202 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



foriiia and Leland Stanford University have taken much interest in 

 tliis matter; have aided in completing the arrangements for the worlv, 

 and are represented on the staff of agents emploj^ed in its prosecution. 

 For tlie pui'pose of this investigation, eight typical streams distrib- 

 uted in different parts of the State have been selected and agents of 

 recognized experience and ability have been emplo5^ed to collect infor- 

 mation as to how water for irrigation is owned, distributed, and used. 

 Tliese agents were instructed to make a comprehensive study of the 

 irrigation systems on these streams so as to Ijriug out definitely the 

 existing conditions and the causes which cont ribute to or modify the suc- 

 cess which has been achieved. The data which they are to gather 

 include : 



(1) Abstracts of the records of claims to water; character of these 

 records, including the number of claims, total volume claimed, places 

 where recorded, and the ease or difficulty with which the validity of 

 any Qlaims can be determined. 



(2) The nature and extent of riparian rights. 



(o) Rights to water for other purposes than irrigation, namel.y, min- 

 ing, power, and domestic uses. 



(4) The methods by which the amount and character of water rights 

 are determined, and the accessibility and completeness of the record 

 showing the nature of the established rights. 



(5) Character of litigation over water rights, its cost, the causes 

 therefor, its influence on irrigation development, and the principles 

 established by decisions rendered in cases arising on the stream being 

 studied. 



(6) Rights for storage aud underground waters, how acquired and 

 how they are affected by rights to the surface flow of streams, and how 

 the use of underground waters influences the stream's discharge. 



(7) Nature of an appropriation of water. Who is regarded as the 

 appropriator, the ditch builder, the land owner on which water is used, 

 or is the land itself the appropriator? What is the measure of its 

 amount, the size of the claim, the capacit}" of the ditch, or the area 

 irrigated? 



(8) Collection of data showing discharge of streams, or measurement 

 of discharge Avhere no such data can be had. Stud}^ of volume of 

 return or seepage water and its availability for being again diverted, 

 and influence on value of irrigator's rights. 



(9) Size, number, location, and capacity of ditches and other dis- 

 tributing works established, and irrigated duty of water obtained. 



(10) Collection of data showing how water is divided among different 

 ditches from the same stream, and how it is distributed among users. 

 Nature of water-right contracts between canal owners and water users. 

 Collection of facts showing what contracts have proven satisfactory 

 and Avhat forms of contracts have given rise to controversy and the rea- 

 son therefor ; also, the rates for sale or deli verj- of water, and the methods 

 by which these rates have been established. 



The streams on which these investigations are being made and the 

 agents employed in this work are as follows: Salinas River, C. D. 

 Marx; Kings River, C. E. Grunsky; San .Joaquin River, Frank Soule; 

 Yuba River, Marsden Manson; Susan River, William E. Smythe; Los 

 Angeles River, E. M. Boggs; Sweetwater River, J. D. Schuyler; Cache 

 Creek, .J. M. Wilson and Frank Adams. 



This is the largest and most comprehensive inquirj' regarding irri- 

 gation laws, customs, and conditions Avhieli has been undertaken in 

 this country. The work has now been well organized and is being 



