OCR Text |
Show mum by effective administration. One suggestion would be to grant supplemental ground- water rights to stream users, so that wells could be used when stream supplies are insufficient. The rights would thus be for a total quantity of water from the watercourse- one not limited to either ground- water or surface water. 4. How should present underground water rights be protected? The problem of protection of existing rights overlaps the problem of determination of water rights and what they mean, and several paragraphs under problem number 3 are therefore pertinent here. Considerable confusion exists as to the rights of early appropriators, especially with respect to flowing wells. Many users of water from flowing wells are of the firm opinion that they should be guaranteed a continuing flow of water from underground sources without the necessity of pumping; yet if this policy were to be recognized by the state, it would prohibit the full development of our ground- water resources in many areas, because full utilization of ground water cannot be made until ground- water basins are pumped down to the point that leakage from the basins to ground surface or upper gravel strata is eliminated. In the Salt Lake valley full utilization of ground water will not occur until the ground water has been pumped down to the level of Great Salt Lake, thereby materially eliminating the present heavy loss of water from the underground basin to the lake by springs and seepage through the clay confining cap. Therefore, as the state develops and full utilization of our ground- water resources becomes necessary, many basins will be pumped to the extent that flowing wells will cease to flow and pumps will have to be used by the appropriator to obtain his water from the underground basin; likewise many existing shallow pumps will have to be lowered. Should these changes occur over a large area in a short period of time it would result in material hardship in those areas that now rely totally on flowing wells for domestic water. If, however, this development can be brought about graded- |