The Caldwell tribune., 1920-09-21
COURT DECISION PAVES
WAY TO SETTLEMENT
Continued from Front Page).
proper portion of the construction
charge against the Boise project
lands.


lands.
Waters Butte District.
The court holds with the officials
in disposing of a plea made by the
plaintiff that about 584 acres of land
In Walters Butte district and 1885
acres in BIRD Reserve" district be
added and made to pay their proper
ton Of the cost Of the project. The
court finds these lands have been sup
piled waste water under lease from
year to year and that there appears
to be no purpose to sell waste waters
to these lands and such temporary
privileges a. they enjoy are in subor-
dination to the rights of the settlers
upon lands for which rights are per-
manent and further that the revenues
derived from the leases are applied in
reduction Of operation and mainten-
ance expenses and hence the settlers
get the full benefit of It.
The decision 10 in part % follows:
What Court Finds.
Apparently prior to the commence
ment Of this suit At least, it was the
opinion Of the reclamation officials
that the natural flow Of the stream Is
ordinarily sufficient only up to the lst
Of July. Quotations have already been
made from the fifth annual report ex-
pressing such view, and in the public
notice of July 2, 1917 (Sec. l0) the
flood season" is defined - ending
canal lands, which have 4 natural
commencing July !. for the New York
conal lands, which have q, natural
flow" right superior to that Of the
project lands. Under the evidence,
however, I am inclined to think that
upon the average the high water holds
W little longer. For four years
(l9i6-i9lo) water was kept drawn
from the Arrowrock reservoir baout
July II. 1916. July l2. 1917, June ~,
1918 and June l2, 1919.
Testimony Of Hannah.
Admittedly 1919 was an abnormal
year. According to the testimony Of
Nj. Hanna. the project records show
that upon the average, during the pc
riod from 1896 to 1919. the river dis
charge was sufficient to cover all
Fights, including those of the projects
up to July 2. and ceased to be available
in any amount for the project on July
q. Assuming that the fall from July
z2 to July 2S Is practically uniform, it
may be said that the natural flow is
adequate until July Is, and thereafter
dependence 10 exclusively on the stor-
age water, or for one-haf of the 2l4
days, which. 40 we have seen, the rec
lamation service recognized a. the ir-
rigation season, extending from April
! to October 81. Where there Is
considerable acreage Of grains the
irrigated area during that part of the
season will not average a. high - that
for the earlier period. but upon the
other hand the precipitation is less
and the temperature higher.
Measurement at Land.
There were put in evidence some
estimates of the monthly require
ments one Of which is based upon the
actual experience of the project, and
this is as followsa For April. 8 per
cent of the seasons supply, May, Is
per cent, June 10 per cent, July, Is
per cent, August, 20 per cent. Sep
tember. IL per cent. and October, 2
per cent" This finds substantial
confirmation in the testimony of Mr..
Tallman, who has had wide experience
in the use of water in the valley, and
in the light of common knowledge the
estimate appearing to be reasonable, it
may be accepted As approximately COR
rect. Accordingly it is held that under
q seasonal duty of 2H-acre feet, there
should be delivery of approximately
l.l4-aere feet of storage water, meas
ured at the lands.
No Record River Loss.
The reclamation service has appar-
emily estimated the transmission loss
to be SIS per cent, for in some of the
annual reports the duty is stated to
be 2H-aere feet at the land, and in
others 4-acre feet at the head of the
main canal; and, as we have seen in
their answer the defendants impliedly