The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1918-07-17
NEVADA. WEDNESDAY II.
CONFERENCE AT DENVER
BRINGS NO CONSOLATION
Famons Truckee River Adjudication
Drags Its Slow Length Through
Maze Of Legal Quibbliag

About month ago the Standard
had reference to a conference to
take place in Denver at which the
famous Truckee river adjudication
was to come up for Its annual re-
furnishing and consideration. We
likened this case to that of Jarndyce
VS.. Jarndyce, made famous by Dick
ems in his classic novel BLEAK
House
As was to be expected. the confer
ence was unproductive of anything
tangible, UNI Sss II may have been an
additional expense account to the
government rendered by the attor-
neys in the case.
Ii has now been five years since
the farmers of the Truckee Meadows
around Reno were thrown into a
panic by the rumor that the govern
ment was about to confiscate all the
vested rights on the Truckee and
make a new appointment based on
the heightened flow of the river as a
result of the impounding of food
waters in Lake Tahoe. Consterna-
tion prevailed for a time and impe-
cunious shysters took advantage of
the situation to solicit all owners of
water rights to entrust the handling
OF their cases to the tender mercies
of these legal sharks. Then the
hub=bub died down and only occas-
ional references to the matter. such
as this latest Denver conference, has
served to remind those interested
that the case is not dead-only
sleeping.
Coupled with this phase of the
question is that involved in the cut
ting down of the reef at the outlet
of Lake Tahoe to permit of the lake
being lowered to a maximum of two
feet In extremely dry seasons. At
present the storage capacity of Lake
Tahoe has a range of four feet from
what is technically known as the
255 level to that of 295. The own
ers OF summer, home and resort
property along the shores of the
lake have organized so-called pro-
tectiye association to prevent any
damage to the lake front by reason
of high or low water and this has
served to seriously interfere with
the full utilization of the storage
possibilities of the lake.
However, those conversant with
the situation are firmly of the opin-
ion that both the Lake Tahoe and
the fruckee Meadows controversy
could easily be settled by stipulation
il entrusted to the diplomacy of
some one who was interested solely
In seeing that equal and exact JUS
tiee were accorded to all parties
We are convinced that three men
could be selected from this project
to meet with a like committee from
the farmers around Reno and the
property owners of the Tahoe lake
front and settle the whole business
in few sittings The trouble with
the matter as now handled seems to
be that nobody in power has any in
clination to settle ii amicably or
equitably. Meanwhile some of the
choicest land of the Truckee- Carson
project is doomed to lie unproduc-
tive until such time as the legal
lemon is sucked as dry as the land
Ia now.
AS regards the lake front contro-
versy, careful measurements have
demonstrated that no harm would
result to property by the proposed
cutting away of the reef aside from
the extension of few landing piers,
which the government stands ready
to do. Likewise the Truckee
meadows farmers can be assured
that nothing will be done that will
In any way interfere with the grow
ing of their crops or depriving them
of all the water to which they are
entitled by reason of beneficial use
For five long years there have
been numerous parties awaiting the
time when the Lahontan bench lands
and the lands lying between Wads-
worth and Pyramid lake would be
thrown open to entry to homestead
ers, thus adding thousands of acres
of the very best land on the project
to the productive area and providing
hundreds of prosperous homes. All
this much to be desired consumma-
tion is rendered impossible SO long
as the "circumlocuticn office, at
Washington is permitted to function
as II has been doing in the past and
bids fair TO continue to do,