252 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



May 



3d. A perpetual right to the use of 

 that water on that land. 



4th. All these rights and the share 

 itself are made perpetually appurtenant 

 to the land. 



Thus establishing united ownership 

 of land and water. 



Distributing System. The distribut- 

 ing system to its outermost .lateral must 

 be under the control of one organization 

 of water-users that is responsible to the 

 Secretary of the Interior as long as the 

 government retains any interest in the 

 works constructed by it. 



Assessments. Assessments for the or- 

 dinary cost of operations, maintenance, 

 and repairs should be equally assessed 

 against all the lands under the distrib- 

 uting system. Any attempt to assess 

 on the basis of proportional benefits 

 would lead to endless confusion, litiga- 

 tion , and dissatisfaction . The land near 

 the head of a canal should pay per acre 

 the same as that at the end of the last 

 lateral. 



The safety and well-being of the en- 

 tire system is of equal interest to all 

 land-owners. Public interest of the 

 community should be maintained as 

 against the selfish claims of the more 

 favorably situated land-owners. 



Assessments for local benefits should 

 be assessed against those benefited, but 

 general benefits should be assessed 

 against all lands alike. An attempt to 

 make ' ' equitable ' ' assessments for gen- 

 eral purposes would lead to confusion, 

 litigation, and dissatisfaction. 



Security for Repayment to Govern- 

 ment. The government retains title to 

 all public lands under any irrigation sys- 

 tem built by it until all payments are 

 made, i. e., has the title to the land. 

 The same security should be maintained 

 on all private lands until the last pay- 

 ment is made for cost of construction, 

 operation, and maintenance. 



As the government cannot well take a 

 lien on the land, it must deal with some 

 organization that has such a lien and 

 control the action of that organization 

 by the government control of the water 

 supply going to it. 



This can only be accomplished by the 

 organization of the water users under 

 the system into an association through 

 which they can act as a unit in dealing 



with the government. The government 

 will deal with the individual in issuing 

 to each person a water right and patent 

 to his land, if not before obtained, but 

 each individual will agree with the gov- 

 ernment that the association will act as 

 his agent in the payment to the govern- 

 ment of the moneys due from him, and 

 that a delivery of his share of the reser- 

 voir water to the association shall be 

 deemed a delivery of it to him. 



It is felt that the articles of associa- 

 tion of the Salt River Water Users' 

 Association will carry the above plan 

 into effect in a manner satisfactory to 

 the Department of the Interior. 



The modifications proposed by the 

 minority would, if adopted, weaken the 

 security of the government through the 

 association, and would make the ad- 

 ministration of the distributing sys- 

 tem complex and impracticable. They 

 would also seriously limit the power of 

 the government to enforce its rules and 

 regulations through the association. 



It is provided in the articles of incor- 

 poration that they are subject to the 

 rules and regulations of the government 

 concerning the storage, diversion, de- 

 livery, application, or use of any water 

 stored, developed, or delivered to the 

 association. 



This assures the water user that he 

 will receive his due share of the water, 

 no matter whether near the headgates 

 or at the end of the outermost branch 

 of the distributing system. 



He is protected by the right of appeal 

 to the government if its rules and regu- 

 lations are not carried out by the asso- 

 ciation. Under the present system a 

 water user might subscribe for a reser- 

 voir right, but if he was located under 

 one of the several independent canals, 

 he could not be assured of its delivery. 



The Tonto Dam project for storing 

 water to be used in the Salt River val- 

 ley appears to be entirely practicable. 

 The work of construction will be begun 

 as soon as the water users of the valley 

 organize in such form as to give the 

 necessary assurance to the Department 

 that the cost of the Tonto dam and nec- 

 essary improvements will be returned 

 to the government as provided for in 

 the Irrigation Act, approved June 17, 

 1902. 



