The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-10-10
SURVEY OF SNOW-|S
IMPORTANT MATTER
A. II. Thiessen Talks of Bene-
fits Accruing From His
Measurements.
INFORMATION NEEDED
lrrigators and Others Are
Furnished Data off Valu-
able Character.
INFORMATION NEEDED

Survey OF the snow on water sheds,
with accompanying tests Of it's density,
is Of infinite value in ascertaining the
flow Of water that Will be available
during the summer, according to sue
cession of tests and experiments made
under the direction of A. III, Thiessen,
director OF the Utah section Of the
United States weather bureau. The
surveys and tests are made in April
a short time before the snow begins to
melt and after all Of the heavy SHOWS
have fallen. When asked yesterday
regarding the work and it's benefits
Mr., Thlessen said:
Snow surveys were made of the
Big Cottonwood water shed In
April, 1913, by Fl. *. Burton and
W. A. Richmond, under the direc~
tion Of Sylvester @. Cannon, city
engineer. 1t was found that there
was a total of 1926 inches of snow
for the entire water shed, as
against 2l.5 inches one year be-
fore. The surveys in 1912 were
made by Mr.. Cannon, under the
direction of D. Fl. Blossom, who
was then city engineer. The diff
ference, Judging from the two sur
veys, was 9,24 inches less for the
supply of water this year than last,
or 43 per cent less than last year.
Total discharge Of water from
the shed where these measurements
were ta ken amounted to 52,458
acre-feet in 1912 and to 38,09S
acre-feet in 1913. making 81 per
cent less water this year than last.
Difference in Amount.
The difference between the meas
urement Of the shed and of the
water as shown in the percentage
of each, is due largely TO seepage
of water through the strata, that
may have been there for years.
The city engineer made a forecast
which was to the effect that there
would be no high water during the
spring of 1913 and that the late
summer flow would be lower than
the year previous, the forecast be-
ing fully verified, showing the
value Of snow surveys.
In measuring the snow a plan
evolved in the office Of the wealth
er bureau here was followed. 1t
consists III measuring the density
of the snow all over the water
shed, Soundings are made with a
density tube, which is a simple
hollow tube about four inches in
diameter, which is thrust through
the snow and then closed at the
bottom. The snow in the tube is
carefully weighed and also an eX-
animation of the earth under ii
made. The earth under the snow
tells much. If it is dry and sandy,
it means that as the snow melts 1T
sinks into the ground and the
flow will be slow and reliable. On
the other haud, if the soil is mud
dy, or if it is frozen, it means that
the water Will flow more rapidly
when the melting begins, and con
sequently not last so long.
Maple Creek Surveys.
Surveys Of this character have
been conducted under the direction
Of this department i'll Maple Greek
canyon, Just north of Spanish
largely for the purpose of demon
strating the method and proving
TO ourselves that it would be Of
value, and also Of greater value
than any other method heretofore
employed.
1t is our plan to extend this
method of measuring snow to as
certain the amount Of water for
irrigation purposes throughout the
state as far as practicable; Next
spring we hope to have the plan
carried out in at least two addi-
tiona water sheds and in the
ones where it already has been
tried. There are many side influ-
ences that are considered, and
among them is the condition Of the
snow Every one knows that if
the snow is packed hard it will
melt slowly and If 1t is soft and
loose it will melt rapidly.