Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of History, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-164).

Rocks of Late Cretaceous age in the central part of Utah are dominantly elastic. In general, the sediments in the west are of conglomerate and sandstone of continental origin; the sediments in the east are of sandstone and shale of marine origin, These rocks were deposited at or near the western shore of a sea which extended from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. The strand line lay in a general northern direction through Utah with land to the west and marine water to the east.

For the past century the federal government has been an active partner with state and local agencies to develop water supplies in the arid West. The last of the large-scale federal reclamation projects to be completed is the Central Utah Project or CUP. The CUP has generated considerable controversy throughout its history. The projects opponents have criticized its expense in terms of both dollars and environmental damage while others have worried about its impact on their water rights. Because of its cost and complexity, planning and construction have spanned decades. This has allowed individuals, organizations, and government agencies opportunity to attempt to influence the plans for the project to address their concerns. During six different periods—the initial congressional debate, project planning, the drafting of environmental impact statement in response to the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act, a lawsuit challenging that document, President Jimmy Carter's reevaluation of the project as a part of the so called "hit list," local reauthorization of the projects repayment contract—these groups worked to alter the Bureau's plans to reduce the environmental, social, and fiscal impacts of the project. Despite multiple attempts, they failed to significantly alter the Bureau's, increase environmental mitigation, or decrease environmental impacts. However, the project's opponents had been given a seventh opportunity. In the late 1980s, after a half century of planning and more than 20 years of construction—the Bureau knew that it could not finish the project without increasing the congressionally authorized spending limits. At a time of waning federal support for such projects, the Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate committees controlling Bureau projects, Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA), blocked the bill until the Utah delegation addressed the environmental concerns and objections of the project's critics. Determined to keep the project alive, Utah's sole Democrat in Congress, Wayne Owens, acted as a mediator and began to negotiate a compromise. A determined five year effort resulted in a seventy-five page compromise bill that allowed the project to move forward while addressing the major concerns of the project's opponents. Congress passed the Central Utah Project Completion Act in October 1992. The Completion Act cut some of the projects irrigation features, increased the amount of local cost share, shifted planning and oversight for the remaining features from the Bureau to the local water District, and mandated increased environmental mitigation overseen by a new independent federal agency. This thesis identifies the primary concerns of the CUP's critics and traces their attempts to alter the Bureau's plans to address these concerns. Further, it provides a more detailed account of the arduous, but ultimately successful attempt to alter the project during the Congressional debates that created and authorized the Central Utah Project Completion Act. Finally, it assesses the success of the legislation to meet it stated goals during the first decade of implementation.

The feeding habits and reproduction of Utastansburiana, Crotaphytus collaris and Cnemidophorus tigris during spring and summer 1976 are described. Feeding habits are expressed in percent total number and volume of prey items and frequency of occurrence of each prey category . Importance Values are also calculated. These values better i llustrate the feeding habits of the lizard species than either percent total number and volume and frequency of prey category occurrence. Lizards consume a variety of food items throughout the growing season. Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Arachnida are the major prey categories of Q. s t ansburiana . The major prey categories of C. collaris and C. tigris are Orthoptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera and Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Arachnida, respectively. Dietary overlap between species and food species diversities (numbers and volume) are also used to illustrate the feeding habits. Reproduction is assessed by clutch size and frequency . Clutch size of Q. stansburiana , f· collaris and f· tigris is 2.99, 5.38 and 3.07, respectively. All species laid one clutch of eggs in 1976.

Chemical and tritium analyses of groundwater, precipitation and discharge records, fracture orientations, lineaments, and structural, stratigraphic, and topographic relationships have been used to describe the groundwater systems of Mantua Valley, north-central Utah. Groundwater flows through fractured Paleozoic quartzites and carbonate rocks and discharges from eleven perennial springs in Mantua Valley. Permeability in quartzites is the result of intense faulting and jointing. Groundwater in carbonate aquifers flows through fractures and/or fractures modified by solution and discharges as relatively large springs (up to 227 liters per second). Neogene normal faulting, rather than extensive karst processes, has produced valleys which are closed or nearly closed to surface-water drainage. Groundwater in the area has relatively low total dissolved solids, is warmer than the mean annual air temperature, and is of the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type. Temperatures of the groundwater suggest circulation depths in excess of 10 to 185 meters. Intermittent turbidity and fluctuations in calcite and dolomite saturation indices and in groundwater temperatures suggest that springs may be supplied by mixtures of shallow and deeper groundwater flow. With the methods used here, a water budget analysis of the area indicates that recharge to the groundwater systems is approximately 49% of mean annual precipitation. Annual recharge and average discharge of the springs were used to calculate recharge areas, which range from 3.0 km2 to 18 km2. Tritium analyses of two of the springs suggest mean residence times of less than ten years.

The intent of this study is to estimate rangeland acreages, forage production, and potential forage production in Utah's Six-County Area (Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties). Acreages were classified by range site, climatic zone and by stage of plant community succession. Range site production data collected since 1953 by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service on Utah's rangelands provided a basis for estimating both present and potential forage production.

This thesis compares hypotheses about Fremont agricultural investment to evaluate the relationship between dry or rainfall farming and irrigation farming. Recent identification of a Fremont irrigation feature at Pleasant Creek provides an opportunity to study farming commitment through labor investment. A comparison of relative efficiencies of irrigated and dry-farmed maize using experimental digging exercises and cross-cultural comparisons generate data about the range of investment, carrying capacity, and the contexts of selection operating under circumstances like those at Pleasant Creek. The analysis shows that irrigated maize efficiency remains equivalent to or lower than dry-farmed maize. Irrigation labor costs influence maize return rates more with fewer years of canal operation and suggest that technological investment in irrigation at the project site would be “worth it” only with anticipated long-term commitment. For instance, labor costs of irrigation amortized over time show that initial construction costs no longer affect energetic return rates of maize after four to six years of canal use. Beyond this span of time, field labor and processing time condition overall return rates more than distinctive labor costs of irrigation. The application of carrying capacity scenarios indicates the canal likely supported between 30 and 100 individuals. Analysis of infrastructural complexity and labor group size suggests that Pleasant Creek was home to a group operating within complexity beyond egalitarian forager organization. The level of investment and productivity suggests a community, likely bound by kinship ties with a corporate management style, engaged in subsistence-level agriculture that served to expand the farmable area and reduce the risk of food shortage in an agriculturally marginal area.

A survey of the mineral resources, the economic rock products, and the ground-water reserves of that part of central Utah drained by the Sevier River system was undertaken by the author in the fall of 1960 as a continuation of a research project directed toward the stiumulation of economic growth in the state of Utah. The project was initiated in 1959 by Dr. Donald R. Olsen and Dr. J. Stewart Williams, who conducted a similar survey of a five county area in southwestern Utah (Olsen and Williams, 1960). Through a review of existing literature, preliminary field examination of most of the important areas, and communications with owners, operators, and consulting geologists, an attempt has been made to include in this survey all of the important economic mineral and rock deposits. A review of the ground-water supplies of the region and a discussion of related problems are also included. Each of the minerals and rock products is described alphabetically in a brief statement. This statement includes information concerning location, present status, present ownership, and geologic controls of accumulation. Where possible an estimate of the economic potential of each commodity is made. These estimates are based on accessibility, tonnage, grade, market value, etc. Each occurrence is also located on a map of the area.

Rehabilitation of deteriorated and abused range lands is being accomplished with greater success each year by the aid of better methods of seeding which include seedbed preparation, intensities of seeding, implements for planting and improvised methods of eliminating competition. Much more information is needed however in order to recommend suitable methods and species for seeding various vegetation types and genes with reasonable reliability. Throughout the arid and semi-arid range lands, moisture is the principal factor limiting satisfactory seedling establishment. Special attention should therefore be given to more efficient utilization of the moisture supply. Closely related species of species with similar growth characteristics are said to compete for more water, for space and for nutrients; therefore, studies dealing with the effect of spacing and intensity of seeding upon seedling establishment are of paramount importance.

During 1966 and 1967, a range plant clipping study was conducted at two locations in central Utah's Ephraim Canyon. It was found that extreme clipping treatment resulted in a significant increase in soil moisture due to a presumed decrease in transpiration during 1967. At the lower location, 7,100 feet elevation, a difference of 5.4 inches over a 5 foot soil profile was noted between the extreme and control clipping treatments in 1967. At the upper location, 10,000 feet in elevation, a savings of 3.6 inches soil moisture was observed over the 5 foot soil profile in 1967. Other clipping intensities also showed water savings in terms of reduced depletion values over the control plots, although these differences were not in all cases statistically significant.