PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 53 



Water Conservation and Irrigation. 



The importance of water conservation is shown by the 

 number of valuable papers upon it to be found in the pro- 

 ceedings of our Society. 



It is difficult to say when irrigation actually commenced 

 in New Soutli Wales, for although dates can be given for 

 the passing of the various legislative enactments, such as 

 the. "Water Rights Acts," the "Hay Irrigation Act," 

 "Wentworth Irrigation Act," and the "Irrigation Act, 

 1912," constituting the Water Conservation and Irrigation 

 Commission, there were, previous to the passing of any of 

 these Acts, numbers of private individuals in the State who 

 were diverting or pumping water from the various streams 

 and rivers in the State, and utilising it for irrigation pur- 

 poses in their private capacity. One of the main reasons 

 for passing the Water Rights Act of 1896 was to secure 

 land holders in possession of duly authorised works. Prior 

 to that date any man considering himself aggrieved by the 

 existence of any such works could either bring a suit in 

 Equity or take the law into his own hands, and cut away 

 the dam or work of his neighbour. Under the Water Act 

 all works of this nature are licensed. The first of such 

 licenses was granted in 1897. Since that date upwards of 

 2,000 have been issued, of which 688 are for irrigation 

 purposes, no less than 219 new licenses having been applied 

 lor last year. The whole of these licensed works are not 

 used for irrigation, but, on the other hand, there are many 

 instances where pumps have been licensed with a sufficient 

 capacity to irrigate several hundred acres, and it is esti- 

 mated that private irrigation areas amount to 30,000 acres. 



Realising the importance of water conservation and 

 irrigation to develop agriculture in the semi-arid parts of 

 the State, the Government have taken active steps to 

 extend its benefits. The possibilities of the regions of 



