Various estimates have been made as to the
quantity of underlying water. The latest calculation and perhaps the
most reliable is that made by Fuller, who, after a careful analysis
of the factors involved, concludes that the total free water held in
the earth's crust is equivalent to a uniform sheet of water over the
entire surface of the earth ninety-six feet in depth. A quantity of
water thus held would be equivalent to about one hundredth part of
the whole volume of the ocean. Even though the thickness of the
water sheet under arid soils is only half this figure there is an
amount, if it could be reached, that would make possible the
establishment of homesteads over the whole dry-farm territory. One
of the main efforts of the day is the determination of the
occurrence of the subterranean waters in the dry-farm territory.
Ordinary dug wells frequently reach water at comparatively shallow
depths. Over the cultivated Utah deserts water is often found at a
depth of twenty-five or thirty feet, though many wells dug to a
depth of one hundred and seventy-five and two hundred feet have
failed to reach water.
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