IRRIGATION DISTRICT OPERATION AND FINANCE. 9 
have gone far toward insuring financial success. Supplemental 
development has more often embraced such conditions. 
As a general rule, therefore, the successful districts have been those 
formed for purchase and operation by the landowners of constructed 
systems which were " going concerns'"; for extension of existing 
systems to cover adjacent miirrigated lands; for improvement of 
existing systems: for providing needed additional amounts of water; 
for contracting with the United States on Federal reclamation 
projects for payment of construction and operation costs and for 
future operation; and for building new irrigation systems in sections 
already productive under dry -farming methods, or where development 
has followed rapidly. In any event, the irrigation districts that have 
succeeded have embraced the essential elements of productive land, 
sufficient water, reasonable capitalization, and adequate land settle- 
ment. 
PURPOSE OF FORMATION. 
The original purpose of the irrigation district was the construction 
of irrigation works. Although the Wright Act gave the districts the 
alternative power of purchasing irrigation systems, nevertheless it 
was the need for new development that resulted in the formation of 
districts during the first few years predominantly for the construction 
of new works. In fact, 41 districts, or 75 per cent, of the '55 districts 
formed in California and Washington during the first seven years 
were intended for such purpose. 
As time went on the district organization was employed for 
other purposes, such as the acquisition of existing irrigation works by 
landowners who were dissatisfied with the managment or who thought 
that they might operate the system more economically themselves; 
or the extension of existing systems to include adjacent unirrigated 
areas; or the improvement of existing systems; or the development 
of additional supplies of water needed for late summer irrigation by 
communities already served with a partial supply, a condition which 
often arises in sections undergoing transition to more intensive 
development. All of these purposes presuppose a certain amount of 
development prior to the district formation, and bonds issued by 
such districts usually have had ample security behind them to insure 
regular payment of interest and liquidation of the principal at 
maturity. 
Of course such classification of irrigation districts is subject to 
exceptions, for districts intended for absolutely new construction have 
often been formed in sections where high land values had already 
been established independently of irrigation and where the districts 
were not essential to the success of the communities, or where cir- 
cumstances were otherwise favorable to speedy success. On the other 
hand, some districts organized to take over existing works have faced 
uphill tasks because of the insufficient settlement of land, shortage 
of water, inclusion of too much additional unirrigated land, or other 
causes. The success of a district has in most cases been dependent 
upon the relation of its development to the times when its obligations 
fell due. The advantage, therefore, has been in the majority of cases 
with districts formed for supplemental purposes. 
Table 3 gives the number and present status of all irrigation dis- 
tricts formed to date in each State for the two main classes of develop- 
SO^ — 2.3 2 
