THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE IRRIGATION 



INVESTIGATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF 



EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



BY ELWOOD MEAD, IRRIGATION EXPERT IN CHARGE. 

 Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



(Concluded.) 



IRRIGATION IN THE INSULAR POSSESSIONS OF THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



Hawaiian Islands. During the past summer offi- 

 cials of the Hawaiian Islands requested this office to 

 make such investigation of the irrigation problems of 

 these islands as would furnish the facts needed in 

 framing an effective code of irrigation laws. The need 

 of such legislation is becoming urgent. Large -invest- 

 ments in irrigation works to supply water for the 

 growing of cane have made the subject of water 

 ownership and control of one of the most important 

 internal questions of these islands. Proposals have 

 been made by private parties to purchase from the 

 Government all of the water rights attached to pub- 

 lic lands. Wise action on such proposals will be 

 promoted by a thorough investigation of agricultural 

 conditions and the prospective needs of irrigators. An 

 agent is now engaged in collecting facts as to the use 

 of water on these islands. 



Porto Rico. Large areas in Porto Eico to be pro- 

 ductive require irrigation. Legislation will, therefore, 

 be needed for the establishment of water titles and to 

 protect the holders of these titles in times of scarcity. 

 It is now admitted everywhere that if water laws and 

 land laws had been framed and administered together 

 in the settlement of the arid West many of the compli- 

 cations which now exist could have been averted. The 

 opportunity is now open for inaugurating a compre- 

 hensive code of laws in Porto Eico which shall con- 

 trol development from the outset, and it is believed 

 that an investigation to determine the facts on which 

 such laws should be based should be inaugurated at 

 once. -^ 



THE NEED OF EARLY AND EFFECTIVE REFORM OF 

 IRRIGATION LAWS. 



While the area of land in the West susceptible of 

 reclamation is small when compared to the whole ex- 

 tent of the arid region, it is practically unlimited when 

 rference is had to the water supply. Along almost every 

 stream there is an almndance of irrigable land and a 

 shortage of water. This brings attention to the im- 

 portance of measurements and experiments to deter- 

 mine how much water is necessarv to successful agri- 

 culture, and to inaugurate such measures in its distri- 

 bution and use as will secure the utmost economy. 

 The area ultimately to be reclaimed will depend wholly 

 on the water supply, and any excessive or wasteful use 

 on land already under cultivation deprives other land 

 equally good of that which would give it value, pre- 

 vents the increase in homes and robs the State and 

 community of taxable wealth. The laws of most 

 Western States have recognized this and prohibited the 

 wasteful use of water, but without greater knowledge 

 thev can establish no standard by which to determine 

 what is wasteful use. 



The fact that the water supply is the source of all 

 agricultural values also emphasizes the need of an 



efficient system of public control. Some States have 

 realized this need and have provided for it. Colorado 

 has seventy-five officials, appointed by the governor, 

 whose sole duty it is to see that the water supply is 

 properly distributed. Wyoming has a like system, with 

 forty-eight officials engaged in guarding its water sup- 

 ply. Nebraska also has a similar system. Utah and 

 Idaho have also made partial provision for accom- 

 plishing this result. In the other States, where pro- 

 tection is afforded for every other kind of property, 

 water is left to be fought over in the field and in the 

 courts, and even when controversies are settled in this 

 way for one year, the next season of drouth is almost 

 certain to biiag a renewal of the conflict. In the locali- 

 ties where those using water from a stream can settle 

 their rights satisfactorily to all concerned, there is 

 nothing to prevent newcomers from building other 

 canals, establishing new rights, unsettling existing con- 

 ditions, and in this way prolonging the anxiety, uncer- 

 tainty and controversy indefinitely. 



There are other reasons for a prompt and com- 

 prehensive study of water-right problems. In every 

 arid State and Territory the acreage of land under 

 ditches already built is largely in excess of the land 

 now being cultivated. In Idaho there are about 1,600,- 

 000 acres of land under existing ditches, of which 

 only 600,000 are now being irrigated. In Wyoming 

 there are probably two acres under ditches for every 

 acre that is cultivated. Along the Arkansas Eiver in 

 Colorado and in western Kansas the same conditions 

 prevail. The same is true of the ditches in New 

 Mexico. In the Salt River Valley, in Arizona, the 

 canal systems cover an area of 350,000 acres, of which 

 less than 150,000 are being cultivated. In northern 

 California many completed ditches are only partly used 

 and a few not used at all. The rights to water in 

 most of these States are based upon the estimated ca- 

 pacities of the ditches, and when the lands for which 

 these rights have been acquired are actually brought 

 under cultivation the present difficulties experienced in 

 the distribution of the supply will be greatly enhanced. 

 This makes necessary two things: (1) More effective 

 administrative provisions, and (2) a knowledge of the 

 facts which ought to govern these officials in the per- 

 formance of their duties. In some of these States the 

 lack of cultivation of the lands under ditches is due 

 to an inadequate water supply. The streams on which 

 they depend have an abundance in the early part of 

 the season, but this is followed by a drouth in July 

 and August. Here the remedy will be found in slur- 

 age. In other cases, development has simply outrun 

 settlement and only time and effective measures for 

 colonization are required. In others inadequate water 

 laws and uncertainty regarding water titles is the cause 

 of the delay in making use of the facilities already 

 provided. Farmers do not feel warranted in building 

 laterals, planting crops and making contracts for water 

 when the most probable result of this outlay will be 

 an injunction suit. The storv told on pages 171-1 S:!, 

 Bulletin 100 of this office, shows that this danger is 

 not imaginary. 



The investigations of this office have shown that 

 the boundaries of^ irrigation districts should follow 

 drainage lines, that rights to water should include all 

 the watershed of the stream and that administrative 

 control should not be restricted, as it is now in some 

 States, by arbitrary county boundaries. In several 



