236 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



discharge from a former greater Utah Lake has cut a deep channel, 

 now characterized by rapids. ]Srorth of the "Narrows" the Jordan 

 receives a number of small tributaries from the canyons of the Wasatch, 

 but a large part of the water of these streams is utilized for irrigation 

 purposes in Salt Lake Yalley and furnishes the water supply of Salt 

 Lake City. In its lower part the river runs through an alkali plain. 

 It flows in a well-defined channel until it reaches a point west of 

 Woods Cross, where the channel forks, the western fork almost imme- 

 diately breaking up into a series of tortuous channels in a marsh. The 

 eastern branch maintains its integrity to a greater extent, but the 

 whole country below the forks forms a marshy delta, cut up by sloughs 

 and lagoons, with a bottom of soft mud supporting a growth of sedges 

 and tules. In many of the lagoons a dense growth of watercress 

 forms a mattress rising sometimes as much as 2 feet above the water 

 level. 



The only really firm ground in the delta is formed by a sandy tract, 

 extending perhaps a mile parallel to the east channel, and destitute of 

 vegetation. This is stated to be the filled channel of the river before 

 the late high- water level in the lake. 



As at Bear Eiver, the water in the lagoons is practically fresh, a 

 sample taken in the east channel of the river where it enters the lake 

 having a density of 1.0008. The following is the probable composition 

 of the solid matter in solution in the water at the source of the river 

 in Utah Lake, as deduced from the analyses made by F. W. Clarke, in 

 1883, the figures representing grams to the liter of water: Calcium 

 carbonate, .0038 ; magnesium carbonate, .0644 ; sodium carbonate, .0204 ; 

 calcium sulphate, .1849; sodium chloride, .0204; silica, .0100. It will 

 be noticed that this water differs from that in Bear Eiver in the much 

 smaller content of calcium carbonate, in the presence of a large pro- 

 portional amount of calcium sulphate and some sodium carbonate, and 

 in the absence of sodium sulphate. This represents the main supply of 

 the Jordan, but the composition is to some extent modified by the 

 influx of the several creeks entering the river betow Utah Lake, and 

 by the mineral matter leached out of the alkali lands. Its salinity, 

 however, is so low that there is no possibility whatever of introducing 

 marine species, such as crabs, in the lagoons of the delta, and there is 

 no necessity, therefore, to consider the probable ijhysiological effects of 

 the several mineral constituents upon fishes and other aquatic life. 



Unfortunately the Jordan Eiver has not been systematically gauged, 

 and its annual oscillation can not be shown, as in the case of Bear and 

 Weber rivers. It undergoes the same variation, however, discharging 

 most water in July and least in early spring. At its maximum it 

 carries much less than the Bear, and at its minimum it has about three- 

 fourths of the flow of that river, its annual oscillation being, therefore, 

 less than in the case of either of the other rivers considered in this 

 report, owing to the fact that its flow is regulated by the reservoir 

 function of Utah Lake. The lake off the mouth of the Jordan Eiver 

 may therefore be considered to have a smaller annual fluctuation in 



