263 



THE IR&IGATION AGE. 



IRRIGATION LAWS. 



Along with the observations and experiments in 

 the use of water has gone a study of the laws and cus- 

 toms which control its distribution. This study reveals 

 the fact that the development of irrigation law has not 

 kept pace with irrigation engineering or agricultural 

 practices. As the need and value of water has in- 

 creased, engineers and farmers have found ways to 

 conserve the supply and economize in its use. But it is 

 too often the case that this increase in value has only 

 added to the uncertainty as to titles, since it presents 

 greater inducements or temptations to those holding 

 inferior rights to try to secure a larger share of the 

 supply. The absence of tribunals for the final estab- 

 lishment of water titles, and the lack of public control 

 over the division of streams, puts upon the holders of 

 the older and better rights the burden of protecting 

 their interests either by force or in the courts. The 

 greatest need of irrigation is legislation which will 

 end this uncertainty and controversy, but from the 

 nature of things such legislation is hard to secure. 

 Conservative legislative bodies' are slow to act, and they 

 often have not the information on which to base intelli- 

 gent action, even if they have the desire to do all that 

 should be done. The conflicting views of appropriators 

 of water make it impossible to enact any effective law 

 which will not be strongly opposed, or which will not 

 work hardship to some individual. The work of this 

 office is limited to collecting and publishing informa- 

 tion, with discussions by experts whose broad views en- 

 able them to better interpret the facts than is possible 

 where details and local interests obscure the general 

 policies which should prevail. 



Studies of irrigation laws and customs have been 

 made in connection with the measurements of water 

 in all the arid States and Territories. Comprehensive 

 studies of irrigation laws and customs have been made 

 in California and Utah. A report dealing with the 

 agricultural situation in California has just been pub- 

 lished. This study was undertaken in response to a 

 petition from the citizens of that State in the hope 

 that a clear statement of existing conditions would 

 help toward the enactment of a comprehensive code of 

 irrigation laws. 



A similar study has been made in Utah, and the 

 reports of the different observers are about ready for 

 publication. These reports will show that titles to 

 water in that State are far from being stable or secure 

 and that there is urgent need of a cheaper and simpler 

 method by which they can be permanently settled. 



The conditions found in California and Utah are 

 not peculiar to those States. They are common to 

 nearly all the arid States. Their betterment is the 

 first step in the successful or the complete use of West- 

 ern water supplies. As has been said, the work of this 

 office can not extend to the enactment of laws. It 

 must stop with showing existing conditions and point- 

 ing out remedies for the evils found. With this end 

 in view the larws of not only our own States, but of 

 Canada, Australia, Europe, and Egypt, are being studied 

 in order that the best lessons from the experience 

 of all the world may be within the reach of those who 

 must enact the laws which will protect and encourage 

 investment in irrigation enterprises. An agent of the 

 department is now in Egypt studying the legal sys- 

 tems in vogue there. 



ORGANIZATION OF IRRIGATION INDUSTRIES. 



Not less important than the system of irrigation 

 laws is the character of the organizations which con- 

 trol the water supply under these laws. Irrigation is 

 essentially a co-operative industry. In its beginning 

 small ditches were sometimes constructed by individual 

 farmers, but opportunities for such construction are 

 practically all utilized. The large canal covering the 

 lands of many farmers is in most remaining cases the 

 only possible one; hence the existence of the industry 

 calls for organization and co-operation, and in most 

 cases not only co-operation of farmers, but of capi- 

 talists as well. The problem to be solved here is how 

 to secure returns upon the capital invested and at the 

 same time keep the land and water within the reach 

 of the poor man, the only man who is seeking for a 

 new home. This problem has not been solved in this 

 country. It is one which must be solved before irriga- 

 tion can go much further. 



Under the laws of many States water rights are 

 granted to the canal companies. In those States the 

 rights of the farmers depend on the form of the or- 

 ganization of these companies rather than on the laws. 

 The reports of this office show that the peace and pros- 

 perity of many communTties, as. well as tile economy 

 with which water is used, depend almost wholly on the 

 rights of the individuals under the companies. This 

 study of organization and its effect on development is 

 being carried on wherever the measurements of water 

 have been made. 



In this connection it seems proper to reiterate the 

 views expresesd in a former report on the subject of 

 water rights. The first step in future development 

 should be to reach an enlightened agreement regard- 

 ing the true character of these rights. The idea of 

 private ownership in water apart from land can not 

 prevail without creating institutions essentially feudal 

 in character. To give to companies or individuals the 

 control of streams, and make the farmers who use those 

 streams dependent for their rights on the conditions 

 which these companies impose in private contracts, is 

 to make the water company the practical owner of 

 the land it serves and the irrigator and farmer a tenant. 

 A proposition which would contemplate turning over 

 all the land of the West to private monopolies and mak- 

 ing those who have homes upon it dependent upon these 

 monopolies would not command popular support, but 

 the idea of private ownership in water, amounting to 

 a virtual monopoly of this vital element, has been per- 

 mitted to grow up in some sections of the West. To 

 a certain extent it has obtained recognition in legisla- 

 tion and protection in judicial decrees and decisions. 

 Such a doctrine meets with no favor in other irrigated 

 lands, and should in this country give place to the 

 more just conception that rights to water should be 

 restricted to the right of use, and that ownership should 

 not be vested in either companies or individuals, but in 

 the land itself. When this principle is adopted the 

 control of water is divided like the control of land 

 among a multitude of proprietors; water monopoly is 

 impossible, and no other abuse or injustice is encour- 

 aged. Years of experience in other lands and the lim- 

 ited experience of this country have abundantly proven 

 that peaceful and orderly development can not be real- 

 ized except as water and land are united in one owner- 

 ship, and canals treated as public or semipublic utilities 

 rather than as a means of fastening a vicious monopoly 

 upon communities. 



