Arizona republican., 1900-10-26

west territories of Canada enacted in 1898 a statute declaring mat ''The prop
 erty in and the right to the use of all
 water at any time in any riv5r r. stream,
 or any other body of water shall be deemed to be vested in the crown.
 By an act of congress in 1886 the na- tiOnal goverEmen, r hnquished control
 of all unnaviSable streams or bodies of
 water to the control of the several states. IL is thus a well established principle in our arid west that wat r Is state property, to be controlled by the state and to be used by individuals en-
 " as their needs demand. l. cannot rightfully be bought and sold any more
 than air can: but may be us q while
 the supply lasts. Being state property.
 it is Therefore to the interest of the state to see that it is economically ussd
 and dividld equitably. The state is in-
 ierCsted in seeing as much produce re-
 suit from the use of this wat-r as is practicable. The greater the amount of agricultural products grown in any
 state tn cheaper will be the food sup p:y in that state and the greater will be The amount of wealth accumulated.
 Anything pertaining to the economic
 use of this water is of interest to the state, 1t being interes.ed in the great est good to the greatest number. That
 the ST atest number may be benefited by this state property it is essential
 that certain customs and rights be es-
 tabIished for governing those who use
 thc water.
 In the humid region. where the doc |
 has right to permanently appropriate and divert the water from any stream
 or body of water, but in an irrigation
 r zion it is necessary that this be done. and the laws of most western states declare it to he the right of its citizens to appropriate and divert water for
 mining and agricultural purposes. An Arizona statute declares that "The ln- habitants of this territory who own or
 possess arable or irrigable lands shall have the right to construct public or private Hccauias. and ottain the neces- sary water for the sam from any con-
 verient river. creek or stream of run
 ming water"
 Unlike air, water is limited in Guan-
 tity, and in a large part of the west the
 arable land Is much greater in quan-
 t!ty than the water necessary for it's irrigation; hsrce it has been necessary rn establish some principle to govern it's appropriation. Permanenc= of con-
 dition and stability of tenure are es- S rtial to the growth of a community or state. For this reason it is important that when land owners have once be- gun the us of unappropriated water
 that they have some assurance that they have a. permanent right to the use of this water. Any other condition is diSa strous to the agricultural inter stS of any community or sSate. Hence il has come to be an established principle in the west that priority of appropria-
 tion and use of water on land give tho b tier right tO it. As long as there Was enough water for all no consideration needed to be given to this point, but In
 many irrigated regions the demand for
 water for irriga ion has long ago eX- ce-ded the supply, and it has been nec-
 essary to have an established principle
 as to who had the better right to the water. Tn statutes of the west m
 states agree quite closely on this point. The constitution of Colorado and a statute of Nebraska provide that "Pri- oritv of appropriation shall give the
 better right as between those using wa ! ter for the sama purpose" and the Wy Oming constitution that Priority of | aDpropria ion for beneficial uses shall l give the better right" A California ] statute declares that AS between ap- propriators, the one first in time is frs; 1 in right" and the Idaho and Nevada
 statutes contain the same declaration.
 A statU;e of Arizona provides that | During the years Whsn a scarcity of water shall exist, owners of fields shall hay precedence of the water for irri- gation according t. the date of the:r respective titles tp the occupation or the lands" There are times in the his tory of an irrigated zion, however, when the good of the community de-
 mands that the jaw of prior rights br
 not unyieIding. but that whatever pro- c"edur- justice and right demand should be followed.
 Principles now being established. let us consider tn best means of cUnserv- ing this water in which the state is in terested. On= important condition that
 should exist in an irrigated region is a cOmpactness of the canal system fur
 nishing water for irrigation. The gr ater the surface of water 5Xpos d
 to the atmosphere. the greater will be the amount of water lost by evapora-
 tion and by seepage from ths canals. Canals may be so long or so numer- ous that fully one half of the wat-r | is lost in conveying it to the
 land An illustration of this fact is found in the region irrigated by the Florence canal. where enough wat=r ] ri in
 cover the land irrigated ten f ct deep
 ,arh year-prObably more than double
 the amount actually used upon the | land h, cr,,.alfr,o of a given