50 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



The Northwest irrigation act^ was formed in accordance with the recom- 

 mendations of this report. The sections of that act, as amended in 1898, 

 i-eferring to riparian rights are as follows: 



Sec. 4. The property in and the right to the use of all the water at any time in any river, stream, 

 water course, lake, creek, ravine, canyon, lagoon, swamp, marsh, or other body of water shall, for the 

 purposes of this act, be deemed to be vested in the Crown, unless and until and except only so far as 

 some right therein, or to the use thereof, inconsistent with the right of the Crown, and which is not a 

 public right or a right common to the public, is established; and, save in the exercise of any legal right 

 existing at the time of such diversion or use, no person shall divert or use any water from any river, 

 stream, water course, lake, creek, ravine, canyon, lagoon, swamp, marsh, or other body of water 

 otherwise than under the provisions of this act. 



Sec. 6. After the passing of this act no right to the permanent diversion or to the exclusive use of 

 the water in any river, stream, water course, lake, creek, ravine, canyon, lagoon, swamp, marsh, or 

 other body of water shall be acquired by any riparian owner or any other person, by length of use or 

 otherwise than as it may be acquired or conferred under the provisions of this act, unless it is acquired 

 by a grant made in pursuance of some agreement or undertaking existing at the time of the passing of 

 this act. 



Sec. 8. Any water, the property of which is vested in the Crown, may be acquired for domestic, 

 irrigation, or other purposes upon application therefor as hereinafter provided; and all applications 

 made in accordance with the provisions of this act shall have precedence, except application under 

 section 7, according to the date of filing them with the commissioner. 



2. The purposes for which the right to water may be acquired are of three classes, namely: First, 

 domestic purposes, which shall be taken to mean household and sanitary purposes and the watering of 

 stock, and all purposes connected with the working of railways or factories by steam, but shall not 

 include the sale or barter of water for such purposes; second, irrigation purposes; and third, other 

 purposes. 



Sec. 9. No application for any purpose shall be granted where the proposed use of the water would 

 deprive any person owning land adjoining the river, stream, lake, or other source of supply of whatever 

 water he requires for domestic purposes. 



Speaking of the abolition of riparian rights, Mr. J. S. Dennis, the com- 

 missioner who visited the United States, says:^ 



In the Northwest Territories the land, with the exception of that which has been granted as 

 subsidies to railway companies or alienated through homestead or preemption grants, sales, etc., all 

 belongs to the Crown, and title to any of the water in streams, lakes, springs, or other natural channels 

 had only pa.ssed from the Crown in so far as the rights of riparian owners were concerned, so the 

 conditions were particularly favorable for the inauguration of a law regarding the diversion and use of 

 the water supply for irrigation. 



The investigations into this subject had led to the conclusion that the foundation provision 

 necessary in an act of this kind was that riparian rights should be abolished, and the Government 

 given a free hand to apjiortion or distribute the water and control its use in such a way that the 

 greatest good to the greatest number would result therefrom. 



The abolition of riparian rights and vesting the absolute control of all water in one strong central 

 authority are the important provisions in the act. In many of the States in the United States riparian 

 rights have teen abolished, and title to the water vested in the commonwealth; but there the vacant 

 lands belong to the Federal Government, and it is impossible to so combine the land and water, owing 

 to this divided authority, as to secure the most beneficial results therefrom. 



The provisions of our act on the subject of riparian rights will doubtless have to luidergo the test 

 of litigation, but assuming that the decision of the courts will be in favor of the act, there is no doubt 



'58-59 Vic, chap. 83. See also Bulletin 96, Irrigation Laws Northwest Territories Canada, Office 

 of Experiment Stations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



'General Keport on Irrigation and Canadian Irrigation Surveys, 1894, pp. 26-27. 



