Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1893-10-06

portions of nearly all the rest OF the
west, of the means of following agrlcul-
tural pursuits, by damming or holding
the necessary water, although eighty
per cent. of the lands susceptible OF IT.
rigation, lie without their boundaries
each of the three being independent OF
any claims of priority of appropriation
and use which the citizens of the neigh
boring states and territories may pos
ses. Neither is there any legal restraint
on the residents of New Mexico, Colo
RADIO and Wyoming, to carefully use and
husband such waters, the waste OF
which means ruin to populous and pros
porous communities.
Already, this power of one section to
deprive the Inhabitants of another. of
water, which the latter have for CEN
turtles used in the irrigation of their
farms has entailed great hardship and
loss. In two instances at least, Colo
RADIO has been the offender. One,
wherin BY her control of the headwaters
of the Rio Grande, she rendered farms
in New Mexico, yalueless by withhold
ing from them water which had been
/ attached to New Mexican soil-so far as
prior appropriation and use could at
tach it-for more than three hundred
years. The suffering occasioned by this
action OF the residents of Colorado, not
only fell on the farmers of New Mexico,
but on those of Texas as we'll as the
agriculturists of the Mexican states of
Chihuahua, Cohahuila, Nuevo Leon and
Tamaulipas. The result in some Of the
latter states being 80 severe as to al
most depopulate several of the Oldest
agricultural communities, and causing
the opening of an international con-
troversy between the two republics,
which Is still usettled. In the other
instance, Nebraska is the sole sufferer,
the reclaimed lands of the southwest
ern portion of that state being de-
prived of water by the appropriation of
the headwaters of the South Platte by
farmers in Colorado, to such an extent
as to render that stream often dry in
the seasons of the year, when its waters
are absolutely essential to the preserva-
| ton OF Nebraskan crops.
Government Control of Water Sup
plies Absolutely Necessary.
How important the government con-
troll of this factor in the reclamation Of
the arid regions is, and how far under
the existing system this latter-day ap-
preparation OF water can be carried, can
be only appreciated when it is realized
that the control of the water sheds of
New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming,
enables the citizens OF those states to
impoverish-by depriving them of water
the farmers of Western Kansas, West
ern Nebraska, all of New Mexico, as
we'll as those of some OF the most de-
sirable portions of Utah. Idaho, South
Dakota, Arizona and Texas.
With this absolute control of the
chief water supplies in the hands OF
citizens of another state, the fullest de.
velopment OF irrigation in the arid do
main will never be possible.
1t ls condition that attaches not
only to running streams, but as well to
the storage of water for agricultural
purposes by the construction of arti-
fetal reservoirs. Throughout the en-
tire arid regions, the rains are loren
| tial in their character, the prevailing
aridity being due more to the rainfall
being confined to three or four months
in each year-the other months being
practically rainless-than to the lack
of volume. With suitable storage basins,
the excess of rain during the ''wet"
season, can be reserved for use during
the dryer months. The hest locations
for such storage reservoirs, being found
only in mountainous sectlons-often
many miles distant from the level
plains and Mesas to be cultivated by
the waters thus stored-such reservoirs
would frequently be constructed in one
state to cache water for the use of farm
ers in another-thus placing the latter
practically at the mercy-so far as leg
islation, administration, etc., were con-
cerned-of foreign law-making bodies,
between whom-the governing and the
governed-there would always be more
or less contetion. increasing in in
tensity as the demand for water increas-
ed with the denser settlement of each
state. That this state control of pub
lie waters and water sheds in matters
of rrigation-lnexcusab and as per-
nicious in its tendencies as would be a
state control of navigable streams-has
not occasioned greater friction, is due
chiefly to the small area thus far re
claimed, as well as to the fact that Of
the 1851 1881 acres of irrigated lands
enumerated in the census of 1890, q
1926, 1872 acres received their water sup
ply from streams within their own
state boundaries. These states with
their respective acreage, were:
STATES ACRES IERIGA.ED
California. ,OO,23s
Colorado Observation-Disclosures. S91735
Montana Observation-Disclosures. S5l5S2
| Nevada. ......... .............. .... 22.403
| Oregon. Observation-Disclosures. 17,044
Washington ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. S,799
| Wyoming ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1856
| Total Observation-Disclosures. 96,372
This problem arising from statecon-
troll of streams valuable chiefly br If