The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-09-10

n ture is necessary before operation cal
! be resumed. The project is temper
e arily abandoned. One, two, three
g four possibly six years pass and moth
: ing is done. But how about the wa
r ter right? Does it lapse? Are the
owners of the later rights benefited
or can new company file, construct
a system and bring virgin soil under
irrigation? The state says In effect
3 that as long as it is in the mind oil
: the holder to repair the system and
] resume operation the project is not
) abandoned. A reasonable time should
/ be given in which to repair the dam
: ages and begin operation or dispose
: of their holdings. Otherwise pass it
, along. In some of the western states
. the. law allows three years and in
others five in which to reconstruct
the system and begin delivering wa
: ter. The Montana law tends to dis
courage rather than encourage irri-
cation, and that condition prevails
at a critical period in the history of
the state-a period that should be
characterized by development and
progress rather than by delay and in
action.
This state has also failed to take
cognizance in any way of waste wa
ter. So far as know, there is no law
against wasting water, or at any rate
there are thousands of acre-feet
wasted every year and it is generally
taken as a matter of course. The
only time 1 ever saw a man get the
right kind of calling down for vast
| ing water in this state was when the
county commissioners came out from
the county seat in a high-powered
car to view the roads and got stuck
In a fair-sized swamp caused by over
irrigation. The person that caused
the quagmire was irrigating in a field
nearby and the compliments he re-
ceived from that party of officials
were really amusing. Nevertheless,
dare say he is wasting water in the
same old hole. The very system I'M
der which water is secured for irri-
cation purposes in Montana tends to |
create waste. Wyoming and Idaho
endeavor by law to obtain the great |
est possible benefit of the water with /
in their confines. The Wyoming law
states that one second-foot continu-
GUS flow is sufficient for irrigating
70 acres, and Idaho allows one sec
Ond-foot to 80 acres. In Montana
such an amount is filed on as the
owner can make beneficial use of.
The user naturally thinks that some
one may attempt to deprive him of a
portion of his supply and according
ly makes it sufficiently large. He
next attempts to crowd 10 second
feet through five second-foot ditch
n 70
water has travelled a hundred yards
in the conduit. Who is to determine
or not beneficial use is be-
ing made of the water? Why not
make that duty of the water COM
missioner and enact law stringent
enough to put a stop to the deliberate {
waste of water? Under one of the s
oldest bitches on Sun River so much s
and has been waterlogged by the :
continuous flow system of delivery :
hat the landowners are anxious to :
lave some one-preferably the Rec
Service-construct a system ,
# drainage. Overirrigation has done S
ncalculable harm in the west, and
S being considered more and more
very year to be menace. / men o
ion overirrigation in this particular 2
ecause Overirrigation is a useless u
waste of water. In irrigating steep .,
and on tracts so located as -
o permit very short runs there is
ften considerable wastage by users, :
ut ordinarily great deal of wastet
t this character is unavoidable.
Nearly all the older rights in the
tate deliver water on the continuous
low basis. An allowance of one sec :
nd-fOot to 80 acres, assuming thatt
ne irrigation season is for a period
f six months, amounts to 4 1-2 acre-l
BET ser acre. Under the system OIL
water upon demand the
actually used per acre varies
rom one to fraction over two acre-i
BET per acre irrigated. The reclama-l
on service has adopted the latter
ystem and is convinced of its effi-1
Iency. Yet when 1t comes to the
eriod of greatest demand for waterl
/ a season the service is on the same Il
asis as those diverting water con-
although the latter may
ave had as much delivered per acre
rior to the peak of the season as the
5rvice will deliver in an entire sea-
On. Is it not poor irrigation practice
, put both systems on the same
asis? Should not the system that
making the greatest possible use Of
lie alter be given comparatively
lrger quantity during the period Of
laximum demand? The trouble inI
lis particular is that the second-footI
made the yardstick for determine :
lg all DEGREES and inasmuch as diff
rent classes Of soils require vary
lg amounts there would be compli-
ltions II placed on the acre-foot
asis. AS the practice of irrigation
the state increases and water be-
,mes more valuable / believe some /
ethod should be and will be de-
sed to put premium on its econo-
ica1 use.
A few years ago on Snake river, in }
Iaho, the construction of a large
I'm for irrigation purposes put out
commission water wheel located
short distance above the dam by
,stroying the current that operated
q wheel. Although the owner was
fered what was considered a fair
ttlement, he refused, took the case