Document Type
Full Issue
Publication Date
3-1946
Abstract
Utah has approximately 700 irrigation companies having more than 8,750 miles of unlined earth canals, 410 pumping plants, 1,973 diversion dams and nearly 400 storage dams which provide a storage capacity for more than 3,400,000 acre-feet of water. More than 42 million dollars is invested in irrigation works, with at least 1.5 million dollars spent annually for maintenance.
Irrigation companies have the major responsibility for safe maintenance and efficient operation of Utah's dams, canals, spillways, waste-ways, flumes, inverted siphons, head gates and lateral gates--the structures with which irrigation water is stored, diverted, and conveyed to 1.3 million acres of productive land in the state. Clearly, the task of the irrigation companies is huge; its performance vital.
These companies vary greatly in size from small units serving less than 100 acres to companies serving more than 30,000 acres. Tentative figures indicate that perhaps 80 percent of the irrigated land of the state, or roughly an area of 1,000,000 acres, is served by mutual companies. The average area per company is approximately 1,600 acres. Nearly 200 companies serve less than 300 acres each and about 500 serve more than 300 acres each.
This bulletin is based on a study of these irrigation companies; their activities, their problems, and their needs. The study has been conducted cooperatively by the Experiment Station and the Extension Service of the Utah State Agricultural College, the Division of Irrigation of the Soil Conservation Service, and the State Department of Publicity and Industrial Development. Other public agencies interested in water utilization in Utah, and the irrigation companies themselves, have rendered valuable assistance in the research.
Recommended Citation
Israelsen, Orson W.; Maughan, J. Howard; and South, George P., "Bulletin No. 322 - Irrigation Companies in Utah: Their Activities and Needs" (1946). UAES Bulletins. Paper 283.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/uaes_bulletins/283