Rocky Ford enterprise., 1905-06-09


the present status Of the Kansas. Colo
,yado water case. and the issues and
the evidence which has been presented.
Professor L. q. Carpenter. state ensi-
neer. has prepared u statement In
which he says In part:
The case In the Supreme Court
brought by the state OF Kansas against
tho state Of Colorado In one OF . few
cases OF original Jurisdiction brought
BY one state against another.
4 The character OF the contention In
mot generally realized by the people OF
Colorado. Knowing there il suit.
they interpret II ns one Of the kind OF
suits common In all irrigated sections.
that is. a dispute between bitches
wanting the same water. II this were
tho suit II would be relatively unim-
portant. although serious enough to
many interests In the Arkansas valley.
Tho case did not originate At the re-
quest Of people In western Kansas.
On the contrar--- tho people Of western
Kansas have generally opposed the
suit. Tho agitation for tho suit was al
most entirely confined TO the people at
lArkansas City. which In tho last town
~ Kansas near the Oklahoma border.
and Wichita. where no irrigation In
,practtced. They claim under the
broad doctrine OF riparian rights doc
trinc which II largely development
OF the conditions in England. where
tho greatest use Of water II In tho
streams and for navigation purposes.
Riparian Doctrine insppiieabis.
Tho only ones having rights arc
those whose lands border on the
streams. and their use must not inter
fcrc with navigation nor with the use
iof water for domestic purposes.
Tho doctrine In ono entirely innp-
.plicabic 10 an arid region where water
can best bo used for irrigation. The
doctrine has. however. been recognized
by tho courts OF several Of our states
and In general Il may be said that the
riparian doctrine 10 tho Law Of tho land
outside Of the strictly arid portion.
and some extreme decisions have been
given by the courts. ono Of these de-
.cisions few years since .ivin. much
encouragement to tho people Of south.
.crn Kansas TO begin this suit.
A series OF dry years M well m set.
Element and cultivation of tho vast ter.
ritory and both sides Of tho river In
Kansas had affected tho flow. and this
coming Mt time when much was said
of tho development OF irrigation In
Colorado. caused state Of nervous mp
prchcnsion which wns Increased by rc-
ports Of still larger Developments con.
tcmplntcd. II In not surprising That
with the popular vicw that tho water
came from the IAocky mountains. these
people wcrc fearful that tho river
might bc entirely lost.
Kansas asks that Colorado ba en-
Joined from permitting tho diversion
from any Of the waters Of the Arkansas
r.vcr or tributaries. except for domcs-
tic use.
Kansas also asks that the respective
rights OF the states be fixed and q de-
cree rendered for their protection. The
complaint Is very voluminous. and In.
cludcs a great many minor spccifica-
.tions. but these arc the most Important
ones. and serve to show the general
trend Of the case.
United States intervenes.
Kansas introduced her case in chief
from August TO October OF 1904. After
the case was begun the United States
asked leave TO intervene rs n party
whose interests were materially nf-
fected by the issues presented. On the
principal Issue the government sides
with Colorado. Its contention being that
the right to divert and uso the water
OF natural streams for irrigation pur-
poses Is one absolutely necessary in n
great part of the United States. and
that to apply the riparian doctrine
would almost entirely destroy the en-
tire West. While conceding this right
OF appropriation. the government
claims that 1t should be applied with
out regard to state lines, otherwise It's
position Is much tho same us that OF
Colorado.
Contention Of Kansas.
Tho main contention CT Kansas IS:
First-That the river in Kansas has
diminished substantially with the in
crease Of bitches in Colorado, hence
she has attempted to show. by the
opinions of people living along the
ing the early days; that 1t is dry for
longer periods OF time and is narrower.
Second-That there have been
bitches built in Colorado which took
the water. leaving the inference to be
drawn that the construction OF
bitches was the cause of the change.
Another but very important point
was that the so-called underflow had
been diminished. Kansas contends
that there is n large stream accom-
panying the main river. but much
broader In extent, and that this Is sup
piled by the surface river and is i'm
portant in the growing of crops upon
n wide stretch of land along the valley.
especially In the vicinity of Hutchin-
son and Wichita. She claims that be-
cause the river has been decreased,
this so-called underficx has been ar
fected and that the damage to the
owners Of lands is enormous and be-
yond computations" and amounts to
vast sums annually and such damages
have increased year by year. especially
in proportion as the diversion in Colo
RADIO increased"
Answer Of Colorado.