31 



that it mijilit be ])n)Uo;ht iij) to date. Previous to that time the super- 

 intendents had no Hst of such ditches in their divisions, and had taken 

 proof as opportunity offered and when specially requested by the 

 ditch owners. Under the new plan, a card index of all such ditches 

 has })een prepared, arran^^ed l)y streams. On a card are })laced the 

 name of the stream, the })erniit number, references to the records, the 

 name of the applicant, the name of the ditch or reservoir, the priority 

 number, the date of approi)riation, the amount of water ap])ropriated, 

 and the description of the lands for which the permit was granted. A 

 set of these cards showing all such ditches in his district is furnished to 

 each superintendent, giving him full information as to ditches await- 

 ing proof. Now whenever he goes into the iield he refers to his index, 

 and if there are completed ditches in the section lie is to visit the cards 

 are taken along and proof is taken wliile he is there. This is rapidly 

 bringing the work up to date and cutting down the expense to the 

 lowest possible figure, as very little travel is undertaken for the 

 especial purpose of taking proofs. To further ex])edite matters, 

 the superintendent of district No. 3 has recommended that the l)oard 

 accept the testimony of two or more disinterested witnesses, as is done 

 in proving up on desert-land claims. This suggestion has not been 

 acted u])on by the ])oard of control, however. 



Perhaps the most im])ortant reason for keej)ing u)> to date in taking 

 proof of appropriation and issuing certificates is that a great many 

 ditch owners are taking up land under the desert-land law and need 

 the certificates in making final proof on their lands. The General 

 Land Office originally required the certificate with final proof on 

 land, but the State got so much behind in this matter that the Land 

 Ofl&ce amended its rules in 1899 as follows: 



Proof, if otherwise satisfactory, will be accepted uDon the filing of a certified copj' of their 

 approved application, together with proof that they have completed tJie appropriation in 

 the manner required by the State laws and regulations and properly reported that fact to 

 the State engineer, and this evidence will be taken as sufficiently establishing their clear 

 right to the use of water. (Rpt. St. Eng., 1S99-1900, pp. 62-03.) 



This rule was changed in 1904, and the certificates are now required 

 by the General Land Office The average cost of acquiring a water 

 right under the present procedure has })een about $13. 



DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 



The Wyoming system of distributing water is copied from the 

 Colorado system and is in general the same (see pp. 11-16). There is, 

 however, a more direct control over the w^ater commissioners by the 

 superintendents. The authority of the engineer over the division 

 superintendents in the matter of distributing water has been ques- 

 tioned, and in 1901 the opinion of the attorney-general on this ques- 

 tion was asked. He upheld the authority of the engineer. 



