REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XCI 



nor in which aid can be most effectively extended, as well as to 

 determine the amount of such aid. It must be borne in mind that we 

 are not at the beginning of irrigation development. Over two hun- 

 dred millions of private capital has already been invested in the con- 

 struction of irrigation works. The rights to streams already acquired 

 represent many additional millions. The methods and customs by 

 which these properties are operated and rights to streams established 

 are the result of an evolution local in character; hence they differ 

 widely in the different States. An illustration of the situation which 

 prevails is furnished by the South Platte River and its tributaries in 

 Colorado. There are over a thousand separate and distinct rights to 

 the water of this stream. Some of these rights serve to irrigate over 

 a hundred farms. The water right of one canal provides for the irri- 

 gation of over four hundred farms. Practically all of these thousand 

 appropriations have reference to a common supply. Each right has 

 a different rank, and the division, extending over thousands of miles 

 of the main stream and its tributaries, must be carried out with refer- 

 ence to relative priorities. Such a division is a complex and difficult 

 problem. It has required nearly half a century for the people of this 

 section to solve it and devise a working system, but as a result of 

 their experience each irrigator has come to understand his own rights 

 and those of his neighbor, and has learned what to expect when the 

 stream is low and what he can rely upon when it is high. 



It is a question whether any appropriations which Congress might 

 make for the construction of additional works in this district would 

 not inflict more injury than benefit if such construction carried with 

 it any disturbance or interference with the existing system, which 

 people understand and to which they are attached. 



The water laws of Colorado differ from those of other States. In 

 Utah rights are established in a different manner and are of a different 

 character, and these rights are enforced by a different body of officials. 

 There are still other differences in Wyoming, and much more striking 

 differences in California. This does not mean that any of these sys- 

 tems are entirely satisfactory. All would be improved by modifica- 

 tion, but the change from present conditions should be made only 

 when the people whose interests are at stake are ready for it. 



The passage by Congress of any law giving the General Govern- 

 ment control over irrigation in the West would mean, first of all, the 

 employment of a large number of new officials and the formulation 

 of an administrative policy to take the place of those now existing in 

 the States. It would impose upon national officers the duty of deter- 

 mining what claims to water should be recognized and those which 

 should be disregarded. As State laws differ from each other, any plan 

 which Congress might adopt would have to be revolutionary in some 

 States. If it were certain that the National Legislature would devise a 



