Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-17
IRRIGATION.

The present season in California is
dry one, and the people there are begin
ming to agitate the question of irrigation.
In the dry and arid climate of Utah, we
think of California as land that never
lacks for water, land where Nature has
so tempered the seasons that flowers are
ever in bloom, and the air is filled with
the sweet songs of birds. Callfor-
MIA has become synonymous with
fairyland, where it is ever spring,
and where Nature is brightest and grand
est. Such being the case, it seems
strange to read the following in the Oak
land Times of Sunday last:
''This dry year is fortunate for Calltornla'
| II 10 calling pointed attention to the lrrlga-
tion problem. With proper storage ana ois-
| tributiou of the abundant water 1urnlsneo ny
our mountains there need never be any ter
ror in a dry year in this State. Then the ana
riaine that are now given over to solitude
will bloom like gardens and be the seat OF
an agriculture and horticulture that Will
make California an enduring horn OF
nIentv = Let the question be
persistently agitated nov, while it is dry, for
when we get forty inches of ralnfau we
will forget that we ever had only fifteen.
If such question is important for Cali
fornia, how much more important 1t is
for Utah. Here all the. crops are de-
pendent on irrigation, save in some very
exceptional seasons when there is a su-
perabundance of rain, when light dry
crop is raised. Almost all the water OF
Utah is appropriated to-day, and Still
there remain vast tracts of rich and un-
cultivated land, and these tracts must
remain barren and uncultiYated owing to
the lack OF water with which to irrigate
them. In Salt Lake City the people have
scarce enough water to irrigate their lots,
while some of its inhabitants have to
carry water for household purposes
great distance. Salt Lake City to-day is
growing most rapidly, and in all proba-
bility will so continue, to the north and to
the east, and its greater growth
in these directions is only limited
bv the want of water. The
water problem must be mot, and tempo
rarv makeshifts are not a solution. The
city is permanent and so should its water
supply be, and to furnish which the
waters that flow into it will have to be
husbanded This is recognized by all.
Wherever they are husbanded, the place
must be above the highest limits to which
the town can eXtead. To husband them,
reservoirs will have to be built; they
should be of great capacity, and SO con-
structed that there will be as little danger
attendant upon their existence as posi-
bic. Very recently large reservoir IN
Colorado burst, and flooded quite dis
trict, and this seems to have discouraged
the city from making one in Little Val
lev. At least, this fact offered better
excuse to the city council for not going
ahead with the matter than any they
have heretofore found. No decision,
if we remember rightly, has yet
been come to regarding the Little Valley
reservoir project, but the project seems to
sleep for awhile AS the Times says,
'let the question be persistently agitated
now." Some day all Utah will have to
meet the question, as the population
must necessarily increase, while the
water supply does not. There are other
important things to be taken into consid-
Grafton in discussing the water question,
such as the denuding the mountains at
the head of the streams of their timber,
thereby greatly Fastening the melting of
the SHOWS and inducing increased vapor-
alton of the water in the streams. Along
all canals and irrigating bitches of any
dimensions, trees and willows should be
planted to prevent evaporation. These
are questions in which all are inter-
ested, and to which all should give seri-
Gus thought.