Eastern Utah advocate. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1895-1915, 1913-05-15


congress was organized last Friday
At Salt Lake City at a conference
~ water users OF the state. Thie
actlOn was takcn In line with the
suggestion OF Or. John A. Wldtsoe,
president of the Utah agricultural
college. This congress will endea-
vor TO put irrigation In Utah on a
more practical basis In all Its
phases, and will meet annually. OF
oftenor II necessary. Temporary or.
ganlzation was effected and which
will be perfected next fail. At the
conclusion OF the conference an ex-
ecutive committee was appointed
composed OF Oscar l.. Cox. Salt
Lake; T. l.. Allen. Summit county:
n. n. Shelley. Salt Lake. Ephralm
Dastrup, Wayne county. and John
l.. Bourne. Davis county. This COM
mittec will inaugurate an oducation-
Al campaign among the farmers, ir-
ngatlon company officials and
others Interested IN irrigation in
Utah. Tho committee will also
work In conjunction with the Utah
Conservation commission and the
state agricultural college
Explains the Purposes.
Oscar l.. Cox declared tbs pur-
pose OF the meeting was TO consider
the problems which now confront
tho farmer. a great deal OF money ~
being spent every year for agricui-
tural purposes aud the benefit Of
these experiments ought to be APP
piled by tho land owners OF the
state. For this purpose, no said.
the convention was called and he
Invited All those who cared TO dia-
ouas tho subjects 10 take tho floor
Ito discussed the new law creating
drainage districts under which land
can nov be reclaimed With tho aid
OF tho state government. In con
Guiding no introduced President
widtaoc. who spoke on Making
the Most Of utah's Irrigation Wa
tors"
PrFddcnt widtsoc'. A,ldIcss.
''Tho % nifty OF water TO be used
in tho irrigation OF crops" said he.
ia n problem which n being very
carefully studied at ths time. n
10 now stated that between ton ana
twonty inches IA the proper amount
to b. used In season. or course
the character OF the land has
great deal TO do with the amount OF
wator 10 bo used. According 90
statistics. the duty OF water In thIa
state h too low. II IL estimated
that about three times too much
water N now being used on irriga-
tod lands. n the duty OF this wa
tor was Increased 10 It's maximum
Il would lrrigate three times "a
much land aa Il does nov.
The evils OF over Irrigation are
many. II spells good lands a. we'll
~ Il wastes water An educational
campaign In water. lands aud crops
and their relationship should be
started In thia state. Another thing
that We nood In utah IL a now class
OF watormastora. We have water
masters who can measure a stream
half a milo off with their eyes. The
watermaaieru should be trained Ia
their line OF work, They should DO
able TO measure water aud figure
out the cost OF maintaining a canal
and the necessary repairs TO be
made.
Among other things, We should
work for bcttor laws TO regulate
tho application OF water and It's
usage on lands aud for power pur-
poses. Our statute books are silent
on this subject and this body OF
men should agitate the movement
for proper legislation"
Advocates Tile Drainage.
J. c. wheelon OF Garland. engl-
n6>r In charge OF the Price River
Irrigatlon eompany's project ada
cent to Price. advocated tile drain
age for all irrigated lands. He
reached this conclusion after talk
ON what had been accomplished by
tho Bear River Canal company. He
quoted statistics showing how the
efficiency OF tho canal had been in-
creased by the careful handling OF
water. He said that the company
had about hundred and twenty
miles OF canals. Ten years ago, he
said. when the company began OK
perlmenting. Il was found that the
loss OF water was about "a per cent.
Ia 1906. Il was decreased TO 3 per
cent. aud that In 1905 Il was not
more than II per cent, Ho also ex-
planned in detail a number OF ex-
periments which had decreased the
acreage OF irrigated lands under the
system and diminished the amount
OF water used. 20 the great adyan-
tsge of both the company aud the
land owners.
Resolutions Passed.
At a business meeting following
the general session, a resolution
was adopted which sets forth the
purpose OF the movement. II fol-
lows:
Resolved, That the United States
department OF agriculture and water
research branch OF the geological
survey and the Utah agricultural
college DO requested 20 work for the
publication OF any bulletins relating