The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-02-19
TIE DRAINAGE BILL.

We are glad to see that the Utah
Legislature is at last waking up to the
Importance of providing means for
draining flooded md overfowed lands.
Great liberty is very properly given
in the way Of right. .ofway for irriga-
tion bitches and for the securing Of ir-
rigation rights, but heretofore the
drainage proposition has been sadly
neglected in this State. But that is
not to say that the drainage PROPOSE
tion is unimportant. On the contrary,
it is OF very high Importance. Some
of the most bitter litigation in the
courts of this State has been caused by
the flooding Of lands lying below fields
that have been overirrigated, and
er lands alkali and standing waters
that have absolutely ruined these low
er lands for cultivation. There are
tracts in this county, and also in other
counties in this State, that once were
fertile, productive fields, that are un-
der present conditions absolutely
worthless for tillsge, and this because
there is no proper legislation for drain
age facilities. A man can have right
of-way for an irrigation ditch over any
body's property and quite properly so,
as rule, but there Is no right-of-way
sufficiently provided for in the mat
ter Of drainage. The man whose lands
are flooded and ruined by the dis
charge from over-irrigation has no
remedy, but Is helpless, under the ag'
gressions Of his neighbors.
1t is the consensus of opinion in the
best agricultural circles at the present
time in Utah, as elsewhere, that as a
rule. there is too much water applied
to the land for the best purposes OF
cultivation Very much less water
than is commonly used would suffice,
and if this unnecessary water were
conserved it would allow of the open
ing of good deal of new land with
sufficient water for it's irrigation. Over
irrigation has ruined many fertile
tracts in Utah where those tracts hap
pen to be below the fields where over
irrigation was practiced.
The drainage bill before the present
Legislature is House bill No. 1s2,
creating drainage districts. We as
sumo that the best practical knowledge
and expert ability have been devoted
to the drawing Of this bill, and that its
provisions are precisely what they
ought to be. We do not wish to dis
cuss these in detail at all, but only to
impress upon the Legislature the fact
that the time is overdue for the pass
age OF some good drainage measure
that will allow of the reinstatement
for tillage purposes Of many rich
tracts that are now waste by reason of
their reception Of the overirrigation
waters applied upon land lying above
these submerged tracts. We, there
fore, bespeak the favorable attention
of the Legislature for this drainage
bill, assuming that its detailed provi"
sions are fairly and well drawn.
A number of years ago when Sec
retary Wilson of the U. s. Department
of Agriculture. visited this city, there
was a discussion among agricultural
men Of this very question, and the Sec
retary was emphatic in his approval OF
legislation that would allow of the
needed relief for these overhowed
lands, so that the fields comprised in
them might be restored to cultivation.
There is no question Of the need Of
such a bill as this. We assume that
there is no question Of the fairness
Of the provisions Of this bill as drawn.
We therefore urge upon the Legisla-
ture the necessity Of its passage, and
trust that there will be no objection
to the measure. If any flaw is found,
amendment can be made, but the gen
eral principle carried is Of very high
Importance, and it is full time that
such legislation as this should be had.