72 FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 



ARTICLE 10. The Second Pan American Scientific Congress recommends 



that 



Kach of the American Republics appoint a commission to investi- 

 gate and study in their respective countries the existing laws 

 and regulations affecting 



(a) The administrative practice of regulating the use of 



water; 



(6) The adjudication of rights pertaining to the use of 

 surface and underground water for irrigation 

 purposes; 



(c) The distribution, application, and use of water upon 



arid and irrigable lands; 



(d) Methods of conservation of surface and underground 



waters for irrigation or industrial purposes; 



And to suggest laws or regulations in the interest of general industry, 

 navigation, and commerce. 



Section (a), namely, "The administrative practice of regulating the 

 use of water," is a subject of the utmost importance to irrigation wherever 

 practiced. The regulation of the use of water is, of course, essential to 

 the economy of agriculture under irrigation, as well as to navigation, 

 municipal water supply, and power development, and it is important to 

 determine the best methods of such regulation, so that the interests of 

 all may be properly conserved. 



Section (6), concerning the adjudication of rights pertaining to the use 

 of surface and underground water for irrigation purposes, offers a fruitful 

 field for study and forms a large part of the legislation in states where 

 irrigation is a prominent feature of agriculture. What is in one place 

 surface water may elsewhere because of seepage become underground 

 water of great value and a source of serious litigation if not properly 

 regulated by adequate legislation. 



Section (c), dealing with the distribution, application, and use of waters 

 upon arid and irrigable lands, opens up a broad field of agriculture under 

 irrigation or what is known in the United States as "dry farming." In 

 view of the fact that water is the life of irrigation agriculture, the impor- 

 tance of this subject is self-evident. In dry farming the conservation of 

 the rainfall is a vital problem in the growing of crops. 



Under Section (d), namely, methods of conservation of surface and 

 underground waters for irrigation and industrial purposes, fall questions 

 relating to storage, prevention of evaporation, loss by seepage, etc. 



The final paragraph of Article 10 is self-explanatory in the sense that 

 it is desirable that laws or regulations in the interest of general industry, 



