IRRIGATION PROBLEMS OF HONEY LAKE BASIN. 113 



This could be accomplished by new legislation designed to facilitate condemnation 

 proceedings, and perhaps to make provision from the public treasury for the 

 purchase of riparian rights and the dedication of waters so obtained to public uses. 

 It would be far more satisfactory, however, to lay the- ax at the root of the evil by 

 changing the constitution of the State. The following quotations from the constitu- 

 tion of AVyoming are of interest in this connection: 



Water being essential to Industrial prosperity, of limited amount, and easy of diversion from its 

 natural channels, Its control must be In the State, which, in providing for its use, shall equally guard 

 all the various interests involved. 



The water of all natural streams, springs, lakes, or other collections of still water within the 

 boundaries of the State are hereby declared to be the property of the State. 



These constitutional provisions, supplemented by wise laws of appropriation 

 and administration — laws which recognize no right except the right of beneficial use 

 and which join water and land inalienably and perpetually — furnish the only true 

 and satisfactory basis for the control of water under the theory of public ownership. 

 It would require kt least two years to effect this sweeping change in California 

 institutions, and perhaps much longer. In the meantime the laws of appropriation 

 could be amended and improved, the system of administration organized and set at 

 work, and the scientific studj' of water resources far advanced. 



4- Improvement of the district law. — This should be accomplished in two ways, 

 as follows: 



{a) By havkig the State guarantee the bonds of such districts as shall have been 

 authorized, after due investigation, by the board of control. 



{b) By making the administration of such districts subject to the supervision of 

 the State engineer and board of control. 



5. Acceptance of the land grant jrrovided hy the Carey act. — This would enable 

 the State to select 1,000,000 acres of arid public land and to make regulations of its 

 own looking to its reclamation and disposal to settlers. There are man\' places in 

 the State where the acceptance of this grant, if supplemented by appropriate legis- 

 lation, would contribute to the solution of the irrigation problem. 



In addition to the State legislation suggested in the foregoing, it is very 

 desirable that national action should be had for the protection of the forests and the 

 reform of existing land laws. The amount of land which settlers may acquire from 

 the public domain for irrigation should be reduced. Eighty acres are sufficient in 

 an}' part of the State, and iO acres would be a better unit in most localities. 



Under the existing laws of State and nation. Honey Lake Basin is practically 

 bound hand and foot. There is an abundance of land and of water. There is an 

 insistent and growing demand for their use. But there can be neither peace nor 

 progress until the laws governing the appropriation and control of water and the 

 use of the public domain shall have been revised and enlarged so as to meet the 

 peculiar needs of the situation. When this has been accomplished real progress will 

 begin, and never cease until this valley and the rich natural resources surrounding it 

 shall be fully developed. Then a region which is now mostly a wilderness will be 

 crowded with the homes of men, and the semibarbarism of the frontier will have 

 given place to a real civilization. 



23856— No. 100—01 8 



