Gunnison news-champion., 1909-07-16
A aEA no NM vXIE1 oaanRvXMou
ne Csoaa Eoaaaar Pski.a e CA~.d. a.d PD-
passd SahAiaa


till snew a,ss. Bes,<i..s this ditch full
there " c0sastspa invlsihsr sespAse iaes
tAs strsssn itself si<uag tA< RIVER bsssk
Az tAss water ~ availsble dDWn tAe
stream - be- used ever sssd over again
befOre this reach Wss Nster~d its lower
portsSa, where waser RoW runs in laese
summer ss(kcssnt for N acres Of Ilsebea
orchard. wss ~ dry ~ bone.
This experience is typical and not b..-
cuIisr - eur reGl0a. All over the vest
in the evolution of irrigation we s~e
water suyply c0minx frSM unexpected
ss'orces. A ksssg tiwse resident Of
Boulder county and once commissioner
there, said recently: Twenty yesrs
sGo many Of W rsachSsen moved away
frOM that section, think ing tAst the
available water A0w ~.s al tosd uv,sn
and that consequently the country could
not grow any MORE. Now ! return and
find ten tlases ~ much land under irri-
Ksts0n with the same water. The ss-ep-
sxe lakes bresk Out Iower doom, the
water ~ again imp0sndsd and like \
spresdiDG toward tAe kansss line On
tke Cscks " Ps~drs ws have il ON su.-i
authority that kead gates in sumaas.r
Our recent ksRsss Colorado water c0n-
trOversy wss Won On the principle Of
amount assd benefit Of ssepaGe return,
and that even with widely distrihussd
waters on Nat lanAs u the lover Arkaa-
sss. The higher yen - sa STREAMS The
greater tAe pssce0ta9e end Wsere rap6d
the sctien Of F~tsrn AsW, ewing - v
shaped bsd rock, ReasMsos Of ranches
tO tAe stPeam and lssus evapOratiaa.
This principle 10 becoming rscsgnissd
in eur state courts, - witness the re-
cent OterO ditch case. JNdGe II. 3.
Bailey. then Of the district court NJ
Buena Vista, hut nov uPsn 0Nr supreme
bench, in denying ~ against public pol
icy the petition tO transfer diversion
point Of q feet Of water from Chaffee
and Lake counties to Pueblo county,
declared that, "From personal exper-
ience and the testimony sdiuced such
use upOn the land ut or near the source
Of the river in time Of water abundance
when all priOrities are substantially
satisfied, acts as conservation of the
water and sends il down the straan,
later In times ~ scarcity - . grateful
supply, which water. but for such con-
servxtion, would have long before and
when no beneficial use could have been
made Of it, passed down the river and
to the seas.
In truth this principle of return seep-
age is becoming well established in fact
and in law, even though the forestry
and reclamation bureaus, still acting
on some cursory early investigation of
certain plains rivers, the lower Arkan-
sas and Missouri, deny the fact and
assert that water should not be used in
the mountains, but lis more valuable
lower down. II is on this theory and
misinformatiOn without data to support
il that they have discouraged and al
most annihilated settlement of the
mountains, committing a crime against
the commonwealth by thus injuring the
main end for which they were created.
namely conservation of the water sup
ply. 1t is for this reason. not often
admitted, but none the less strongly
held, that in spite of their spacious pro-
tests To the contrary. homesteading
upon the reserves is surrounded by a
mass of red tape, which not only an
noys, but Is purposely designed TO pre-
vent use of more water at high attitudes
than can be accomplished without excit-
ing a war.
Prof. L. G. Carpenter states that.
''When water is applied high up on
stream the land below has chance to
share in the surplus and return seepage,
and the result is exceedingly beneficial
to the country. This practice leads ul-
timately to the largest area under irri-
cation and the largest returns. If land
is first irrigated low down a stream
then the upper lands viii never have
opportunity. Hence it is exceedingly
fortunate for our state and for the
west in general that the first applica-
ton has been near the mountains.
Suppose that water of the Arkansas
had first been used extensively in Kan
sas. Then it never could have been
used in Colorado, but by using il here
first, from Granite down to Holly. an
agricultural empire has developed and
there is more water in the river where
it crosses the Kansas line than in sum
mer months of fifty years ago.
Yet it is exactly this inversion of
what might be termed the pyramid of
irrigation. that the forestry and recla-
nation bureaus propose with water
sheds such as the Rio Grande. Here
they propose to build the Eagle dam in
New Mexico at a cost of several million
to water POO 900 acres in that state,
Texas and New Mexico. Colorado set
tiers who propose to spend less money
in watering a million acres have been
denied the right of water Appropriation
because theorists at " ashington thought
that water could only be used once and
that ut was more valuable lower
down As a matter of fact Rio Grande
water can be used several times over.
and there will in the end be more for
New Mexico if used in the upper San
Luis first.
1t is this principle which We wish to
apply still further. Carry it to its log
ical conclusion. If water can be used
several times. wherever possible begin
/ at the top. not half way down the slope.
| Six years ago two well known Ohio
creek ranchmen had occasion to carry a
/ high line ditch past and above two hun
dred acres of steep rocky land. Having
abundant spring water they turned II
down this slope. What happened The
sage brush died. native grasses sprang
n Il \ IL