Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States, with a more detailed account of the lands of Utah

by John Wesley Powell; Willis Drummond; Clarence E. Dutton; Grove Karl Gilbert; A. H. Thompson

AREA OF IRRIGABLE LAND SOMETIMES NOT LIMITED BY WATER SUPPLY.

While, as a general fact, the area of arable land is greater than the area of irrigable land, by reason of the insufficient supply of water, yet in considering limited tracts it may often be found that the supply of water is so great that only a part of it can be used thereon. In such cases the area of irrigable land is limited by the extent to which the water can be used by proper engineering skill. This is true in considering some portions of Utah, where the waters of the Green and Colorado cannot all be used within that territory. Eventually these surplus waters will be used in southern California.