Cañon City record., 1905-06-22

yOuu computation anu 1mOOnts 10 fass
sums annually. and such damages have
increased year by year. especially in
proportion Is the diversion in Colorado
is increased
kansas had the evident idea in the
beginning of the case that this So
called underfiow was OF vast extent,
that the water flowed with great rap
idity, practically the same - the sur
face stream and was Of great import
ance. They introduced much testi-
mony showing the belief that the water
had decreased. The evidence, however.
was almost entirely of an inexact char
acter, the witnesses testifying to be-
liefs rather than as to definite facts.
colorados Side
SIN the answer made by Colorado
she has denied the facts asserted by
Kansas. and it seems evident that
while, as whole, KAns as and her wit
nesses have been acting in good faith,
yet they have been very grossly mis-
taken and that if an investigation had
been made by competent parties in the
beginning, that no suit would have
been brought.
Colorado denies that irrigation in
Colorado has dried up the river. In
stead of dry years being of recent oc-
currencs they have been common from
the earliest records and history Of the
river, and evidence was shown from
travellers from the time of Pike onward
that the river was dry substantially as
it is now. The evidence OF living wit
nesses gave a complete chain of testi-
mony showing that the river has been
dry for greater part OF the time from
1898 down to present time, and that
the normal conditions Of stretch Of
several hundred miles in Western KAN
sas is so dry that water for drinking
purposes is found only by digging in
the sand.
From the same neighborhood from
which Kansas introduced her witnesses
to show that the river had gone down,
Colorado had no trouble to find many
witnesses of high character and OF
large interests who disagreed entirely
with the witnesses Of Kansas, and
stated that they could see no differ
ence in the river now and twenty years
ago. Important witnesses in Western
Kansas also stated that the river there
had not shown any material decrease;
II any thing, that it was better than
formerly, and that the reason why
bitches had not had water was because
of their own failure to take advantage
of floods and from financial reasons
other than a material change in the
river.
"a good many lines Of evidence con-
verge upon this point from considers-
tion of the watersheds, Of the rainfall,
of the loss of water. This is the primal
point of Kansas, and il she fails in this,
it would seem that she must fail in the
main case.
"As bearing upon the underf1ow the
ory, which was an exceedingly import
ant part of the Kansas case, the Colo
RADIO expert presented cross-sections Of
the valley at various places, with pro-
file Of the water surface which required
the running Of lines over five hundred
miles. In these cases the distance
from the surface to the ground water
was determined and lines running at
hundred mile distances were taken at
frequent intervals to determine the
truth OF the Kansas contention that
the river affected the ground water =
considerable distance from the stream.
the facts as claimed were that the
ground water was parable. with the
surface of the ground. was higher when
the ground was high and fell as the
ground fell. 1t was also shown that
the underground water had a velocity
of usually less than ten feet per day,
hence that the great amount of flowing
water supposed to be present was not
there.
'An analysis of the crop reports OF
Kansas showed that the crops were not
dependent upon the river to any great
extent, but that the years of good or
bad crops in the Arkansas valley were
likewise good or bad years in the
Smoky Hill and Republican valleys;
that water was not used for irrigation
and further, that these years were
years of good or poor rainfall
"Both Colorado and the government
examined many witnesses upon the inn
portance Of the right to appropriate
water for the West. This included not
only people from Colorado, but people
from other states, including Kansas,
and including United States officers.
senator's, representatives, and all