200 



THE IRRIGATION AGE, 



360,000 acres of land, or more than half as much as was 

 under ditch in Utah in 1890, as stated in the National 

 Census of that year. If we assume that the cost of 

 reclamation averaged $3.00 per acre, then upon the 

 basis of the figures above given, the recent activity in 

 the irrigation industry of the State means an investment 

 of more than $1,000,000 within a period of less than four 

 years. When we consider the expenditure and the 

 amount of land reclaimed, it is doubtful if this record 

 has ever been equaled by any other State of the great 

 West. 



IRRIGATION LEGISLATION . 



The first laws designed for the encouragement of 

 irrigation development in Nebraska were enacted by 

 the legislature of 1889, and though meager in detail 

 and narrow in application, yet they were found suffi- 

 cient to meet the demands of the situation. Under 

 this statute the right to the use of water from streams 

 exceeding fifty feet in width was secured by posting 

 a notice of appropriation at the point of diversion and 

 filing the same with the County Clerk. Hundreds of 

 these notices are now on record in the various coun- 

 ties of the State, and one of the first duties devolving 

 upon the present Board of Irrigation is the adjudica- 

 tion of the rights and priorities of the numerous 

 claimants represented. 



The inadequacy of the St. Raynor law as this act 

 was called soon became apparent, and the two suc- 

 ceeding legislatures were applied to for relief. It re- 

 mained, however, for the legislature of 1895 to fully 

 recognize the importance of irrigation, and place it 

 upon that sound foundation that was necessary for 

 the continued development of the industry. As a re- 

 sult of the untiring efforts of Senator W. II. Akers, of 

 Scotts Bluff county, two bills were passed, and an ap- 

 propriation secured to render them effective. The 

 first, known as the control bill, created a State Board 



of Irrigation consisting of the Governor, Attorney 

 General and Commissioner of Public Lands and 

 Buildings, with an administrative officer known as 

 State Engineer and Secretary. An assistant secretary 

 and two under-secretaries were also provided, with an 

 additional provision for under-assistants in each of the 

 water districts of the state that may be hereafter 

 created. One of the first duties of this Board, as al- 

 ready stated, is the adjudication of the rights and 

 priorities of the claims now on record. In addition 

 thereto, the State Engineer is required to receive and 

 pass upon applications for the appropriation of water 

 and the construction of new ditches. And further, to 

 supervise the division of the waters of the state among 

 the various claimants in accordance with the Board's 

 decrees. 



The second bill was modeled after the " Wright " 

 law of California, the provisions of which are so well 

 known as to require no description here. The effect 

 of this legislation is already apparent; a number of 

 irrigation districts are now organized or in process 

 of organization, and applications for water permits 

 for seventy-six new canals were filed in the office of 

 the State Engineer during the six weeks previous to 

 the first of J uly. 



In view of the results thus far achieved, and the 

 flattering conditions under which further progress 

 will be made, the friends of irrigation are fully justi- 

 fied in contemplating with complacence the future of 

 that industry in Nebraska. Though, for lack of water, 

 it may not be possible to eventually reclaitn more than 

 six or seven per cent of the 30,000,000 acres embraced 

 within the semi-humid portion of the state, yet the 

 intensive cultivation of this seemingly small area will 

 place Nebraska in the front rank of the irrigation 

 states, and in connection with the stock growing inter- 

 ests, assure the livelihood, contentment and happiness 

 of half a million people west of the hundredth meridian. 



\ 'V! \ \ 



HEADGATE8 OF THE BELMONT CANAL ON THE PLATTE RIVER IN NEBRASKA. 



