The Greeley tribune., 1911-11-09
HORACE G. CLARKE GIVES HIS views
ON WATER SITUATION IN NoR!htkM
COLORADO AT FORT COLLINS NIL Ihd
,,u Advocate. The Carpenter As Solution VI Nese
Right. In Storing WaterTaks Issue With His b,otn r, a With
-. Pioneer Reservoir Builder In Weld County And Is an r.
;..;on .torv Since Construction OF Storage Lakes was es
This Territory.

Greeley men who attended the
meeting of irrigation men at Fort
Collins on Wednesday agree that
the paper read by Horace G. Clarke
contained much truth and showed
an intimate knowledge ofconditions
az they affect this section OF the
state.
For the information OF its read
ers interested in the vital question
of water on the land and the laws
regulating it, the Tribune prints in
full the remarks of Mr.. CLARKE
which were as follows:
II wish to make few remarks
concerning the much discussed Car
penter Law, which the Direct Legis-
iation League has succeeded in hav-
ing referred to the people of the
state, to be ratified or defeated, at
our next General Election. l believe
this law to be just measure, and
so believing intend to vote therefor
and to do what l can to secure its
affirmation by the voters of Colora-
do. To my mind the principle in
volved is exceedingly simple, so
simple that 1t seems to me that nj
teen minutes consideration of the
subject should be ample to enable
a voter of average intelligence to de-
termine whether or not he VIII
vote to sustain the measure; and 1t
appears to me that owners of reser-
voirs ought from the standpoint OF
self interest, not only vote for the
law, but do effective missionary
work among their neighbors. and
arouse interest in the subject.
1.-THE Constitution of our State
provides that:
The right to divert unap-
propriated waters of any nat
ural stream for beneficial uses
shall never be denied. Priority
of appropriation shall give the
better right as between those
using the water for the same
purpose; etc
THE method by which water
shall be diverted is not prescribed.
1t is recognized by all authorities on
the subject that an appropriation OF
water consists in diverting the same
from a stream-getting it out of
stream, it matters not how, and put
ting it to a beneficial use: if for
Irrigation, by applying the same to
land, for the growing of crops. The
man WHO uUeS tuIS uIsts udS a pr
ority over the fellow who does SO
later, and to the extent that he has
used the water, the quantity divert
ed and used, for the time required in
80 doing, and to the extent of the
land irrigated. think no one will
dispute this proposition. Now. this
being the law, what figure does it
cut as to what particular method
the appropriator adopts in making
has appropriation? In some coun-
tries, believe in parts of Mexico.
ami in Arizona, water Is dipped up
from the stream in buckets. carried
20 the lands and poured out there
on; in other sections water ia lifted
by pumps from the stream below
.n:o bitches above. and run through
the bitches out onto the lands
thereunde-. There are many in
sr arces In the arid States and Terri
tories where this method is in vogue,
and some Of the Government Re-
clamation projects resort to this
means of diverting water from the
streams. Now, no sane man would
contend that under the provision Of
our Constitution that / have quoted,
. junior ditch. diverting water from
. public stream by the ordinary
method OF diverttng dam and inlet
headgate. by gravity. should be CIV
on preference over senior ditch,
which. for the purpose of illustrat-
ing the point l desire to make, We
will assume has been compelled, in
order to cover land its owners are
desirous of irrigating, to install at
great expense, pumping plant, to
pump the water ten feet or more
into the ditch under consideration.
Such a contention would be consid-
cred the height of absurdity; and II
this reasoning is right, is it not
equally true that the ditch owner,
or owners, desiring to irrigate lands
Hereunder, and finding the waters
of stream in its ordinary stage all
appropriated by senior bitches. thus
compelling the building of storage
reservoir, to secure water at that
particular time unappropriated
winter water. or flood water, should
not, after having at great expense
constructed q reservoir. stored this
water then running to waste. ap.
piled the same to the growing ol
crops, be subjected years afterward
to the demands Of q later ditch di.
verting water direct from the rivel
and applying the same direct to the