222 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



(Continued from page 221) 



the right to pro rata distribution. Raywood Rice Canal 

 & Milling Co. v. Erp, Supreme Court of Texas. 

 146 Southwestern 155. 



LIABILITY OF IRRIGATION COMPANY. 



In an action against an irrigation company for 

 damages for failure to furnish sufficient water to raise 

 a full crop on a stipulated number of acres, whether a 

 later contract, by which the company agreed to fur- 

 nish a limited amount of water, was executed by plain- 

 tiff under duress, was immaterial, where the failure 

 to furnish the water was occasioned by drought or 

 accident, both contracts being subject to the provisions 

 of Irrigation Act 1895 (Acts 24th Leg. c. 21), 11, 

 as amended by Acts 24th Leg. c. 23, requiring dis- 

 tribution pro rata. Raywood Rice Canal & Milling 

 Co. v. Erp. Supreme Court of Texas. 146 Southwest- 

 ern 155. 



RIPARIAN RIGHTS. 



The license given by Idaho Rev. Stat. 3184, to 

 the owners of land adjacent to any stream, "to place 

 in the channel of, or upon the banks or margin of 

 the same, rams or other machines for the purpose of 

 raising the waters thereof to a level above the banks 

 requisite for the flow thereof to and upon such adja- 

 cent lands," does not confer any power to appropriate, 

 without reference to beneficial use, the entire volume 

 of a river or its current, to the destruction of the 

 rights of others to make appropriations of the unused 

 water. Schodde v. Turin Falls Land & Water Co. 

 Supreme Court of the LTnited States. 32 Sup. Ct. 

 Rep. 470. 



PERCOLATING WATERS. 



Where an owner of land collected into a pond 

 thereon water from springs, seepage, percolation, and 

 an artesian well sunk on his land, and by ditches con- 

 veyed the water to different parts of his land for 

 irrigation, and constructed an artificial water course 

 through which water was conveyed into a ditch run- 

 ning along the side of an easement and right of way 

 of another, who during the irrigation season of each 

 year for the last nine years used the water in irrigat- 

 ing his land, the latter did not acquire any prescrip- 

 tive or vested right in the water as against the owner 

 without reference to the question as to whether the 

 common-law rule that water percolating through the 

 soil without any definite channel is a part of the free- 

 hold should be modified, and the owner had the abso- 

 lute right to intercept the water before it left his 

 premises. Gams v. Rollins. Supreme Court of Utah. 

 125 Pacific 867. 



ABANDONMENT. 



The question of abandonment of a water right is 

 one of fact to be determined by the judge or jury, as 

 the case may be. Central Trust Co. v. Culver. Court 

 of Appeals of Colorado. 129 Pacific 253. 



POWER OF LEGISLATURE. 



The General Assembly has power to make an ap- 

 propriation to protect the rights of the state in its nat- 

 ural streams and the waters thereof, and the interest 

 of its citizens acquired thereunder. Stockman v. 

 Leddy, State Auditor. Supreme Court of Colorado. 

 129 Pacific 220. 



Reclamation Notes 



ARIZONA. 



Plans for the reclamation of 250,000 acres of 

 rich farming land lying between Winslow and Hoi- 

 brook, and owned by the St. Louis and San Fran- 

 cisco Railroad Company, are well under way. A 

 few months may see actual work commenced on the 

 construction of irrigation dams which are to im- 

 pound water to irrigate the vast area. This infor- 

 mation was recently given out by A. S. Grieg, vice- 

 president of the company, who recently visited 

 Phoenix. Mr. Grieg stated that several dams would 

 be built, as there are numerous small reservoir sites. 

 He declined to say just how much money will be 

 required to build the necessary dams and canals. 

 ' The cost, however, will run into several millions of 

 dollars. Several years will be occupied in com- 

 pleting the work. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Articles of incorporation have been filed by the 

 Orange Vista Irrigation Company ; principal place 

 of business Los Angeles; capital stock $10,000. 



On April 6th five thousand, people saw the first 

 waters rush into the two great irrigation ditches 

 that extended from the Goodwin Dam to the Oak- 

 dale and South San Joaquin districts, comprising 

 140,000 acres of land. The enterprise has meant an 

 expenditure of $6,000,000, all of which was raised 

 by the owners of property within the two districts. 

 The Goodwin dam that impounds the water of the 

 Stanislaus river so that a portion of it may be di- 

 verted to the ditches, is located about 40 miles from 

 Stockton. 



The trouble between water users and the Fresno 

 Canal & Irrigation Company recently reached the 

 State Railroad Commission in the form of an action 

 brought by D. E. Brown, a Kingsbury rancher, and 

 others, against the Consolidated Canal Company, 

 which is a part of the Fresno Canal & Irrigation 

 Company's system. In view of the fact that the 

 trouble has been brought up before the railroad 

 commission, it is possible that other water users 

 on other systems will co-operate with the Kings- 

 bury people in this case. According to the complaint 

 of Brown, the water company's service is inade- 

 quate, its practices are discriminatory and it has 

 failed to live up to its contracts. This action fol- 

 lowed a meeting of the Kingsbury Water users and 

 the complaint was accompanied by a petition signed 

 by 102 water users of Fresno, Kings and Tulare 

 counties. 



The Lucerne Valley Development Company has 

 been organized to develop a rich valley on the desert 

 side of the San Bernardino mountains, about 

 twelve miles from Victorville. The articles of in- 

 corporation have been filed with the county clerk. 

 The company will sink artesian wells and install 

 irrigation systems and engage in general business in 

 the valley. The directors of the company are Sam- 

 uel T. Montgomery of Alhambra; F. H. Lee, of 

 Lucerne Valley, and Fred H. Fewell, of Lucerne 

 Valley. 



(Continued on page 224) 



