﻿DATA 
  CONCERNING 
  IRRIGATION 
  IN 
  THE 
  WEST. 
  311 
  

  

  reverse 
  of 
  economical. 
  It 
  partakes 
  of 
  the 
  prevalent 
  western 
  spirit, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  

   cream 
  is 
  skimmed 
  from 
  every 
  source 
  of 
  natural 
  wealth, 
  which 
  is 
  then 
  abandoned. 
  

   "After 
  ns 
  the 
  deluge." 
  In 
  Colorado, 
  irrigators 
  use 
  five 
  times 
  as 
  mueli 
  water 
  as 
  is 
  

   needed, 
  in 
  Utah 
  two 
  to 
  three 
  times 
  as 
  much, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  valley 
  of 
  California 
  it 
  is 
  

   used 
  as 
  wastefully. 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  arid 
  regions 
  of 
  Southern 
  and 
  Southwestern 
  California, 
  

   where 
  the 
  ranchmen 
  are 
  Mexicans, 
  who 
  have 
  had 
  centuries 
  of 
  experience, 
  and 
  where 
  

   the 
  water 
  supply 
  is 
  very 
  limited 
  and 
  is 
  all 
  used, 
  the 
  utmost 
  economy 
  prevails, 
  and 
  

   probably 
  the 
  ''duty'' 
  of 
  water 
  is 
  carried 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  possible 
  extent. 
  

  

  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  alone 
  the 
  lavish 
  use 
  of 
  water 
  which 
  should 
  be 
  criticised. 
  The 
  want 
  of 
  

   a 
  general 
  plan 
  for 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  streams 
  will 
  inevita- 
  

   bly, 
  in 
  the 
  near 
  future, 
  cause 
  great 
  waste 
  of 
  arable 
  land. 
  The 
  let-alone 
  policy 
  is 
  the 
  

   only 
  one 
  in 
  practice 
  at 
  present. 
  By 
  it 
  each 
  ranchman, 
  or 
  each 
  ditch 
  company, 
  helps 
  

   himself 
  to 
  water 
  wherever 
  he 
  may 
  find 
  it. 
  The 
  only 
  rights 
  are 
  those 
  of 
  priority 
  of 
  

   possession. 
  The 
  result 
  of 
  this 
  happy-go-lucky 
  mode 
  of 
  procedure 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  water 
  

   is 
  distributed 
  to 
  the 
  land 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  economical 
  manner. 
  As 
  a 
  general 
  

   thing, 
  the 
  laDds 
  immediately 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  streams 
  — 
  the 
  bottoms 
  — 
  are 
  first 
  taken 
  up, 
  

   and 
  they, 
  monopolizing 
  the 
  water, 
  render 
  valueless 
  all 
  the 
  land 
  back 
  of 
  them, 
  al- 
  

   though 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  all 
  used. 
  

  

  The 
  general 
  and 
  the 
  State 
  governments 
  are 
  perfectly 
  cognizant 
  of 
  this 
  condition 
  of 
  

   things, 
  yet 
  practically 
  nothing 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  by 
  them. 
  With 
  the 
  easy 
  indifference 
  

   of 
  the 
  optimist, 
  the 
  government 
  has 
  watched 
  this 
  waste 
  going 
  [on 
  for 
  the 
  past 
  two 
  or 
  

   three 
  decades, 
  and 
  has 
  done 
  nothing 
  to 
  correct 
  it. 
  A 
  move 
  in 
  the 
  right 
  direction 
  was 
  

   made 
  in 
  1873, 
  when 
  Cougress 
  authorized 
  a 
  commission, 
  under 
  a 
  small 
  appropriation, 
  

   to 
  make 
  an 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Galley 
  of 
  California, 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  to 
  forming 
  a 
  

   general 
  plan 
  for 
  irrigating 
  it. 
  The 
  commission 
  made 
  as 
  full 
  an 
  examination 
  as 
  was 
  

   possible 
  with 
  the 
  limited 
  means 
  at 
  its 
  command, 
  made 
  its 
  report 
  — 
  a 
  very 
  able, 
  though 
  

   by 
  no 
  means 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  one 
  — 
  and 
  there 
  the 
  matter 
  ended. 
  

  

  In 
  1874, 
  Prof. 
  George 
  Davidson, 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey, 
  was 
  sent, 
  under 
  the 
  auspices 
  

   of 
  the 
  general 
  government, 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  irrigation 
  systems 
  of 
  foreign 
  lands. 
  He 
  

   made 
  a 
  brief 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  methods 
  in 
  use 
  in 
  India 
  and 
  several 
  European 
  countries, 
  

   and 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  these 
  studies 
  were 
  embodied 
  in 
  a 
  report 
  to 
  the 
  Secretary 
  of 
  the 
  

   Treasury, 
  constituting 
  Ex. 
  Doc. 
  94, 
  Forty-fourth 
  Congress, 
  first 
  session. 
  

  

  The 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  the 
  Territories, 
  under 
  Dr. 
  Hayden, 
  has 
  made 
  an 
  examina- 
  

   tion, 
  not 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  exhaustive, 
  however, 
  of 
  the 
  irrigable 
  lands 
  of 
  Colorado, 
  bring- 
  

   ing 
  out, 
  as 
  a 
  net 
  result, 
  that 
  7 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  ^rate, 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  over 
  7,000 
  

   square 
  miles, 
  can 
  be 
  irrigated 
  at 
  once 
  from 
  the 
  streams 
  without 
  having 
  recourse 
  to 
  

   the 
  reservoir 
  system. 
  342 
  

  

  The 
  survey 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  region, 
  under 
  Maj. 
  J. 
  W. 
  Powell, 
  made 
  a 
  simi- 
  

   lar 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  Territory 
  of 
  Utah. 
  The 
  result 
  of 
  this 
  work 
  showed 
  that 
  but 
  

   2.8 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  Territory 
  could 
  be 
  irrigated. 
  343 
  This, 
  in 
  the 
  opinion 
  of 
  the 
  writer, 
  

   js 
  too 
  small, 
  owing 
  to 
  some 
  conclusions 
  of 
  Major 
  Powell, 
  to 
  be 
  hereafter 
  noticed, 
  

   which 
  are 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  erroneous. 
  

  

  The 
  above 
  embrace 
  practically 
  all 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  government 
  

   touching 
  this 
  important 
  subject. 
  Fugitive 
  articles 
  upon 
  the 
  subject 
  have 
  been 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  in 
  government 
  reports, 
  but 
  they 
  have 
  little 
  permanent 
  value. 
  

  

  State 
  and 
  Territorial 
  governments 
  have 
  done 
  quite 
  as 
  little. 
  Indeed, 
  not 
  one 
  has, 
  so 
  

   far 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  aware, 
  touched 
  the 
  subject, 
  excepting 
  California. 
  During 
  the 
  past 
  year, 
  

   this 
  State 
  has 
  had 
  a 
  large 
  engineering 
  force 
  at 
  work, 
  under 
  the 
  supervision 
  of 
  its 
  

   State 
  engineer. 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Hall, 
  examining 
  the 
  southern 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  valley, 
  and 
  

   the 
  valleys 
  of 
  Los 
  Angeles 
  County, 
  on 
  and 
  near 
  the 
  coast, 
  with 
  a 
  direct 
  view 
  to 
  drain- 
  

   age 
  and 
  irrigation. 
  The 
  present 
  extent 
  and 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  irrigation 
  now 
  carried 
  on 
  

   has 
  been 
  thoroughly 
  canvassed. 
  The 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  as 
  regards 
  

  

  343 
  Annual 
  Report 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Territories, 
  1876. 
  Paper 
  on 
  "Arable 
  and 
  

   Pasture 
  Lands 
  of 
  Colorado," 
  pp. 
  311-347. 
  

   343 
  Lands 
  of 
  the 
  arid 
  region. 
  

  

  