lEEIGATION IN NOETHEEN COLOEADO. 81 



gether and talk over differences before resorting to the law. There is 

 no doubt that the practice of exchanging water had its effect in 

 getting the canal men of the vallej^ in the habit of measuring water. 

 While conditions of which the system is an outgrowth will probably 

 never be duplicated, the principles and methods involved might be 

 advantageously applied for a solution of problems elsewhere. 



The majority of direct flow rights of canals were established by 

 decree of the district court in 1882 and these rights remain prac- 

 tically unchanged. Storage rights were fixed by decree in 1909. 

 There can be no question that the early fixing of rights had a strong 

 influence on the later development of irrigation. The canal owners 

 whose decreed rights were good went ahead with their development 

 and expansion secure in the feeling that they would be protected in 

 their rights. The two late appropriators of large amounts were 

 clearly shown the inadequacy of their rights and lost no time in 

 devising means of supplementing their supplies. This led at once 

 to the construction of reservoirs and later to the development of 

 supplies of foreign water. 



In the aggregate, capacities of the canals exceed by 10 per cent 

 their appropriations. The extension of land irrigated has been such 

 that the originally excessive decrees of the larger canals are now 

 utilized. Excessive rights are still held by several small ditches 

 along the river bottoms. These ditches divert a comparatively small 

 amount, of which a great part returns directly to the river and is 

 diverted below by canals with early rights. 



Many transfers of appropriations from one canal to another have 

 been made, but the amounts transferred, especially of the earliest 

 rights, were small. These transfers have in general resulted in lit- 

 tle damage to other appropriators and in much benefit to the canal 

 to which the transfer was made. 



Almost without exception distribution from the river is made in 

 accordance with decreed priorities. The exceptions to the rule are 

 recognized as legitimate by the canal men of the valley. Besides 

 fearlessness and tact, the distribution of water from a stream requires 

 an intimate knowledge of the handling of water in general and of 

 the peculiarities of the particular stream itself. The water commis- 

 sioner's handling of the Cache la Poudre for more than a score of 

 years is most convincing evidence that the administrator of a stream 

 should not be subject to the fortunes of a political party and that 

 when a good man is secured he should be kept in office. It is folly 

 to expect an inexperienced man to handle satisfactorily the problems 

 of distribution which constantly arise, especially as complicated by 

 return water and private water carried in natural channels. The 

 obvious remedy is a study of the streams of the State by experienced 



74464°— 22 6 



