Utah exhibits [of the] State of Arizona, complainant, v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, and County of San Diego, defendants, United States of America and State of Nevada, interveners, State of New Mexico and State of Utah, parties

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216 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN UTAH. Washington Field Canal Company, which was incorporated May 11, 1875, and which had at its organization acquired the interests of its shareholders in a dam across Virgin Hirer, and several miles of ditches, valued in all at $12,500. The St. George and Washington Canal Company was organized with a capital stock of $50,000, divided into 4,000 shares. The property of the Washington Field Canal Company which was transferred to the new company consisted of the dam and spillway across Virgin River, Valued at $12,000; 10 miles of main canal, valued at $16,000; lateral, waste, and rain ditches, and division gates, valued at $4,000, and other property valued at $1,800, making a total of $33,800. The water carried in the canal is distributed to the shareholders of the company in proportion to the number of shares held. When it reaches the field it is divided into several streams, their size depending upon the amount of water in the canal, and these streams are given to the different aharefrolders for periods of time corresponding to their shares, usually one or two hours per share for each watering* A difficult problem that the St. George and Washington Company, as well as all other irrigators from Virgin River, has to meet is getting rid of the sand deposited in the canal. So large is the amount of this sand that without some way of disposing of it the canals would often be filled with it in a few hours. The method followed is frequent sluicing. Grates for this purpose are placed at intervals of a few hundred yards, near the head of the canal, and at greater distances farther down. The bottoms of the gates are 2 or 3 feet below the bottom of the canal, thereby so increasing the force of the currents through the gates as to cut out the deposited sand for some distance both above and below the gates. It is found necessary to sluice the St. George and Washington Canal at least one hour each day and a longer time on Sundays. Besides the periodical sluicing, when the canal carries sufficient water to permit, small streams are constantly passing through the upper gates, carrying with them much of the sand that has already been precipitated by the arrested current in the canal. As at present managed, the sluicing causes considerable waste of water in the dry season. To have water for sluicing it is necessary to take into a canal more water than is delivered to the field. When the canal is emptied each day and for a longer time on Sunday, allowing the full flow of the canal to pass down the river, the gates of lower canals are not arranged to take advantage of the increased supply and the water which might be utilized is allowed to evaporate or sink in the dry bed of the lower narrows. The extent of this loss is shown in PI. XV, figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is from a photograph of Virgin River about 2 miles below Atkihyille, taken on May 25, 1002. At this point the river was nearly 200 feet wide, but only a few inches deep. Fig. 2 is from a photograph of the river less than 3 miles below, taken the same day. No diversions were made between the two points, yet the entire flow was lost. Such losses are common throughout the basin of the river. ' . . Irrigation in the St. George and Washington Field ig accomplished by flooding, and by carrying the water through shaHow furrows about 2 feet apart made with a wooden marker. This is the method common in southern Utah. It is the practice to cover the fields once in from ten to fifteen days during the irrigation season, which extends from March to October. Water is applied at irregular intervals, both before and after these dates, some usually reaching the field in every month of tho