SEEPAGE AND DRAINAGE. 44 1 



the far west. On the other hand, this seepage water 

 returning to the stream from which it originally came 

 passes on to bless the fields of those who live farther 

 down. The courts have been asked to decide damage 

 suits for injury often caused by seepage, but judgment 

 cannot usually be obtained, although such may be the 

 result where wilful negligence is shown on the part of 

 the defendant corporation or individual. It generally 

 devolves upon the owner of impaired land to seek his 

 own relief, which is done by drainage, pumping, or 

 other means known to irrigation experts. Of later 

 years the trouble is quite apparent on some of the up- 

 lands, and with it eomes the added difficulty of alkali 

 rising to the surface. All these things imply careless- 

 ness and extravagance in the use of water on land, 

 and the remedy rests largely in the judgment of the 

 consumer himself. Irrigating out of season, allowing 

 the water to run longer than necessary, and a mis- 

 understanding of the soils on which it is applied are 

 all paramount sources of water-sick land. 



Remedial Agencies. — In some places, particu- 

 larly in Utah, the damaging effedls of seepage have 

 become such a nuisance as to threaten public menace. 

 In most instances the trouble might have been more 

 easily prevented than can be cured, and prevention 

 should now be invoked in such localities as are not 

 already suffering from the advanced stages of over- 

 watering. If the ground is leveled at the outset so 

 that it can be watered evenly and drains are made to 

 carry away the surplus, there is not much danger, 

 provided the waste-drains are not discharged so as to 

 damage other lands below. There is no hardship in 



