The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-08-25
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destructive in the extreme, are of less
! consequence since for ordinary pur-
! poses the younger trees grow nearly
as rapidly as the older are used. Still,
large tracts are hewn down solely for
the revenue they bring by export and
not for actual necessities at home.
| This wholesale destruction of the tim
Der and underground is playing havoc
| in many localities with one Of our
great water resources. When the for
ests and verdure are destroyed the
moisture is not sufficiently retained
beneath the soil, nor is Judgment given
for the deposits of snow and ice
! The government, therefore, cannot
act too quickly in adopting measures
to prevent such waste and destruction;
| and it certainly behooves the author
tiles to look we'll into the means of
! protecting our mountain forests, es-
! pecially in regions wrere lies the snow
! feeding the streams and springs dur
ing the irrigating period. This could
undoubtedly be more easily accom-
| plished if the states had control of
the public lands within their boundar-
| les so that proper legislation could be
enacted and enforced.
The mountain forests are natures
| storage reservoirs. The snow and ice
accumulated in them during the winter
months are protected by the foliage
! from rapid melting in the spring; and
/ as the summer advances they gradu-
! ally give up their wealth at the time
| it is most needed. If their destruction
is permitted, it will rob posterity of
the means by which large populations
can be supported in the valleys below.
! In Utah the higher portions of the
mountain plateauX and slopes of the
main ridges are wooded with varieties
! of the pine, cedar and fir. The higher
portions of the main canyons and up
! per valleys are sparsely wooded with
scrub oak, quaking aspen and other
deciduous trees. The main ridges are
! covered with q low growth of scrub
brush, nevertheless the lower valleys
and great portions of the mountain
ridges are treeless and devoid of such
! vegetation as is generally thought to
conduce to the conserva ton of water
for the supply of streams. The light
rains are therefore all absorbed and
but a small flow of surface drainage
finds its way to the water courses dur
ing the irrigation period.
The mountain rains not being avail
able and the snow melting before it is
needed. the streams soon diminish in
volume; for these reasons it is quite
sary to maintain any great irrigated
area.
Storage Reservoirs.
Whether controlled by the state or
by private corporations would add ma
terially to the agricultural wealth of
this great territory. While part of
the great volume Of water is utilized
and made to serve the purposes of the
irrigator the larger amount passes
down the streams during the winter
and spring months swelling the rivers,
often causing great damage but doing
good to no one. If this waste could
be held in check and used only as re-
quired many more acres could be re-
claimed and made to produce abun-
dant crops.
Irrigation teaches, or ought to teach,
a lesson of economy In the use of wa
ter, and there is no reason why this
lesson should not be put into practi-
cal use by building reservoirs to save
the large amount of fluid annually
lost The Typographical features of
Utah furnish abundant opportunities
for the construction of storage reser-
voirs. There is scarcely a district in
which there is not available. sites,
some fairly advantageous for such
purposes.
The farmer who has been so FORUM
ate as to secure a location on a creek
or small river where he owns and con-
trolls his own bitches probably does
not realize the vast amount of labor
and capital expended in other less
favored localities in order to store wa
ter for irrigation, and he therefore
gives it little thought. But most of
these good positions were Sc
cured long ago by the earlier
settlers; mad the question of stor
age must therefor be a question of the
largest Importance with the agricul-
turists of the future.
Improper methods of the conveyance
of water is a source of great loss;
and the subjeCs is one of much i'm
portance, since in some districts where
the available supply is, at the best,
small, any loss during the conveyance
is seriously felt. There are three
methods of conveyance in vogue, each
of which is best adapted to some par
ticular condition.
First Conveyance by open canals,
lined or unlined.
eScond-Conveyanc by wooden
fumes.
Third-ConVeyance by some form of
piping.
Where very large volumes are to be
carried and the supply is abundant
the first is usually the most practi-
cable; but where the amount is small
and the supply limited the last meth
cd is coming into extensive use; and
it is by this method that a great
amount of loss is prevented
Canals, as they are now constructed,
are subject to great loss by seepage
and evaporation; consequently, better
methods of construction are necessary
There is no reason why, with proper
care, a canal cannot be made that is
far more imperviDus than most of
those now existing, and usually the !
cost would not be much greater.
The main requisite is to have intel !
ligent supervision and management |
by parties who are thoroughly ac-
quainted with the engineering difficult |
ties to be encountered and who under
stand the proper remedies. The greater
part of the canals SO far constructed |
have been built by the cooperation of I
land holders who do the planning and
the work themselves Many have the /
impression that it is a simple matter to I
bIli1d a canal and those that 5,ox,o