The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-16
1RRIGArroN COMPLICATIONS.

IRRIG4TTON CoMPLICdTIONS.
The irrigation question has assumed
such proportions that congress will not
be able to ignore it longer. 1t has be-
come a national question intimately CON
nected with that of forestry, both of
which are interiaced with the question
of floods. Owing to the interstate char
acter of the water supply, local control Of
either is impossible. States may assist.
but the general plans as well as the
absolute control must be national
While much has been said and written
on the subject of irrigation both in and
out of congress, while the adyisability,
We might say necessity, of the PROPOSE
ton is universally admitted, no one has
yet formulated a plan to overcome the
many legal obstacles in the way of the
actual inauguration of national sys-
tenn which would work FOR the good OF
the general public.
In the various states of the Union
where irrigation is proposed, the COM
mon law governing riparian rights oo-
tains. This law has been modified in
some Instances by state statute, but in
the main the principle, first come
first served, prevails. The water supply
is common property, but he who first
uses the right has preference of any
subsequent applicant. Fer instance,
A. having secured an easement of water
rights from running stream cannot be
deprived of that right in it's fullest ca
pacity by B. and c., diverting the water
above him. On the other hand. the peo-
pie of one state by diverting the water of
a river for irrigation purposes may COM
pletely deprive the people of another
stream. Thus, the Arkansas river which
for centuries has furnished sub-irriga-
ton to the great valley through Kansas
has been reduced to bed of sand by
the irrigation bitches in Colorado. The
people along the valley in Kansas not
having used the water specifically have
no redress. Then again there is he law
regulating the amount of water to be
used from the various streams. In Cali
fornia where the state has attempted to
regulate the use of water by law, a
stream may be entirely diverted from it's
natural course by private corporations
thus rendering absolutely useless the
valleys below
The first step that must be taken,
therefore, by congress is to assume con-
troll of all water supply This is abso-
lutely essential to the success of the ir-
rigatfon proposition. When this is done,
the supply in any give case must be
estimated and portioned out to the land
that is naturally dependent on that sup
ply. To accomplish this the power Of
eminent domain must be enforced and
those who have acquired vestei inter.
ests in water under the common law,
must yield to the common interest.
Beside the control of the water supply,
the government must secure through the
same power of eminent domain the title
to the vast tracts of land lying IN the
districts susceptible to irrigation. which
have been gobbled up by corporations un-
der the desert land act. The lands to be
benefited by this system must be re-
opened to the public and sold In small
lots to actual settlers. If the government
is to expend s108,OeO,O00 to reclaim the
arid region, or a part of it, the benefit
should accrue to the hcmeseekers and
not to the Spectators and the corpora
tons.
The first thing then to be done is, for
the federal government to assume control
of all water supply together with the
land areas to be benefited by the proposed
systems of irrigation. All individual and
state systems now in vogue must be TAX
en- over and made a part of the federal
system. The necessity of this needs no
argument to sustain 1.-THE necessity is
self-evident
The new conditions have made it i'm
perative that the old laws of riparian
right should be totally abrogated and
new laws framed to meet the new use to
which the water supply is to be put
While such system would entail the
expenditure of millions to initiate, the
returns from the irrigated land would
bring it all back to the federal treasury
It would also mean new. empire in the
great West. The agricultural valleys
would be able to feed the mine-piercea
mountains And where now the desert
and rugged rocks reign supreme would