ooiiHrincd l)y the State after satisfactorv proof to the iMit^iiicer that 

 the conditions of the permit have l)eeii fiiltiUed mid the water applied 

 to henetieial use. 



(4) To keep a comph'te record in the ottice of the State eiiuineer of 

 each perfected liuht to the use of water, of each application, and of 

 each permit foi- a new divei-sion or use. 



(5) To divid<» the State, according to drainai^e basins, into divisions 

 and districts for a(hninistrati\e purposes. 



(()) To provi(h' an achninisti-ative system for the etpiitahle distribu- 

 tion of water amon<;- tiiose entithnl to its use. 



TRANSFERS OF WATER RIGHTS. 



In reconunendinu- that rights to water for irrigation he made appur- 

 tenant to the hmd watered it is not intended to make this pr(, vision 

 too rioid. AVhen a tract of hind l)ecomes too moist to need water, or 

 when it becomes unprofitable to api)ly water, it is to the interest of 

 ))oth the owner and the public that he be accorded the i)rivileg-e of 

 transferrino- the water right to a more productive tract of hmd. Rut 

 in granting this j)rivilege there are two chisses of rights that should be 

 guarded, viz, those of neighboring water users and those of the i)ublic. 



In order that these interests may l)e protected, provision should be 

 made for determining in advance of the transfer whether the rights of 

 others or the public M'ill be injured. The Montana law at present 

 l)rovides that transfers may not be made when the rights of others are 

 injured; but the usual practice is for the transfer to be made, after 

 which anyone claiming to be injured may bring suit to have it stopped. 

 This puts on the one who certainly derives no benefit, and who may be 

 injured, the burden of preventing the transfer. In Idaho the i)arty 

 wishing to make the transfer must make application to the State 

 engineer, who holds a hearing after advertisement of the application 

 and the time and place of the heai-ing. This places the burden where 

 it belongs— on the party who is to benetit by the transfer. Such a 

 hearing will also enable the State engineer to determine whether the 

 transfer will be detrimental to the public interest. 



ADJUDICATION OF EXISTING RIGHTS. 



The rights to water which have been acquired should be defined and 

 established. Without this any administrative system is useless, as 

 those charged with distributing water will have nothing to go l)v, and 

 the State engineer will have no means of knowing whether or not there 

 is surplus water, rights to which may be acquired by applicants. On 

 very few streams have the rights been defined and under the present 

 system, as a rule, rights will not be defined until there is a shortage, 

 and if they should be, rights acquired after an adjudication has taken 



