14 BULLETIN 1257, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The report of the Fourteenth Census shows that 80 per cent of the 
land irrigated in 1919 was supplied with water by enterprises that 
have received no public aid or endorsement; 6.5 per cent by enter- 
prises developed through the use of public funds; and 2.7 per cent 
through the granting of lands under the Carey Act. Of the balance, 
9.5 per cent was in 1919 supplied with water by irrigation districts 
organized under State laws. 
STATE LAND RECLAMATION POLICIES. 
State reclamation policies have included the reclamation of swamp 
and overflowed lands as well as the reclamation of arid lands. Be- 
cause the swamps are situated for the most part in the eastern part 
of the country, which was occupied first, reclamation by drainage 
antedated reclamation by irrigation. However, to preserve continu- 
ity in subject matter, State irrigation policies will be discussed first, 
and drainage will be taken up later. 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 
The earliest State legislation on this subject, as was the case with 
Federal legislation relating to irrigation, was designed to remove 
obstacles to development rather than to provide direct public aid. 
These laws relate to rights to take water from streams, to rights-of- 
way for ditches, to the incorporation of irrigation companies, to the 
operation and control of ditches, etc. The report of the census of 
1920 shows that 80 per cent of the land irrigated in 1919 was sup- 
plied with water by enterprises operating under these general laws. 
IRRIGATION DISTRICTS. 
State aid to irrigation development, with a few unimportant ex- 
ceptions, has been extended through irrigation district laws which 
provide a means for making the lands liable for the cost of their 
own reclamation. 
The earliest of these laws, that of Utah, enacted in 1865, merely 
gave to districts the right to tax the lands within their boundaries 
for the purpose of raising funds to pay for providing a water supply 
for their irrigation. This was not effective, because, until the works 
were built, the lands could not produce anything with which to pay 
taxes. 
The next step in advance was to give such districts the power to 
issue bonds to be paid from taxes levied on the lands within their 
boundaries. This made it possible to obtain funds before the land 
could produce. The first law of this kind was enacted in 1887 in 
California. Since that date all of the States in which irrigation is 
generally practiced have adopted similar laws. 
These laws provide that a district may be organized only upon 
petition from at least a majority of the owners of land in the pro- 
posed district, who must also represent a majority of the acreage 
included; and upon a favorable vote of these land owners, the favor- 
able vote required varying from a majority to two-thirds. If these 
conditions are fulfilled, land can be included in a district against the 
will of its owner, and obligated for its share of the cost of providing 
a water supply. 
