484 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



declare that the construdlion of a ditch and record of 

 statement shall give priority of right to water, but all 

 such statutes are in that respedl unconstitutional. 



Adjudication of Priorities.— The Colorado Stat- 

 utes provide a method for the adjudication of priorities 

 as between claimants of water from the same stream ; 

 and many attempts have been made by the courts to 

 carry out these laws, but with little success and un- 

 satisfadlory results, mainly from the fadl that the law 

 is imperfe(5l, vague, and indefinite, and the courts in 

 attempting to follow its provisions have lost sight of 

 constitutional restrictions. In many instances the con- 

 strudlion and record of a ditch right was treated as 

 equivalent to the appropriation of water to the extent 

 of the capacity of the ditch, and in some instances 

 parties were decreed priorities, to take effedl upon 

 future contingency, when an actual appropriation to 

 beneficial use in each case should have been the basis 

 of the decree. 



Rights Existing in Parole. — Under the Colo- 

 rado system, water rights exist almost exclusively in 

 parole, and hence there is the greatest latitude for dis- 

 putes and litigation. Since these rights have been de- 

 clared to be in the nature of " realty," a code of laws 

 should be ena<5led requiring a complete public record 

 to be kept of each water right. 



