REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, LXV 



as the demand for them increases, and I therefore recommend that the 

 appropriation for this worli for the coming liscal year be increased to 



$20,000. 



IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 



Much progress has been made during the past year in the organization 

 and development of the irrigation investigations conducted through 

 the Office of Experiment Stations. 



In accordance with the terms of the appropriation act, two general 

 lines of investigation have been pursued: (1) The study of the laws 

 and institutions relating to irrigation in different regions and (2) the 

 determination of the actual use made of irrigation waters. 



The largest single enterprise connected with these investigations has 

 been in the State of California. The growing value and increasing 

 scarcity of water in that State are creating imperative need of better 

 laws to control the distribution of streams, and there is much public 

 interest in this subject. This local interest has been shown in a most 

 substantial and gratifying form by the cooperation of the California 

 Water and Forest Association in our work and the contribution of 

 several thousand dollars to be expended under the direction of the 

 agents of the Department. The University of California and Leland 

 Stanford University have also given efficient aid to this enterprise, and 

 have been represented on the staff of agents employed in the prosecu- 

 tion of the work. 



Eight typical streams in different parts of the State have been 

 thoroughly studied with reference to the conditions under which the 

 water for irrigation is owned, distributed, and used. A comprehensive 

 report on these investigations is now in course of preparation. It is 

 believed that this is the largest and most comprehensive inquiry regard- 

 ing irrigation laws, customs, and conditions which has been undertaken 

 in this country. Similar investigations, though on a smaller scale, have 

 been made in Utah, Colorado, and other States. 



The measurements of the duty of water undertaken last year have 

 been extended this season, regular stations for this purpose having been 

 maintained in eleven States and Territories in the irrigated region. A 

 detailed report on the observations of the previous season is now in 

 press, which includes a larger amount of data on this subject than has 

 ever been brought together before. Studies of the losses from evap- 

 oration and seepage and of the amount and character of sediment con- 

 tained in irrigation waters have also been carried on in a number of 

 localities. 



Interest in the use of irrigation to supplement rainfall in the humid 

 regions of the United States is constantly growing. In a luimber of 

 sections this has been greatly stimulated during the past season by 

 AGR 1900 v 



