The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-24
LESTER H. MURDOCH.

3.43 inches greater than the average
for all years The average precipita-
ton for the fifteen years from 1887 to
1901 was only Is inches. which is 1.65
inches below the average for all years.
While no authentic rain gauge rec
ords were kept in this vicinity prior
to 1863, a very good record of the pre-
cipitatiOn was kept by the water level
of Great salt lake. This wonderful
lake served as very good rain gauge
for the basin which it drains until ir-
rigatiOn and other processes Of agri-
culture. following the settlement of the
state, interfered with its catch.
The accompanying chart shows how
nicely the water level has responded
to the precipitation until the last few
years. AS a result of the excessive
precipitation, the lake reached a max
imum level of about thirteen feet in
1868 and again in 1876. The maximum
level for 1886 was a little over nine feet,
but responding to the dry cycle which
began the following year, a fall began
and continues at the present time. The
level on Nov. 10. 1902, was three feet
three inches below the zero of the
gauge, showing a decline of over twelve
feet since 1886 and an extreme range
of about sixteen feet.
Irrigation a Factor.
Irrigation has undoubtedly been a
factor in bringing about the present
| low level, but it is equally certain that
the main factor has been the shortage
| in precipitation. The divergence be-
tween the precipitation and lake lines
for the last few years is evidently due,
in part at least, to the accumulative
effects Of the drouth.
When the Mormon settlers entered
I vol :
nearly as low as at present. The pO-
sition of the storm line and the growth
OF the sage and other brush down to
! this line led Gilbert to conclude that il
| had been many years, and perhaps even
/ centuries, since the lake had been
above the storm line of 1S47. In order
/ to throw further light upon the sub
| ject, the writer recently made an ex-
animation of the lake shore to deter
mine how far down the brush is now
| growing. A fairly good growth OF
sagebrush and greasewood was found
between the 1876 and 1886 lines, grease
wood predominating. The growth o.
| brush on the shore in 1S47 therefore
cannot be used to prove that the low
! water of that period had existed Z
greater time than from sixteen t
] twenty-SiX years, but from all data
| available it seems more than proba
BILE that It had existed for at leas
| twenty years This being the case, )
can be assumed that dry cycle began
in Utah as early as 1927: this cycI,
continued until 1864. or about thirty
seven years. Judging from the lax,
level, il is safe to estimate that thu
average annual precipitation durinl
these years was not over fifteen inches
Dry Cycle Now On.
For Salt Lake Citv then We Nv
a dry cycle extending from 1927 t
1854 during which the average an
nual precipitation was about fifteel
inches; from 1865 to 1886, a wet cycle
with an average annual precipitation o
- inches, and from 1887 to the pres
ent time dry cycle, the average an
nual precipitation from 1887 to 1901 be
ing fifteen inches.
Having outlined the wet and DIR,
cycles for Salt Lake City, it will nov
be found both interesting and in
structive to examine the records o
other localities for the same purpose
The stations selected are in about tn
same latitude as Salt Lake City an
include San Francisco, Sacramento
Denver, Omaha, St Louis, Cincinnati
and Baltimore. The wettest twent
consecutive years at both San Fran
cisco and Sacramento, records extend
ing back to 1850, were from 1856 t