Measurement and Division of Water. 
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conditions, which is most reliable, most accurate, and which has 
the fewest objections. 
In the case of divisors it is evident that there is no unit of 
measure, and that none is needed, for the object is to give the user 
some fractional part of the water flowing in the ditch, whether 
there be much or little. 
In the module, on the contrary, some unit of quantity is need¬ 
ed, and this, with us, is a cubic foot per second, a unit which has 
now become established through all the western states. The term 
“inch” has been widely used in the western states and gives a 
notion of unit, but does not have any of the essential character¬ 
istics. The essential character of any unit is that it has a definite 
value and is one which can be reproduced. Also, in case it is 
multiplied, ten units should be ten times one unit. There is the 
water inch,” or “miner’s inch,” the “statutory inch,” and the 
customary inch” with infinite variations, used in such a multitude 
of meanings that it is an almost hopeless task to express an exact 
idea of quantity. The term has been convenient to use, notwith¬ 
standing its inaccuracy. It was used in Italy for thousands of 
years in essentially the same meaning. 
In the case of flowing water it is manifest that the amount 
passing through a given channel depends upon the speed of the 
water, as well as upon the section of the channel. In the inch 
system of measurement, account is taken of the cross section and 
not of the speed of the water. Some attempt is often made to 
regulate the speed by providing that the pressure of water over 
the opening shall be always the same. In such cases the area of 
the opening in square inches is counted as inches of water. As 
there are other conditions affecting the velocity of the water, there 
is still room for very large differences in velocity, and consequently 
the same unit may mean very different quantities of water. 
An inch of this kind is recognized in the Statutes of Colo¬ 
rado, and defined in the laws of 1868 as follows: 
“Water sold by the inch by any individual or corpora¬ 
tion shall be considered equal to an inch square orifice under 
a 5-inch pressure, and a 5-inch pressure shall be from the top 
of the orifice of the box put into the banks of the ditch to 
the surface of the water; said boxes or any slot or aperature 
through which such water shall be measured, shall in all cases 
be six inches perpendicular, inside measurement, except boxes 
delivering less than twelve inches, which may be square, with 
or without slides; all slides for the same shall move horizon¬ 
tally, and not otherwise; and said box put into the banks of 
the ditch shall have a descending grade from the water in 
ditch and not less than one-eighth of an inch to the foot.” 
In other states, statutory inches have been recognized, gen¬ 
erally being a development of a practice that arose among miners, 
and thus has been frequently called a “miner’s inch.” Thus in 
