The Holly chieftain., 1905-04-21
Practical Irrigation.

Uf the country, but IN Inc udiiN ie"S
papers and reports from Washington
have been found long articles in re-
gard to. irrigation. Most Of the arti-
cles refer to irrigation in a general
way. and do not answer the practical
question which farmer. accustomed
10 farm by rainfall. naturally wishes
10 know. and they do not help him TO
select location, which is what he
wants.
The CHHFTAIN wishes. as nearly
as possible. to put the practical facts
of this country before IFS readers. and
in this and succeeding articles TO sit
down with our farmer friends Of the
rain belt country and have heart
to heart talk
PIIoRITIEs.
In the arid states ON the eastern
slope Of the RGcky Mountains the law
provides that the court, when re-
uiestcd to do so shall have Il hearing
at which the amount ot water appro-
priated aud used for beneficial Dur-
p,ses by each ditch shall be proven,
and the date at which the appropria-
tion WIS made shall be determined
This decred. as to both amount and
date. is called priority in the Ian
gilage OF the irrigation farmer.
Tile officers of the state who are
appointed for that purpose thcn per-
form the duty Of dividing the water
according to the pri0rities which have
been decreed by the court.
The DEGREES do not provide that
water shall be divided equal between
the bitches. but they do provide that
canal shall have the amount OF its
appropriation on The date decreed to
1t.
The statutes provide that a canal
with IA priority of certain date shall
have all OF its appropriation served to
it before canal Of later date can
draw any water 1t does not make
any difference whcthera Il canal is 10
Gated near the heaj of river or near
the end Of a river 1t is the duty OF
the officers OF the state To see that
each canal gets its water in the turn
OF its priority. before Junior priority
can be supplied.
HOW TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF A
PRIORITY.
To determine the value OF a prior
i,y on;t river is NOT an easy matter.
The law provides that the priorities
Of canals shall be recorded in the
clerks Office OF the several counties
where the public can have access tn
list Of the prioritics on a river by APP
PLYING to the superintendent Of irriga-
ton Or To The water commissioners
Of any of the districts. priorities a,e
also given in the stale engineers re-.
port, published every two yea S, and
are, OF course, official
Water. when used for irrigation. re.
turns to the stream with compare.
lively little loss after it has soiiled ul
the land, and a priority in the lower
reaches of the river can therefore. b,
reason of the waters which return Il
the river, be of more value Than al
early priority located near the noun
tains.
AS an example OF this, the water il
the Platte river, where irrigation i!
old, is used over about four times
That is. there is diverted from th,
river at different points four times a
much water as the flow Of the river
AS impossible as ii may seem. this i
possible. because the water which j
used for irrigation returns to the riy
er and is used again over and over.
Special attention is called to thi
fact because there are. many cases II
an irrigated district where what woul
appear tosbe a yalueless priority be
cause of its late date is, as Il matte
nf fact. one of the best prorities q
the stream. The best way to deter
mine the value Of Il priority of an
given canal is to talk with the farmer
under the canal and learn what kin
of crops they raise and what prot
they make out Of them.
Nearly all men connected with til
operation of canals have Il list Of til
priuities on the river, and upon r,
quest will show you the prioritics {
any given canal as IL relates TO ofht
canals.
CANAL MANAGEMENT.
The wafer having been turned int
the headgate Of Il canal by the oih
ials OF the state. it is then in u
charge Of he company which operate
the canal. There now occurs chang
in the theory of the water nanag
ment. There are no priorities in c.
nails as rule. but in nearly all cast
each watcr-right user under can
has right To his nro ra "a share pf III