134 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



enterprises, who know that all irrigation development 

 accomplished so far throughout the West has been by 

 private capital. It is a well-known fact that over 

 $200,000,000 have been expended under private con- 

 trol and not one acre so far has been brought under 

 cultivation by the efforts of the Eeclamation Bureau. 

 All work of this character under Government super- 

 vision has been in charge of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, office of experiment stations. It is doubtful 

 if the Nebraska State Board would have reached so 

 hasty a decision in favor of the Government if the facts 

 indicated above had been as thoroughly exploited 

 throughout the Nebraska State press as were those cir- 

 culated by the press bureau of the Eeclamation Service. 

 The people of Nebraska may some day awake to a 

 realization of the fact that its State Board would have 

 done better to have given a longer time to the study of 

 this matter before making a (decision. 



In a recent communication from Prof. 

 Kansas L. G. Carpenter, State Engineer of Colo- 



vs. rado, he calls attention to the short ed- 



Colorado. itorial which appeared in our February 

 issue concerning the Kansas-Colorado 

 suit. He states: 



"As this editorial possibly implies a misunder- 

 standing and as the case is so important in its rela- 

 tion to irrigation of any kind, your journal, published 

 for the interest of irrigation, can not afford to mis- 

 understand. An inference that you may not under- 

 stand may be unjustified, but as the matter is of such 

 importance to the whole west, I will write you a note, 

 even if unnecessary. 



"Were the case only one concerning the use of 

 water in Kansas and the use in Colorado, other States 

 would not be interested, except as the case might form 

 a precedent. Such an issue is not brought forward by 

 Kansas, and so far as it does come in, it is as a subor- 

 dinate and relatively unimportant issue. The real 

 issue, which is the most important, and which affects 

 every State in the west, and one which any person 

 who has spent any time at all in the irrigated regions 

 can scarcely conceive as possible, is whether any one 

 shall irrigate at all. This case is the first where the 

 doctrine of appropriation, as recognized wherever the 

 physical conditions require irrigation, and the doc- 

 trine of riparian rights have come in direct conflict. 

 The State of Kansas in its bill of complaint claims 

 "the right to the uninterrupted and unimpeded flow 

 of all the waters of said river into and across the State 

 of Kansas." (Page 26 of the amended bill of com- 

 plaint.) While the attorneys of that State probably 

 do not want to push that doctrine to its logical con- 

 clusion, it is a part of their complaint; they have 

 raised the issue and claim before the court of last 

 resort, and the decision, if such doctrine is recognized, 

 would affect the value, if not destroy, every ditch in 



the whole arid west, for it denies the right to with- 

 draw water from the river unless it is returned in un- 

 diminished quantity. The necessity of appropriation 

 is so apparent to one in the west, that most of our 

 own people have not realized the character of the con- 

 tention, or the seriousness of the doctrine; it is not 

 surprising that those of other States should assume 

 that the dispute is a local one. 



"The State of Kansas has also brought into the 

 case the claim that there has been some navigation 

 at the southern State line of Kansas, and that this 

 has been interfered with because of the alleged dimi- 

 nution of the river due to irrigation. This brings 

 in the navigation issue, which, in the Elephant Butte 

 case was interpreted that any ditch or any tributary 

 of a stream which might interfere with the flow of 

 water so as to affect navigation, even though insig- 

 nificant in amount, and hundreds of miles away, could 

 be enjoined. 



"These issues are the important issues and in de- 

 fending such suit Colorado is not simply defending her 

 own interests, but she is fighting for the very right 

 to exist of the whole arid region. 



"Hence the issues are so momentous in possibili- 

 ties that no one in Colorado who understands the mat- 

 ters at stake feels that the State can afford to omit any 

 step on the score of economy. The character of the 

 issues are such that Kansas does not need to expend 

 much to make a serious case, for the cases concerning 

 the use of water have come from the east, and there- 

 fore the riparian doctrine is recognized by scores of 

 decisions, and the arid doctrine of appropriation is 

 novel to precedent of our supreme court. When the 

 appropriation doctrine, therefore, comes in conflict 

 with the old riparian doctrine, the west are of necessity 

 forced to show reason why the court should recognize 

 a doctrine hitherto new to them. 



"The Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, which is 

 named as one of the defendants, and is mentioned in 

 your note, is very little involved directly in the case. 

 Its use of water is almost entirely for manufacturing, 

 is of the character of uses recognized as riparian, and 

 to a great extent it might have claimed exemption from 

 such suit. Such company would be seriously affected 

 as would any one with large interests in the State or 

 whose trade would be affected by the prosperity of the 



Is the Government to stoop to the po- 

 Petty sition of a petty competitor of private 



Competitor, irrigation projects? 



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