41 



No method of makinp; adjudications has been prescrib(Ml ])y law, this 

 matter brinij loft ontiroly to the board. Rules were at once a<l()i)ted 

 under which the adjutlication is made by the secretary, from whose 

 decision ap])eal may be taken to the board. In case there is no a])i)eal, 

 the board merely adopts the report of the secretary. As soon as the 

 records were received from the county clerks, blank claim ailidavits 

 were sent to all parties having claims on file. The years immediately 

 preceding the passage of tliis law had been years of great activity in 

 ditch builtling, but many of these ditches were not completed. The 

 board therefore decided that it should consider their rights along with 

 the others, and, in addition, to determine how much water they were 

 entitled to, fix the time within which the work should be completed 

 and the water put to beneficial use. The blanks sent out therefor 

 contained questions as to the plans of claimants and the time required 

 for carrying them out. The aflfidavits were to state: The name and 

 residence of the claimant, the purpose of the appropriation, the names 

 of the ditch and stream, the (piantity of water claimed, the location 

 of the head gate, the length of the ditch and the sections of land 

 through which it passed, a plat of the ditch and its dimensions, the 

 amount of excavation in cubic yards and the length of fluming, the 

 amount of work done at time of making aflidavit, the estimated total 

 cost and cost to date, the description of the land to be irrigated, the 

 date of beginning construction, the dates of completion and of use of 

 water, the dates of first use of water, the area and crops irrigated at 

 time of making affidavit, and the relation which subscriber bore to the 

 work. Blanks for power rights were also sent. Each blank sent out 

 specified the time within wliich it must be returned properly filled out. 



After these claim affidavits are received hearings are set at con- 

 venient points. The secretary mails to each claimant, at least ten 

 days before a hearing, a notice of the dates and places of liearings, and 

 if the post-office address of any claimant is unknown the notice is sent 

 to the clerk of the county wdiere the adjudication is to take place. 

 The rules for such hearings are as follows : 



Said hearings shall be held for the purpose of receiving testimony offered by parties in 

 interest, in support of rights claimed, and shall be presided over by the secretary, assistant 

 secretary, or one of the under secretaries of this board, who shall keep a complete record of 

 the proceedings thereof. 



All evidence, whether oral or in the form of depositions, shall be submitted m typewritten 

 form. If oral, it shall be taken down and transcribed at the expense of the claimant offering 

 the same. 



Claimants may appear in person or by attorney, but appearance must be made on the day 

 or days specified for the hearing for the county within which the said claim is located. 



Claimants having filed with the secretary of this board, ten days previous to date of first 

 hearing announced, claim affidavits in the form prescribed and entitled " Claim for the waters 

 of the State of Nebraska," need not appear at said hearings unless they wish to offer addi- 

 tional testimony in support of their claims. 



