The Holly chieftain., 1900-03-30
LECTURE oxiRRrsAryox.

LECTURE oNIRRiGA sI0x. !,
Professor carpearer Ably Discusses
fhis AH-inp3rf1af Sxbtcf 6cfere
the fsrncrs' fasfirsfe.
The evening Of March g. the date
upon which the Farmers Institute
wss held In Holly, WAS occupied by .
lecture ON irrigation BY Professor L.
q. Carpenter, who wss introduced by
Mr.. W. n. Wiley ~ the star authors
~ in this country and abr0ad TN irri-
figation. The Professor has seen the
irfigating communities of the state
grow up. studied the methods Ut meet
ing dlfIiculties that arise among co-ir-
Sigatpss and b Thoroughly familiar
with and an authority on the duty Of
water. and there Is no one. Mr.. Wiley
stated, that be would be 90 glad TO In.
troduce - Professor Carpenter.
The topic nnder discussion was
handled In most inteFestinR, enter
tanning aud anstfuctivs fashion. The
Professor spoke first of The history Of
irrigation and ita relstaou to the civ
ilisation OF countries And peoples stat
Ing that irriaasion = - old u civili1a.
tion itself. He referred 70 the an
Client canals and irfigating systems Of
Egypt and AssyPss, some OF whose his
tory is lost IN obscurlty. and 70 The
large rtsefvoir systems Of India, Incl
dentSlIy referring to thoss of the
Great Plains Water Company as the
lsflost on this continent.
The history Of irrigation in this
country dates back to the Aztecs. He
referred to the remains Of their ex-
tensive irrigating systems In Arizona
and Peru. He spoke At come length
on the irriRating systems Of Europe.
particularly those in the valley Of the
Pc, which he had visited.
Passing from the history Of irrIga-
tion and Its relation to civilization,
the laws bearing upon this subject
were dealt with fully. The doctrine
Of riparian rights, which has been con-
nrmed By the United States Supreme
Court, doesnot hold suod IN ths state
Of Colorado The necessities Of the
communities which depend upon the
natural water courses require an en-
tirely different code Of laws. The
state laws relative to Irrigation date
back to '8l. The constitution of the
state recognizes what il known ~ pri-
Urity, In other words, the first user
under certain restrictions, has the
first right to specific amount Of wa
ter, which right cannot be interfered
with through subsequent demands or
requirements. The distribution Of
the water supply of the state Of Color
ado Is under the control Of the state
engineer. The state is divided into 81
water districts, each OF which has .
water commissioner who reports to
the superintendent Of the division in
which mis- district is located. The
amount Of water allowed each ditch
Is determined by the date and amount
Of its decree Of priority. After four
years the right becomes practically
fixed and unalterable.
The rights Of individuals to water
supply are usually acquired In one Of
tlree ways. BY purchase Of stock In
. ditch, by purchase Of y right to use
water from the owners Of y ditch, or
BY partnership, which is sometimes
the case in small bitches.
The latersls being supplied with
water from ditch may belong to Or
be under the control Of one Or more
users, and 1t Is sometimes customary
to form companies and even sub-com-
panies for the purpose Of controlling
aud operating these laterals.
The measurement Of water was
dealt with exhauStively. Statement
was made that the loss Of water from
the main ditch and lgterals almost
equaled the amount Of water actually
applied to the land. The fundament-
al principal Of measurement IL based
on a proporti0nats distribution to the
number Of users from y csiial holding
equal rights. however, the methods Of
Measurement have not yet arrived 1t
perfection and an absolutely equal
method Of division has not vet been
found.
Two methods OF measurement are
In practical operation. One measure
ment By means Of weir and the 9TH