Bulletin No. 75 - Arid Farming or Dry Farming

There are in Utah many lands that will not, for many years to come, be brought under irrigation; and there are many others that probably will never be irrigated. These are usually high-lying lands, often far from large streams, to irrigate which, would require the construction of exceptionally costly reservoirs, dams, and canals. Many Utah valleys are so far removed from the water supply of the State that it is improbable that water will be carried past other thirsting lands to these outlying places. The building of irrigation works is a venture in which profits and losses are considered; and at best, therefore, irrigation will be practiced on the comparatively low-lying floors and sides of the valleys; and then only in the most accessible districts--where the area of land redeemed will be commensurate with the cost of the canal.