'62 NOTES ON ADMINISTRATION OF WATER SUPPLY. 



"There pertain to the owner of an estate in full possession the 

 subterranean waters which have been obtained in it by means of 

 ordinary wells, whatever may be the apparatus employed to 

 draw it." 



Among the numerous points provided for in the Spanish Law 

 of Water, one of the most important is the power to obtain a 

 right of way for water for irrigation purposes. It is at once 

 obvious that in a case where extensive irrigation works are 

 constructed, it is absolutely necessary tha.t all persons owning 

 property within a reasonable distance of the works, and to whom 

 it is desirable that a supply of water should be afforded, should 

 have a right to construct the necessary channels on payment of 

 fair compensation to the owners of the land through which these 

 channels have to be taken. Another very important subject 

 dealt with is the provision of regulations under which concessions 

 can be granted to companies or to individuals for the construction 

 of works for irrigation or for water supply to towns. As an 

 instance of the terms on which concessions have been granted, 

 the case of the Iberian Irrigation Company may be quoted. The 

 principal conditions under which the concession was granted to 

 this Company were that it would at its own cost and risk construct 

 canals for irrigation purposes, that it would not have authority 

 to charge at a higher rate than 28s. per acre of land watered, and 

 that after 99 years the canals would become the property of the 

 State, to which they should be made over in good working order. 

 The following remarks of Moncrieff on this concession are 

 suggestive : — " In return for all this what the Government give 

 is the use of a river running to waste, and which they themselves 

 could not employ ; and this use is in order to benefit their own 

 country, increasing the general prosperity of the district, and 

 directly swelling the revenue by enabling them to impose on the 

 watered lands a heavier assessment." 



Legislation on the subject of water rights in the various states 

 which are now combined in Northern Italy, dates back in some 

 instances as far as the tenth century. The laws and customs of 

 these states have been altered and improved on as occasion 

 required ; but the general basis of the enactments in force is that 

 the State is the owner of the rivers and of all of their tributaries 

 of any importance. This point is enunciated in the Code of 

 Victor Emmanuel, which was passed on the union of the Italian 

 States, and which proclaims that the rivers and torrents form part 

 of the public domain. Starting with this position, most complete 

 regulations are laid down in regard to the utilization of the 

 national supply of water. All owners and occupiers of land are' 

 bound to obtain sanction from the authorities before any works 

 can be constructed by them for this purpose. The works must 



