INTRODUCTION. 19 



courts and armed raids to destroy headgates or interfere with tlie use of 

 canals. Ability and success in material development have been rendered 

 futile by marked failure in legislation. Some of the best examples of 

 ditch construction to be found in this country are in Califoniia, but the 

 operation of these works is embarrassed by legislation which violates every 

 jjrinciple necessary to enduring success. 



The present situation is the natural outcome of this combination of 

 favorable and adverse conditions. Although in-igated land in California 

 has a greater value than in any other arid State, the watered area is as yet 

 insignificant when compared to what is possible, and the rate of extension is 

 slow. While Avater rents for a higher price than elsewhere, more runs to 

 waste than is used. There are few places in the world where rural life has 

 the attractions or possibilities which go with the irrigated home in 

 California, yet immigration is almost at a stand.still and population in some 

 of the farmed districts has decreased in the past ten years. It is certain 

 that some potent but not natural cause is responsible for this, and this cause 

 seems to be a lack of certainty or stability in water rights which has given 

 an added hazard to ditch building and been a prolific source of litigation 

 and neighborhood ill feeling. Farmers who desire to avoid the courts and 

 live on terms of peace and concord with their neighbors avoid districts 

 where these conditioiis prevail. Hence the obstacle to California's growth 

 seems to have been unfavorable social conditions, rather than lack of 

 natural opportunities. 



There is a widespread feeling that the time has come to improve this 

 situation. The call for the convention which gave the first impulse to tliis 

 investigation was due to the promptings of an awakened public spirit, 

 seeking not solely the larger use of the State's resources, but the creation 

 of better social and industrial conditions. It is hoped that the facts 

 herein presented will at least show the need of action. The)- ought to 

 do moi'e; they ought to lead to such changes in laws and methods as 

 will define and make stable all existing rights and protect those rights 

 when defined as far as human agencies can accomplish this result. 



The reports which follow give the results of the most comprehensive 

 study yet made in this country of the social, legal, and economic problems 

 created bv the use of streams to reclaim arid lands. It has been carried 

 out under the direction of the Oflfice of Experiment Stations of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, but its effectiveness has been greatly increased 

 by the financial aid extended by the Water and Forest Association and 

 other local associations of the State. The appropriations for these studies 

 made by Congress and the contributions of money and time by the 



