THE WESTERN FARMER S WATER RIGHT. y 



belongs to the overlying land, and the owner of the land may with- 

 draw all he can get for use on his land. 



As stated before, in many instances it is difficult to tell in' which 

 class the water found under any tract of land falls, but under the 

 law all underground water is presumed to be percolating water until 

 it is proved otherwise. Artesian water is easily recognized, because 

 it rises above the level at which it is found when a well is drilled. In 

 narrow stream valleys there is a strong presumption that the under- 

 ground water is a part of a stream and that pumping from a well 

 may be considered an appropriation from the stream. But on the 

 plains, and in the intermountain valleys which contain no streams, 

 there is a strong presumption that water which does not rise above 

 the stratum in which it is found is percolating water and belongs 

 to the landowner. 



RIGHTS TO WATER FROM CANALS, ETC. 



As has been stated, most farmers get water rights from canal 

 companies or other organizations controlling enterprises which sup- 

 ply water to farmers. In the preceding pages the rights of these 

 enterprises to water from streams or other sources have been dis- 

 cussed. In the following paragraphs the nature of rights conveyed 

 by such enterprises to the farmers to whom they supply water is 

 discussed. 



Rights to water from canals differ from rights to water direct from 

 streams in one very important particular — usually priority does not 

 hold among users from the same canal. Their rights are all on the 

 same basis, without reference to the dates when they were acquired. 

 Each farmer is entitled to his share of the supply belonging to the 

 canal. The companies are supposed not to dispose of water in excess 

 of their capacity to supply it, but the relation of the total rights 

 disposed of and the total water supply should be investigated with 

 the same care as the water supply generally. The character of rights 

 to water from canals and the conditions limiting them are fixed by 

 the contracts, by-laws, and regulations of the organizations con- 

 trolling the canals, and these are discussed below. 



The principal agencies supplying water to farmers are coopera- 

 tive or mutual stock companies, irrigation districts, the United 

 States Reclamation Service, Carey Act companies, and commercial 

 companies. 



COOPERATIVE OR MUTUAL COMPANIES. 



Cooperative or mutual stock companies serve by far the larger 

 part of the acreage irrigated by enterprises supplying water to 

 farmers — 62 per cent of this area in 1910. according to the census 



