The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-05


Fremont River and Other Sites
Richfeld. July 4.-That the proper ap-
preparation of water and its storage is
the great question of southern Utah is
known to all the farseeing. The arid
lands of Utah are many miles in ex-
tenn. the water that runs down the
rivers during the fall. winter and spring
and goes to waste must be saved. The
question of reservoirs is foremost with
all Of the people on the Sewer river.
The best way OF building them, the
best way 10 use the water, the rights
of conducting it through the river
channels, the means of forming and
maintaing big storage companies-are
questions that must require careful
study of the farmer and the law-maker
of the next half century.
So far in the history of water storage
this part Of arid Utah has never been
thoroughly looked over by competent
engineer. but State Engineer Willard
Young, Lieutenant r. W. Young, Hon.
W. Il Seegmiller, have Just returned
from such a trip. When seen by The
Herald representative the state en-
gineer did not care to say anything un
til his report was made to proper au-
fhority, but Mr. Seegmiler told of the
trip and his ideals we may, in the
main, consider nearly as those of Mr..
Young.
THE KCCSHAREM SITE.
Koosharem, Piute county, is located
in Grass valley, being its largest town.
Some four weeks since the Keosharem
Irrigation company purchased John a.
WinWard's pastures and hay field, To-
Gated in Plateau. and have laid out a
reservoir, which they will soon BEGIN
building. The land is so level that any
size Of a dam Will bank the water over
several adjacent fields but it could be
the surplus land in upper Grass valley,
if the snowfall is heavy enough to pro-
vide water for 6lling It.
FREMONT COMPANY'S SITE.
On the headwaters of the Fremont
river the Fremont Irrigation company,
which supplies water for Fremont, LOa,
Lyman and Taurber. all in Wa--ne
county. has been preparing for water
storage. The first place they decided
on was Fish lake. This lovely sheet of
water is not supplied by many feed
ers, and those few are small In con-
sequence, there is but water enough to
raise the level of the lake two and a
half feet. This has been done for ten
years past. and the company finds it
self needing other reservoirs and in
vestigatiOn proves that close by there
are better places than Fish lake. john
ston valley, just a mile and a half fur
ther down, has Seven Mile creek run
ming through il. This stream is one of
the largest branches of the Fremont
and is torrent III the early spring. To
make the valley a profitable place of
storage a dam from 20 TO 80 feet high
can be built at a moderate cost. and
four square miles would be the surface
OF the resulting sheet of water Six or
seven miles further on there is another
valley through which the water of T.
NJ. creek winds sluggishly. Being so
level, small dam would hold an i'm
menSe amount OF The much-needed. In
fact, the T. NJ. valley surpassed any
other site on the Fremont river A dam
20 feet high would form a body of water
five miles long and from one to two
miles wide. and the water for filing it
IS there. The surrounding hills would
allow S0-foot dam if the surplus
proves sufficient 10 fill it each year.
OTHERS IN GRASS VALLEY.
Besides the one taken by Koosharem
at the upper end Of Grass valley, there
are two other places that would prove
valuable irrigation storage places The
first one IS at Rosebud, where a snsII !
one could be made a a small cost The /
other is the site upon which Sewer Z
county has taken an option the Otter /
creek site. This covers several ranches. /
which are 70 be bought out during the I
coming month This place seemed to /
stand the critical test. for Mr. Seeg- I
miller seemed more encouraged than I
ever over =.
MCNROES JOHNS VALLEY.
The irrigation companies of Monroe /
have been doing some work a Johns |
valley, which is located 20 miles above
Kingston. on the East Fork. To make /
this reservoir substantial. a wall OF I
masonry must he put below where the [
dam has been begun. A shortage of /
water supply is 10 be feared there, yet
1t IS an excellent place for reservoiring.
OTHERS ON EAST FORK.
There are two other places for stor-
ing water on East Fork-Flake's bot
toms, some 20 miles above Johns val
ley. below John Steele's ranch and al
the same place as a number of mounds
that are quite well known in that part
The drawback of this site is the want
Of water. The people of Tropic are
putting in a dam at Blue Fly and ex-
pect TO have more TO use on their
warm fruit lands in the near future.
BEST SITE OF ALL.
A good place to put in a reservoir
dam is a mile and a half below Cam
eron's ranch on the Mammoth creek
But the site of all on the upper Sewer
is Panguitch lake itself. There is
scarcely a limit to what can be done
here. The present dam should be made
stronger and higher. and when that is
done it can be made to cover several
hundred acres Of the now pasture land
adjacent to the lake.
There is another place to store water
two miles above in the Blue Spring val
ley. but the lake viii hold all the water
that runs from there and the place is
not needed. Another reservoir could
be built at Horse valley. but the water
supply would be limited and the same
work put on the lake would be Of
greater profit. Parties from Para
goonah, Iron county, are building
reservoir On Little creek, but Mr.. Seeg-
miller did not visit it
THE RESERVOIR FEVER.
In Kane county the people have the
fever and have it bad. Close
to the divide Martin Cutler has built ,
one. Bishop Graham Mcdonald has an
other 1T Upper Kanab. and Daniel
Seegmiller has one and is building an
other Down on the Johnson run. just
below the town of johnson. a storage
dam &c being constructed II will ccsr I