The Imperial press., 1905-09-23
AN IMPORTANT MATTER

there has been trouble and com plaint concerning the cattle and hogs getting into the ditches and fouling the water. As everyone knows, the ditches are our only sources of supply for water and
 we must perforce use water for domestic purposes out of the same cana.S we use for irrigation. The natural condition of the water in these ditches Is muddy. It comes from the Colorado river, which is netoriouSly muddy stream. and as this water will not clarify itself except by set ting and cannot settle as long as 1t Is i'll motion, 1t follows that the water arrives in our Valley and flows through our ditches i'll practically as muddy condition as 1t flows in the Colorado river. The nluddiness of the water can
 be easily remedied by putting it Ill tank or barrel and letting 1t settle. The muddiest water will become perfectly clear i'll about 12 hours. It is then, to all ap- pearances, as clean and whole some as any water need be. But 1t IS possible for the dearest of water to reek with disease germs, and while water in which cattle have stood or hogs have wallow- ed, can be settled and made per fectIy clear, it is by no means clean and may be vile and filthy. It is this condition of things that has been a prolific source of trouble and hard feelings in the Valley from it's early settlement. Careless ard indifferent people would turn their stock loose and they would naturally seek the ditches. The Water Companies have made regulations against the practice, the Farmers Club discussed it and tried to find a remedy for it more than three years ago, the Chamber of Com morce took tp and tried to miti- gate the evil and when Imperial was being incorporated, one of the arguments used Ill favor of the move was the protection af- forded to the people residing in incorporated cities and towns against the pollution of their water supply. So when Imperial was incorporated it was felt that step had been taken which would insure the cleanliness of the water in atleast one ditch in the Valley. Since the incorpora- tlOn of the town, very little, if any improvement iii the matter has been noted, conditions con- tinuing about in the same old way. From time to time cases of pollution of the water have been investigated, but as there was always more or less of the element of accident accompany ing the presence of the offending stockman's animals in the ditch. No action Aas been taken; the officials preferring to give the of fender the benefit of the doubt, rather than'be in haste to bring a prosecutions ButcIt@ was in- evitable that this state of affairs could not last always and when, on August 29th, three men drove a herd of nearly 800 head of hogs for several hours in the ditch from which Imperial's water sup ply is taken, it was felt that the tune for action had come. So warrants were issued, the parties were arrested, aud on last We'd nesday were haled before Justice Banta for trial. The evidence adduced onbeth4sides4 was very
 1uch alike, there being practic- ally no difference between the testimony of the witness ous eith-. CT side. On Thursday the Jus tlce made his ruling, dismissing
 the compiaiat and setting forth that inasmuch as a publicly trav- eled road paralle1ed the canal and
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