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Show 87 Table 67 Water Applications, Dams Approved, and State Engineers Date Total Groundwater Dams State Engineer Applications Applications Approved Dates Served 1935- 36 719 ( 310) 6 T. H. Humpherys 1937- 38 653 ( 232) 13 6* 1933- Aug 1941 1939- 40 1137 ( 690) 14 6* 1941- 42 1317 ( 972) 0 Ed H. Watson 1943- 44 1325 ( 828) ** 1941 - 1945- 46 2120 ( 1492) ** 1947- 48 2477 ( 1711) ** * Previously built dams. Plans were merely filed, not approved. ** Number of dams approved unavailable. The " Biennial Reports" for these years often say that no construction plans for dams of appreciable size were approved during the period. It is clear, however, that small dams were approved during these periods. The Utah State Soil Conservation Committee In response to flooding problems, Forest Service projects, and a variety of New Deal programs, the legislature established the Utah State Soil Conservation Committee in 1937.8 The Utah Soil Conservation Committee concentrated its efforts mainly on the construction of flood control structures and on projects designed to rehabilitate or protect watersheds. It was recognized by urban water users particularly that the watershed protection was essential to guarantee clean and usable drinking water and to protect communities and property from flood damage. 9 The committee worked with the Forest Service, the United States Soil Conservation Service, other state and federal agencies, and water users in this effort. The legislature directed the new agency to All information in Table 7 was taken from State of Utah, " Nineteenth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for the Years 1933 and 1934," Public Documents through State of Utah, " Twenty- Sixth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of the State of Utah for the Years 1947 and 1948," Public Documents. 8Serious flooding occurred in the state throughout the 1920s and 1930s. This prompted the state government to work on flood control institutions. The legislature specifically directed the newly created Soil Conservation Committee to deal with the flooding problem in 1937. See State of Utah, Laws of the State of Utah ( 1937), Chapter 116, section 2, pp 213- 214. Li addition the Forest Service and the United States Conservation Service were active in land rehabilitation and water shed protection. Cities were particularly concerned about water shed protection, bodi for the prevention of floods and for providing quality drinking water for their citizens. Charles S. Peterson and Linda E. Speth, " A History of the Wasatch- Cache National Forest," submitted to the Wasatch Cache National Forest September 25, 1980. pp 40- 42, 49, 54- 55. |