THE DUTY OF WATER. 13 



and Territories in climatic influences, we feel warranted in the assertion 

 that this State is no exception to the rule of the increased duty of water, 

 excepting possibly in degree. In the third biennial report of State 

 Engineer Nettleton, pages 59 and 60 (referring specially to the Cache la 

 Poudre Kiver, which waters Greeley and lands contiguous), he says: 

 " The duty for the present season (1886) was about three times as large as 

 the estimate heretofore generally accepted." Total number of acres 

 under cultivation in this district was 125,000, and the average duty for 

 the months of May, June, July and August for this year of each cubic foot 

 per second was 193 acres. Mr. Nettleton then proceeds to make the fol- 

 lowing general statement : " It is a matter of common experience, how- 

 ever, that the duty of water has increased greatly of late years. The 

 reasons for this will be discussed in another part of the report.* That 

 this duty is not exceptionally great is shown by the experience of Utah 

 under similar climatic conditions, where a duty of 200 acres to the cubic 

 foot per second is not unusual, while in California a much higher duty is 

 attained. What has been accomplished 



on this river (the Cache la Poudre) in the way of records on increasing 

 the duty of water, and by reducing the work of dividing waters to a sys- 

 tem, which commends itself to all, can be done on other streams and in 

 other water districts." 



That seepage cuts an important figure in estimating the duty of 

 water will be seen by experiments made by Engineer Nettleton. In one 

 instance, "starting with a flow of 127,609 cubic feet per second in the 

 canon, before any water was drawn into canals, the volume at the lower 

 point, after supplying fifteen canals, had increased to 214,508 cubic feet 

 per second ; showing an addition of more than two-thirds of the original 

 amount, to supply canals further down the valley." 



Another experiment on the same river (Cache la Poudre) disclosed 

 the fact that more water passes through the canon during one day in the 

 hight of flood season than there does during a month in the fall. This 

 test applies rather to the matter of storage, and shows the possibility of 

 doubling the capacity of a stream, or greatly enlarging it by ample stor- 

 age facilities. 



* Colonel Nettleton in this reference accounts for the increased duty of water 

 mainly for the reason of the better knowledge from year to year of how and when 

 to apply water, and to the control the State has taken in the distribution of the 

 waters, and in the manner of defining appropriations. In another portion of the 

 report attention is called to the importance of seepage as a factor in the distribution 

 of moisture. 



