THE IRRIGA TION A GE 45 



^another and much larger tract than was served by che original ditch. 

 Just what should be dene With this second appropriation, in case it 

 interferes with the appropriations already made in Nebraska, is one 

 of the problems that the state engineer of Nebraka thinks over some- 

 times. 



If appropriations should be made from the North Platte, in Wy 

 oming for large bodies of irrigable land, such appropriations might 

 become a serious matter to every irrigator and ditch owner on the 

 North Platte and Platte Rivers in Nebraska. The prospect is seri- 

 ously retarding t le development of a tine territory where there is 

 abundance of water, and where money has been expended lavishly in 

 the constitution of ditches. 



Colorado threatens Wyoming through the Laramie River. She 

 has already diverted the waters of the Arkansas so completely, that 

 some of the earlier appropriators from this stream in Kansas find 

 themselves without water, and their works useless. 



The only settlement possible now, is through litigation. In other 

 states like complications exist. Such conditions are preventable. It 

 is not creditable or reasonable that they should be permitted to con- 

 tinue. Every year only adds to the complications. An interstate 

 irrigation commission selected with a view to the intelligent treat- 

 ment of these problems could adjust most of these difficulties and pro- 

 vide a rational plan for the avoidance of future complications. 



There are in every one of the western states millions of acres of 

 fertile lands now deserts only waiting for the water to change them 

 into fruitful fields. The millions of acre foot of water which should 

 work this transformation now go unvexed to the sea, and the national 

 government is each year called to expend of its treasure in protecting 

 the dwellers along the Mississippi from the floods of our rivers. 



You do not need to be told all this. It is a matter of common 

 knowledge and we, in the wesr, all agree as to the remedy. 



That congress should establish a system of reservoirs for the con- 

 servation and distribution of the waters that non- go to waste from 

 our western rivers, is the conviction of every one who has given the 

 matter thought. 



But there are those who have contributed freely of time and 

 money to develop irrigation interests, who believe that a great system 

 of reservoirs at the sources of the rivers, might become a serious 

 menace to the interests of all below, unless such system is under ade- 

 quate control. 



Such interstate arrangement as shall -guarantee protection alike 

 to all users of the interstate waters, is the necessary preliminary to 

 any concerted action in securing national legislation looking to the 

 improvement of the streams and the construction of reservoirs for the 

 conservation of the waters. 



The lack of an intelligently constructed working code of irriga- 



