118 1 HE IRRIG TWN A GE. 



upon the books of the association and subsequently applied in liqui- 

 dation of assessment liabilities arising through expenditures incident 

 to operation and maintenance of the plant. 



If it should be found, upon the completion of the works, that the 

 expense of construction was less than the amount realized through the 

 sale of stock, the difference may be distributed to the stockholders in 

 the form of a dividend, to each in proportion to the amount of his 

 stock, or it may be permitted to remain in the treasury and applied to 

 the liquidation of subsequent indebtedness incurred in operation and 

 maintenance. It more frequently occurs, however, that the actual 

 cost of the works exceeds the estimate upon which the capitalization 

 was based, and that additional funds are required to complete the 

 enterprise. These may be realized by the levy of the pro-rata 

 assessment upon the outstanding stock, or through the issue and sale 

 of additional stock to the amount required. The general method of 

 organization and procedure is similar in the case of unincorporated 

 community associations. 



When the works have been completed and actual operations 

 inaugurated, certain expenses incident thereto are encountered. 

 These consist, in the main, of salaries and expenses of officers, wages 

 of ditch riders or patrolmen, repairs necessary to structures, and 

 other incidental expenditures that need not be enumerated in detail. 

 These liabilities are usually provided for pro-rata assessments against 

 the stockholders. 



As noted above, the essential features of this kind of stock 

 irrigation company and of the unincorporated community canal are 

 not dissimilar. The works of both are created, owned and operated 

 by local capital and labor, and their inception and organization are 

 brought about by similar causes and carried out along similar lines. 

 Both depend for their success largely upon local ownership, econo- 

 mical management, and the lack of necessity for any great cash 

 outlay in their construction and operation. Communities with little 

 capital except pluck and muscle have, under these methods, created 

 canal systems that are among the best and most successful in the 

 whole arid region, and which, from modest beginnings, have ulti- 

 mately resulted in the growing up of thriving^towns and populous 

 and prosperous farming districts under them. This is. the system of 

 construction and management common in Utah under the operation 

 of the district irrigation law formerly in effect in that state. The 

 districts formed under this law are in effect voluntary mutual asso- 

 ciations or companies for the purpose of construction and operation 

 of canals, the cost of which is raised by assessments on the various 

 owners in proportion to their respective interests in the works and 

 quantity of water used by them. 



