| Square miles. | Acres. | Cultivated in 1877. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square miles. | Acres. | ||||
| Salt Lake drainage system. | |||||
| Base of Uinta Mountains | 2.5 | 1,600 | 1.6 | 1,024 | |
| Yellow Creek and Duck Creek | 2.0 | 1,280 | — | — | |
| Randolph Valley and Saleratus Creek | 69.0 | 44,160 | 9.6 | 6,344 | |
| Shores of Bear Lake | 9.0 | 5,760 | 5.0 | 3,200 | |
| Cache Valley | 250.0 | 160,000 | 50.0 | 32,000 | |
| Bear River Delta, Malade Valley, and Connor’s Spring Valley | 218.0 | 139,520 | 22.0 | 14,080 | |
| Box Elder Valley (Mantua) | 1.5 | 960 | 1.1 | 704 | |
| Weber Valley from Peoa to Hennefer, inclusive | 9.0 | 5,760 | 8.5 | 5,440 | |
| Parley’s Park | 3.2 | 2,048 | 3.2 | 2,048 | |
| Uptown | 2.0 | 1,280 | .5 | 320 | |
| Echo Creek | 0.9 | 576 | .3 | 192 | |
| Croydon | 0.5 | 320 | .4 | 256 | |
| Round Valley | 0.5 | 320 | .5 | 320 | |
| Morgan Valley | 6.9 | 4,416 | 6.0 | 3,840 | |
| Ogden Valley | 8.0 | 5,120 | 4.1 | 2,624 | |
| Weber Delta Plain | 219.0 | 140,160 | 91.0 | 58,240 | |
| Kamas Prairie | 13.0 | 8,320 | 4.7 | 3,003 | |
| Hailstone Ranche and vicinity | 2.0 | 1,280 | 2.0 | 1,280 | |
| Provo Valley | 16.0 | 10,240 | 6.0 | 3,840 | |
| Waldsburg | 2.0 | 1,280 | 2.0 | 1,280 | |
| Utah Valley | 190.0 | 121,600 | 59.0 | 37,760 | |
| Salt Creek | 16.0 | 10,240 | 14.0 | 8,960 | |
| Salt Lake Valley (including Bountiful and Centerville) | 192.0 | 122,880 | 89.8 | 57,412 | |
| Tooele Valley | 45.0 | 28,800 | 5.4 | 3,456 | |
| Cedar Fort | 1.5 | 1,000 | 1.2 | 800 | |
| Fairfield | 1.5 | 900 | 1.2 | 800 | |
| Vernon Creek | 2.0 | 1,200 | 1.5 | 900 | |
| Saint Johns | 1.1 | 700 | 1.1 | 700 | |
| East Cañon Creek (Rush Valley) | 1.5 | 900 | .8 | 500 | |
| Stockton | .3 | 500 | .3 | 200 | |
| Skull Valley | 4.0 | 2,500 | 1.6 | 1,000 | |
| Government Creek | .5 | 300 | .5 | 300 | |
| Willow Spring, T. 10 S., R. 17 W | .4 | 250 | .4 | 250 | |
| Redding Spring | .1 | 50 | — | 20 | |
| Dodoquibe Spring | .1 | 50 | — | — | |
| Deep Creek, T. 9 S., R. 19 W | 1.6 | 1,000 | .8 | 500 | |
| Pilot Peak | .3 | 200 | — | — | |
| Grouse Valley | 2.4 | 1,500 | .8 | 500 | |
| Owl Spring | .1 | 10 | — | — | |
| Rosebud Creek | .6 | 400 | .2 | 150 | |
| Muddy Creek, T. 10 N., R. 15 W | .5 | 300 | .5 | 300 | |
| Park Valley | 3.5 | 2,300 | 1.1 | 700 | |
| Widow Spring | .1 | 20 | — | — | |
| Indian Creek, T. 13 N., R. 12 W | .2 | 100 | — | — | |
| East base Clear Creek Mountains | .2 | 150 | — | 5 | |
| Cazure Creek | .3 | 200 | — | — | |
| Clear Creek, T. 15 N., R. 12 W | .3 | 200 | .1 | 80 | |
| Junction Creek | .7 | 500 | — | — | |
| Goose Creek | .3 | 200 | — | — | |
| Pilot Spring | .1 | 15 | — | — | |
| Deseret Creek (or Deep Creek) | 4.5 | 3,000 | .5 | 300 | |
| Crystal Springs, T. 14 N., R. 7 W | .2 | 100 | .1 | 60 | |
| Antelope Springs, T. 9 N., R. 6 W | .1 | 30 | — | 30 | |
| Hanzel Spring | .1 | 15 | — | 15 | |
| Promontory, east base | .9 | 600 | .5 | 300 | |
| Blue Creek | 2.3 | 1,500 | — | — | |
| Brackish Springs, near Blue Creek | 1.5 | 1,000 | .3 | 200 | |
| Antelope Island | .1 | 50 | — | — | |
| The valley of the Sevier River. | |||||
| San Pete Valley | 31.2 | 20,000 | 17.0 | 10,880 | |
| Gunnison | 6.2 | 4,000 | 44.4 | 2,800 | |
| Sevier Valley, above Gunnison | 54.7 | 35,000 | 16.5 | 10,500 | |
| Circle Valley | 6.3 | 4,000 | 1.1 | 750 | |
| Panguitch and above | 10.9 | 7,000 | 2.8 | 1,800 | |
| Irrigable lands of the desert drainage of southwestern Utah. | |||||
| Cherry Creek | .2 | 100 | — | — | |
| Judd Creek | .2 | 100 | — | — | |
| Levan | 3.1 | 2,000 | — | — | |
| Scipio | 2.6 | 1,700 | — | — | |
| Holden | 1.6 | 1,000 | — | — | |
| Filmore and Oak Creek | 5.5 | 3,500 | — | — | |
| Meadow Creek | 1.9 | 1,200 | — | — | |
| Kanosh | 3.1 | 2,000 | — | — | |
| Beaver Creek and tributaries | 21.9 | 14,000 | — | — | |
| Paragoonah | 1.6 | 1,000 | — | — | |
| Parowan | 1.6 | 1,000 | — | — | |
| Summit | .6 | 400 | — | — | |
| Cedar City, Iron City, and Fort Hamilton | 3.6 | 2,300 | — | — | |
| Mountain Meadows | .3 | 200 | — | — | |
| Pinto | .3 | 200 | — | — | |
| Hebron | 1.6 | 1,000 | — | — | |
| Irrigable lands of the Colorado drainage. | |||||
| Virgin River | 30 | 19,200 | 11.0 | 7,040 | |
| Kanab Creek | 2.5 | 1,600 | 1.1 | 700 | |
| Paria River | 6 | 3,840 | — | — | |
| Escalante River | 6 | 3,840 | — | — | |
| Fremont River | 38 | 24,320 | — | — | |
| San Rafael River | 175 | 112,000 | — | — | |
| Price River | 11 | 7,040 | — | — | |
| Minnie Maud Creek | 3 | 1,920 | — | — | |
| Uinta River | 285 | 182,400 | .5 | 300 | |
| Ashley Fork | 25 | 16,000 | .1 | 50 | |
| Henrys Fork | 10 | 6,400 | — | — | |
| White River | 75 | 48,000 | — | — | |
| Browns Park | Green River | 10 | 6,400 | — | — |
| Below Split Mountain Cañon | 50 | 32,000 | — | — | |
| Gunnison Valley | 25 | 16,000 | — | — | |
| Grand River | 40 | 25,600 | — | — | |
| Total | 2,262.4 | 1,447,920 | — | — | |
CHAPTER VII.
IRRIGABLE LANDS OF THE SALT LAKE DRAINAGE SYSTEM.
By G. K. Gilbert.
The field of my work in 1877 included so large a portion of the drainage basin of Great Salt Lake and so little else that it has proved most convenient to report on all of that basin, or rather on that part of it which lies within the Territory of Utah. In so doing, I have depended, for nearly all the lands draining to Utah Lake, upon the data gathered by Mr. Renshawe, of this survey, in connection with his topographic work. The remainder of the district, with very slight exception, I have myself visited.
The officials and citizens of the Territory have all freely contributed such information as I have sought, and have aided me in many ways; but I have been especially indebted to Mr. Martineau and Mr. Barton, the surveyors of Cache and Davis Counties; to Mr. Fox, the territorial surveyor; and to the Hon. A. P. Rockwood, the statistician of the Deseret Agricultural Society. Mr. Rockwood prepared a statistical report on the Territory in 1875, which has been of great service to me, and he has kindly placed at my disposal the manuscript details of his work as well as the published summary.
METHOD AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION.
Where agriculture is dependent upon irrigation, the extent of land that can be put to agricultural use is determined by the relation of the quantity of available water to the quantity of available land. There is a certain amount of water needed by a unit of land, and wherever the land susceptible of cultivation requires more water than is obtainable, only a portion of the land can be utilized. But there is also a limit to the amount of water that can be profitably employed on a unit of land, and where the supply of water is in excess of the quantity required by such lands as are properly disposed to receive and use it, only a portion of the water can be utilized. In order to ascertain, therefore, the extent of agricultural land in a given district, it is necessary to make a measurement of land, or a measurement of water, or perhaps both, and it is necessary to know the amount of water demanded by a unit area of the land under consideration.
The proper quota of water for irrigation depends on climate and soil and subsoil, as well as on the nature of the crop, and varies indefinitely under diverse conditions. As a rule, the best soils require least water; those which demand most are light sands on one hand and adhesive clays on the other. Where the subsoil is open and dry, more water is needed than where it is moist or impervious. Wherever there is an impervious substratum, the subsoil accumulates moisture and the demand for water diminishes from year to year. These and other considerations so complicate the subject that it is difficult to generalize, and I have found it more practicable to use in my investigations certain limiting quantities than to attempt in every case a diagnosis of the local conditions. By comparing the volumes of certain streams in Utah, that are now used in irrigation to their full capacity, with the quantities of land that they serve, I have found that one hundred acres of dry bench land (i. e., land with a deep, dry, open subsoil) will not yield a full crop of grain with less than one cubic foot of water per second, and this under the most favorable climate of the Territory. Where the climate is drier, a greater quantity is required. Where there is a moist subsoil, a less may suffice.
In the drier districts, where the streams are small, they are usually employed upon the dry benches, because these are most convenient to their sources; and it is very rarely the case that their utility is increased by the presence of a moist subsoil. But it is also in the drier districts that the extent of agricultural land is ascertained by the measurement of streams; and hence there is little danger of error if we use in all cases the criterion that applies to dry bench land. In the discussion of the lands of northern Utah, I have therefore assigned to each cubic foot per second of perennial flow the reclamation of one hundred acres of land, with the belief that the consequent estimates would never underrate, though they might sometimes exaggerate, the agricultural resources of the districts examined.
In the measurement of streams the following method was employed: A place was sought where the channel was straight for a distance equal to several times the width of the stream, and where for some distance there was little change in the dimensions of the cross section. Measurement was then made of the width (in feet), of the mean depth (in feet), and of the maximum surface current (in feet per second). The mean current was assumed to be four-fifths of the maximum current; and four-fifths of the product of the three measured elements was taken to give the flow in cubic feet per second. This method of measurement is confessedly crude, and is liable to considerable error, but with the time at my disposal no better was practicable, and its shortcomings are less to be regretted on account of the variability of the streams themselves.