40 



The largest appropriations in the South Platte Valley in Colorado 

 were made in the years from 1870 to 1882. All of the rights attach- 

 ing to these ditches are prior to the acquirement of riparian lands 

 either by private parties or the Union Pacific Railroad, except in the 

 immediate vicinity of North Platte. The general conclusion as to 

 rip-hts on the South Platte must therefore be that both under the doc- 

 trine of prior appropriation and under the doctrine of riparian rights, 

 as stated by the supreme court of Nebraska, Colorado ditch owners 

 have the earlier rights. 



As to the relation of rights acquired by appropriation in Colorado 

 to riparian rights in Nebraska, even if the supreme court of Nebraska 

 had not held that lands acquired from the Government since 1889 had 

 no riparian rights and that as between riparian rights and those 

 acquired by appropriation the date of acquirement should govern, 

 rights by appropriation in Colorado would probably be held to be 

 superior to riparian rights of lands acquired from the Government 

 since the acquirement of the rights in Colorado. The law of Con- 

 gress of 1866 provides " that Avhenever by priority of possession 

 rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, 

 or other purposes have vested and accrued and the same are recog- 

 nized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and decisions of 

 courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be main- 

 tained and protected in the same." The rights in Colorado were 

 acquired in accordance with local customs and laws, and would seem 

 to be good as against the rights attached to lands acquired subse- 

 quently, Avhether these lands are in a State where the same customs 

 and laws are enforced or outside of it. 



Although there are sufficient rights in Colorado prior to any in 

 Nebraska to exhaust the ordinary flow of the South Platte, there is 

 sufficient return seepage from the river to provide, in some seasons of 

 the year, a considerable flow in the vicinity of the State line (see p. 

 48). In district 64 in Colorado, which is immediately above the 

 State line, several ditches have been constructed recently and are 

 constantly enlarging their use of the water as more land is reclaimed. 

 The rights of some of these ditches are subsequent to lioth riparian 

 rights and those acquired by appropriation in Nebraska, and contro- 

 v^n-sy may arise between the owners of the ditches in district 64 and 

 those in Nebraska. 



It has been shown in the preceding pages that the rights decreed in 

 Colorado are in many cases largely in excess of the quantities which 

 have been used by the ditches. Mr. Adams estimates the amount 

 decreed to the 109 ditches for which he kept records, in excess of their 

 carrying capacities, at 4,164 cubic feet per second, or more than 30 per 



