12 
BULLETIN 1340, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Some of the characteristics of the flow of typical streams of the 
Great Basin may be learned from a study of Table 1. The data in 
this table have been compiled from the reports of the Geological 
Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, of the United States De- 
partment of the Interior, and State departments of engineering. 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Irrigation by the Anglo-Saxon race in this country was first prac- 
ticed in the Great Basin. It was to ward off starvation that the 
early pioneers of Utah resorted to this method of raising crops. 
They soon found that in building ditches to convey water from 
mountain streams to cultivated farms, the individual possessed of 
small means could do little. It was, as a rule, only by cooperative 
effort that such a task could be performed. Thus at the earliest 
stage of agricultural development in the- West, the spirit of inde- 
pendence so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon farmer had to give 
place to one of community helpfulness and a willingness to join 
hands with others to accomplish a common purpose. Thus, too, the 
principle of cooperation so early established may be said to be the 
chief cornerstone of western irrigation. About 75 per cent of the 
irrigated area of the Great Basin of Utah is included in cooperative 
enterprises. 
In that part of the basin lying in Nevada, California, and 
Oregon, the main agricultural industry is stock raising, and stock- 
men are as a rule financially able to construct their irrigation 
ditches. Accordingly, for the Basin as a whole, the largest area 
of irrigated land is under individual and partnership ditches. The 
next largest area is under cooperative enterprises, while irrigation 
districts occupy third place. With a feAv exceptions, the irriga- 
tion district is of recent origin in the Great Basin, but from present 
indications it bids fair to become an important agency in the re- 
modeling of old and inferior irrigation systems. During the past 
decade 24 irrigation districts have been formed, of which 5 are 
being operated and an equal number are under construction. 
Two projects of the Bureau of Reclamation, United States Depart- 
ment of the Interior, are located in the Great Basin, one being in 
Utah and the other in Nevada, but their combined irrigated area is 
less than 4 per cent of the total area irrigated in the Basin. With 
the exception of these two projects and some 30,000 acres irrigated 
by the Indian Service, United States Department of the Interior, 
irrigation development in the Great Basin may be said to be the 
result of private enterprise. 
The increase in the irrigated area of the Great Basin during the 
decades beginning with 1890 is shown in the following figures : 
Year 
Irrigated 
area 
! Year 
Irrigated 
area 
1890 
1900 
Acres 
703, 105 
1, 451, 080 
i 1910 
1920 
Acres 
2, 022, 277 
2, 313, 165 
