The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-03
Eibridge Tufts Case.
WILLARD IRRIGATION.
MIR. GIBBS OUTLINES THE POLICY
OF THE COMPANY.
A Rich Section of Country Will Be
Brought Under Cuitivation-0b-
5ections That Are Said to Be Base-
less.

DESERET, Dec. ., 1S95.-In your is
sue of the 29th ultimo. there appears
under the heading, Willard Irrigation
Scheme" an article which, no doubt
Internationally, did this county an in
justice, and we are sure The Herald
will cheerfully give space to a correc-
ton of the misrepresentation that might
be drawn from the article in question.
Beginning at bennington and fol-
lowing the contour of the base OF the
mountain southerly to Kanosh is one
of the finest agricultural tracts in
Utah. A canal fifty feet wide on the
bottom and six feet deep will tap the
Sewer river several miles above Learn
ington, and following the contour
above indicated, will bring the tract
under cultivation. The distance to be
traversed by the canal is about seventy
miles. The land under the canal sur4
vey varies from a sandy loan to
strong, heavy clays and a black loan.
The tract does not encroach on the
bench sufficiently to be encountered
with boulders and is far enough from
deep snow limit. The soil will pro-
duce any kind of grain or fruit that
cam be grown anywhere in central
u 5ah. AS the canal is extended south
ward, its size will be diminished in
proportion to the demands of the area
10 be watered. During the fall, VIM
ter and early spring months, the wa
ter from the canal cam be turned ON
tens of thousands of acres of bottom
lands and rich pasturage produced.
At the head of the canal is a, fine
reservoir site and there are two others
near Oak City that can be utilized
for bottom land.
With the, completion of the canal a
large proportion of the water that
runs TO waste in the Sewer river, and
that now forms a dead, saline lake,
will be used in making homes for
%, 900 to $4,000 people. 1t is a magnifi-
cent enterprise and one that will re-
quire united pluck 10 accomplish, but
which is we'll worth the labor that will
be necessary to complete. If the peo-
pie will not build the canal, abundant
outside capital is ready and anxious
for the chance to invest.
Your correspondent causes The Her
aid to say: The engineers, however,
have reported that the Sewer would
fill the canal up in a short time and
that it will not be a. success" 1t is
doubted by the writer if the engineers
ever made such a. statement. If SO,
they should exchange their surveying
Instruments for grubbing hoes and
seek employment that will prove less
taxing on their brains. 1t is inferred
the idea intended to be conveyed was
that the canal would be filled up with
silt brought down by the flood waters
of the Sewer. The same objection
could be laid against every canal along
the river. That they do not thus fill up
is all the negative argument necessary.
If the canal now projected should prove
TO be an exception (and there is no
reason why it should) it would only
be the first few miles from the head,
and the CONFORMATION of the ground is
such that gate properly situated
would produce such a rapid current
as to flush the canal of all sediment.
1t is probable your correspondent mis-
took the filing up of the canal for that
of tine reservoir. If that be the case,
there is some ground for the assertion
it's filling up, although it
would be a remote contingency and
one that can be avoided. The same OBJ
lection can be raised against the re-
Gently completed reservoirs near
on the upper sewer, and
with even more force because of the
greater amount of sediment which the
river carries at that place and which
settles along its sinuous course of per-
haps between 300 and 400 miles before
It reaches the Willard reservoir The
only way to prevent the filling up of
any reservoir through which the Sc
vier river flows is to build an artificial
channel, as straight as possible,
through the reservoir, and into which
he river could be turned and confined
Turing the flood season, when the wa
ler is carrying an unusual amount of
sediment. The reservoirs could then
De filled during the fall, winter and
sarly spring months without the
slightest danger of destroying them by
deposits of silt.
OF course an artificial channel would /
De somewhat expensive, but the not |
Instant future will create such a de- |
nand for homes in Utah that expense /
will cut but a small figure in the stor-
ng of wa'ter for irrigation. Very truly,
j. T. GIBBS