Modern Development
Although many non-Mormons came to Utah, Mormons remained in the majority and continued to dominate economic, social, and political life in the state in the 20th century.
Construction of large federal irrigation projects after 1900 brought much more land under cultivation. There was further growth in the mining industry, primarily in copper and coal. Industrial expansion resulted in increased immigration, with many immigrants coming from foreign countries, and in the rise of a radical labor movement, led by the Industrial Workers of the World and the Western Federation of Miners.
The early 20th century also saw the birth of an anti-Mormon political party in Utah. The American party, formed in 1904, combined elements of the national Progressive movement with anti-Mormonism. The party controlled municipal government in Salt Lake City early in the 1900's and for a time had an influence in the state legislature. The result was the enactment of much Progressive legislation and the adoption of the initiative and the referendum (1917).
World War I further stimulated industrial growth as well as mining production. The two decades after the war, however, were characterized by general economic decline in Utah, especially in the agricultural and mining sectors. Many people left the state. During World War II, increased demand for agricultural products and the establishment of war-related industries revived the economy.
In the postwar period, population increased and business and industry expanded. In 1948 Utah and other states of the Colorado River drainage area arranged for a mutually agreeable allocation of the river's waters. This increase in water supply for irrigation and power aided Utah's agriculture and industry. In 1952 the discovery of uranium in the deserts of Utah led to a prospecting boom.
In the 1960's and 1970's, military installations, federal civilian employment, and defense-related manufacturing became increasingly important in the state's economy. In the mid-1980's, the Great Salt Lake rose to its highest recorded level, causing much flooding. To prevent future flooding, the state, in 1987, built a monitoring and control system that pumps excess water from the lake into a natural basin in the nearby desert. In the mid-1990's, rapid growth in the state's economy and population led to much disagreement concerning the use of public land.
The Central Utah Project, started in 1967 to supply water to growing industrial regions faced with shortages, continued working on the challenge into the late 1990's and early 2000's. Additionally, land use was under contention, some Utah citizens favoring conservation of the deserts and mountains while others wanting to begin exercises there such as mining and constructing power plants. Besides natural resources, another problem was the high cost of education in Utah; this is because the state has the highest average length of time that its students spend in school, in part due to Mormon opinion on the subject.
In 2003, President George W. Bush named Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt to be head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lieutenant Governor Olene Walker took over his position and became Utah's first female governor.
