The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-29

the discharge of water and the raising of
/. the low places in The Turnpike through
out the TWO or three miles of its length.
Former Area Of Lake
The waters Of the lake reach Bear river
about eighteen miles from the outlet. The
river runs within twelve miles of the lake,
DIT at the nearest point IL has thrown UP
low ridge along its southern bank which
prevents the river flowing into the lake
basin Judging from the water marks
along the hills bordering the valley, the
lake at one time covered the entire area
ana was between forty and fifty miles
long and from ffty To 100 feet deeper than
| it is at the present time Its subsistence.
has left large fertile areas along the mort Ii
and west shores of the present lake. On
the south there$iS also considerable farm
ing lano. irrigated from small creeks. Nu-
merous small streams enter the lake from
the west. and serve to irrigate a consider
able portion ofSthe iillabIe lands ON that
SIDE This side of the lake is now an al
most continuous orchard. where twenty
years ago an attempt to raise even the
hardest cereals was considered u hazard
GUS undertaking.
Nothing has as yet been done toward
the Improvement eff this lake. the reason
being that it is below the section OF the
stream where e scarcity, has as vet been
experienced. 70 forestall litigation reser-
volrs Will have to be built at the head
waters OF the stream. There are a num-
Der of lakes south of The Wyoming line
put no examination was made to deter
their Improvement.
Scarcity of Headgates.
The scarcity of head gates to bitches
irrigation works in Wyoming. Another
is the parallel construction of bitches to
water land below all of them On the
west bank Of the river opposite the
mouth of Sulphur creek are the heads
of four bitches. There are places along
mem where all are in view on the same
hillside Each ditch above is a menace
to all below The extent of damage oc-
casoned by break in one depends ON
how many are below and how much
water each ditch is carrying. This null
lack of cooperation among farmers not
met with in either Idaho or Utah.
me land reclaimed in Utah is irri-
gated by larger canals, and the meth
QdS OF the farmers are much superior to
NhoSe followed in Wyoming, either above
or below this tract
Species of Funnel.
THE Randolph and Woodruff canal has
a carrying capacity for the first three
mics of 30 cubic feet per second and
for the remainder of the distance of ia
cubic feet per second. The local theory
for having the greatest rail- at the head
of the ditch and decreasing it as the
cross section dfminishes is that when
quantity can be held The ditch is thus
regarded as a species of funnel That
this practice is wrong is evident from
the appearance of the channel at the
upper end of the canal. The canal covers
q valuable tract of land averaging four
miles in width. a large portion of which
is now, under cultivation. Oats, wheat
rye and garden products are the principal
crops, but the cultivation is superior to
that seen on the stock ranches found
above in Wyoming. y
Examples of Engineering.
Mr.. Johnston declares the Bear river
canal to be one of the most notable ex-
amplets Of canal engineering to be found
on this continent, both for. its size and
for the excellent and enduring character
of its construction. The temporary make
shifts which We're a marked feature of
the earlier irrigation works have here
CURING structures OF masonry and iron.
No recent work has more strongly
marked the tendency toward greater !
durability and firmneSS than the works |
of this canal. The head gates are. of iron |
and rubble masonry; the waste gates and !
regulating gates all have iron frames.
The largest flunle nthe canal has an
iron truss support. and a smaller flume |
is built entirely of iron-the first. it is
believed, to be built in the United States. !
Users in Adjoining States.
In his report Mr. Breckons discusses the
entire question: of interstate water rights |
in "a very instructive and comprehensive /
manner He says:
The controversies which already exist
between the water users of adjoining
states are many, and with the cOntind-
ous increase in the use of the water the
controversies bid fair to become so nI-
merous as to burden the courts with
their settlement. Controversies of this
nature now exist between citizens of
Wyoming and Nebraska, Wyoming and
Wyoming and Utah, wyoming
and Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, Col
1rado and Kansas. Colorado and New
Mexico, and in fact between the citizens
Of all contiguous states and territories
n the irrigated regions of the west
'"rhese controversies are assuming
state Importance. The last Wyoming
legislature appropriated funds to sustain
/ suit against Colorado appropriations of
water from streams flowing from Color
lido into Wyoming. which it is claimed
hey are unlawfully diverting. The last
legislature of Kansas authorized the
legislature of that state to appropriate
unds to protect in the courts the rights
# Kansas irrigatorS to the waters of
streams flowing into Kansas from Color