The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1924-06-26
UPPER VALLEY TO
DONATE WATER TO
SAVE NORTH SIDE
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be to destroy every inclination and
opportunity to do good deeds, and
no such evidence has any right or
reason to be admitted The fact that
a man Is charitable is not a valid
reason for taking something away
from him without his consent, and
there is no danger at all of the pool
ing being used to the future disad-
vantage of the donors.
AS to the division of losses in
transit, that is a complicated ques-
ton and even the engineers differ in
opinion, and that it not valid rea-
son for withholding our favor. This is
a question of making the waters do
the most service. We have been
charging that they got the best of
us in division, and they have been
doing the same. Men who have gone
from the upper valley and sat in the
meetings of water users in the lower
valley have heard the same bugaboo
in both sections regarding the other
fellows stealing their water. 1t has
always been granted that the man
on the head of the ditch or stream
had the advantage of the one on the
lower end, and the lower valley free
1y accuses us of taking their water
because we are higher up on the
stream. We have very freely accused
them of stealing our water notwith-
standing we are above them. Such
talk is based on Ignorance and sus
picion, both of which do great deal
to block our mutual progress. When
men sit down together and make an
honest study of these problems or
go out along the canals and study
they invariably come to better I'M
derstanding. 1t is easy and natural
and unfair to be accusing those we
have not seen and whose operations
we do not know much about. II
they have accused us of being crooks,
this affords us good chance to shake
their belief in our crOOkedness. If
we can save a million dollars worth
of crops for them we shall make
friends
AS to their having started farming
with defective water rights and
stored water, that is no reason for
making them suffer losses when ;
their hard year comes. In 1915 the
whole lower valley donated ten
thousand acre feet of stored water to
us. They almost tricked us into &C
cepting it by telling us they would
loan 1t to us in August If we would
pay 1t back in September. We jump
ed at the chance and then backed up
and asked the question, What if
the river is SO low we can't repay 1t
in September" And the answer
was, 1--WE who own the stored water
will take the risk of that If it is
not in the river in September we will
not hold that against you, and IL it
IS in the river just let it run down
10 us il we need it." And that was
lone. We used their stored water
N August and in September it was
cooler and there were some rains
and we did not need water at all;
he waters flowed by and paid the
lebt without our doing thing. We
lad the good water rights, but they
lad the water. and they loaned 1t
o us on better terms than we had
he nerve to ask of them.
The fact that their stored water
vas running down the channel has
,een to our advantage through all
he years, for it practically raised
,ur scant stream to a higher level
where we could get it into the canals
Without building dams every year.
LAST month when we got our crops
and we could not use all
# the natural flow that was coming
lown, 1t was our privilege to choose
between letting it go to waste
through our canals and bitches or
ct it go down to the lower valley
or their use. 1t was proposed to
hem that If it was sent down to
hem it would save them drawing
hat much from the reservoir, and
hat the sensible thing to do, the
ig, broad, efficient plan to work
n was to let them have all of our
atural flow that we could spare dur
ng the spring, and that they should
i've US an equal amount of stored
yater out of theirs in the Jackson .
AXE reservoir. They had been in
he habit of receiving that water as !
taste, or most of it, and they said
0; they had paid all of the expense !
I building the reservoir, and they
aid SO, and it would be quite gen.
rous act on their part II they gave
8 the use of their reservoir for
lat water free and at the same time !
ave up their claim to these waste I
aters which they had been getting.
ut we asked It of them and they D
lid they would do 1t and they did
D it.. Every canal in the upper val K
y when it got watered up or nearly T.