WATER RIGHTS WITHIX THE STATES. 



By Elwood Mead. 

 Chief of Irrigation and Drainage Inrpstigationa. 



Rising in South Park. soutliAvest from Denver, and fed by the 

 snows of the eastern slope of the Rockies, the South Phitte River irri- 

 gates one of the best-farmed sections of the arid region. Rising in 

 North Park, northwest of Denver, the North Phitte irrigates a num- 

 ber of separated areas which are being farmed with constantly in- 

 creasing skill and success. The two streams unite near North Platte, 

 Nebr., and form the main Platte River. Irrigation extends below 

 this junction a short distance, but at the eastern end of the river the 

 climate is humid and the value of water is neither fixed nor impor- 

 tant. It is. therefore, omitted from this discussion. 



The arid portion of the river's drainage has an area about equal 

 in size to the State of Ohio or the State of Virginia. Within this area 

 the water needed for household and domestic purposes, for irrigation, 

 for cities and towns, and for factories and power purposes comes from 

 the river and its feeders. Fifty years ago this water had a limited 

 use by Indians and travelers on the overland trail. The freighter 

 voted the river a nuisance. He would have laughed at the idea that 

 a right to control part of its flow would some day be worth more than 

 a gold mine, because its value is more enduring. No one foresaw the 

 potential riches of the river which are now Iwing realized. To-day 

 it irrigates 1.924,463 acres of land. Before irrigation this land was a 

 desert. Now the best land sells for $300 an acre, and none that is 

 irrigated sells for less than $10 an acre. Fifty years ago the only 

 settlements were outlying forts and a few stage stations. To-day 

 Denver and its suburbs have 200.000 people. Cheyenne has 15.000 

 people, and there are a score of other towns having from 1,000 to 



10.000 people. 



In the entire Platte drainage there are "28.000 people. ( )f these 

 ])rol)al)ly 500.000 live in the arid portion. Within this territory man- 

 ufacturing has already become an important industry. There are 

 great smelters for the reduction of precious metals. Rolling mills, 

 machine shops for railways, flour mills, paj^er mills, cotton mills, and 

 beet-sugar factories are illustrations of the diverse character of the 

 factories alreadv established. The wealth which they represent runs 

 into tens of millions. The exact amount is not important, because it is 



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