August, 1878.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The first edition of this report having been exhausted in a few months and without satisfying the demand which the importance of the subject created, a second was ordered by Congress in March, 1879. The authors were thus given an opportunity to revise their text and eliminate a few formal errors which had crept in by reason of their absence while the first edition was passing through the press. The substance of the report is unchanged.

J. W. P.

July, 1879.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page.
[CHAPTER I.]
Physical Characteristics of the Arid Region:
The Arid Region[5]
Irrigable lands [6]
Advantages of irrigation [10]
Coöperative labor or capital necessary for the development of irrigation [11]
The use of smaller streams sometimes interferes with the use of the larger [12]
Increase of irrigable area by the storage of water [12]
Timber lands [14]
Agricultural and timber industries differentiated [18]
Cultivation of timber [19]
Pasturage lands [19]
Pasturage farms need small tracts of irrigable land [21]
The farm unit for pasturage lands [21]
Regular division lines for pasturage farms not practicable [22]
Farm residences should be grouped [22]
Pasturage lands cannot be fenced [23]
Recapitulation [23]
Irrigable lands [23]
Timber lands [23]
Pasturage lands [24]
[CHAPTER II.]
The Land-System needed for the Arid Region:
Irrigable lands [27]
Timber lands [27]
Pasturage lands [28]
A bill to authorize the organization of irrigation districts [30]
A bill to authorize the organization of pasturage districts [33]
Water rights [40]
The lands should be classified [43]
[CHAPTER III.]
The Rainfall of the Western Portion of the United States:
Precipitation of the Sub-humid Region [47]
Precipitation of the Arid Region [48]
Precipitation of the San Francisco Region [49]
Precipitation of the Region of the Lower Columbia [49]
Distribution of rain through the year [50]
Precipitation of Texas [50]
Precipitation of Dakota [51]
Seasonal precipitation in the Region of the Plains [52]
Seasonal precipitation in the San Francisco Region [53]
Mean temperature, by seasons, for the San Francisco Region [54]
Seasonal precipitation and temperature on the Pacific Coast, etc. [55]
Seasonal precipitation in Arizona and New Mexico [56]
[CHAPTER IV.]
Water Supply.—By G. K. Gilbert:
Increase of streams [57]
Rise of Great Salt Lake [58]
Volcanic theory [67]
Climatic theory [68]
Theory of human agencies [71]
Farming without irrigation [77]
[CHAPTER V.]
Certain Important Questions relating to Irrigable Lands:
The unit of water used in irrigation [81]
The quantitative value of water in irrigation [81]
Area of irrigable land sometimes not limited by water supply [85]
Method of determining the supply of water [85]
Methods of determining the extent of irrigable land unlimited by water supply [86]
The selection of irrigable lands [87]
Increase in the water supply [89]
[CHAPTER VI.]
The Lands of Utah:
Physical features [93]
Timber [98]
Irrigable and pasturage lands [103]
Uinta-White Basin [103]
The Cañon Lands [105]
The Sevier Lake District [106]
The Great Salt Lake District [106]
Grasses [107]
Table of Irrigable lands in Utah Territory [111]
[CHAPTER VII.]
Irrigable Lands of the Salt Lake Drainage System.—By G. K. Gilbert:
Irrigation by the larger streams [117]
Bear River drainage basin [119]
Weber River drainage basin [121]
Jordan River drainage basin [124]
Irrigation by smaller streams [126]
[CHAPTER VIII.]
Irrigable Lands of the Valley of the Sevier River.—By Capt. C. E. Dutton:
Altitudes of the San Pete Valley [133]
Volume of flowing water in San Pete Valley [140]
Irrigable lands of the Sevier Lake District [144]
[CHAPTER IX.]
Irrigable Lands of that portion of Utah drained by the Colorado River and its Tributaries.—By Prof. A. H. Thompson:
The Virgin River [152]
Kanab Creek [154]
The Paria River [155]
The Escalante River [156]
The Fremont River [157]
The San Rafael River [158]
The Price River [159]
Minnie Maud Creek [159]
The Uinta River [160]
Ashley Fork [161]
Henrys Fork [161]
The White River [161]
The Green River [162]
The Grand River [163]
The San Juan River [163]
Other streams [163]
Irrigable lands of the Colorado drainage [164]
[CHAPTER X.]
Land Grants in Aid of Internal Improvements.—By Willis Drummond, Jr. [165]

REPORT ON THE LANDS OF THE ARID REGION OF THE UNITED STATES.

By J. W. Powell.