248 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



UTAH $3,000,000 RICHER. 



Strawberry Valley Irrigation Project Assured by Appro- 

 priation from Reclamation Fund of $1,250,000. 



Four years after the enactment of the national irri- 

 gation law Utah is given a promise to share in the 

 benefits of the law, although the benefits are still three 

 years in the future. 



Now that the way has been cleared for actual work 

 there will be rejoicing all over the State. This rejoic- 

 ing will be coupled with the hope that Federal help 

 will not stop with the Strawberry Valley project, but 

 that the Utah Lake project, the Bear Lake project and 

 the Weber River project will be taken up at once so 

 that the aid of the government will be general, that 

 it will be extended where it will benefit a large number 

 of inhabitants and make homes possible for many thou- 

 sands more. 



GOOD NEWS FROM EAST. 



Dispatches from Washington, D. C., announced 

 that Secretary E. A. Hitchcock had approved the Straw- 

 berry Valley project. This was done only after the mat- 

 ter had been considered by President Roosevelt and his 

 cabinet. Secretary Hitchcock was opposed to the 

 project. He was overruled in the matter. After a de- 

 cision was reached $1,250,000 was set apart from the 

 reclamation fund to pay for the work of carrying the 

 Strawberry through the Wasatch Mountains into Utah 

 County. It was given out in Washington that the 

 actual work of construction on the scheme will be started 

 in the spring and that it will continue three years. 



Nothing could be simpler than the Strawberry Val- 

 ley project. The stream is one of the feeders of the 

 Colorado River. It drains some of the highest mount- 

 ains in the Utah range in Eastern Utah. 



After leaving the mountains the stream passes 

 through an extensive flat valley. Finally it forces its 

 way through a narrow canon between high hills. At 

 this point it is designed to build a dam for the purpose 

 of impounding the water. The valley makes a natural 

 reservoir for this purpose. This impounded water is 

 then to be carried through the Wasatch Mountains by 

 means of a tunnel. This tunnel will be sandstone all 

 the way, a distance of 20,000 feet. 



THROUGH EVERLASTING HILLS. 



By means of this tunnel under the Wasatch Mountains 

 the water is to be conveyed from the Strawberry on the 

 east side of the range and emptied into Diamond Creek 

 on the west side. Diamond Creek is a feeder for Span- 

 ish Fork. After the Strawberry water reaches this point 

 it will be diverted by means of canals to irrigate lands 

 now arid or semiarid in the southern part of Utah 

 county. 



Some of the land is now partly irrigated by the 

 Spanish Fork, Pason, Santaquin and Hobble creeks. 

 With the aid of the Strawberry it is estimated that 

 50,000 acres of highly productive land will be fully 

 irrigated. 



Influential in bringing about the favorable action 

 of the general government in this particular project was 

 the Strawberry Valley Water Users' Association of 

 Utah County. Henry Gardner, of Spanish Fork, is at 

 the head of the organization. Others who have played 

 prominent parts are Joseph E. Greer of Lake Shore, 

 Heber C. Jex, Fred Matley and Lars Neilson of Spanish 



Fork, William T. Tew of Mapleton, Hyrum Lemmon, 

 J. S. McMeth and J. S. Page. 



FARMERS GET TOGETHER. 



It became necessary for the men holding primary 

 rights to the water in the tract to be irrigated, as well 

 as those holding canal stock and others holding rights 

 to the flood water of the streams, to pool their issues 

 and get into a position where they could treat with 

 the government as one man. They were also obliged to 

 take the water from the Strawberry at so much per acre, 

 approximately $40 an acre. This was to guarantee the 

 return to the government of the $1,250,000 expended 

 on the project. All this was accomplished and 1,152 

 of these farmers in Utah county entered into a contract 

 to do all that was required. 



All the preliminary work on the Strawberry Valley 

 project has been under the supervision of George E. 

 Swendsen, who is in local charge of the United States 

 Geological Survey work in Utah. This preliminary 

 work, it is announced, is completed and the local office 

 is prepared to go ahead with the actual construction 

 work without further delay. Cold weather and snow in 

 the mountains may retard operations until spring. It 

 will be three years before the Strawberry water can be 

 spread over the farms of Utah county. 



RECLAIM A LITTLE EMPIRE. 



Placing the maximum number of acres to be irri- 

 gated as the result of this project at 30,000, and placing 

 the maximum value of the land after it is irrigated at 

 $100, or $3,000,000 for the whole tract, it will still be 

 seen that Utah is greatly the gainer through the assist- 

 ance of the general government. Much of the land will 

 be worth far more than $100 per acre. 



All government irrigation projects in Utah other 

 than this of the Strawberry Valley are sidetracked in- 

 definitely.' A great amount of survey work has been 

 done by government experts in recent years on the Utah 

 Lake project, the Bear Lake project and the Weber 

 River project. It was the hope and expectation that 

 these projects could be carried along parallel lines, and 

 that in this way a large majority of the population of 

 the State could be made the beneficiaries of government 

 aid in the working out of projects that are too large for 

 private enterprise. 



It was conceded that the Utah Lake project would 

 benefit a greater number than any other project in the 

 West for a like expenditure of money. Converting the 

 lake into a great reservoir for the impounding of the 

 flood water of the streams flowing into it was pronounced 

 feasible by the government experts. It was demon- 

 strated that this additional water would irrigate a mag- 

 nificent tract of land under the lake. The possibilities 

 appealed to all who considered the scheme, and naturally 

 the residents of this part of the State were enthusiastic 

 for it. The work of combining the farmers and others 

 who held primary rights into an association to deal with 

 the government was well along when the word came 

 down the line that the whole project had been abandoned 

 for the time being. 



The excuse given for this change of front was 

 that there had been such heavy drafts upon the govern- 

 ment reclamation fund by other states and territories 

 that no large projects could be taken up in Utah until 

 the reclamation fund was restored by the sale of land. 

 Thus the matter stands. 



