250 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



As we have to deal, in this instance, with the operations 

 of a Federal project, it is important that a true conception 

 of the character of the "Water Right," i. e., "Right to the 

 use of water," be had. Section 8 of the Reclamation Act pro- 

 vides inter ali, "That the right to the use of water acquired 

 under the provisions of this act shall be appurtenant to the 

 land irrigated and beneficial use shall be the basis, the meas- 

 ure and the limit of the right." 



Let us make clear just what this means, in a practical 

 way. The significance of it is that each and every tract that 

 is "signed up" (pledged to secure'the lien of the Government 

 for repayment of its proportionate share of the cost of con- 

 struction) has a valid and indefeasible right to its pro-rata 

 share of the water available, so long as the statutory and 

 contractual conditions of the Government as complied with, 

 whether the tract embraces five or 160 acres. What amount 

 of water shall this represent in concrete figures? To the 

 average western man, this question will appear capable of 

 easy answer, but the importance of the subject seems to 

 warrant some explanation, and the answer involves consider- 

 ation of the so-called "duty" of water. It must be remembered 

 that portions of the valley have been irrigated not only in 

 prehistoric times, as the remains of ancient ditches abundantly 

 testify, but during the era of which we treat the first ditch 

 having been "taken out" in 1867. Extension of cultivation and 

 irrigation continued rapidly, settlers being attracted by the 

 manifold advantages of soil and climate. During all the 

 period prior to the construction of the Roosevelt dam and 

 reservoir, irrigation (excluding the relatively small area 

 served by pumping the underflow in the valley), was de- 

 pendent entirely upon the caprice of the Salt River and its 

 tributary. How erratic this flow from month to month, and 

 how great its volume in the aggregate, is set forth in inter- 

 esting fashion in the records of the Geological Survey, cov- 

 ering a period of a quarter-century. This extension resulted 

 in over-appropriation of the dependable surface supply from 

 the river and consequent distress for the later ditches. The 

 earlier '"priorities" were later decreed the rights to which 

 entitled, by the local courts, upon the universally established 

 principle of "first in time, first in right," and, as a rule, these 

 rights were of tangible value exactly in proportion to the 

 duration, seasonal variation, and amount of flow of the 

 stream. A few of the very early ditches with decreed rights 

 to the regular flow of the stream adequate even under pres- 

 ent conditions, are not embraced in the Federal project, and 

 are independent of its operation the so-called "Tempe" 

 canal in the vicinity of Tempe being an example. 



Parenthetically, it may be explained that it was this 

 condition that forced the agitation for the much-needed 

 storage of water and equalization of flow. The existence 

 of so large an acreage under ditch without a dependable 

 supply of water of the great area of land of tremendous 

 potential value the recognition of the inherent advantages 

 of the valley, were all of them factors in deciding the loca- 

 tion of government activity. 



Cattle on Alfalfa in Salt River Valley, Arizona. 



This historical digression is made to show that agricul- 

 ture had been carried on in the valley during a period ex- 

 tended enough to demonstrate the water needs of varying 

 crops and soils as expressed in the unit of measurement in 

 vogue today, the acre-foot, i. e., water enough to cover an 

 acre one foot deep. Let us assume the average depth for 

 the entire valley with cultivation carried on 365 days in the 

 year as four acre-feet that would represent the amount 

 to which the holder of a "water right" were entitled the 

 maximum amount. How would the application of this prin- 

 ciple operate as applied to conditions existing at the present 

 time? The total area to be served is 240,000 acres, of which 

 40,000 acres are to be supplied by pumping leaving a residue 

 of 200,000 acres to be served by gravity or "surface" flow. 

 The capacity of the reservoir is 1,284,000 acre-feet, or in ex- 

 cess of 6 acre-feet to every acre of land to be served by 

 gravity embraced in the project. Now it is a fact that only 

 during a part of the year will it be necessary to draw upon 

 this reserve of stored water as the normal flow of the Salt 

 River and of the Verde River (discharging into the Salt 

 River below the reservoir) available for direct distribution 

 is, at certain periods, of tremendous volume, and far in ex- 

 cess of the needs of the entire project. It is entirely safe to 

 assume that when the time arrives when every irrigable 

 acre in the valley is under cultivation, the draft upon the 

 stored water (disregarding the small factor of evaporation 

 loss) under normal conditions of river flow will not exceed a 

 possible one-third of the total available. But there is an- 

 other factor well understood by practical irrigators. It is 

 this as the irrigated area is extended, with the raising 

 of the ground-water-level with improved cultured meth- 

 ods and more scientific distribution, the "duty" of water 

 increases in other words, less is required than at the be- 

 ginning. It is not unreasonable to believe that the "duty" 

 of water in the valley may in time be raised to 3 acre- 

 feet per annum equivalent to 36 inches of rainfall, ap- 

 plied when and where needed not at the whim of the 

 elements. This, then, is the meaning of a "water right" 

 in this valley, that the holder of such a right has a per- 

 petual title to enough water for his needs, but under the 

 enlightened system prevailing, for no more; "beneficial 

 use being the basis, the measure and the limit of the 

 right" he may not flood his land at will, to the detriment 

 not only of his own but his neighbor's possessions. This 

 "right" is not a fiction. If an analogy be required, it is 

 like that of a shareholder in a bank with a strong reserve, 

 for back of every acre, as a perpetual safeguard against 

 drouth, lies the almost inconceivably vast store of water 

 in the reservoir an amount sufficient to inundate the en- 

 tire project to a depth of six feet, if evenly distributed; 

 This water right means even more it means that the 

 holder is a proportionate prospective owner of the monu- 

 mental plant now built at a cost of ten millions of dollars 

 a plant that, unlike most industrial "plants," will con- 

 tinually increase in value as canals and laterals become 

 "seasoned" a plant which he and his fel- 

 lows are acquiring at actual cost the Gov- 

 ernment has figured no profits on construc- 

 tion has even discounted interest charges 

 a plant with which is combined a feature 

 that, even now. commercially considered, is 

 earning dividends, although indirectly dis- 

 tributed the sale of electricity generated 

 at the immense power stations embraced by 

 the system. This grand system the prod- 

 uct of years of thought and of Herculean 

 effort, will, when all payments to the Gov- 

 ernment have been completed, become the 

 prooerty of the holders of "water rights" 

 in fee, with all its revenue-producing possi- 

 bilities, and the "right" represents an equi- 

 table interest in a property of which not 

 only the physical valuation will increase, 

 but the earning possibilities of which, for 

 irrigation and power, can hardly be con- 

 jectured. It is a "right" that cannot, like a 

 share of stock, as is possible in some com- 

 munities, he held "in suspense" or apart 

 from land for speculative purposes, but it 

 is. and must forever remain attached and 

 p^ourtenant to the land to which deeded. 

 Can a more perfect method of procedure be 

 conceived? The Government, it should be 

 remarked, does not deal with the individual 



