CHAPTER XXIV. 

 THE COMMON LAW OF IRRIGATION. 



"IP ARLY in the history of agriculture in the arid 

 '^ I regions of the west, it became apparent that 

 ^^1 the common law, rules and principles of ripa- 

 rian ownership could not obtain; such laws 

 would have been unjust, and were wholly unsuited to 

 the condition of affairs there found to exist, and the 

 people set about to discover principles and formulate 

 rules which might be more just and equitable. The 

 questions are numerous and complex, the whole mat- 

 ter is fraught with problems most difficult, new 

 theories are constantly arising, and the greatest diver- 

 sity of views exists among those who have given years 

 of close and careful study to the subje<5l ; and how far 

 the people have succeeded in their efforts to solve these 

 questions can only be determined by a careful exam- 

 ination of the statutes and decisions of those States 

 and Territories where the subjedl of irrigation has 

 commanded the attention of profound thinkers and 

 able jurists. The writer's humble opinion is that the 

 laws upon these subjedls are far from perfedt in any 

 sedlion of the arid country, and he furthermore believes 

 that many years of evolution and change in these laws 

 will be necessary before anything approaching a just 

 exposition of the principle applicable will assume a 

 definite form. 



473 



