104 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSAL OF SEEPAGE WATER 



By JAMES G. WHITEHEAD, 



President of the Nebraska State Irrigation Association and Banker of Mitchell, Neb. 



German land buyers inspecting an artesian well near Littleneld, Texas. Cour 



NO LAW 

 should find 

 a place among 

 our statutes 

 that will not 

 stand the test 

 of ethics. It is 

 not enough to 

 say it is expe- 

 dient or that 

 by it a disa- 

 greeable situa- 

 tion is relieved. 

 It must not, in 

 i t s operation, 

 deprive any one 

 of his rights or 

 privileges, even 

 though some 

 may be bene- 

 fited. Any legis- 

 lative action 

 that brings good 

 to the people, 

 without harm to any, is wholesome legislation and 

 will be likely to receive the plaudits of honest and 

 thoughtful men. No man should have the right to 

 better his own condition at the expense of his 

 neighbor. His misfortunes he may justly seek to 

 relieve, if he does not, in so doing, take from an- 

 other that which is his nor lay on him burdens not 

 properly his to bear. 



The ownership and disposal of seepage water 

 may be considered from two viewpoints: First, 

 that of the land owner whose land is seeped. Sec- 

 ond, that of the land owner who needs water for 

 irrigation or other beneficial use. These two inter- 

 ests may be antagonistic or they may be made 

 common. If the owner whose land is seeped and 

 the owner who needs water are neighbors, they can 

 agree on the development of the seepage water and 

 its disposition, but if the water is to be applied to 

 lands at a distant point and there are several claim- 

 ants for it the situation becomes complexed. 



I shall try to include in this discussion the in- 

 terest and rights of each party the one who 

 wishes to get rid of the water and the one who 

 wants it. 



The owner whose land has become seeped must 

 find a way to drain it or he has lost the value it 

 had before it became seeped. He is damaged 

 through no fault of his. The application to other 

 lands, which caused his misfortune, was not for his 

 benefit nor of his choosing. The responsibility for 

 such a condition cannot well be discussed in this 

 paper and I shall not attempt it. We are to deal 

 with a condition already existing and seek a 

 remedy. 



Earth. 



The owner- 

 ship of water 

 in running 

 streams is con- 

 ceded to be in 

 the state, so 

 that we may 

 consider seep 

 water, as to its 

 o w n e rship as 

 being water on 

 lands before it 

 reaches a run- 

 ning stream. A 

 farm, by reason 

 of the use of 

 water on land 

 above it, be- 

 comes water- 

 logged, small 

 lakes and pools 

 develop, which 

 render it use- 

 less for agri- 

 cultural purposes. To construct drain ditches to 

 gather the water and carry it off costs money, and 

 no one is more interested in having this done than 

 the man whose farm is seeped. It is easy to get 

 his co-operation in remedying conditions. 



Usually where seepage develops the seeped 

 area includes several farms or parts of farms, and 

 it is found economical for the owners of these farms 

 to join together and form a drainage district and 

 construct the main drains jointly, assessing the cost 

 in proportion to the benefit each will receive. It is 

 necessary, in planning the work to be done, that 

 the proposed project as a whole shall be considered 

 and not simply the needs of a single farmer. In 

 this way the greatest amount of good can be ac- 

 complished with the minimum of expense. 



The prime object is to relieve the land of sur- 

 plus water and to make it again valuable as farm 

 land. The water thus accumulated and carried off 

 has a value. They are not simply getting rid of a 

 pest a thing that is of no use to anyone, but rather 

 they are developing a valuable asset if properly 

 used where there is a need for it. 



Should those developing it at expense to them- 

 selves be allowed to dispose of it in order to partly 

 compensate themselves for the expense of its de- 

 velopment? 



Is it just that they be partly reimbursed for 

 their labor? 



Although they are working to relieve them- 

 selves from their unfortunate condition, yet they 

 are making available to someone who needs it, the 

 water necessary to make the production of crops 

 possible, where it was not possible so long as the 



