NOTES ON ADMINISTRATION OF WATER SUPPLY. 63 



be carried out and the water used in the manner sanctioned, and 

 no alteration of existing works can be made without first obtaining 

 approval. The owners or users of canals are bound to maintain 

 them in good working order, and have to provide for the escape 

 of all surplus water, which, if not required for use by other 

 irrigators, has to be allowed to flow to the river from which it 

 originally came. 



The portion of the Civil Code of Italy which treats of water 

 rights is very comprehensive, and holds a corresponding position 

 there to that occupied by the Law of Waters in Spain. The 

 conditions exisiting in these two countries differ materially, and 

 the legislation to provide for these conditions naturally exhibits a 

 corresponding difference. In Italy the rainfall is much higher 

 and the supply of water in the rivers more abundant and more 

 regular. Hence the necessity for drainage works in connection 

 with the irrigation in Northern Italy is felt in a degree unknown 

 in Spain. On this account the subject of drainage is dealt with 

 more exhaustively in the Italian enactments. Among points 

 relating to drainage provided for in these, the most important 

 are — (1) the right of way for drainage water, (2) the obligation to 

 keep drainage works in repair, and (3) the right of an owner or 

 occupier of land to enter the lands of others in order to repair 

 any drainage work, from the condition of which he has reason to 

 apprehend danger or loss. Under the Italian laws no man has a 

 right to waste water. "When a supply of water is granted to any 

 person for the irrigation of a certain plot of land, the surplus left 

 after that land is watered belongs to the person or authority from 

 whom the supply was obtained. 



The same reasons which in Italy called for special provisions 

 regarding drainage also necessitated comprehensive regulations in 

 regard to right of way for water. Not only is a right of way for 

 water through public or private lands and over or under canals 

 provided for, but even cases in which it may be desirable to 

 conduct water into and for a certain distance through a canal or 

 channel already in operation has not been overlooked. 



The canals of Italy having been constructed under a great 

 variety of conditions, and, in most cases, many centuries ago, 

 there is considerable diversity in the nature of their ownership. 

 Hence we find that some of these works are the property of 

 Government, others of corporations or of associations of irrigators, 

 and others of private individuals or companies. Since the .union 

 of the Italian States, the principle of having irrigation and 

 drainage works constructed and managed by the persons interested 

 has been fostered and encouraged. Still the only great irrigation 

 work constructed within a comparatively recent period — namely 

 the Cavour Canal — was carried out by an English company under 



