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Show 61 statehood. The technical expertise necessary to carry out the board's proposals was supplied by the Office of the State Engineer. The projects which were undertaken with the state acting as total developer were the Hatchtown and Piute projects. 22 The state's substantial commitment to these projects was made on the assumption that the sale of the newly available farm lands and water resources would easily repay the direct investment In addition, it was expected that the increased settlement would induce economic growth. It was assumed that the projects would return to the state many direct and indirect benefits. Unfortunately, the reservoirs and associated canals returned only a small fraction of their direct costs. This caused substantial losses to the reservoir land grant fund and badly discredited the Board of Land Commissioners as water developers. The Hatchtown Project In important ways the Hatchtown project was the first fruit of a bold new state initiative in the water development arena. This movement into direct development came as Utah's legislature increased the level of the state's responsibility for water development. The Hatchtown project was initially bid in early 1907 and construction began later that year. It was originally designed to bring 13,500 acres under irrigation and cultivation at a planned construction cost of $ 74,000. Actual costs were considerably higher, with expenditures rising to $ 126,282 by 1908 and to a total of $ 179,828 when the project was completed in 1910.23 The Hatchtown story was one of continuing difficulty. Four years after the completion of the project, leakage that began soon after the dam was completed became critical. On May 25, 1914, the spring runoff proved to be too much for the dam structure. The complete collapse of the dam revealed serious structural problems with the site, and after careful investigations, the State Engineer, concluded that reconstruction was not practical. Lack of alternative sites forced abandonment of the storage components of the project The state now faced serious social and economic problems resulting from promotion of the project. To meet direct obligations to settlers who had invested in the project, the land commissioners used money from the reservoir land grant fund to repurchase the land and water rights. Through legislative action, the state used general funds to compensate individuals who had lost property as a direct result of the flood. The total loss to the reservoir land grant fund was $ 252,137. Of this sum, $ 179,828 was in original construction costs and $ 72,309 in repurchase payments. 24 Once again in possession of most of the land and water rights, the state now made an effort to develop some type of usable project Using the original canals and newly designed diversion structures, a smaller project seemed possible. The land and water rights for this smaller project were sold to private investors and farmers who organized the Panguitch Land and Irrigation Company. The new owners agreed to a purchase price of $ 84,381. They paid $ 9,000 as a down 22Infonnation on the construction and planning of the Hatchtown and Piute projects can be obtained from the " Fifth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for the Years 1905 and 1906," Public Documents through the " Ninth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for the Years 1913 and 1914," Public Documents. Also the " Annual Report of the Board of Land Commissioners," Public Documents for the same period. ^ State of Utah, " Eighth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for the Years 1911 and 1912," Public Documents, p 12. ^ tate of Utah, " Biennial Report of the Board of Land Commissioners of the State of Utah for the Years 1911 and 1920," Public Documents, pp 6- 7. |
