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Show 53 municipal, and industrial water right applications were all approved by the State Engineer in accordance with the 1903 water law. Although most water development activities of the Board of Land Commissioners centered on agricultural projects, other types of water use were important The experiences and opinions of these water users also helped shape policy. During the 1896 and 1906 decade, hydroelectric generation was introduced. 37 Municipal needs for water supplies increased as city size increased, particularly Salt Lake City. These developments resulted in new types of water uses and new state water and land development institutions. As early as 1904, the Weber River water users planned to utilize water for hydroelectric generation as well as its more traditional uses for irrigation, municipal, and industrial needs. Commenting on this proposed use, State Engineer A. F. Doremus observed in his third biennial report that: 38 It is difficult to foretell the advantages which this double use of water will bring; but if use for each single purpose is profitable the dual use here contemplated must be doubly so. The Strawberry Project ( initiated in 1906) also incorporated hydroelectric generation in its design to provide power for construction needs and later to provide power to municipalities located in the vicinity. Salt Lake City had begun to experience significant water shortages as early as the mid- 18808. One method the city employed to relieve these shortages was to exchange rights in the Jordan River with the rights area farmers had to the mountain streams. This provided the city with higher quality of water and a source from a higher elevation. Both of these factors reduced their costs and made the water more easily available to the city's residents. The first exchange agreement was negotiated in 1888 between the city and and farmers in Salt Lake County. Four later agreements occurred between 1892 and 1905. Between 1919 and 1930, six more agreements were completed between Salt Lake City and surrounding ditch companies. 39 By this process, the city got the benefit of water it could deliver to the growing population and the farming industry in the area was not crippled by loss of water. Municipal water use did not increase at the expense of irrigation water use. The exchange agreements could take place because the laws of 1880 and 1903 upheld the concept that water ( 1880 law) and water rights ( 1903 law) were property which could be bought, exchanged, and/ or transferred, in the case of cities, and bought, sold, or traded, in the case of individuals, to different uses and places of use. 40 37Boyd L. Dastrup, " Electrification of Utah 1880 to 1915," ( Thesis, Utah State University, 1976). This thesis contains information on the usage of water resources throughout the state for hydroelectric generation. ^ State of Utah, " Third Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for die Years 1901 and 1902," Public Documents, p 10. 39Fisher Stanford Harris, 100 Years of Water Development: A Report Submitted to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City, The Board of Commissioners of Salt Lake City Corporation, and the Citizens of Salt Lake City. ( Salt Lake City, Utah: 1942), pp 5- 19. 40The Utah Constitution forbids the selling of water rights or water works by cities in Article XL Section 6; which reads as follows: No municipal corporation, shall direcdy or indirectly lease, sell, alien or dispose of any water works, water rights, or sources of water supply now, or hereafter to be owned or controlled by it; but all such waterworks, water rights and sources of water supply now owned or hereafter to be acquired by any municipal corporation, shall be preserved, maintained and operated by it for supplying its inhabitants widi water at reasonable charges: Provided, |
