IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 43 



thiin forni(>rly, and that fanners must stuch', in a wa}' not necessary 

 when irrigators were few and the water sui)ply abundant, tlie best 

 means of spreading the water over their fields. They must do this in 

 order to lessen losses from evaporation, increase jnelds, and prevent 

 damag'e to the land either throuo;h the rise of alkali or the creating of 

 swamps and marshes in areas where natural drainage is imperfect and 

 artificial drainage has not been provided. 



AVith the growing necessit}' for better s3'stems of distri])ution and 

 application and the increasing price of water, the need for its more 

 accurate measurement is btcoming more and more manifest. In other 

 words, tiie next step in the development of irrigation in the AVest is 

 largely dependent upon the adoption of better methods and practices 

 on the part, of farmers, and this Office is being looked to for aid in 

 the discovery and substitution of these better practices for the ones 

 hitln'rto followed. For this reason the character of the practical 

 studies carried on b)^ this Office has largely changed within the last 

 two 3'ears. The first step in this investigation was to determine the 

 requirements of irrigation \mder the methods in common use. The 

 next stei^was to discover better methods of application. The investi- 

 gations already made have shown that from one-fourth to one-half of 

 the water diverted by canals is lost by seepage, reducing the areas 

 irrigated and the productive value of the canals, as well as rendering 

 unproductive for the time large tracts of land. 



The measurements made in California in 1903 show how much the 

 dutv of water may be increased b}' the adoption of better methods. 

 Where water was applied to the hot surface soil, 93 per cent disap- 

 peared in evaporation; where it was applied in shallow furrows, 83 

 per cent was lost; where it was applied in deep, narrow furrows, only 

 62 per cent was lost. In all cases the loss Avas sufficiiMitly large to 

 warrant the belief that the water now used to irrigate one acre will in 

 time serve to irrigate two acres. 



METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 



Another step in the improvement of irrigation methods is the better 

 organization of comnumities in the distribution of water. When all 

 the water is needed wa.steful or unskillful use b}' one farmer means 

 inevitable loss to a neighbor. Where all the water is sold oi- rented 

 uncertainty of measurement almost always results in one fjirmer getting 

 more than he pays for and another farmiM- getting less. The const nic- 

 tion of storage works to supplement the natural flow of streams and 

 the important agreements being entered into in Colorado, Utah, and 

 elsewhere for exchanges of rights to the natural flow of streams for 

 riglits in reservoirs are making the measurement of water an important 

 factor in the success of farmers and in the maintenance of peace and 

 harmonv in conununiti(;s of irrii^ators. Hence a studv of nirthods of 



