THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



53 



by the Supreme Court, nor is it likely to be rendered 

 before May of this year. 



This suit was brought by the State of Wyom- 

 ing in the United States Supreme Court against the 

 District and State of Colorado to prevent the di- 

 version of water from the Laramie River through 

 a tunnel twelve thousand feet long into the Poudre 

 Valley. The Laramie River is not the only source 

 of supply for the District, but would be the source 

 of supply for approximately one-half. 



The energies of the District have been more or 

 less paralyzed by this suit. 



The issues in the case brought by Wyoming ' 

 were fundamentally that the diversion by Colorado 

 of the waters of a portion of the watershed, prac- 

 tically one-fourth of the watershed of the Laramie 

 in Colorado would interfere with the right of ditches 

 in Wyoming and be a damage to the State. 

 Wyoming also claimed that the taking of water 

 from its natural shed was contrary to fundamental 

 laws. The State of Colorado attempted to show 

 that Wyoming would not be injured ; that if she 

 utilized her own water supply with ordinary care 

 she has ample; that the situation did not justify 

 the stand that Colorado should be required to hold 

 a large area purely as a collecting ground for 

 Wyoming, and that the diversion of water from 

 one shed to another is a practice that has always 

 been followed in all countries and civilizations, and 

 in all the western States, and that Wyoming is 

 not only doing it to a great extent, but that she 

 herself is diverting water from the headwaters of 

 the Poudre into the Laramie basin. The District 

 has every reason to have confidence in the outcome, 

 and while a favorable decision will not settle all 

 its difficulties, it will encourage those interested to 

 greater action, which will help bring new life to 

 this promising section. 



Second in importance in national 

 Chamberlin- reclamation legislation only to the 

 Smith original Reclamation Act will be 



Irrigation the Chamberlain bill, if it becomes 



Bill a law. 



Briefly stated in general terms, 

 the bill provides that when on application the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior shall determine a project is 

 feasible, and after organization of irrigation or 

 drainage districts under the laws of the state, the 

 Government will accept approved irrigation or 

 drainage district bonds in sufficient sum to cover 

 the cost of the project, to bear interest not exceed- 

 ing four per centum per annum, and upon receipt 

 of same the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 

 certificates of indebtedness in amounts of $50 or 



multiples thereof, in an amount equal to the face 

 of the bonds. These certificates are to be disposed 

 of to citizens of the United States at not less than 

 their face value. The receipts from such sale are 

 to be used in the construction of the project under 

 direction of the government. 



The certificates of indebtedness are to be re- 

 tired by payments, principal and interest, of the 

 district bonds and the present Reclamation fund 

 will be called upon to make up any possible loss 

 to the general treasury, to meet which a sinking 

 fund is provided by setting aside each year a part 

 of moneys annually coming in to the present Recla- 

 mation fund. 



Under the bill both swamp and arid lands may 

 be reclaimed and states on the Great Lakes, on the 

 Mississippi River, on the Gulf, and on the Atlantic 

 coast, which have large areas of swamp land, will 

 find as much interest in the measure as do the 

 irrigation states, where the bill has met warm ap- 

 proval. 



The effect of the measure will be to make avail- 

 able for reclamation work, both irrigation and drain- 

 age, practically unlimited private capital at a low 

 rate of interest. There is now no market for irri- 

 gation district bonds, except for developed projects, 

 and if there were, the interest rate would be so high 

 as to be too much of a burden to the future farmers. 

 But under the guarantee of the Government, which 

 is the effect of this bill, the interest will probably be 

 less than 4 per cent. 



There is but little hope of the present Recla- 

 mation fund increasing for many years so as to 

 build many new projects, and the securing of money 

 from the general Treasury seems distant. This bill 

 is intended to obviate this difficulty by letting each 

 project, whether irrigation or drainage, pay its way 

 under the guarantee of the Government, the Gov- 

 ernment to build, take over and manage the same 

 (with funds thus provided) in the same manner as 

 projects now under its control are taken care of. 



The country as a whole is concerned in the 

 development of our agricultural resources every- 

 where, and not in any special form of reclamation. 



This bill appears in full in this issue of the AGE. 

 Several changes will no doubt be made in the bill 

 in the committee. Further information and some 

 possible changes may be suggested in our issue of 

 March. 



Every Federal water user should read The Irrigation Age. 

 It is fighting their battle. your neighbors do not take, the 

 Age, tell them about it. 



