The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-12-15
THE COLORADO WATER LAW.
Salient Features OF tine Best Water Law
Yet Devised and which the Idaho
Legislature Should Adopt.

In the United States, irrigation
is employed extensively in Color
ado, Idaho, Utah and California.
Colorado has by far the greatest If
rigable area, and there the laws re-
specting the use of water for agri.
culture are the most perfect.
The canal system Of Colorado at
this time embraces 5000 linear
miles of large and small bitches.
1t represents investments of private
capital amounting to $12,O00,000,
and furnishes water for two and a
half millions Of acres. So attrac-
tive are canal enterprises to those
familiar with them that many miles
of canals are now being constructed,
Notwithstanding the fact that there
are at this time fully one million of
acres Of fine, unoccupied and unim-
proved land situated in the irri-
gated territory. The young state
needs people rather than reservoirs
and more canals.
The water of every natural stream
is declared by the constitution of
Colorado the property of the public,
and Is dedicated to the peoples use.
There are no riparian rights. When
all the water of a stream is claimed
and appropriated by bitches, it be-
comes a source of contention among
it's users, and the law is active in
determining and enforcing the rights
of the respective canal companies.
The law is based on the principle
that the right to water is acquired
by priority of utilization; that is to
say, the courts hold that water
should not be taken away from
those who first have utilized it in
good faith. If, for instance, a canal
has USED the full capacity of a
stream, it is forever entitled to all
the waters of that stream. The vol
ume of river from which several
canals are conducted having been
estimated in cubic feet per second
of time by the state engineer, each
ditch company appears before the
district court, which has jurisdic-
ton subject to appeal to the SUI
preme court, and shows when it
was constructed, what it's capacity
is, and how much water it has used
or can use for actual tillage. The
court thereupon DEGREES to each
company the number of cubic feet
of water per second it is entitled to
draw each season from the stream,
and its rank of priority-its order
of precedence, with respect to other
canals supplied from the same
stream.
These DEGREES are, of course, en-
forced. The state engineer has gen.
eral supervision of all matters per-
tanning to irrigation, and he is re-
quiNd by law to see that water is
in accordance with the
courts injunctions. The state is
divided into water districts, and for
each district the governor appoints
a water commissioner. whose term
of office is two years. 1t is his duty
to divide the water in the streams
of his district among the several
canals, according to their rights as
determined by the court; and if
need be, he may summon the sher-
if to assist him in the discharge of
his duties. The water commission
ers are under the direction of the
superintendent Of irrigation, who
have charge of the water divisions,
each division embracing several
water districts. The especial duty |
IF the superintendent is to see that |