36 BULLETIN" 1340 ? XT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
rendered upholding rotation in the use of water by appropriators, 
riparian proprietors, and enterprises in delivering to consumers, 
where the continuous use of the divided water supply would result 
in waste and ineffectual use by the farmers. 
In an Idaho case 15 the court, in interpreting the laws of appro- 
priation, held that it is the policy of the law to prevent waste of 
water and that consequently the water of all claimants must be 
measured at the point where such water is diverted from the natural 
channel of the stream from which it is taken. 
COMMUNITY REGULATIONS 
Irrigation enterprises have usually a definite quantity of water 
to distribute to their users, but have the power to encourage or com- 
pel an economical use through handling its distribution. Irrigation 
districts are enjoined by the statutes to make rules and regulations 
governing the beneficial use of water. In Utah the State engineer 
makes the original allotment of water to each 40 acres or smaller 
tract if in separate ownership, but the board of directors of the 
district makes the final allotment after the water supply is definitely 
known, using the original allotment as a basis. The method of water 
distribution used by the enterprise is often a potent factor in bring- 
ing about a careful use, and the measurement and distribution upon 
a quantity basis rather than an acreage basis tend to a more eco- 
nomical use. Important also are the vigilance of the water delivery 
force in detecting waste, and the measures which can be taken to 
penalize a wasteful irrigator by cutting off his entire supply for a 
time or at least by reducing the amount of the delivery by the 
amount of the waste. Some enterprises establish maximum quanti- 
ties of water which will be delivered to any tract, and others have 
schedules of maximum deliveries based upon water requirements of 
land and croj)s. 
WATER-RIGHT CONTRACTS 
Contracts between commercial companies and their water users 
provide, as a rule, for a definite or a maximum quantity of water to 
be delivered during the irrigation season to a defined area of land 
and in case of water shortage at any time, the quantity available is 
to be prorated. In the case of projects operated under the Carey 
Act, somewhat similar provisions prevail. In most of the Federal 
reclamation projects the Secretary of the Interior determines the 
acreage for which one person may obtain water and the quantity of 
water to be delivered to each acre during the growing season. About 
two-thirds of the area irrigated in the West is organized under co- 
operative or mutual stock companies, and in these the quantity of 
water diverted by each company is divided into as many equal parts 
as there are shares of stock in the company. Thus a water user who 
owns 1 per cent of the stock of the company would be entitled to 1 
per cent of the total water supply. Thus, too, the water supply, 
which usually varies in quantity from day to day, is allotted to con- 
sumers in proportional parts rather than in any fixed amounts. 
aB Sticknoy v. llanrahan. est al. 63 Pac. ISO. 
