Imperial Valley press., 1910-07-09

man Smith and Senator Flint doing yeoman work in the cause, Congress placed a million dollars in the hands of the President for use in controlling the river That takes away that bug aboo, and relieves the settlers from the demand that they raise half million dollars for the Receiver. The other demand, that the Water Com panies buy certificates to furnish the funds for cleaning out the intake, as some have so insistently contended, has been mete by thes court which on July issued an order which after instructing the receiver of the Cali fornia Development Company to dredge out the silt at the intake at the Colorado river and do certain work at the Rose levee, reads:
 But it appearing to the Court that the revenues from the sale of water 
 and received in time to make such expenditures, the application of the Receiver for authority to issue and sell receivers certificates for the pur- pose of doing such work, is denied"
 That disposes of al demands upon the water users other than that they meet their contract obligations, and theN have refused to do that.
 But two things remain to look after The first is to see that immediate action is taken by the receiver to dredge out the intake and to secure permission from the War Department to put temporary dam in the stream in case there is sufficient lowering of the bottom of the Colorado to inter- fere with our water supply at low stage of the river; and the second is that the War Department get busy at the first possible moment on the job of putting the Colorado river back into it's old bed.
 Those matters will be attended to by the presidents of the water con- panies in their official capacities, leav- ing the Water Trouble Committee" nothing to do but to proceed with the organization of an irrigation district under the California laws.
 There is a trite saying that it is always darkest just before dawn, and that is true'of Imperial Valley in this instance through which we have just passed It certainly is more than dawn, so far as our water problems are concerned. The Colorado river is no longer one of our troubles; the receiver has found that he doesn't need to sell certificates while he has plenty of money on hand, and the irrigation district method of distribu- ting water to the users is being in vestigated with a view to organizing the valley under that law. t
 The practically unanimous demand of the people for organization into an irrigation district, shows that Impe- rial Valley people are inclined to take advantage of the present opportunity to secure ownership of the water SUD- ply and system for the public instead of having it owned and controlled by private corporations.
 Our Imperial good fortune has re- turned, and instead of the valley being up against hard luck as some suppos- ed, the valley is very much ahead by the turn of events, and is now in the best position to handle it's problems.
 With the organization of the valley into an irrigation district, the people will be united, and can move in one body that will give a far more formid- able strength, and make possible what has been impossible. Questions of water rights, property rights, and mat ters affecting the general prosperity of the valley can then be protected and safeguarded much more than is possible without such an organization