, 1898-12-21

TO this office, may serve to show some
Of the ways in which the department
may profitably work and the ~largeness
of the interests and problems requiring
its aid in the irrigated region:
The first purpose of this investiga-
ito is to aid farmers now living on irri-
gated land.
7 do this it is proposed TO collect
and publish the available data relative
to water nights, this to include the
methods of requirement, the control of
streams n bitches by states and in
~dividuals. and a discussion and publ
cation of the laws and methods of using
and distributing water in the several
arid states and in other countries. The
need of this information and of a better
understanding of our situation than the
great mass of farmers now have is i'm
perative. The division and control of
streams have created a number of new
and novel problems for which law
makers, courts or farmers have as yet
no adequate solution. These are al
ready assuming an Importance which
makes it a manifest that the security
Of settlers ON irrigated land are des-
tined 20 depend largely upon their set
Element. In irrigated regions values do
not inhere in land, but in water which
fertilizes it. No amount Of industry
and kill on the part of a ~husbandman
will bring a satisfactory return unless
with it there goes effective and lust
control of the stream from which he
and others draw their common supply.
In this matter the individual is help
less. His success depends on his OBJ
tanning his proper share of the water
supply, and this does not rest on his
own efforts, but on proper administra-
tive regulations. Our lack of knowl-
edge of these afcts and the comparative
rapidity of our development have caus-
ed the use of water to outrun laws to
govern its economical use or Just dis
~ iSouih dlllI
are threatened with controversies and
litigation which, ii not averted, must
prove disastrous. During the past ten
years the litigation in Colorado over
water rights has cost the farmers of
the state 81, 600, 900. Six cases have
gone to the Montana supreme court to
decide what constitutes an a%ppropria-
ton of water, and it is still as much a
subject of controversy as when the liti-
cation began. The situation in these
two illustrates a general condition.
Courts and lawmakers hesitate to deal
decisively with these questions because
they have not the requisite knowledge
on which to base conclusive legislation.
The department of agriculture can do
the West no greater service than to
aid in putting the knowledge we al
rady have in available form.
There is no need Of systematic in
vestigarion to determine the volume of
water used in the growth of crops, both
to determine the requirements of diff
ferent crops and of different climates
and to determine the relation between
the variations in the demands of crops
and the fluctuations in the flow of
streams. This information is needed
as a basis for the proper division Of
streams by administrative officers. 1t
is needed by canal builders in order to
properly design these structures. 1t is
needed by farmers to promote the av-
ing of water, and thus limit losses
through an inadequate supply OF ex-
tend the acreage which IAN be cultivat-
ed. 1t is mcst seriously needed, how
ever, to guide in the making of just and
proper water-right DEGREES. In the dis
posal of streams, courts cannot now
properly fix the volume to which APP
perpetrators are entitled. Until they
know how much water irrigators use
they cannot decide how much they
should receive.
These measurements should be made
to show the utility of storage reservoirs
and the part they can be made to per-
form in both saving the crops of farm,
ers now along the streams and making
1t possible for others to settle there.
Without a definite knowledge of the
variations which exist between the use
of water in different months of the IT.
rigation season and the f1uctuation In
the discharge Of a stream, we only
conjecture as to the amoumt Of flood
water available for starage. A recent
Investigation on this question shows
an almost entire absence OF data on
this subject. In only three states has
there been any public determinations
OF the volume OF water actually used
in irrigation, and these have neither
embraced the range nor been contin-
ued over a sufficient period to enable
them to be regarded as conclusive.
In these efforts to promote reclaima-
tion the different states have pursued
different methods. In some states cor
porations have been given almost I'M
restricted ownership OF streams in or
der to secure the building OF canals to