107 



ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM. 



The need of eoiiipotent Statt^ otiiccrs t > tlividc tlic How of canals 

 and streams in a just iMaimer amon*;- the watei' users has been keenly 

 felt in Montana for more than a decade. In 1889 the State legislature, 

 in order to relieve the situation to .so^nie extent, enacted the following: 



(House bill No. 106. .\pprovea March 2, ISIW.] 



Sfx'. 1. Wht'iit'ver the watt-r rights pertaining to any stream or water system within 

 the State of Montana have l)een determined by a decree of a competent conrt it shall 

 be the duty of the district judge of the district within which such water rights 

 are situated, upon the application of the owners of at least twenty-five per cent of the 

 water rights affected by such decree, to appoint a connnissioner, who shall have 

 the authority to measure and distriljute to the parties interested under such decree the 

 water to which they are entitletl according to their priority, as established by such 

 decree; and for that purpo.se such connnissioner shall have authority to enter upon 

 any ditch, canal, aqueduct, or other source of conveying the waters affected by such 

 decree, and to visit, inspect, and adjust all head gates or other means of distributing 

 such waters, and shall have the same i)Ower as a sheriff or constable to arrest any and 

 all persons interfering with the distribution made by him and to take such persons 

 before the judge of the district court for trial for contempt of the decree of said court. 



Si:c. 2. The parties using the water shall be liable for the payment of the fees and 

 compensation of such commissioner, and the judge of the district court is authorized 

 and directed to fix the compensation of such commissioner and to apportion the 

 amount of such compensation proportionately among the water users named in said 

 decree, and which said order shall have the force and effect of a judgment and may 

 be enforced by an execution. 



Sec. 3. If said commissioner shall fail to perform the duties imposeil upon him by 

 order of court he shall be deemed guilty of conten)pt of the order of said court. 



This law has been a benefit to a small number of irrigators. Those 

 whose rights had been established by a decree of the court took advam- 

 tage of the means provided, petitioned the court to appoint a water 

 commissioner, and had their w^ater supply properh' apportioned. 

 As a rule, the commissioners were young men who were completing 

 a course in engineering at the agricultural college of Montana, and 

 being familiar with modern methods of measuring water, as well as 

 honest and capable, their work was .satisfactory. The sphere of 

 action of the law is extremely limited because few rights have been 

 established. 



The act was amended by the last legislature, granting permission to 

 commissioners to maintain ditches at the expense of the owners, pro- 

 vided that the majority of the water users desire it. Provision is also 

 made for a hearing before the judge of any district court when a water 

 user is dissatistied with the distribution of water as made by the water 

 commissioners. The water commissioner is likewise required to sub- 

 mit a full report to the judge at the close of the former's term of 

 service, showing in detail the total amount of water distributed to each 

 water user during the season and the total cost for repairs and main- 

 tenance, whereupon the judge fixes the sum which each shall pay in 



