IRRIGATION 243 



ditions, the priority of the right to use water as acquired 

 by those first entering upon such use. That the state 

 should, in some instances, reserve the ownership of the 

 water and the right to regulate its use, or even after a 

 certain date demand a rental price, is advocated by 

 some people. These laws should contain regulations 

 under which public officers and officers of co-operative 

 associations and private irrigation companies must work 

 in distributing the water to the various citizens and 

 individual users. 



Proper provisions should be made for the appoint- 

 ment of competent officials under some system of civil 

 service. Suitable means for locating, altering and even 

 discontinuing irrigation ditches and aqueducts should 

 be provided. Comprehensive laws should deal with 

 the construction and maintenance of public irrigation 

 canals and the distribution of the water to the adjacent 

 land. However comprehensively a state may devise its 

 general law, special and minor laws will be necessary. 

 Penalties for injury to canals or gates and for the un- 

 authorized use of water are necessary. In all states 

 where irrigation waters are likely to be used, laws under 

 which water rights can be secured should be passed, and 

 the county or state engineer should be required to make 

 surveys with proper records of all claims at the time 

 the rights are entered upon for water available for irri- 

 gation, and these records should be evidence of priority 

 of rights. These records should include a record of the 

 size of ditch used in leading the water away from any 

 stream or lake. 



Water rights often conflict with the rights of those 

 interested in transportation by water. Especially is this 

 true with owners of water powers and with logging com- 

 panies who desire to use the flood water from rivers, 

 lakes and reservoirs to aid them in floating their logs 

 to the mills and near to their markets, 



