1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



167 



While uniformity of practice regard- 

 ing distribution of water might be de- 

 sirable, yet throughout the arid region 

 it is not an essential, since local condi- 

 tions are so different. P'or example, 

 methods and machinery may be used in 

 Arizona to maintain a reservoir and 

 divide its waters entirely different from 

 those used in Montana, and yet the re- 

 sults for the people of both states be 

 equally satisfactory. Certain general 

 principles being assured, there is no 

 reason w^hy the laws and regulations of 

 Arizona should be identical with those 

 of some northern state. 



To all these doubts and difficulties 

 and fears of trouble and complications 

 the same reasoning ma}' be applied. 

 From the best knowledge obtainable, it 

 would seem to be neither feasible nor 

 advisable to attempt in advance to bring 

 about ideal conditions. If, as proposed 

 in the legislation under consideration, 

 the Congress adopts the proviso that 

 right to the use of water acquired shall 

 be perpetually appurtenant to the land, 

 and that beneficial use shall be the basis, 

 measure, and the limit of the right, and, 

 further, that the distribution shall be in 

 accordance with local laws and customs, 

 the anticipated complications wnll grad- 

 ually adjust themselves. 



PRELIMINARY WORK ALREADY DONE. 



All intelligent legislation is best pro- 

 moted when based upon full knowledge, 

 and an enterprise so vast in its ultimate 

 magnitude should be undertaken only 

 after thorough study of present condi- 

 tions and future needs. The actual 

 work of construction of reclamation 

 projects should be entered upon only 

 after a full knowledge has been gained 

 of the cost and benefits of each, and 

 every individual scheme should be con- 

 sidered solely upon its own merits and 

 its relation to the full, ultimate devel- 

 opment of the country. 



DEFINITE PROJECTS READY FOR 

 ACTION. 



Certain definite, well-matured proj- 

 ects, with their costs and benefits, have 

 been fully considered. If the.se are 



proper, they should be built, and when 

 other projects are known to be feasible, 

 the}-, too, should be weighed carefully 

 and decided upon the merits of each 

 case The next Congress and the next 

 generation of legislators and engineers 

 will probabl}' be as wi.se as the present, 

 and can manage with equal ability. 

 Out of the large number of projects ex- 

 amined, which undoubtedly .should be 

 built by public funds surveys, plans, 

 and estimates therefor having been pre- 

 pared may be mentioned the follow- 

 ing: The San Carlos storage reservoir 

 in Arizona, reclaiming 100,000 acres or 

 more of public land at an estimated cost 

 of $1,040,000; the construction of res- 

 ervoirs in the Sierra Nevada in Califor- 

 nia for reclaiming desert lands in Ne- 

 vada; the diversion of St. Marj- River 

 into the headwaters of Milk River, in 

 Montana. 



Of one of these the Secretary of the 

 Interior, in his latest annual report, 

 says: 



"If it should be determined that the 

 San Carlos dam, for example, is to be 

 built by the government, every acre of 

 vacant land to be supplied with water 

 would be immediatel}- taken in small 

 tracts by men who would not only cul- 

 tivate the ground when water is had, 

 but in the meantime would be available 

 as laborers in the construction of the 

 w^orks, and would ultimately refund to 

 the government the cost of the under- 

 taking." 



RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMMISSION. 



We recommend that the Congress 

 enact laws: 



1 . To provide for national control of 

 sources of water supply upon which 

 two or more states may depend for irri- 

 gation. 



2. To provide for further comprehen- 

 sive surveys of the arid lands of the 

 United States, and for an immediate 

 estimate of the water supply available 

 for reclamation thereof ; for the con- 

 struction of storage reservoirs and irri- 

 gation works by which to utilize the 

 water supply of the arid regions to the 

 greatest possible extent; to reclaim said 

 arid lands of the United States, rcserv- 



