

STATE AND NATIONAL CON- 

 TROL OF WATER. 



By J. M. WILSON, State Engineer of Nebraska. 



[We are very pleased to present to our readers the following paper which was 

 read by Mr. Wilson at the eighth annual Irrigation Congress. ED.] 



For six years from 1888 to 1895, in the statutes of Nebraska, un- 

 der the head of "Water Rights and Irrigation" appeared the following 

 provisions for the acquiring rights to water. The title under which 

 this bill was introduced into the Nebraska Legislature is: 



"An act to provide for water rights and irrigation and to regu- 

 late the right to the use of water for agricultural and manufacturing 

 purposes." 



Sec. 8. A person, company or corporation, desiring to appropri- 

 ate water must post a notice in writing in a conspicuous place at the 

 point of intended diversion, stating therein: 



First. The he, they or it claims the water there flowing to the 

 extent of (giving the number) inches measured under a four inch press- 

 ure, and accurately describing the point of diversion. 



Second. The purpose of which he, they or it claim it, and the 

 place of intended use. 



Third. The means by which he, they or it intend to divert it, 

 and the size of the flume, ditch, pipe or acqueduct in which it is in- 

 tended to divert it. A copy of the notice must, within ten days after 

 it is posted, be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county 

 in which it is posted. 



Sec. 9. Within sixty days after the notice is posted, the]claimant 

 must commence the excavation or construction of the works in which 

 it is intended to divert the water, and must prosecute the work dili- 

 gently and uninterruptedly to completion unless temporarily inter- 

 rupted by snow or rain. 



Sec. 10. By completion is meant conducting the water to the 

 place of intended use. 



Sec. 11. By compliance with the above rules, the claimant's right 

 to the use of water relates back to the time the notice was posted. 



Sec. 12. A failure to comply with the above rules deprives the 

 claimant of the right to the use of water as against a subsequent claim- 

 ant who complies herewith except as provided in the next section. 



Sec. 13. All ditches, canals and other works heretofore made, con- 

 structed or provided by means of which the waters of any stream have 

 been diverted and applied to any beneficial use must be taken to have 

 secured the right to the waters claimed to the extent of the quantity 

 which said works are capable of conducting and not exceeding the 



