Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1913-01-24
NEW WATER CODE

F0Oiai purpose of providing
way to adjust conflicting elaine ~
the minimum of loss to nronortv
holders and to guard against future
computations, has finished its work
ana the new code will be presented 70
the coming legislature for eonsidora
ton.
professor O. l.. Waller. irrigation
engineer of w. S. c.. is chairman
oil the commission and submits tbo
following condensed statement 90
"hat the proposed code endeavors to
do: wa "
Under our statutes any one NAV
ne upon or lay claim to all the wa+er
iahcy may prompt. The only limit is
the measure of his greed. Tbosa who
nave vested rights along the stream
ana whose rights any new appro-
pFlatlon would encroach upon and
whose water title would thereby n,
thrown under cloud have no voice in
the matter. They must wait until
actual injury has been done them
ana then, at their own expense. thew
must go into court and dispute the
new claim.
One lawsuit of this kind NAV nor
be all. Other claimants may extend
their use at any time, or any indi-
Vldual or corporation may file water
rights at their option, so that Deace.
able and undisturbed use of water
is never guaranteed and can never
be safely relied upon.
The state sets up its right to tho
ownership of the waters within its
borders and permits the use of the
same to her citizens. The statute
plainly say: Come and get all you
want, but take all the chances on
your title, with the probability of
one or more lawsuits to determine
your rights.
You further take all chances on
the sufficiency of the water supply
There is no way in which you can
tell what valid claims there may be
having prior rights. The state
has never determined them and at
present has no way of doing so
There are no records from which
you can determine the flow of the
streams or other source of supply
and no way to get at how much is
actually required by other users hay
ing prior rights, nor how much is
actually used by them. You NAV
file on water supply, dig your
bitches, use the water for some years,
build your home about it and some
day find that other users having
prior rights are claiming and using
all the water.
This should not be. If the state
undertakes to grant water rights TO
its citizens it should protect them in
the use of the grant. 1t should
know what it has to give and in no
case allow filings for more water
than the source can supply.
Then, under its police jurisdic-
ton, 1t should guarantee a peaceful
and undisturbed use of the same.
This will necessitate getting to-
gether all known information on the
stream measurements and other
sources of supply in one central Of
flee, and the gathering of such addi-
tional data delative to the sources
of supply, the bitches now taking
water from the said sources, the
lands served, the power developed,
and so on, as will give the people
of the state as complete knowledge
concerning their water supply as
they now have of their public lands.
"The state would certainly not
undertake to sell you lands it does
not have; nor should it undertake
to give you a title to water it can
not supply. You always get clear
title to lands you may buy from the
state; why, then, should not the
state guarantee the title it under
takes to give you to appropriated
water?
"There is as much need for quail
fled officers to determine the water
supply and regulate its distribution
as there is to survey the public lands
and prepare maps by which the diff
ferent tracts may be identified.
There is as much need of a water
office to supervise the establish
ment of titles to water as there Is
for land officers to manage the pub
lie lands.
Investors of capital and purchas-
ers of small homes have right 10
know that they are not investing IN
wildcat properties; that the title TO
water they are buying is absolutely
good, and that there is sufficient
water to abundantly satisfy theif
al