State Planning Board Water resources flood control hearings, 1934-1940.

Acts of Congress, approved 1936 through 1938, authorized the U. S. Corps of Engineers to conduct public hearings jointly with the Department of Agriculture for the control of floods, water conservation, soil erosion prevention, and related problems. Hearings for the two major drainage areas of Utah were held in St. George, Moab, Monticello, Price, Craig, Grand Junction, and Durango for the Colorado River, and in Salt Lake City for the Bonneville Basin in Utah. The Planning Board and Soil Conservation Committee prepared and submitted reports at these hearings that contained data on drainage irrigated lands, precipitation, run-off, area by elevation, population, economic conditions, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, retail trade, assessed valuation, and summaries of proposed reservoir sites; they organized soil conservation districts; and presented detailed reports of flood conditions on the streams of the Great Basin in Utah. This series contains the correspondence, reports, andtranscripts related to these hearings which concerned flood control for the following rivers and areas: the Fremont, San Rafael, Price, Duchesne, and Green Rivers; Kanab Creek, and the Paria and Escalante Rivers; the Montezuma and San Juan Rivers; streams draining into the Great Salt Lake, and the Great Basin; and the Virgin River and tributaries, Beaver Dam wash, and Short Creek. Correspondence includes letters to the State Planning Board from citizens, county agents, state engineers, and federal contacts. The reports contain investigations and estimates for individual projects. Also included are photos of the Kanab Creek, and the Paria and Escalante River areas.

The State Planning Board actively cooperated with federal, state, and local agencies for the development and conservation of water resources. Early in the development of state planning, these agencies began their studies by gathering data on a wide range of water resources subjects.