As a result of snow-melt and rainfall which often accumulated in streams and rivers mainly during the summer months of July and August, Utah experienced periodic flooding throughout the 20th Century. Some of the deadliest floods and those most damaging to property in towns and cities, to farm land, and to riparian zones occurred in 1923, several times in the 1930s, and again in the 1950s, all dates that correspond directly to the majority of the sets of photographs in this collection. These major floods might have led congress and the scientific community in Utah to take a more proactive approach toward controlling high volumes of water to minimize damage to land and property.

The photographs in this collection document the damage caused throughout Utah by flooding and erosion. But they also demonstrate how effective such “control systems” as terracing were in limiting flooding and erosion. Through ground photos and aerial photos, the Forest Service also appears to have discovered that vegetation and trees in riparian zones, which is to say in the lands near rivers and streams, was a critical factor in the build-up of excess water, or the lack thereof in given regions. By taking photographs at various locations in Utah, especially in canyons, around rivers and their tributaries, agencies tasked with these projects might have been able to determine the factors which contribute to flooding and erosion, and to devise ways to prevent such events in cost-effective ways through human intervention.