The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-20
Interesting Government Report On
the Irrigation Problem.
NEED OF LEGISLATION
MEAD DESCRIBES MANY PER
Picking QUESTIONS.
Report to the Secretary of Agricul-
ture Filed By Wyoming Official
Confusion and Complications Con-
corning Water Rights and Meth
DDS of Requirement.
fspecial correspondence.l


Washington. Jan. I6.-The department
OF agriculture has Just sent TO the gov
eminent printing office an extended re-
port By Professor Elwood Mead OF Wyom-
2ng on irrigation problems. This report
was Prepared by Professor Mead, who is
TIE state engineer Of wyoming, under
authority of Secretary Wilson, and IN re-
Spouse to congressional legislation for an
sia5orate Investigation of irrigation.
IN his report Professor Mead says. 1t
IS believed that the department may
greatly aid in the right solution OF funda-
mental problems pertaining to irrigation
" setting 1orJh the IaclS ana lInparIlaily
discussing the principles involved IN the
Just adjudication Of water rights As the
matter Vltally affects a considerable
number OF states ana territories, and
many of the problems overrun the state
INES, It seems entirely appropriate that
The national government should under
take to coilate and dlIfuse the needed in
formation In the treatment Of the sub
Ject Of water rights, the comparative
methods seemed most likely to bring out
the merits as well as the defects in exist
ing laws and methods OF administration
IN the seVeral states.
TITLE TO WATER.
Fer every acre OF irrigated land there
he's 10 &c q rlght 10 water. The title to
the water is OF as much importance as
the deed to the land. 1t IS much harder
10 establish. These rights take more
forms Lt2n the rivers Lney control, and
a. = dAAL rs many IuElfl0CS as Ingre
are states 10 frame laws. In one respect
they are adj alike: no matter whether
the user OF water derives his title direct
from the state, buys Il from u ditch
COMPANY which furnishes wafer for hire,
or from the holder OF a speculative clam
IL Is q source of more qeTpleXlty al the
outset. and OF more hours OF anXiOls
thousnt aIterH ards. than all the other
problems of irrigation combined. This is
uue IN part TO the TACT that Ihe owner
snip OF streams IS new and the nature OF
property rights therein uncertain
Whatever the reason, the fact remains
thaL the irrIgatOr whose water right does
not furnish grounds for either an inquiry
Dr grievance IS a rare exception. Nor
IRE rrlgatoTs alone in finding the limits
OF water right hard to deIine or the
problems % stream ownership hard 10
solve Lawmakers and courts have both
found them equally perplexing.
IN some states the law Is so ambigu-
Gus JnaL no one can tell from its terms
whether q right TO water is acquired by
posting notice on the bank Of the
sLredLn, Dy building ditch TO divert Il,
or by spreading II over the arid plain TO
make IL productive There Is equal I'M
certainty about the nature of the title
after II IS acquired. SVme contend that
whoever files location cain on u stream
becomes the absolute owner OF what he
Claimed; others that the right is restrict
81 TO the capacity of the ditch, but that
LnS ownership IS absolute ana, when once
acquired, can be moved TO other bitches /
or other lands. There are others who [
ho4o that streams are public property; /
should be conferred; that this right is /
lnSeD2rabie from the place where ac-
Cured or the use by which acquired. and /
thst ilSuts l0c irrigation 90 not lnhere IN /
either The iuclv IolIaI VINO made the filing
or N the ditch which CINertS the stres m
pCt IN the land reclaimed, and is inseD- I
arabic therefrOE1-s In the decisions Of q !
single state IL has been held that water
cannot be appropriated for one purpose
ana then used or sold for another. IN a
succe6tlI$ decision the right 70 sell ar
appropriation irrespective OF use has been
upheld IN the same state il has been
held IN one decision that the size of the
ditch determines the volume of the ap- {
regardless OF the use 20 which
applied, while IN another decision the vol
uIne of the appropriation was determined
by the acres which mad been irrigated
ana IN Still another decision the consIrIc-
ton of a ditch on one SIDE of the stream
was held TO have established a right TO +
water for land on the opposite side of
the stream which had never been irri-
gated ard for which the ditch was not
LEGISLATORS ARE SHY.
1.-The views of each user Of water are u
modified by his knowledge OF the expert
enee Of other lands o. the lack of this
and by the influence on his personal wei
fare which the adoption of any particular
po!ley would have These conditions make
Ii hard TO enact laws which VIII commit a
state 10 any one OF these doctrines. Legis-
iatOES have preferred 10 avoid the sub
sect or 10 cOnflne themselves 10 glitter I
ing generalities which begin ana end no. ;
where. 50 FAR as the creation of a work
ing code Of laws is concerned. This policy
has been encouraged by the fact thar the :
ultimate Importance OF irrigated agricul-
-ure has been obscured by the present ]
prominence Of mining and by the greater 9
profit 10 a few stockmen TO be gained
rom the free use Of the public land as an
JDen range.
But the irrigated lands OF the west
ire fertile: The climate is healthful. In
he noble mountains Of this region are
iome OF the worlds greatest sanltariums, :
where many have 10 50 10 live. The re-
naming public lands are arid. and irriga- =
ion is the hope Of the hOmeseeker. With
,r without laws for their orderly and )
peaceful use, the rivers of the west have I
,een diverted Cities have been built
where once the coyote was the only in z
labitant. the sGgebrUsh and cactus plain )
s now dotted with orchards and grain
ields. The river which once ran idly to
he sea has become the hfeblood of the r
Industries and hope OF more than one
ourth Of this country. On its right divi-
ION and use hinges the return for the 5
Millions invested IN bitches and canals :
nd the value OF thousands on thousands
f homes
NOTICE AND RECORD.