Editing Emery County, Utah (section)

===Twentieth century===
[[File:Rochester (Moore Utah) School House 1912.JPG|thumb|left|[[Moore, Utah]] school house circa 1912.]]
Emery County population passed 4,600 by 1900, with 450+ farms and {{convert|25000|acre|km2}} under cultivation. [[Irrigation]] systems were being expanded to bring new lands into production, bringing problems that would plague the region for several decades. Water rights conflicts frequently arose, and [[water theft]], known as "midnight irrigation," became common. Most disputes were settled by decree, but a few were contested by violence.

The underlying soils in Emery County consist of ancient [[seabed]]s which contain high levels of salts. Poor drainage and over-irrigation cause the salts to collect on the surface, rendering large land areas unsuitable for agriculture. The problem first appeared in the 1890s, and in 1903, a [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] report stated that over 30% of the developed farmland in Emery County had been abandoned due to degradation.

With expanded irrigation development came expanded settlement as several new towns were established. In addition, the coal industry, which had consisted of small mines to cover local demand, had significantly expanded, with several large-scale operations starting in the county. The US entry into [[World War I|The Great War]] created a minor boom in Emery County as agricultural prices rose and manpower shortages caused wages at the mines to rise. Following the war, prices dropped significantly, leading to hard times throughout much of the 1920s. Things improved somewhat during the later years of the decade, but an even more significant collapse came with the onset of the [[Great Depression]] in the early 1930s. In addition, severe drought in 1931 and 1934 intensified the economic hardship in the county.

[[File:San Rafael Bridge near Castle Dale.jpg|right|thumb|San Rafael Bridge in Emery County]]
The 1930s were difficult for Emery County residents. The county population dropped by 5% from 1920 to 1930, although it remained somewhat steady after that. Agricultural prices dropped 40% from their 1929 level, and coal production dropped by half. Water shortages and [[land degradation]] continued to be problems. In 1935, only {{convert|16462|acre|km2}} out of {{convert|41725|acre|km2}} produced crops.

The residents did benefit from several depression-relief programs, including the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC), which established several CCC camps in the county. Company 959 established a camp in [[Joes Valley]] in May 1933. The camp moved several times in the following years before establishing a permanent camp near Ferron in 1935. A second camp was established at Castle Dale in 1935, and another camp was established at Green River in 1938. During its tenure in Emery County, the CCC built roads, bridges, and trails, as well as building ranger stations and other projects on public lands. Many enrollees settled in Emery County after their discharge from the Corps.

Following the end of [[World War II]], Emery County veterans returned to find relative economic prosperity. County farm income in 1946 was double that of 1940, and the coal mines were operating at fairly high levels. During the post-war years, the county matured and modernized as modern water and sanitation systems were constructed, roads were improved, and many of the luxuries enjoyed by people in less rural areas, like telephones, reached Emery County. While many things in Emery County improved, some things did not. The agricultural sector still suffered from inconsistent water supplies and a lack of significant long-term water storage. And in the mid-1950s, the region again experienced near-drought conditions. It was during this period that a water reservoir in Joes Valley was completed.<ref name=JO/>

Riding the crest of national economic growth during the 1970s, Emery County's population grew significantly as a result of the construction of large coal-fired power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington by Utah Power & Light Company ([[PacifiCorp]]) and the expansion of coal mines to fuel them.<ref name=UHE />