El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-11

] do to the supervisor and obtain per-
| nit for same. All persons or cor
| porations owning, controlling or using
| artesian wells at the time the act be-
came effective, were required to file
| in the office of the probate clerk Of
! the county, a sworn affidavit of appro-
| priation setting forth the date the well
was commenced. date completed,
| amount of water flowing from it and
! the use made of the water; and the
same requirement was made in the
| case OF all wells drilled after the pass
age of the act. In the case of wells
from which water is pumped. the ca
pacity Of the pump used must be CIV
| en-. In the case of wells as to which
| affidavits had been filed under the act
| of 1905, no additional affidavit was re-
| quired. The pressure readings of all
wells at each inspection are taken and
the supervisor, upon request. is re-
| quired to leave a copy Of his report
| with the owner or agent OF each wei!
| inspected by him.
Capacity of Reservoir.
Reservoirs for storage of water in
! conn ection with artesian wells cannot
| be larger than necessary to hold the
/ maximum flow from such wells in
! continuous run of 4S hours, except
| where such flow is less than 300 gal
| Ions per minute; the latter can be or
size to hold a maximum flow for SO
| hours. Reservoirs showing, upon IN
spection, a loss by seepage and evapor-
alton of more than Is percent during
| the period provided by the maximum
| run allowed cannot be further used
for storage Of water until so reaired as
! to prevent the loss of more than said
! Is percent during the period men
! toned The use of such reservoirs for
| storage of water without repairing
same so as to prevent said loss and
before subsequent inspection and per-
| NIT by the supervisor is deemed mis-
! demeanor.
Irrigation Use Limited.
Three acre feet per annum is the
maximum amount of water. that may
/ be used on land under cultivation. An
actual measurement of the flow OF
each well is made between January
| Is and February 15 and between May
| Is and June Is of each year, in order
! to properly determine the amount Of
water to be used on lands from each
well, taking an average Of such meas
| urement as a basis to figure the
amount of time each man shall use his
water; and the person using the water
| or some one for him, must personally
and at all times attend to the applica
| ton of the water to the land. Fine
| for violation, not less than IS nor more
than 800 for each and every offence.
Preventing Waste.
Upon failure Of any person owning
land or an artesian well, or an inter-
est therein, to prevent the unnecessary
flow or waste of water from such well
or reservoir for 80 days after notifica-
ton in writing by the artesian well
supervisor, said supervisor is empow-
cred to have done all work and re-
pairing necessary to prevent such
waste, paying the expenses of same out
of the artesian well fund in the hands
of the county treasurer resulting from
fines for the violation of the provis-
ions of this act, and such expenses in
Cured become a lien upon the land on
which the we'll or reservoir Is located,
upon the filing by the supervisor with
in 20 days after completion of such
repairs of a statement of said ex-
pense, for record with the county re-
corder, giving the name of the owner,
or reputed owner, of the land, well
or reservoir and a description of the
land, all certified by oath.
Failure to pay said lien within 80
days from date of filing, makes it the
duty of the supervisor 20 institute
suit in his. official capacity In the dis
trict court for the foreclosure of the
lien, procedure therefor being the same
as provided by law for the sale of
real estate under foreclosure of mort
gage. The supervisor is epresented
in all such suits by the district at
torney, who receives a fee Of ten (1o)
percent of amount recovered, taxed as
costs, provided the fee does not ex-
coed SIS per day in any one case.
Violations of any of the provisions
of the act are punishable by a. fine of
not less than IS and not more than
500 for each offence, the cost of pros
ecution, in case of conviction, being
taxed against the convicted party: each
days violation being a separate Of
fence.
Fund for Enforcement.
All fines collected are paid by the
clerk of the district court to the
county treasurer and are by him re-
tanned in a separate fund, known as
the "artesian well fund.-" and paid out
upon the written order of the artesian
well supervisor.
The act required the treasurer of
the territory of New Mexico to transmit
to the treasurers of the respective
counties. from which same were re-
ceived. all moneys in his hands at the
date said act went into effect that had
been turned over to him by the treas
urer Of said counties, collected Tor
licenses imposed upon artesian wells
under the provisions of the act of 1905.
Waste Through Ignorance.
One of the principal difficulties en-
countered In enforcing the law is the
inexperience of the average water
user. who fails to apply water to his
land in an intelligent manner, because
he does not know how 70 do the work
and lets it go to, waste through seep-
age, leaking laterals or reservoirs foul
bitches or defective well casing, or
letting it run in one place for hours
without giving it proper attention.
Friction, caused by allowing grass and
weeds to grow in bitches results in a
far greater loss of water and in time
also, than is realized by persons who
have not had experience and is one Of
the commonest faults encountered Ap-
parent negligence and carelessness.
resulting in serious waste of wa
ter, is usually found to be caused
mostly by lack of knowledge of
proper methods of irrigating and Is
nearly always remedied by practical
suggestions offered by the supervisor
Some persons are found, however, who
pay little or no attention to legal re-
quirements and evidently think that
they are on earth to get all there is of