 
 UO8B9S Strjjnp 
 i spuBi 
 1 *N 
 
 U08B9S 
 
 * 
 
 ocxxo xcoooo t-ioccoo 
 
 i-l CD . .1-1 CO 
 
 (saoisiATp 
 cxj ^uapnjnsai etujx) 
 
 trj spu'B'j 8[qi38ijjj jo 
 
 '0681 P91BA 
 
 t~* *~* ~* CC CC 'C CC 
 
 t o to s i i ?s >) 
 
 i^ CO *"* CC ^ CO *O 
 
 it ^i i 
 
 l<7 O * 
 
 ^ ^ O CC O "^ 
 
 >c t-i o 'C ^M 
 
 iO O ^ C'l ^ OO 
 
 - 
 CC tO Ci C- !-"* ^ to Oi O TH 
 
 \V *J 
 
 *- 'S 
 
 II = 
 
 U 
 
 tc 
 
 
 J9pnn 89Joy 23 
 
 d-o 
 
 ig 
 
 C oo 
 eg 
 
 ^S, 
 ^>. 
 
 fl 
 
 H-l > 
 
 - O 
 
 o o 
 
 4> 
 
 3 1 ? 
 
 2 
 
 33 
 II 
 
 S 
 
OP THE 
 
 Territory of Utati, 
 
 WITH MATTERS REL \TIVE THERETO. 
 
 - 
 
 MAIN PHYSICAL FEATURES. 
 
 'TAH is situated between the parallels of 37 and 42 degrees 
 north latitude, and the meridians of 109 and 114 degrees 
 west of Greenwich. It is on the same parallels as 
 Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Kentucky, Vir- 
 ginia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Corea. Utah belongs 
 to the great plateau of the Rocky Mountains, its valleys being 
 elevated from 2,700 to 7,000 feet above the sea, while its moun- 
 tain peaks reach a height of 12,000 to 13,500 feet above the sea. 
 One-half of the Territory is on the western side of the Wasatch 
 Mountains, and within what is called the great basin. This 
 basin occupies western Utah, nearly all of Nevada, and parts of 
 California, Oregon, and Idaho. It has no outlet, the drainage 
 being toward two great depressions where there are salt lakes, 
 one on the western side under the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
 and the other, under the base of the Wasatch Mountains, called 
 Great Salt Lake. There are many other minor lakes that receive 
 the drainage of small areas which do not" now flow into either of 
 these depressions, but once they all flowed into one or other of 
 them. These lakes have no outlet, and the water that flows into 
 them evaporates by the heat of the sun. The average elevation 
 
8 
 
 of the great basin is from 4,200 to 5,500 feet above the sea. 
 Most of the inhabited portion of Utah lies at the western base of 
 the Wasatch Mountains and on the eastern side of the Great 
 Basin. The eastern half of Utah and a small portion of the 
 southern part lies on the eastern side of the Wasatch Mountains 
 and belongs to the drainage of the Colorado River and its trib- 
 utaries. Its valleys range from 2,700 on the south to 7,000 
 feet on the north. In the former, figs, almonds, cotton, and 
 delicate fruits are raised, while in the latter only small grain and 
 potatoes are grown. 
 
 The Wasatch Mountains enter the Territory on the north at 
 about the middle, extend nearly due south until near the southern 
 boundary, where they turn to the westward and pass out into 
 Nevada, forming in Utah the letter "J." The Wasatch are not, 
 however, the rim of the Great Basin. They are cut through by 
 all the larger streams which flow to the westward, but they are 
 the chief sources of the water supply. About twenty miles east 
 of the Wasatch and parallel with them runs the rim of the Great 
 Basin, a low, broad, and well-rounded range called the Coal 
 Range, which has an average elevation of 7,000 to 8,000 feet 
 above the sea, and encloses between it and the Wasatch some 
 very fertile valleys, such as Ogden, Weber, Sanpete, Provo, and 
 Sevier. At the upper (southern) end of Sevier Valley the Coal 
 Range joins the Wasatch, or rather the Wasatch fades into the 
 Coal Range, and turns westward into Nevada. West of the 
 Wasatch and about 15 miles from them runs the Oquirrh range 
 parallel with them. About the same distance west from the 
 Oquirrh and parallel with it is the Aqui range, and so on, with 
 jnore or less regularity to the western boundary, extend parallel 
 ranges. These mountains reach a height of 8,000 to 11,000 feet 
 above the sea, rising out of what was once the bed of the Great 
 Salt Lake. These ranges run from the northern boundary of 
 the Territory nearly to the southern, as far as the rim of the 
 basin. They have the peculiarity of running along for 30 
 miles or thereabouts, and then sinking beneath the plain, only 
 to reappear as another range a few miles further on. .These 
 
<J 
 
 interrupted ranges do not, therefore, prevent easy communication 
 with any parts of western Utah, and they also enclose between 
 them many beautiful valleys, which would be garden spots if 
 there were sufficient water flowing from the mountains to irrigate 
 them. The Oquirrh, Aqui, and Lakeside mountains run through 
 Great Salt Lake, forming those ranges of islands which add 
 
 much to the picturesqueness of the lake. 
 
 
 
 DRAINAGE SYSTEMS. 
 
 As stated, the Wasatch rise over a mile above the valleys, 
 run from north to south through the Territory, a little west of 
 the middle, until they reach Iron County, where they turn to the 
 southwest and into Nevada. Their average height will not fall 
 far below 10,000 feet above the sea. Neatly east of Salt Lake 
 City, the Uintahs, still loftier than the Wasatch, abut on them 
 and run eastward until they pass out of the Territory. These 
 are so close to the northern edges of Utah that we get little 
 benefit from them, while to the south of them is an Indian reser- 
 vation embracing the greater part of the arable lands. Nearly 
 due east of Utah Lake and about forty miles from the Wasatch, 
 the coal range starts from the Uintahs and runs southward par- 
 allel with the Wasatch for 160 miles when it joins them at 
 Panguitch Lake. These three ranges form the watershed of 
 Utah, the coal range and Uintahs forming the rim of the Great 
 Basin, while the Wasatch perform a similar part below Pan- 
 guitch. The Wasatch and Uintahs are narrow, lofty and rugged, 
 while the coal range is younger, lower and broad. The Wasatch 
 reach their culmination near Salt Lake City, and, aided by Great 
 Salt Lake, give the greatest water supply in the Territory. The 
 streams from this source irrigate the bulk of the cultivated area 
 of Utah. 
 
 The eastern part of the Territory is drained by the Rio 
 Colorado and its tributaries; the western part, by streams that 
 head in the Wasatch and the high plateaus of the central part, and 
 find their way into the salinas and desert sands of the Great 
 Basin. Thus we have the Rio Colorado drainage area, and 
 
10 
 
 the Desert drainage area; the former about two-fifths, the 
 latter about three-fifths of the total area. 
 
 GREAT SALT LAKE DRAINAGE SYSTEM. Three rivers enter 
 Great Salt Lake, namely, the Bear, the Weber and the Jordan, 
 and upon their water will ultimately depend the major part of 
 the agriculture of Utah. They rise close together in the west- 
 ern end of. the Uintah Mountains, and cut through the Wasatch. 
 Bear River flows northward, now in Utah, now in Wyoming, and 
 into Idaho as far as Soda Springs. Here it bends round 
 like a fish hook and returns on a more westerly line. Re- 
 entering Utah in Cache Valley, it passes thence by a short canyon 
 to its delta plain on the northeastern border of Great Salt Lake. 
 Its principal tributaries are received in Idaho and Cache Valley. 
 Utah occupies the central position in the arid region, and there- 
 fore the details of irrigation in this Territory possess more than 
 ordinary interest, from the fact that they represent conditions in- 
 termediate between those of the north and south, the east and 
 the west. Besides this the irrigation methods and systems have 
 been developed by men of English-speaking origin, who, unaided by 
 capital or previous experience, have introduced methods of their 
 own, and, taught by repeated failures, finally achieved success. 
 
 IRRIGABLE LANDS. 
 
 In Utah Territory agriculture is dependent upon irrigation. 
 To this statement there are some small exceptions. In the more 
 elevated regions there are tracts of meadow land from which 
 small crops of hay can be taken; such lands being at higher al- 
 titudes need less moisture, and at the same time receive a greater 
 amount of rainfall because of the altitude. But these meadows 
 have been, often are, and in future will be, still more improved by 
 irrigation. Again, on the belt of country lying between Great 
 Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains, the local rainfall is much 
 greater than the general rainfall of the region. The water 
 evaporated from the lake is carried by the westerly winds to the 
 adjacent mountains on the east and again condensed, and the 
 rainfall thus produced extends somewhat beyond the area oc- 
 
11 
 
 cupied by the mountains, so that the foothills and contiguous 
 bench lands receive a modicum of this special supply. In some 
 seasons this additional supply is enough to water the lands for 
 remunerative agriculture, but the crops grown will usually be 
 very small, and they will be subject to seasons of extreme 
 drought, when all agriculture will result in failure. Most of 
 these lands can be irrigated, and doubtless will be, from a con- 
 sideration of the facts already stated, namely, that crops, will 
 thereby be greatly increased and immunity from drought 
 secured. 
 
 In order to determine the amount of irrigable land in 
 Utah, it was necessary to determine the areas to which the larger 
 streams can be taken by proper engineering skill, and the amount 
 wnich the smaller streams can serve. In the latter it was neces- 
 sary to determine first the amount of land which a given 
 amount or unit of water would supply, and then the volume of 
 water running in the streams; the product of these factors giv- 
 ing the extent of the irrigable lands. A continuous flow of one 
 cubic foot of water per second was taken as the unit, and after 
 careful- consideration it was assumed that this unit of water will 
 serve from 80 to 100 acres of land. Usually the computations 
 have been made on the basis of 100 acres. The unit was deter- 
 mined in the most practical way from the experience of the 
 farmers of Utah, who have been practicing agriculture for the 
 past thirty years. Many of the farmers will not admit that so 
 great a tract can be cultivated by this unit. In the early history 
 of irrigation in this country the lands were over- supplied with 
 water, but experience has shown that irrigation is most success- 
 ful when the least amount of water is used necessary to a vigor- 
 ous growth of the crops; that is, a greater yield is obtained by 
 avoiding both scanty and excessive watering; but the tendency to 
 over-water the lands is corrected only by extended experience. 
 A. great many of the waterways are so rudely constructed that 
 much waste ensues. As irrigating methods are improved this 
 wastage 'will be avoided; so in assuming that a cubic foot of 
 water will irrigate an average of 100 acres of land, it is at the 
 
12 
 
 same time assumed that only the necessary amount of water will 
 be used, and that the waterways will eventually be so constructed 
 that the waste now almost universal will be prevented. 
 
 The recent returns to the committee show an average waste 
 of 70 per cent. 
 
 In determining the volume of water flowing in the streams, 
 great accuracy has not been attained. For this purpose it would 
 be necessary to make continuous daily, or even hourly, observa- 
 tions for a series of years on each stream. 
 
 Having determined from the operations of irrigation in 
 Utah that one cubic foot per second of water will irrigate from 
 80 to 100 acres of land, and having determined the volume of 
 water or number of cubic feet per second flowing in the several 
 streams of Utah by the most thorough methods available under 
 the circumstances, it appears that within the Territory the 
 amount of land which it is possible to redeem by this method in- 
 cluding that already under irrigation, is about 3600 square miles, 
 or 2,304,000 acres. . Of course this amount does not lie in a con- 
 tinuous body, but is scattered in small tracts along the water 
 courses. Utah has an area of 84,970 square miles, or 52,001,600 
 acres. That is, 4.23 per cent, of the lands under consideration 
 can be cultivated by utilizing all the available streams during 
 the irrigating season. Previous estimates of the total arable- 
 irrigable lands of the Territory have been as follows: 
 
 Church authorities, 2,525,403 acres. 
 
 Powell (not entire) .... 1,447,920 " 
 
 Hollister, 3,000,000 " 
 
 Jones, 2,000,000 " 
 
 In addition to the streams considered in this statement 
 there are numerous small streams on the mountain sides, scattered 
 throughout the Territory springs which do not feed permanent 
 streams; and if their waters are used for irrigation, the extent 
 of irrigable land will be slightly increased; to what exact amount 
 cannot be stated, but the difference will be so small a$ not to 
 materially affect the general statement, and doubtless these 
 
13 
 
 springs can be used in another way and to a better purpose, as 
 will hereafter appear. 
 
 This statement of the facts relating to the irrigable lands of 
 Utah will serve to give a clear conception of the extent and con- 
 dition of the irrigable lands throughout the arid region. Such 
 as can be redeemed are scattered along the water courses, and 
 are in general the lowest lands of the several districts to which 
 they belong. 
 
 Whatever conditions future developments may bring about, 
 the present water supply in Utah Territory is surface. It depends 
 entirely upon the fall of snow in the winter, and to a slight 
 degree upon the rainfall during the spring and fall months As 
 a consequence the character of the water supply is found in the 
 mountain streams. The fall of snow in the mountains is incom- 
 parably greater than in the valleys, and it lasts much longer, for 
 the reason thai the cold is much severer. 
 
 The snow packs in the ravines until almost as hard and solid 
 as stones. The solidifying is materially assisted by what are 
 termed "January thaws," the result of a marked relaxation in the 
 severity of the weather, which generally occurs during the month 
 of January. This temporary relaxation is invariably followed by 
 a renewal of the rigor of winter, when the snow which has 
 settled and become packed by the thaw, freezes until it is almost a 
 solid mass of ice. The snow is the source of all streams in Utah 
 save the little running water that comes through rains. 
 
 The volume of these streams depends entirely upon the 
 season of the year. During the winter months the supply is very 
 small, for the reason that the quantity of melting snow is at its 
 minimum and the cold has a tendency to stay the flow .With the 
 disappearance of winter and the increased warmth of the sun the 
 snow begins to melt, the volume of water increases and con- 
 tinues to grow until puny and tiny streams are swollen into rush- 
 ing torrents, sometimes causing great damage from the over- 
 flowing of their banks. The water supply attains its maximum 
 height between the 10th and 20th of the month of June. This 
 statement may be given the force that attaches to a rule almost, 
 
14 
 
 if not entirely, without exception. The solidifying and freezing of 
 the snow in winter, as above stated, makes certain the tenure of 
 the water supply that would otherwise be both uncertain and 
 disastrous ; it prevents the too rapid melting, that would other- 
 wise result in absolutely uncontrollable torrents for a period, 
 and thus makes the streams available for agricultural purposes. 
 
 The experience of Utah farmers as to the best methods for 
 increasing and controlling the water supply would be valuable 
 only to people surrounded by similar country with like elementary 
 conditions existing. The introduction of genuine artesian wells 
 and utilization of the sub-flow may considerably increase the 
 irrigable acreage. Experiments, sufficiently thorough to demon- 
 strate the success that would attend the digging or boring of 
 such wells in Utah, have not been made. The best opinions, 
 however, are that the geological conditions existing in Utah are 
 peculiarly favorable to their introduction and successful develop- 
 ment. 
 
 The Territory, or rather its habitable portion, is com- 
 posed of valleys, mountains and canyons, with some lakes. The 
 melting snow on mountain and in valley which fails to find its 
 way into some of the streams must sink and collect somewhere, 
 and there is a well-founded belief, which can easily be verified, 
 that beneath these valleys are subterranean lakes that would feed 
 with a never-failing supply of water innumerable artesian wells. 
 To increase the supply by other means would be to increase the 
 fall of snow, a thing humanity is not yet prepared to base a cal- 
 culation upon. Preserving methods are, however, more prac- 
 ticable, and nature has done her best to make that task as light as 
 possible. The outlet for all the streams is into the valleys. The 
 streams come from the canyons high above the valleys, and the 
 supply can be preserved or saved by the construction of reser- 
 voirs or by dams. In case the latter method was adopted, it 
 would simply be necessary to select the most suitable place in 
 season and place a dam across the ravine. 
 
 The work would be more or less expensive as the stream was 
 large or small and the canyon wide or narrow, but in every can- 
 
15 
 
 yon suitable points abound, and as the future development of 
 Utah largely depends on her permanent and increased water sup- 
 ply, her people will be forced to resort to damming the 
 streams within their natural confines in the ravines. To what 
 extent this idea carried out, would save the water that yearly runs to 
 waste, the word "waste" bing used here with the knowledge that 
 every drop of water is in valuable in a country, where agriculture de- 
 pends upon irrigation, it is absolutely impossible to form even an 
 estimate, and for several reasons : First, the volume of the stream 
 differs every day in the year, and one year from another. 
 Second, it would require a measurement of the streams and a 
 knowledge of the amount consumed in irrigation and in local 
 evaporation, which would increase with increased distributing 
 canals and ditches. 
 
 It may be safe to state, however, that if complete and 
 thorough methods of saving were introduced, all the laad in the 
 Territory, if it could be reached, could be well and thoroughly 
 irrigated; this, too, without resorting to artesian wells, so vast 
 is the amount of water that runs to waste during the winter, 
 spring and early summer months. 
 
 As now ascertained the average first cost oE water right in 
 Utah, $10.55 per acre, is noticeably great, being largely due to 
 the manner in which the ditches and canals are made. Nearly 
 all are laid out and constructed by farmers of ordinary education, 
 without the use of surveying instruments. As a consequence, 
 few of the more important works laid out in this manner have 
 proved serviceable without great changes, involving in many 
 instances the reconstruction of almost the entire system. The 
 perseverance shown in many of these cases is remarkable. 
 
 On the other hand, the annual cost of 91 cents per acre is re- 
 markably low, from the fact that farmers have done all the work of 
 cleaning and making the small annual repairs necessary after the 
 canals and ditches were in successful operation. It should be noted, 
 however, that the maintenance is, as a general thing, comparatively 
 poor, and that the main canals and ditches receive only enough 
 labor to keep the water flowing. It undoubtedly would be far 
 
Ifi 
 
 more economical to spend a larger sum annually, and thus save 
 much water which is lost through evaporation and seepage, due 
 to the poor condition of the channel. The changes now being 
 made in the construction of permanent works, scientifically 
 built, Awhile they may not materially reduce the cost, will insure a 
 stability of construction and maintenance which heretofore has 
 been as variable as the rainfall. 
 
 The use of flowing wells for the irrigation of gardens, 
 orchards and vineyards is such a matter of interest and import- 
 ance, that at the time of making the agricultural census the 
 enumerators obtained the number of artesian wells owned by each 
 farmer. The total number of these is 2,524. Of this number, 
 facts concerning the depth, cost, flow and other matters of 
 interest have been obtained from the owners regarding 897 
 wells. The average depth of these is 145.54 feet, and the aver- 
 age cost is $77.00 per well, the average cost per foot in depth 
 being 53 cents. The diameter of these wells ranged from one 
 and a quarter to four inches, or, in a few cases, to six inches or 
 more, the average being from one and three-quarters to two and 
 one-half inches. The average amount of water discharged by 
 these wells was 26.37 gallons per minute, equivalent to 0.059 
 cubic feet per second, or second feet, as is the common term. 
 
 Most of these wells were used for domestic supply and 
 watering stock, 48.49 per cent, being employed in irrigation, 
 watering on an average 4.74 acres per well,thus making the average 
 cost of irrigation from the successful flowing wells $16.37 per 
 acre. It has already been shown that the average cost of water 
 right from canals or ditches was $10.55 per acre. 
 
 From the preceding figures the 1 average duty of water from 
 these flowing wells has been ascertained to be one second foot to 
 80.3 acres, an amount which could doubtless be increased if the 
 farmers considered it feasible to store part of- the water which 
 flows daily during the non-irrigating season. 
 
 These flowing wells are confined mostly to the lower parts of 
 the valleys along the foot of the Wasatch mountains and to the 
 lacustrine deposits from the great body of fresh water which 
 
1 7 
 
 formerly filled these valleys, and which has been named Lake 
 Bonneville. The wells are made by drilling and by driving pipe 
 through the sands and clays until some pervious water-bearing 
 layer is reached. Along the eastern shores of Great Salt Lake 
 and Utah Lake these wells are particularly numerous, but they 
 gradually decrease in number and discharge as the higher ground 
 is reached. The depth as a rule ranges from 30 feet on the 
 lowest ground up to 400 feet or more nearer the edge of the valley. 
 The Utah Bureau of Statistics has only recently been organized, 
 and it is impossible to give any idea of the extent, character and 
 cost of the artificial means introduced jn the Territory for the 
 utilization and distribution of the water supply. As to the 
 flumes for mining and railroad purposes it is impossible to give 
 even an estimate. Very little is necessary for railroad purposes, 
 and where water is not otherwise naturally available, wells are 
 utilized and form the. almost exclusive supply. It is sufficient 
 with regard to mining, as flumes are used in this case to carry 
 off water from the lower workings of the mines. There is no 
 hydraulic mining carried on in any part of Utah, for which 
 reason supply flumes, save for reduction works, concentrators^ 
 leaching purposes and milling, are unnecessary. It is not in- 
 frequently the case that the water out of the mines is more than 
 enough to run the mills. 
 
 As heretofore stated, the increase and decrease in the water 
 supply depends entirely upon the fall of snow in the winter and, 
 in an unimportant degree, upon the fall of rain in the fall, spring 
 and early summer months. A very noteworthy fact, attested on 
 the best authority, is that for a period of years there has been a 
 steady increase in the water supply. It has been thought by 
 many that the claim of increased water has been more imaginary 
 than real. The claim, however, has been verified by 
 measurements made in Great Salt Lake, which is the reservoir 
 for many of the largest mountain streams, including the Jordan, 
 which is the outlet of Utah Lake, the Bear River, the Ogden, 
 Weber, Logan, and Blacksmith Fork, and innumerable smaller 
 streams. 
 
18 
 
 The lake has a shore line of 350 miles, and since 1856 the 
 water has increased 14 feet in depth; though not at present quite 
 that much ; and Great Salt Lake, depending as it does entirely 
 upon the inflowing of mountain streams and that amount of 
 water which is not consumed by agricultural utilization, shows 
 beyond question that there has been a marked increase in the 
 water supply. 
 
 This rise in the body of the water of the lake has taken 
 place, it must be remembered, during a period when there was 
 a rapid increase in the demand for water for agricultural 
 purposes. 
 
 Where irrigation ha's been applied for a few years there has 
 been a perceptible decrease in the amount of water necessary to 
 irrigate the land properly. The decrease is placed at about 25 
 per cent. 
 
 The value of irrigated land depends entirely on its location, 
 not only in the Territory, but in a precinct or county, and upon 
 the character of the soil, which often differs materially from land 
 adjoining it and enjoying the same water advantages. In earlier 
 days all persons interested in digging a canal would turn out and 
 keep on working under the direction of a person chosen by them- 
 selves. Later, laws were passed on the subject, and will be found 
 by reference to the statutes of the Territory, which will give the 
 fullest attainable information as to water rights and conditions 
 in the Territory. 
 
 Grants, of course, were given to municipal and canal cor- 
 porations, counties, and districts, but these also are set forth in 
 the statutes. 
 
 One of the most important of the class under consideration 
 in the Territory was the construction of a canal to supply Salt 
 Lake City with water. The city was bonded for the purpose, and 
 the canal was commenced in December of 1879, and finished in 
 the fall of 1881. 
 
 Its length is something over 27 miles, and its source is the 
 Jordan River, a short distance below the point where Utah Lake 
 has its outlet into the Jordan. The canal is 20 feet wide at the 
 
19 
 
 bottom, the depth being 5 feet, sufficient to carry 3| feet of 
 water. 
 
 Four other canals have been constructed in the valley of the 
 Jordan, all about of the same capacity, and built about the same 
 time. These canals, owing to inferior construction in vogue at 
 that period, do not furnish more than 60 per cent, of the water 
 entering their heads. The total length being 132 miles, covering 
 about 44,000 acres. 
 
 As a contrast, the great Bear River Canal, which enters the 
 north end of Salt Lake Valley, is a good illustration of the more 
 modern system of scientific construction, and also shows what 
 may be done by successfully damming a large river. 
 
 BEAR RIVER CANAL COMPANY. 
 
 The big irrigating enterprise of the Bear River Canal Com- 
 pany has been mentioned before, and also the appropriation of 
 Bear Lake as a reservoir by the company. The latter step for- 
 ever assures the supply. The headworks for the canals are in 
 Bear River Canyon. A canal of 1,000 second cubic feet capacity 
 is taken out on each side of the river. That on the left bank is 
 carried down along the base of the mountains, about forty miles 
 to Utah Hot Springs. In this vicinity a branch is led off toward 
 the lake, where, around Plain City, there is a large body of warm, 
 sandy, rich land. The main canal goes on to Ogden. There, 
 exchanged with the users of Weber River water, the latter is said 
 to be taken out high up in Weber Canyon and carried out upon 
 the sand ridge south of Ogden. 
 
 The canal on the right bank, where it reaches the valley 
 plain, strikes up the valley diagonally three miles to near the 
 Toponce Ranch, where it is carried over the Malad, here 100 feet 
 below its banks, on an iron viaduct costing $30,000. Thence it 
 is led around the northeastern edge of the valley past Point 
 Lookout and the Walker Ranch, toward Blue Creek, about forty 
 miles. Soon after reaching the plateau it throws off one branch 
 which goes down near Bear River, past Corinne, to the lake, 
 about 30 miles. It throws off a second branch west of the Malad, 
 
20 
 
 which runs southward to near Little Mountain, and then west- 
 ward to the main canal. 
 
 The area of lands which will be tributary to these canals is 
 some 20'),000 acres. The soil is extremely fertile, and the lands 
 most favorably located. 
 
 The Canal Company offer these lands for sale at $25 to $35 
 an acre, which includes $10 for perpetual right to one cubic foot 
 of water per second for each 80 acres. The yearly rental or 
 maintainance tax it is proposed to put at $1.50 or $2.00 an acre 
 of land watered. The irrigating works were planned by eminent 
 engineers; the canal owners have water power and city (Ogden) 
 water works to look after, which will compel them to maintain 
 the works in good repair. The water may be depended upon 
 absolutely. 
 
 This work of the Bear River Canal Company, though less 
 than one-third completed, is by far the most important irrigation 
 work yet undertaken in this Territory. 
 
 DUCHESNE AND STBAWBERRY RIVER CANAL CO. 
 
 There is now a very elaborate and extensive project, well 
 under way, to take out a portion of the waters of the Straw- 
 berry and Duchesne Rivers and irrigate 200,000 acres of the 
 most fertile lands. Much of this now lies within the Indian 
 Reserve, but which it is believed will be set off. As this enter- 
 prise will form the subject of a separate paper by one of the 
 delegates (Mr. A. D. Ferron, C. E.) reference is made thereto. 
 
 NORTH POINT CONSOLIDATED CANAL. 
 
 This is also a canal of quite recent construction (1891). It 
 adds 14| miles to the system now west of the Jordan River. Of 
 the whole length, nearly one quarter, has a bottom width of 50 
 feet, the remainder varying from 20 to 15 feet. The fall is very 
 slight, 0.7 feet to the mile. The estimated capacity is 93 cubic 
 feet to the second. The soils are such that two-thirds of a 
 second foot, it is stated, will irrigate 100 acres, or a total of about 
 14,000 acres. 
 
21 
 
 SWAN LAKE RESERVOIR AND CANAL COMPANY. 
 
 This is another comparatively recent enterprise and has for 
 its object the utilization of the waters of the Sevier River. It 
 consists of a reservoir covering an area of 70 square miles fed 
 by the river and located in the central portion of Millard County, 
 five miles west of the Union Pacific railroad, fifteen miles north- 
 east of Sevier Lake or Sink, and 170 miles south of Salt Lake 
 City. 
 
 This large reservoir of over 40,000 acres, as may be supposed, 
 is very largely natural, and consists of a number of lake basins 
 which are appropriated by the work of construction, such changes 
 being made as were necessary to adapt them to the requirements 
 of the reservoir. 
 
 The continued action of the river current has built up walls 
 or natural levees which rise to a height above the surrounding 
 country like the levees of the Mississippi and other streams. The 
 company in constructing their reservoir have repaired the natural 
 walls, built strong dykes across channels, cut ditches and canals, 
 built dams and flumes. The entire plant is of such a character 
 it can be enlarged and improved indefinitely. 
 
 There are at present over 200,000 acres of level fertile and 
 irrigable land lying under the reservoir supply. There has 
 already been completed about 15 miles of canal. A townsite and 
 buildings for employers and laborers has been laid out, some 
 20,000 shade trees planted a rod apart and along also several 
 of the streets. 
 
 The reservoir, or more appropriately lake, when full will 
 hold about three and one half billion cubic feet, or 200,000 acre 
 feet. In May, 1891, when the river had its rise, the flow over 
 the waste dam was 30,000 miners' inches. The hrigable land has 
 an underlie of clay a few feet below surface, which will materially 
 lessen the amount of water required for irigation. The company 
 expect to irrigate 75,000 acres. 
 
 OQUIRRH WATER AND LAND COMPANY. 
 
 This company has for its object the lowering of the Jordan 
 River at the outlet and below Utah lake. The present river 
 
22 
 
 bed is much higher than the bottom of the lake and acts as a 
 bar to the lowering thereof and to the obtaining of a large supply 
 of water that now cannot be utilized and which when so utilized 
 will be restored in the winter. Such a lowering will also admit 
 of a better regulation of the rise and fall of the lake. This low- 
 ering of the outlet will permit the irrigation of possibly some 
 25,000 acres, and by storing in the Provo River this can be still 
 further augmented. 
 
 In cities the municipal corporations control the waters, 
 water-masters being appointed to regulate the division of the 
 water. 
 
 For regulation of water rights see Utah statutes of 1880, 
 page 36 ; for acts relating to Salt Lake City Canal, see same 
 pages 55 and 85; for law relating to irrigating companies, see 
 Utah statutes of 1884, page 127, laws of 1890, pp. 12, 21, and 
 142. 
 
 PRINCIPAL IRRIGATION STREAMS. 
 
 As concerns the Great Salt Lake drainage system it has been 
 shown that the three principal rivers are the Bear, the Weber 
 and the Jordan. 
 
 The mean annual flow of Bear River, where it enters Salt 
 Lake Valley, is about 5,000 cubic feet per second. Its delta- 
 plain^ contains about 214 square miles of unsurpassable soil, 
 upon which the Bear River Canal Company has diverted 2,000 
 second-cubic feet of water through upward of 100 miles of canals 
 at a cost of nearly $2,000,000. The soil is rich and ideally 
 adapted to irrigation, having a gentle fall, being smooth as a 
 floor, and well and deeply drained by the Bear and Malad rivers. 
 
 As if to forever bar a water famine in North Salt Lake Valley, 
 nature has provided a natural reservoir in Bear Lake, situated 
 near Bear River and connected with the river by a narrow out- 
 let, high up in the mountains. The lake has an area of 150 
 square miles, and can be raised ten feet by a dam thrown across 
 the outlet at small expense. Thus enough water can be stored 
 during two-thirds of the year to flow, in connection with 
 the current, 5,000 feet per second during the other third 
 
23 
 
 of the year. Bear River itself can be turned into the lake 
 by a short canal from above, and upon its upper tributaries, on 
 the northern slope of the Uintah Range, there are many 
 glacial lakes which can be made use of for impounding water. 
 The Weber River runs in a general northwesterly course 
 from the Uintah Mountains to Great Salt Lake, entering the 
 latter at the middle of its eastern shore. The Ogden is its only 
 important tributary. Its delta-plain comprises about 2-'0 square 
 miles of farming land. 
 
 The Jordan River is the outlet of Utah Lake, and runs 
 northward, entering Great Salt Lake at its southeastern angle. On 
 the right it receives anumber of large tributaries from the Wasatch. 
 The largest tributary of Utah Lake is Provo or Tunpanogas River, 
 which rises near the souice of the Weber and Bear, in the Uintah 
 Mountains. Minor tributaries of Utah Lake are American Fork, 
 Spanish Fork, Hobble Creek, Payson Creek, Salt Creek, etc. On 
 all the tributaries of Utah Lake there are about 320 square 
 miles of irrigable land ; and in the Jordan Valley, below Utah 
 Lake, inclusive of Bountiful and Centerville, there are about 250 
 square miles. In addition the water can be carried around the 
 point of the Oquirrh Range on the southern shore of Great 
 Salt Lake, and be used to water 50 square miles of Tooele 
 Valley. 
 
 Utah Lake is a natural reservoir, 145 square miles in surface 
 area. With suitable headworks its volume can be controlled, and 
 the entire charge be concentrated in the season of irrigation. 
 The mean volume of the outlet is about 1,000 second-cubic feet, 
 but one-fourth of this must be assigned to watering lands on the 
 tributaries of the lake and to evaporation, leaving a perennial 
 flow of 750 second-cubic feet, which if concentrated into four 
 months would irrigate for that period, 350 square miles. 
 
 There is thus water enough forever assured to irrigate every 
 acre of the eastern border of Great Salt Lake Basin, from Nephi 
 on the south to Bear River canyon on the north, a distance, as 
 traveled, of about 180 miles. This fringe of the desert, between the 
 Wasatch and Great Salt Lake, and between the Wasatch and Utah 
 
24 
 
 Lake, is, in location, resources, climate, fertility, potentially, the 
 glory of the earth. It is easily the garden spot of Utah. Every 
 acre of land is intrinsically worth $100, although it ranges in 
 prices all the way from $5 to $225 per acre. The average, away 
 from the suburbs of larger towns, is perhaps, $50 per acre. Al- 
 together, about 7,590 secand-cubic feet of water perennially 
 flows into Great Salt Lake. 
 
 SEVIER LAKE DRAINAGE BASIN. According to the accom- 
 plished geologists of the United States Geological Survey, which 
 this sketch follows, the Wasatch ends with Mount Nebo, which 
 overhangs Nephi. The elevated lands southward these gentlemen 
 term the high plateaus, divided by great longitudinal faults into 
 three ranges, each made up of different members, as the Sanpete, 
 the Pahvant, the Tushar, and the Markagunt, facing the Great 
 Basin; and the Wasatch, the Fish Lake, the Awapa, and the 
 Aquarius, east of Grass Valley. The Pahvant and the Tushar, 
 says Captain Button, present a curious admixture of plateau 
 and sierra, but the others are true tables, made and kept so by 
 the lavas which cap them and successfully resist erosion. 
 
 The Wasatch plateau is east of Sanpete Valley, above which 
 it rises a whole mile. The San Pitch River is the largest tribu- 
 tary of the Sevier. In 1890 the farmers of Gunnision dammed 
 the San Pitch River a few miles southwesterly of the town of 
 Manti; by this they have funished a reservoir with capacity of 
 26'),()00,000 cubic feet, or 6,000 acre feet. Powell gives the 
 capacity of this stream at 60 second-feet. This reservoir is in- 
 tended only as a storage basin, but is good evidence in showing 
 the tendency of the people to increase their cultivable acreage 
 in the most practical way. The whole cost had not eoualled $4,000. 
 
 Probably upward of a hundred square miles are served by 
 the small streams of southwestern Utah, as at Levan, Scipio, 
 Holden, Fillmore, Oak City, Kanosh, Beaver, Paragoonah, Cedar 
 City, Pinto, Hebron, etc. In this region the water is insufficient 
 to supply the arable land, but it can be largely increased by stor- 
 age, without doubt. 
 
 COLORADO RIVER DRAINAGE. Of the Rio Colorado drainage 
 
25 
 
 system, the main channel is the river Colorado and its proper 
 continuation, the Green River. The principal tributaries of 
 these streams from the east are the White, the Grand and the 
 San Juan, the White entering the Green, the Grand uniting with 
 the Green to form the Colorado, and the San Juan entering 
 the latter about 125 miles from the confluence of the Grand and 
 the Gr^en. The tributaries from the west are the Virgin, the 
 Kanab, the Paria, the Escalante, the Fremont, the San Rafael, 
 the Price, the Minnie Maud, the Uintah. or Du Chesne and the 
 Ashley Fork. 
 
 The climate is extremely arid, the elevation between 2,500 
 and 11,500 feet, giving great range in the temperature. The 
 limit of successful (hay) farming is about 7,000 feet. Aside 
 from the Uintah- White basin, which contains more than half of 
 the irrigable land of the entire district, and which is an Indian 
 Reserve, the lands are generally of terraces or benches, or in re- 
 stricted valleys between the higher courses of the streams and 
 their canyons, and are from 4,500 to 6,000 feet in altitude. The 
 Price, the Uintah or Du Chesne, the Green and the Grand have 
 plenty of water, but, excepting the Uintah, the land upon which 
 their waters can be diverted is very limited. On the Virgin, 
 which is far south and low in altitude, there are thirty to fifty 
 square miles. In the entire district there may be a thousand 
 square miles of irrigable arable land. 
 
 METHODS OF IRRIGATION. 
 
 As will be seen there are only a few square miles in Utah 
 that do not require irrigation. The system of cultivating the soil 
 in Utah is to start canals at the mouth of the canyons, where 
 dams are built. These canals are run from the canyons out 
 upon the more level laud of the valleys and there subdivided into 
 branch canals, and these again divided into laterals leading to every 
 farm so long 'as there is water to be distributed. Each farmer 
 has canals leading from the main one to every field, and gener- 
 ally along the whole length of the upper side of each field. Each 
 field has little furrows, a foot or more apart, and parallel with each 
 
26 
 
 other, running either lengthwise or crosswise or diagonally across 
 as the slope of the land requires. Into these furrows the water is 
 turned, one or more at a time, as the quantity of water permits, 
 until it has flowed nearly to the other end, when it is turned into 
 the next furrows, and so on until all are watered. 
 
 This is the usual custom, but where the soil is made of clay 
 this method is not so good and another is used. This method 
 is to throw up little embankments six inches high around separ- 
 ate plats of land that are of uniform level, and turn the water in 
 until the plat is full to the top, when the water is drawn off to 
 the next lower plat and so on to the end. This enables the water 
 to soak in more and so does thfc crop more good, but where the 
 soil is porous, as is generally the case, it is not so good a method, 
 as it wastes water. Each farm generally has the right to use the 
 water so many hours once a week or once in 10, 12 or 14 days, 
 as the particular valley and the time of the year require. The 
 crops are supposed to get a good soaking at every watering. The 
 amount of land that each person can cultivate depends upon the 
 quantity of water right that he owns. The method of dividing 
 the water depends upon the intelligence of the far ners; in some 
 places it is very crude, in others it is thorough. In few places is 
 any one entitled to a certain number of cubic feet per second. 
 Generally each man has a right to such a portion of the water 
 in a certain stream or river; if the season is a" dry one he gets 
 less water, and if it is a wet one he gets plenty. He must govern 
 the quantity of crops put in by what he thinks will be the water 
 supply for the season. 
 
 The method of dividing the water is to put in a dam at the 
 head of the canal on the stream, with a partition in it separating 
 the proper share for the canal, the rest being allowed to flow 
 down the channel of the stream. The same method is used in 
 the canal where people have certain shares in the stream at every 
 new canal. Where the rights of people are based on a certain 
 number of cubic feet per second, or miners' inches, there is a 
 gate put in at every dam and lowered into the water till the water 
 reaches a mark six inches above the bottom of the gate. This 
 
27 
 
 gate is raised or lowered as the quantity of water requires to 
 keep the water on that point on the gate. The length and width 
 of the space below the gate are multiplied together, and the pro- 
 duct is called so many miners' inches ; generally 48 of these are 
 considered to be equal to one cubic foot per second. This method 
 is correct where there is no back water below the darn to inter- 
 fere with the fall of the water. The partition is then put in at 
 the proper place to give the owners their due share of water. 
 This division is kept up until there is no water to distribute. 
 Those people who have a secondary right get what is left after 
 the primary rights are filled. The irrigation season generally 
 begins in May or the first of June, and ends in August, and is 
 about 120 days long. The amount of land that one cubic foot 
 of water can irrigate, ranges from 35 acres in the very hot and 
 sandy country in the south, to 150 acres in the higher valleys. 
 The average is about one cubic foot to 100 acres. The future 
 growth in agriculture depends upon the storage of water in 
 reservoirs, and above all in the economical use of the water we 
 have. Subsoil irrigation is another great hope of Utah. By 
 this many times the present cultivated area can be reclaimed, and 
 as before stated, by a proper use of the underground sources. 
 
 SOIL AND CLIMATE. 
 
 As before stated, Salt Lake is in latitude 40 degrees 46 
 minutes north, and longitude 111 degrees 54 minutes west, and 
 is near the isotherm of 52 degrees. In latitude we are in line 
 with northern Missouri, Peoria, Illinois; Columbus, Pittsburg, 
 Reading, and Staten Island; and can raise all kinds of fruits 
 except oranges, etc., and even these we can raise in Southern Utah. 
 Every kind of tree growing north of Virginia will thrive herein the 
 open air. There are now growing in Salt Lake City the follow- 
 ing: sycamore,basswood, locust, honey locust, ailantus, cottonwood, 
 balm of gilead, lombardy, soft and hard maple, box elder, walnut, 
 chestnut, white ash, white and roch elm, mulberry, butternut, 
 larch, pines, spruces, firs, oaks, peach, plum, apricot, apple, etc. 
 
 Since our winter is only about six weeks long, the spring is 
 
28 
 
 quite early; the farmers frequently plow in February, and sow 
 their small grain. Our latest frost averages April 8th, so that 
 the most delicate plants are safe after that. Our earliest frost 
 comes about September 26, so that all our crops have ample time 
 to mature. 
 
 During the season of 1890, crops were raised by irrigation 
 on 396,000 acres, say about three-fourths of one per cent. 
 About 85 per cent, of the cultivated areas required irrigation, the 
 remaining 15 per cent, being "dry farmed." 
 
 The average size of the portions of farms under cultivation 
 was 40 acres. The average first cost of the water right is 
 $10.55 per acre, and the average first cost of preparing the soil 
 for cultivation, including the purchase price of land is $16.10 
 per acre. The average present value of the irrigated land of the 
 Territory, including improvements etc., is reported at $84.25 per 
 acre, showing an apparent profit, less cost of improvements of 
 $57.60 per acre. 
 
 The average of the estimated value placed by the farmer up- 
 on this water right is $^J6.84 this is the price which the water 
 rights,wherever transferable without the land, have usually brought 
 or would probably bring in the various localities, the value of 
 these rights being dependant largely upon the probabilities of 
 the owner receiving the amount of water claimed. 
 
 A TYPICAL CASE. 
 
 The following statement, based on actual experience, and 
 made by one of the most intelligent farmers in Utah, shows the 
 prime cost of settlement; what he has done and what may be 
 done with a typical farm of forty acres, well irrigated land and 
 properly handled: 
 
 EXPENDITURE. 
 
 First cost 40 acres of land and water right, $40 per acre, $1,600.00 
 One mile of fence (4 wire) - - - 140.00 
 
 Dwelling house, complete, 600.00 
 
 Stable, barn and sheds, - - 260.00 
 
 Clearing, plowing and harrowing 40 acres, - 150.00 
 
 100 shade trees, .... . 15.00 
 
29 
 
 200 fruit trees, $30.00 
 
 10 acres planted to alfalfa and seed, 20.00 
 
 20 acres wheat and seed, 30.00 
 
 4 acres of potatoes, seed and planting, 20.00 
 
 5 acres of oats, - - 10.00 
 Water rental, - - 80.00 
 
 Total, $2,955.00 
 
 FIRST YEAR'S RETURNS, HARVESTED. 
 
 800 bushels of wheat, 60 cents per bushel, $ 480.00 
 
 1,200 bushels of potatoes, 50 cents per bushel, - 600.00 
 
 250 bushels of oats, $1.00 per bushel, 250.00 
 
 10 acres of alfalfa and seed (J return), - 150.00 
 
 Total, - $1,480.00 
 
 The above shows a net earning of 50 per cent., or one-half 
 the total amount invested, for the first year's work. 
 
 RAINFALL AND HUMIDITY. 
 
 For ease of comprehension Utah may best be divided into 
 three divisions: The moist counties, whose rainfall exceeds 12 
 inches per annum; the dry counties, with a rainfall of 6 to 12 
 inches; and the hot counties, with a slight rainfall and great heat. 
 
 The moist counties are Cache, Box Elder, Rich, Morgan, 
 Weber,Davis, Summit, Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Uintah, San- 
 pete, Sevier and parts of Emery, Garfield, Piute and San Juan. 
 
 The dry counties areTooele, Juab, Millard, Beaver, Iron and 
 parts of others. 
 
 The hot counties are Washington, Kane, and parts of San 
 Juan, Piute and Garfjeld. 
 
 General Greely, Chief Signal Officer of the United States 
 has most thoughtfully sent through Governor Thomas advance 
 sheets (galley proofs) giving complete tables and graphical charts 
 of the rainfall and temperature. The former dating from 1856, 
 the latter from 1850. Whether the observations as to rainfall 
 made prior to the establishment of the signal office here, 1874, 
 are reliable, is very doubtful they increase the annual average 
 verv materiallv. 
 
30 
 
 No other data more forcibly shows the arid nature of Utah, 
 and it is only to be regretted that we have not yet established 
 points of observations in the Wasatch and Uintah ranges that 
 we might have a better knowledge of the annual precipitation in 
 the locality from which our irrigation supply is obtained. 
 
 Temperature also cuts quite a figure, for a "late spring" and 
 cool summer, even with a lesser and late snowfall, gives better 
 and more equable results from the irrigation standpoint, as wit- 
 ness this "season" of 1891. 
 
 In Salt Lake Valley, 40 per cent, of the rainfall occurs in 
 the spring, 9 in the summer, 25 in the fall, and 26 in the 
 winter. Winter begins about January 1st and lasts six weeks. 
 In latitude 40 degrees there should be on general principles 30 
 inches in a year. 
 
 Over the United States, east of the one hundredth meridian 
 west of Greenwich, the average rainfall is 40 inches, 60 per cent, 
 of which is at once thrown off in the river discharge. 
 
 The meterological records do not indicate that the climate is 
 growing moister; but Rush Lake rolls its blue waves over what 
 was a meadow 20 years ago, and Great Salt Lake has at least ten 
 feet of brine where wagons were driven to and fro in 1863. 
 
 Increased humidity has followed the settlement and cultivation 
 of the Mississippi valley prairies, and it is not unlikely that it is 
 doing so in Utah, although there is not sufficient data as yet to 
 determine in what degree. 
 
 The mean-air pressure at Salt Lake City is 25.63 inches; 
 water boils at 204.3 degrees. The prevailing winds are from the 
 north-northwest, and the most windy months are March, July, 
 August and September. The mean velocity ot the winds during the 
 entire year is 5 miles an hour. On the ocean it is 18; at Liverpool 
 it is 13; at Toronto, 9; at Philadelphia, 11. The climate of Utah 
 on the whole is not unlike that of northwestern Texas and New 
 Mexico, and is agreeable except for a month or so in winter, and 
 then the temperature seldom falls to zero or snow to a greater 
 depth than a foot; and it soon melts away, although it sometimes 
 affords a few days' sleighing. The spring opens early in March. 
 
31 
 
 Means... 
 
 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
 
 ^XXXXXXXXXX-^l-^l^l^l-^l^l^l^l^ClC^C^Ci?: 
 
 XX XX 
 
 ^ x'ii 
 
 1 
 
 MONTHLY AND ANNUAL PRECIPITATION AT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, FROM RETURNS 
 U. S. SIGNAL OFFICE, WAR DEPARTMENT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 W O I- 1 tO I- 1 h-i O l-i H-i p-i O 1 t-> O I ' W ' W' bo' H-'I-'W' 
 
 h-O' 
 
 e-i 
 
 B 
 
 SS88Sfe^8fe83S38S; s?. fe. 8S88. SS. . 
 
 i 
 
 . . 
 
 tooi-'i-'H-'i-'toootoh-'owot-'o' en ' ' >-" i-i w o to to w ' o 
 
 cr 
 
 C?l >* tO 1 ' OS O iC to to 4- to t * CD 55 tO CO . O, . C?lOtOOl^w3o. Ol 
 
 K 
 
 I ' H- ' tO O tO tO W 1 ' I ' O OO tO tO *> tC 1 ' h- '" ' tO tO tO 
 
 to w o 
 
 March. 
 
 feS8888^B889!S882S28! . . 8. 
 
 &. S 
 
 o i-' o i- 1 rf* w to to w to to w to to tc H-> o H-> ' ' wo*- 1 ' 
 
 hJ1 _ 1 . 
 
 I 
 
 S8$3feft^s^38SS888^; . . sekss; 
 
 ^fe. 
 
 i ' 
 
 bo 
 
 O tOOO O tOi-'OO tOt-^O tO W*>- to tOOtO to' tOOh- '' 
 
 H-'h-'' O 
 
 B 
 
 P 
 B 
 
 SSSe'j38fes3$8885SS8fe8^^8fe; S^S. 
 
 s^: 8 
 
 p 
 
 OOOOH-'tsiOOtOOOH-'OOOOOOW^h-'OlOH-o 
 
 ' 0' H- 
 
 B*3SSS898a^8Sgk888^gS8^Sy8SS 
 
 . P: s 
 
 p 
 
 s- 
 
 
 V. 
 
 o 
 
 88 
 
 o o i- 1 o ooo o oo I-'OOH- tooo' fcaooh-'o' 
 
 h-i' O 
 
 i-l 
 
 OtOtoHtntOI 'WI'OKOOOO^Oht^CSO' O5-^l 3O' 
 
 9. . fe 
 
 OOOOOOOH-H-OOO h- K-W H- P-"' 
 
 h->O' O 
 
 1 
 
 CD 
 
 rt 
 
 ; S8888e38S^5J8S8SK8il88is$S^; i3w! 8 
 
 OOO i-'h-'i-'OOOOO WOOH-'OH-'O' h-'tOi-'o' 
 
 Wt-"OO 
 
 co 
 $ 
 
 rt- 
 
 . BS5fe888SSSSfe*82S8fei8S8S! Swtow. 2SStSS 
 
 5 
 
 
 O Wl-" 
 
 O 
 o 
 
 XQOWO^riCtOCCh-^OW^tOW^lCSO ^ GO t * ^J 
 Ol O O X CO Oi ^ Ci CO O to to H^ -^3 O3 ^* O t--* H 1 O OT CJi 
 
 ' to too 
 
 . toxo 
 
 i 
 
 i too !- wo H-"o h-'t-'ooi-io w ton- >o' ' toon- 1 ' i-ioo' 
 
 
 
 OOtO-Jh- 'CiT-^IlH^H-'WOOCOXH-'OCP bi^H- 
 . JP-OW CO O O 00 ifr. ^ ~3 tO W tOh-'H-' C5 O O. . OtOCC. 
 
 ^1X' ' 
 
 O5OT. . 
 
 5 
 
 ^to^H-otOH-oh-h-woK-h-tooi-h-' w*-sja<' too' ' 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 . 5i8^8B8S^88bb^8^8^; gS^'g. 53. . 
 
 S 
 1 8 
 
 
 
 Annual 
 
 
 
 ^& C5 O5 X O5 Ol tO CO X CO 1 ' ~J W bw ~ CO tO O OC 1 
 
 ' OitOO5CDOtO4^00'30^H-'OlU<*Hk W O-^l--3 
 
32 
 
 The following gives the average annual precipitation at 
 prominent points north, east, south and west of Salt Lake City: 
 
 STATION. 
 
 DURATION OF 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL 
 PRECIPITATION. 
 
 Kelton, ------ 
 Ogden, --. - - 
 
 12 years. 
 21 
 10 
 3 
 9 
 3 
 
 6.10 inches. 
 13.46 
 13.74 
 6.53 
 17.41 
 5.18 
 
 Fort Duchesne, 
 Fort Douglass, - 
 Deep Creek, - - - - 
 
 UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE RETURNS, 
 
 No. of acres entered under the Desert Land Laws, 694,176.76 
 No. of acres on which final papers have issued 
 
 under Desert Land Laws, 135,340.32 
 
 No. of acres entered under the Timber Culture Laws, 179,118.35 
 No. of acres entered under the Homestead Laws, 1,293,750.00 
 No. of acres on which Cash Certificates have issued, 375,791.25 
 No of acres entered under all the land laws, - 2,542,836.36 
 Estimated No. of acres of surveyed land still sub- 
 ject to entry, under the public land laws, 6,919,840.00 
 Estimated No. of acres of unsurveyed land subject 
 
 to entry, - 26,88', ) ,853.00 
 
33 
 
 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF ACRES OF LAND IN EACH COUNTY 
 SUBJECT TO ENTRY. 
 
 NO. 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 ACRES SURVEYED. 
 
 ACRES UNSURVEYED. 
 
 1 
 
 Beaver, - 
 
 335,160 
 
 1,700,000 
 
 2 
 
 Box Elder, - - 
 
 483,316 
 
 1,906,960 
 
 3 
 
 Cache . - - 
 
 90,740 
 
 95,668 
 
 4, 
 
 Davis, - - - - 
 
 9,367 
 
 700,000 
 
 5 
 
 Emery, - - - 
 
 448,165 
 
 2,300,000 
 
 6 
 
 Garfield, - - - 
 
 214,500 
 
 2,30<>,000 
 
 7 
 
 Iron, - - - - 
 
 58-2,250 
 
 1,920,000 
 
 8 
 
 Juab, - - - - 
 
 707,920 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 9 
 
 Kane, ... 
 
 377,580 
 
 1,610,000 
 
 10 
 
 Millard, - - - 
 
 1,191,590 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 11 
 
 Morgan, - - - 
 
 51,080 
 
 500,000 
 
 12 
 
 Piute, - - - - 
 
 220,880 
 
 1,380,000 
 
 13 
 
 Rich, - ... 
 
 289,80 
 
 7,000 
 
 14 
 
 Salt Lake, - - 
 
 2,700 
 
 130,000 
 
 15 
 
 San pete, - - - 
 
 122,680 
 
 860,000 
 
 16 
 
 Sevier, ... 
 
 211,100 
 
 1,460,000 
 
 17 
 
 Summit, - - - 
 
 217,500 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 18 
 
 Tooele, - - - 
 
 769,220 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 19 
 
 Uintah, - 
 
 150,540 
 
 1, (544,000 
 
 20 
 
 Utah, ..... 
 
 182,677 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 21 
 
 Wasatch, - - 
 
 62,155 
 
 207,000 
 
 22 
 
 Washington, - 
 
 188,340 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 23 
 
 Weber, - - - 
 
 8,500 
 
 290,519 
 
 
 Total, - - - 
 
 6,919,840 
 
 26,882,853 
 
 DUTY OF WATER. 
 
 
 As there does not appear to be a clear understanding by 
 
 most people of many of the terms used in connection with irri- 
 gation, the following, defining the meaning of such expressions 
 and giving the comparative values used, it was deemed would be 
 useful. Irrigation water is measured generally by the cubic 
 foot, by the gallon or by miners inches. 
 
 The "duty of water" means the area of land upon which a 
 .definite volume of water, applied during a given period, will suc- 
 cessfully raise crops. Thus the average duty in Utah of one 
 cubic foot per second, during a period of 120 days, is 100 acres. 
 
34 
 
 One cubic foot per second is called a "second-foot." The "acre- 
 foot" is the equivalent of one acre covered one foot deep or 
 43,560 cubic feet. The miners inch is a variable quantity de- 
 pending upon the head above the one inch orifice of discharge. 
 It varies from a four inch head to a six inch head, and is not a 
 commendable unit of measure. Thus there are 50 miners inches 
 to a cubic foot per second, California measurement, and about -JO 
 miners inches Colorado measurement. One cubic foot contains 
 7 U. S. gallons of 231 cubic inches. 
 
 CUBIC FEET. 
 
 ] cubic foot peT second equals 2 acre feet in 24 hours. 
 
 " 60 " " 30 days. 
 " 130 " " 3 months. 
 
 " 170 " " 1 year. 
 
 " " " " 7.5 gallons per second. 
 
 " 449 " " minute. 
 " " " 50 California inches. 
 
 " 38.4 Colorado 
 
 CALIFORNIA INCHES. 
 
 ICO California inches equals 4 acre feet in 24 hours. 
 
 1 " foot 6 " 
 " 120 " feet 30 days. 
 " 360 " " 3 months. 
 " 14-iQ " " 1 year. 
 
 " " "15 gallons per second. 
 
 " 900 " minute. 
 
 " " 77 Colorado inches. 
 
 " % " " 2 Cubic feet per second. 
 
 COLORADO INCHES. 
 
 100 Colorado inches equals 5^ acre feet in 24 hours. 
 
 1 " foot in 4.2 " 
 "155 " feet in 1 month. 
 " 465 " " 3 months. 
 " 1,860 " " 1 year. 
 " " 19.50 gallons per second. 
 
 "1,170 " minute. 
 
 " " 2.6 cubic feet per second. 
 
 " 130 California inches. 
 
35 
 
 The terms as applied to wells such as "artesian positive" 
 means one from which the water rises above the surface. 
 
 "Artesian negative" is one in which the water does not rise 
 above the surface. 
 
 "Phreatic water" (signifying ground water), is that nearer 
 the surface and derived from absorption, and is a name given 
 in a general way to all species of wells that arc supplied from 
 the "ground water." 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF UTAH LAWS RELATIVE TO 
 IRRIGATION. 
 
 Whenever the public necessity requires it> the county court 
 may organize the county, or a part of it, into an irrigation dis- 
 trict, and the land holders therein may use the water brought into 
 the district according to their respective needs, provided they pay 
 and perform their proportion of the necessary expense and labor. 
 They may, on due notice, elect trustees, a secretary, and a 
 treasurer. 
 
 The trustees shall locate the ditches and estimate all costs 
 and report to the county court. If the report be approved by a 
 two-thirds vote, a tax shall be assessed and the ditch constructed. 
 
 The trustees have general supervision of the construction, 
 maintenance, and regulation of the ditches; they may hold 
 such personal property as is necessary to the performance of 
 their duties; may sue and be sued, and may have appraised and 
 sell any unclaimed lands that are to be benefited, and apply the 
 proceeds to the construction of the ditches. 
 
 Lakes and ponds may be used as reservoirs, provided they 
 are not raised so as to injure settlers upon their banks. 
 
 In case of inundation or other sudden emergency, the trus- 
 tees may take measures for protection. 
 
 Property and money in the hands of trustees to be used on 
 the ditches is exempt from taxation. 
 
 Ditches have the right of way, a proper compensation having 
 been paid. 
 
 Any person injuring a ditch or any of its appurtenances, is 
 liable in damages and to a fine and imprisonment. 
 
 The district is liable for damage caused by the breakage of 
 a ditch. 
 
 The rate of tax at any election subsequent to the first may 
 be determined by a majority vote, and the tax thus assessed shall 
 
36 
 
 be a lien upon the taxpayer's interest in the ditch and a right to 
 use the water. 
 
 By act of February 20, 1880, the selectmen of the several 
 counties are made water commissioners, who have a kind of su- 
 perior jurisdiction of the water rights in their respective coun- 
 ties. 
 
 They determine claims relative to the use of water, oversee,, 
 either personally or by agents-, its distribution and determine 
 questions of right of way, etc. 
 
 They also issue certificates showing the extent of water 
 rights. 
 
 A person first taking water from any source of 
 supply, or having the open, peaceable, and continuous use of 
 the water for seven years, has a primary right therein to the 
 extent of the reasonable use thereof. 
 
 Whenever persons having the primary right use the 
 water for a part of the year only, the person appropriating it for 
 the balance of the year acquires a secondary right. 
 
 The person appropriating the surplus above the average of 
 seven years also acquires a secondary right. 
 
 Water rights may be measured in inches or by fractional 
 parts of the whole supply. Water rights may pertain to the land 
 or may be personal property, as the owner may elect, and a 
 change of place shall not affect the right to use the water; but 
 no change of place shall be made to the injury of another owner 
 without ju t compensation Neglect for seven years to use water,, 
 or keep in repair the means of conveying it, is regarded as an 
 abandonment of the right. 
 
 Water rights are exempt from taxation, except for the pur- 
 pose of regulating the use of the rights, but the increased value 
 of the land may be regarded in making the assessments. 
 
 Surplus water must be returned to the natural channel, and 
 any person wasting it is liable to have his supply shut off, and to 
 pay damages to any person injured. 
 
 Any person using water lawfully appropriated to another, or 
 diverting the flow of water lawfully distributed, or injuring any 
 dam, ditch, etc., is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 V( henever the supply is not sufficient for all purposes, the 
 use for domestic purposes and for irrigating purposes takes pre- 
 cedence in that order. 
 
 Corporations may be formed under general laws for dis- 
 tributing water to their stockholders.