24 



river are given, with a column showing the difference between each 

 discharge and the sum of the decreed rights: 



Dischnryc of Xorth I'latie River at Dour/hin. Oriu, or Guernsey, Wyo., 



189J,-19(I3. 



Month. 



April 



May 



June _ 



July.. 



August 



September 



Stage. 



I Maximum . 



•{Mean 



(Minimum.. 

 [Maximum . 



-^Mean 



(Minimum, _ 

 [Maximum _ 



<Mean 



(Minimum _ . 

 [Maximum . 



■^Mean. 



(Minimum.. 

 (Maximum . 



\ Mean 



(Minimum.. 

 (Maximum . 



■{Mean 



[Minimum.. 



Discharge. 



Cubic feet 

 per second. 

 13,420 

 3,728 



ma 



19,()93 



7,718 



2,500 



22,935 



8,767 



1,&34 



17,770 



2,602 



600 



2,400 



772 



220 



1,085 



523 



80 



Greater 



( + ) or less 



(— ) than 



rights. 



Cubic feet 



per second. 



+ 2,247 



- 7,445 

 -10, .573 

 + 7,920 



- 3,455 



- 8,673 

 +11,762 



- 2,406 



- 9,539 

 + 6.597 



- 8,571 

 -10,573 



- 8,773 

 - -10.401 



-10.953 

 -10,088 

 -10,650 

 -11,093 



The table shows that at times during the months of April, May, 

 June, and July there is more than enough water to supply all decreed 

 lights in full, the highest flood discharge for June being more than 

 double the sum of these rights. In no month does the average flow 

 equal the sum of the rights, although the average for June approaches 

 it. The serious shortage occurs in August and September. The 

 table shows that there is still a large supply of water available for 

 storage during the summer, in addition to the winter flow. 



With decreed titles to water from the South Platte and tributaries 

 aggregating more than ten times the supply at the foot of the moun- 

 tains, and from the North Platte and Platte amounting to about three 

 times the average supply, it is evident that all can not receive all the 

 water to which they are nominally entitled. It is this scarcity of 

 water as compared to the claims which makes the relation of rights 

 a matter of imijortance. When there is not water enough for all, 

 who shall receive what there is? Have the people of one State a 

 better right to this water than those of another, or are their rights to 

 be determined regardless of State lines? To what extent does use 

 by i3arties on one section of a stream deplete the supply for others 

 on a lower section ? Or, to make it specific, what effect does the use 

 of water of the South Platte in Colorado have on the flow of the 

 stream in Nebraska ? What effect has the use of water from the 

 North Platte in Colorado on the suj^ply in Wyoming? And what 

 effect has the use of water from the North Platte in Wvomins: on the 

 supply for holders of rights in Nebraska ? One further question is 

 rendered important by the scarcity of water. When it is decided 



