99 



far as rights have been acljiulicated, the courts have continnecl i-iuhts 

 to this (iiiaittity (see p. 89). 



The ditlereiice l)etween these ([iiantities represents the possihh^ exten- 

 sion of the irrioated area in Montana, after the streams are exhausted 

 under })resent })raetice. The measurements of return seepage (see 

 ]). !•<;) show tliat at hnist a part of this water drains hack to the streams, 

 to be used anain. but undoubtedly a large pai-t of this excess is lost 

 by evaporation when spread over the ground, and by percolation into 

 sul)strata which does not drain back into the surface streams. • Fur- 

 ther, the water thus wasted is likely to injure either the land to which 

 it is applied or that lying Ixdow. This necessitates drainage to protect 

 land against water-logging and alkali. The two g-reat sources of loss 

 are poorly constructtMl ditches and careless irrigation. 



I'OOIILV CONSTKUCTKl) DITCHKS. 



Middh^ Creek canal, in (iallatin County, may serve as an illustration 

 of the waste of water in ditches. It was begun in 1871 bv a small 

 association of farmers who had neither sutiicient means nor the neces- 

 sary equipment to build a good canal. The ditch was located with a 

 s])irit level fastened to a tripod. Each stockholder was required to 

 provide a certain number of men and ox teams and to perform an 

 amount of labor propoi-tionate to the number of shares of stock which 

 he owned. Thus this badly located canal was built at odd times in a 

 sort of haphazard way. Questions of grade, of suitable materials, or 

 of loss by percolation did not worry these farmers: their main object 

 was to get water to their ranches, and if a few plow furrows served 

 their purpose they were content. 



Under the conditions which then existed the members of this pioneer 

 cooperative association may have pursued the proper course. Water 

 was then cheap and fairly plentiful, the new settlers were poor, and it 

 might have been unwise to spend more money on the canal at that 

 time. But thirty-three years have changed conditions ai-ound Middle 

 Creek. Many of the first settlers who began without means have since 

 become well to do; comfortable farm dwellings have taken the place 

 of log- cabins, land has quadrupled in value, and water is ))oth valuable 

 and difficult to obtain. Of former landmarks, the old ditch has 

 changed least. Few improvements have been made, the water still 

 ripples over the cobbles in the bed, the head g-ates ai-e taxed to resist 

 the spring floods, the farmers' head g-ates are crumbling to pieces, and 

 the distributing ditch is cutting each season a deeper gully in the cul- 

 tivated lield. But worst of all, during thirty-thi-ee years, nothing has 

 been done to lessen the waste of water by percolation. For every 5 

 cubic feet of water taken out of the creek 1 is wasted before this vol- 

 ume has flowed -1 miles. 



