THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



55 



IDAHO ADVANCES IN IRRIGATION LEGISLATION 



At its last ses- 

 sion the state 

 I e g i s 1 a t ure of 

 Idaho appointed 

 an Irrigation and 

 Drainage C o m - 

 mission to recom- 

 mend changes in 

 the state's irriga- 

 tion laws. The re- 

 port of that body 

 was completed a 

 few days ago and 

 was turned over 

 to the governor 

 of that state. It 

 is in part as fol- 

 lows : 



"With two dif- 

 ferent methods of 

 filing on public 

 \v a t e r s of the 

 state, and espe- 

 cially Since there Power House at Mountain View, Idaho. One 



is no record of the 



filings under the constitutional method, numerous- 

 conflicts have arisen as to priority rights ; irrigation 

 litigation has been multiplied many fold and a feel- 

 ing of uncertainty exists among the water users on 

 many of our streams. The existence of these dif- 

 ferent methods of acquiring water rights have com- 

 plicated the adjudication of the water rights on 

 the various streams of the state, to the detriment 

 of the water users thereof. 



"It is the opinion of the commission that the 

 constitutional method should be abolished. To do 

 so it will be necessary for the legislature to pass 

 a resolution for submission to the people for ratifi- 

 cation, and the quickest time within which it can 

 be hoped to accomplish this would be in Novem- 

 ber, 1918. There 

 should exist but 

 one method where- 

 by water rights 

 can be acquired, 

 and that method 

 should be through 

 the state en- 

 gineer's office, so 

 that complete rec- 

 ords of the water 

 filings on the re- 

 spective streams 

 could be kept for 

 the use of the 

 public. Such rec- 

 ords would espe- 

 cially prove valu- 

 able for the in- 

 tending appropri- 

 ator. 



of the Best Equipped Stations in the West. 



Enormous Centrifugal Pump Being Hauled to Snake River, Idaho. 



"The two meth- 

 ods of appropri- 

 ating our public 

 waters have pro- 

 voked much un- 

 necessary litiga- 

 tion when it came 

 to adjudicate the 

 waters of those 

 streams upon 

 which two differ- 

 ent kinds of water 

 filings have been 

 made. 



"The states of 

 Oregon and 

 Wyoming have 

 what is known as 

 a state water 

 board and a board 

 of control, re- 

 spectively, whose 

 principal duties 

 are to adjudicate 

 the water rights, 



to fix the duty of water from year to year, and to 

 have general supervision of the waters of those 

 states. All matters pertaining to the irrigation in- 

 dustry come under their jurisdiction. The plans 

 followed in those states have proven highly suc- 

 cessful, and are worthy of consideration. 



"In the state of Oregon, during the first three 

 years of the state water board, 965 separate water 

 rights were adjudicated at a cost of approximately 

 10 cents per acre. Adjudications have been speedily 

 and satisfactorily made in Wyoming at an even 

 less per acre cost. 



"With possibilities for irrigation development 

 far in excess of her sister states of Wyoming and 

 Oregon, there should be created in this state a board 



of irrigation, 

 whose duties 

 would be to have 

 general super- 

 vision of the en- 

 tire industry of 

 i r r i g a tion and 

 drainage, to have 

 full supervision 

 of the waters of 

 the state, their 

 a p p r o p riation, 

 d i s t ribution, di- 

 version, adjudica- 

 tion, and of all 

 the various oflfi- 

 c i a 1 s connected 

 with the adminis- 

 t r a t i o n of the 

 water laws. They 

 should be given 



(Continued on page 62) 



