The Greeley tribune., 1911-07-20
IRRIGATION

| is so intimately connected Win Hii
CATION water that the writer feels
| the Importance of giving puoilcit!
to some matters in reference 10 tne
use of the available supply for TINS
district, meaning thereby the partic-
ular territory watered o.. eue
! Poudre river and its tributaries
The writer is owner OF a farm un-
der the canal of the New Cache la
Poudre Irrigating company, COM
monty known as the No. canal.
But while the matter here submit
ted is applicable TO that canal it also
applies to every irrigating canal OF
the district in about equal force.
A review of conditions as they ex-
listed thirty years ago found the
bitches with the earlier priorities
enjoying a plentiful supply OF water
throughout the season with possi-
Bile exception of slight shortage
for late crops one year in five
Gradually. however. ii began to
be noticed that the bitches with
early priorities began TO be short
earlier and earlier in the season.
Where formerly water held out in
fair supply during the month OF
July il was but few years till the
middle of July found bitches with
out water and water for the second
irrigation of grain was seriously
curtailed, and water for the August
and September irrigation of late
crops under the canal was not to be
depended on with any certainty
whatever After few years of
shortage of water the water users
under the No. canal constructed
at great expense the Cache la
Poudre reservoir northeast OF Tim
nath, which has furnished water
constantly since its construction.
There are people today who profess
to believe that our climate is chang
ing to condition of more and more
rainfall as large areas of ground are
brought under cultivation. Many
such persons have lived up to their
professed belief by engaging in
what is called dry farming" but
whether or no rainfall has increased
we do know that the water in our
rivers has gradually been decreased
to the bitches and they are confront
ed with the proposition of having
their supply cut off earlier and ear
lier as the years pass. 1t has
reached such stage at the present
time that the shortage is serious
menace to the prosperity of the
pioneer communities which have
been built up under the laws of the.
state governing the distribution of
the waters of the streams and secur-
ing to the pioneers the lawful use
of their prior appropriations OF
water for their lands. Deprived of
those rights to the use of the water
they have appropriated their prop
erty would at once lose its value.
II some large canal should be con-
structed on the Poudre river just
above all the others and take all
the water in the river from July Is
and a large portion Of it when the
river is high, there would i'm
mediately be concerted action by all
the water users on the river, to en-
join that canal from diverting the
water from the river to the injury
of all prior appropriators. Why?
Because they would be depriving
earlier appropriators of water that
lawfully belonged to them.
The writer believes that statis-
tics will show that for the past
thirty years our climate has not
changed and that the average rain
fall is practically the same as thirty
years ago. If such is the condition.
then why is it that the water in our
streams is being gradually dimin-
ished to all the bitches taken from
rivers?
To the writer the reason is plain.
1t Is because water is being taken
unlawfully by later appropriations in
driblets which in the aggregate
amount to the same thing as if an
immense canal should be taken out
of the river above all the other
canals. The Cache la Poudre river
itself is a living example of practi-
cally all its tributaries. At the point
where it leaves the mountains it
carries a large amount of water, but
at the point where it enters the
Platte there is scarcely drop. This
condition from the nature of things
is common to all irrigated countries.
A river is only what its tributaries
make it, and if water from the tri-
butaries is not allowed to get to the
river it must become dry. This con-
dition is what is happening to the
Poudre river today. 1t has always
existed to some degree but not to
the extent as at present time.
AS the country becomes more
thickly settled more and more of
mountain valleys are being taken
up. AS settlers take up land they
Invariably dam the particular creeA
they are located on and take out an
Trigating ditch. Sometimes the
plat will be five acres, sometimes
ten and sometimes two hundred.
Usually the use of the water is made
90 far away from the valley that no
notice is taken of it by the river
commissioner.
There is an old proverb that
what Is everybody's business is no
body's business that particularly
applies to water questions on the
Poudre river as 1t is today. The
water commissioner of the district,
being the peoples representative. is
intrusted with its distribution, and
therefore trusting their paid SER
want they have taken no initia-
tive in seeing that water users in
the hills are made to respect prior