53 



ACaUIREMENT OF RIGHTS. 



Since 190o the {'U^aiuHT has had control of tlic acquirement of 

 ri,s;:hts. Any party wishing to acquire the rii,^]it to use any of the 

 puhHc waters of the State must make apj)Hcation to the engineer in 

 proper form. This application nnist set forth: 



(1) The name and post-office address of the applicant; (2) tlie source of the water supply; 

 (3^ the nature of tlie proposed use; (4) the location and description of the proposed dilch, 

 channel, or other work and the amount of water to be diverted and used; (5) the (ime 

 required for the completion of construction of such works, which in no case shall exceed 

 five years from the date of approval of application; (6) the time required for the complete 

 application of the water to the proposed use, which must be within four years after t\w date 

 set for the completion of such works. 



The application shall be accompanied by a plan and map in duplicate of the proposed 

 works for the diversion and application of the water to a beneficial use, showing the char- 

 acter, location, and dimensions of the proposed reservoirs, dams, canals, ditches, pipe lines, 

 and all other works proposed to be used bj' them in the diversion of the water and the area 

 and location of the lands proposed to be irrigated. 



When the works to be built have a capacity of less than 25 cubic 

 feet per second the maps filed with the application may be made by 

 the applicant, but when the capacity is more than 25 cubic feet per 

 second they must be accompanied by a certificate of the surveyor 

 who made them. 



When an application is received the engineer indorses on it the 

 date of its receipt and records it in a book called the " Starting book." 

 If the point of diversion is not given or if the filing fee does not 

 accompany the application it is not recorded and given a number. 

 It is not then considered as having been received at all, except that 

 it will be returned to the applicant with a statement of what is lacking. 

 Applications which do not comply with the law or the regulations of 

 the engineer's office are returned for correction and must be returned 

 corrected within sixty days. 



The engineer is required to approve all applications which are in 

 proper form and which contemplate a beneficial use of the water 

 applied for, and the application thus approved constitutes a permit. 

 This provision relieves the engineer of a great deal of the responsibility 

 which is placed upon engineers in other States where they are given 

 power to reject applications if there is no unappropriated water in the 

 source of supply, if the granting of them is contrary to public policy, 

 or if the applicant does not show his financial ability to carry out the 

 proposed plans, but it makes this feature of the w^ork of the engineer 

 of just that much less value. Where the engineer is required to 

 reject an application if there is no unappropriated w^ater in the pro- 

 posed source of supply, his approval gives some assurance that there 

 is water to which the applicant can secure a right, w^hile in Idaho it 

 means no more than that the application was in proper form, placing 

 on the applicant the burden of finding out whether his permit is of any 



