IRRIGATION DISTRICT OPERATION AND FINANCE. 39 
INCLUSION OF MUNICIPALITIES. 
Cities and towns may be included in irrigation districts and assessed 
for district purposes in California and certain other States, but in 
other States may not be so included. In Oregon, for example, resi- 
dence property may not be included in districts, but city or town 
property used or suitable for agriculture is subject to inclusion. The 
justification for including town lots, which may themselves never be 
irrigated, is that some municipalities owe their existence in whole or 
in part to the success of surrounding irrigation districts and should con- 
sequently be made to share in the districts' upkeep. While the dan- 
ger has sometimes been feared of the control of district affairs by city 
residents, particularly in California where the general election laws 
apply, nevertheless it usually happens that city residents take much 
less interest in district affairs than do the farmers and have seldom 
been known to control affairs for their own peculiar advantage. 
The right to include and assess town lots has been misapplied in 
one Nebraska district which has leaned too heavily upon revenue 
derived from town assessments and is consequently involved in litiga- 
tion over the matter. 
INCLUSION OF PUBLIC LANDS. 
The inclusion of public lands in irrigation districts is of course at 
the option of the Federal or State Governments holding title to such 
lands. 
The question of including public land of the United States has been 
discussed heretofore under the relations of irrigation districts with the 
General Land Office. As stated, congressional authority now exists 
for the inclusion of unpatented land under certain conditions at the 
discretion of the Secretary of the Interior. 
Several States also, recognizing the possible hindrance to develop- 
ment by withholding State lands from inclusion in irrigation districts, 
have made provision for such inclusion under defined restrictions and 
under the supervision of the proper State officials. Such provisions 
usually deny the right of districts to assess the State, but either 
grant liens similar to that contained in the Smith Act or authorize 
the State land offices to contract with individual districts for the pay- 
ment of assessments by the State. 
LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS. 
The plan of permitting subdistricts to be organized for local im- 
provement purposes within irrigation districts was first worked out 
in Washington. It was proposed at one time to organize one large 
irrigation district to include all lands irrigated from the Sunnyside 
Canal system of the Reclamation Service in Yakima Valley. This 
system serves lands under widely divergent conditions, embracing 
gravity and pumping systems and areas more lately put under irriga- 
tion which are reached by more costly construction than that needed 
for the earlier irrigation. If this entire system were included in one 
irrigation district there would be certain units under heavier con- 
struction and operation costs than other units. This situation gave 
prominence to the idea of authorizing the users under one lateral or 
other unit of an irrigation district to make repairs or reconstructions 
or to construct extensions themselves and to handle the cost of so 
doing. Such local improvement would also include drainage work. 
