Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-12-09
Elwood Mead, Of the Govern
ment Irrigation Inquiry, Writes
Upon Problems,
OBJECT OF THE INQUIRY
1t Is Desired to Ascertain the Quantity
of Water in the Several Streams
and Determine Existing
Rights.

Farmers purchase water lley SollelllHeo
have more than they need. In such cases
they are apt to use it just to get their
moneys worth, and over-irrigation has
ruined their land. Other farmers bar
crops. The farmer needs the informa-
ton on the duty of water so as to get
neither too much nor too little.
Observations of the duty of water
made heretofore have been isolated, and
the units and methods used have not
been uniform or in harmony with irri-
CATION practice. A unit much in use is
the miners inch," which Is the amount
of water flowing through an opening ]
inch square, with a head varying from
3 to 6 inches above the opening. This
method of measurement is said to be
accurate only to within 100 per cent,
so that any expression Of duty in min
ers' inches is rather indefinite. The
unit most often used is the cubic foot
per second. Measurements in this unit
are fairly accurate, so far as the flow OF
water is concerned. But writer's and
courts do not contine themselves to
those terms which mean something.
One important court decision gives to a
man so many square inches OF water;
another court has decreed a flow OF a
cubic foot of water, while N writer
tells how much land can be irrigated
with a continuous flow Of a pint Of wa
ter.
But even when the flow Of water Is
definite, as in the case Of the cubic foot
per second, duty is usually given for d
continuous flow. But no %irrigator uses
a continuous flow. The usual method Of
computing this duty is to measure or
estimate the depth of water applied to
the land, and then figure out how many
acres a given flow will furnish that
depth Of water in some time assumed
to be the length of season. But in prac-
teal practice this water was all used in
a few days. Hence expressions of duty
for a continuous flow mean nothing so
far as practice is concerned.
The observations of this office are be-
ltlS CUITuQCltu III lIlOSl " lllC dllu oloCC
and the results will all be expressed in
acre feet or depth on land, which are
the same thing. The reports will also
give the time of application of water,
thus showing what actually takes place
in the use of water.
Without irrigation agriculture in the
western third Of the United States isim
possible, except in isolated spots. With
out water for irrigation most of the
land in this region is hardly worth the
cost of homesteading. 1t is only valua-
Bile FOR grazing. With water this same
land ranges in value from $40 to $1,000
an acre. The entire increase in value
attaches to the water. The title to wa
ter then becomes of more Importance
than the title to land.
All the institutions of this country
grew up in a humid climate, where
property in water was Of little conse-
quence, hence there were no laws or
presidents applicable to the ~rainless
west, where water is the all-important
element of agricultural values. Unfor-
tunately, this beginning Of irrigation in
the arid region was coincident with the
discovery Of gold, and mining laws and
customs We're applied to the establish
ment of right to water for irrigation.
The miner secured title to his claim,
| sometimes worth millions of dollars, by
driving a stake and posting a notice.
N, tx ~, x,n ohonlrtn - yv t1anecI,t Thn
farmer, the ditch builder and the water
| right SPECTATOR saw no eason why
they should not acquire the same abso-
lutte title to an equally valuable river
by the same simple process. The law
prescribed the method by which he
might obtain title to his land, but for
title to the more important element
water-no provision was made. In the
| absence of this they did as did the min
er-posted notices setting forth their
claims. This was recognized as giving
title as against all later corners. There
was, however, this difference: The law
set definite limits to the area which
! could be claimed by the miner, while
dpploP VI WalCI hlASu IN
limitations, the amount of their claim
being fixed by either ignorance or de-
sire. AS a result the claims to the wa
ter of many of our western rivers
amount to many times the flow of those
streams. In 1866 congress gave its sane
tion to these local customs and laws,
and upon this foundation most of the
irrigation legislation in the west has
been built up. Various provisions as to
records of these notices, use of the wa
ter appropriated, etc, have been made
in the different states. AS the country
has been settled up and agriculture has
become more important and water has
become more valuable, controversies
due to over-appropriation have arisen,
and legislatures and courts have WED
with each other in adding to the confu-
sion in irrigation law.
This confusion has encouraged litiga-
ton until to-day that is the most prom
inent feature of the whole irrigation
field. The statement is made hat in the
last ten years Colorado irrigators have
spent over 81, 000, 900 in litigation. In
California litigation over water Is said
to have cost more than all the works fol
utilizing the water of the state. The
conditions in these states are little
worse than those in the other arid
states.
1t was largely this condition of end.
less litigation which led to the estab.
lishment of the office Of irrigation in
v%estigations.