History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

722 AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES.
account of an insufficient rainfall/ or through lack of
irrigation.
There are few parts of the world where irrigation
has been pushed forward more systematically and
with better results than in Utah. In 1865, 277 canals
had already been constructed, at a cost, including
dams, of $1,766,939, with a total length of 1,043
miles, irrigating 153,949 acres; and there were others
in progress at this date, the cost of which was estimated
at $877, 730. 8
During each succeeding year
thousands of acres, before considered worthless, were
brought under cultivation, canals being built in all
directions, the waters that had run to waste down
the mountain sides and through the canons cleposit-
7 The average annual precipitation at several places and periods covered by
observation is as follows: S. L. City and Camp Douglas 15.72 inches for 19
years; Harrisburg 13. 74 inches, 2 years; Saint George 11.39 inches, 3 years;
Camp Floyd 7-33 inches, 2^ years. Consult Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, p.
189; Powell's Lands of the Arid Region, in //. Ex. Doc., 45th Cong. 2d Sess.,
73, 49, 79; also Schott's Tables of Precipitation, 72, 116. In the year ending
June 30, 1879, 37.71 inches of rain are reported at S. L. City. U. S. Signal
Officer, in H. Ex. Doc, 46th Cong. 2d Sess., i. pt 1, 92. The greater rainfalls
at S. L. City and Camp Douglas are due to the modifying influence of G.
S. Lake, which is only local. From May to October there is almost a total
absence of rain. Stansburfs Expedition, 140. Burton, who visited Great Salt
Lake City in 1860, says the rain that year extended to the middle of June,
and attributes the change to cultivation and settlement. City of the Saints,
335. About two thirds of the districts under cultivation require irrigation.
Utah Direc, 1879-S0, 17.
8 Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 23. For act incorporating the Big
Cottonwood Canal Co., see Utah Acts Legisl., 1855, 277-9; for progress of
work, Deseret News, Aug. 29, 1855, March 25, 1857. In 1S56 the Davis
Co. Canal Co. was incorporated. Utah Acts Legist, 1855-6, 34-5. For an
account of the Weber River canal, see Deseret News, Aug. 20, 1856, Oct. 10,
1S60; of the Logan canal, Tullidge's Alag., i. 534-5; and of the Jordan canon
canal, Id., Sept. 21, 1864. In this year it was first proposed to bring the
waters of Utah Lake into Salt Lake co., where there was not one third of the
water needed for irrigation. The cost of making a canal for this purpose, 32
miles in length, 20 feet broad at the bottom, 3 feet deep, and capable of irrigating
about 30,000 acres per week, was estimated at §485,580. Id., Nov. 30,
1864. The enterprise was termed the Deseret Irrigation and Navigation Co.
The governor refused to grant a franchise. See Utah Jour. Legisl., 1864-5,
116-17; but it was incorporated in 1S67. The act of incorporation will
be found in Utah Acts Legisl., 1867, pp. 30-2. See, for statistics of irrigation
for each county in 1865, Pac Coast Direct., 1S67, 151-3; for reports on
extent, cost, and value of canals at this date, with other statistics, Utah
Jour. Legisl., 1864-5, 130-3, 1865-6, 149-53; for various acts regulating
irrigation, Utah Compiled Laivs, 879; for act to provide right of way for S.
L. City canals, Utah Laws, 1880, 85-8; for act regulating water rights, Id.,
36—11; for other acts concerning irrigation, Id. , 1882, 119; for names, length,
and cost of canals in Weber co., Stanford's Brief Hist. Sketch of Weber Co.,
MS., 22.