The Use of Water in Irrigation

Excerpts from the Introduction: The investigations described in this report deal with problems which perplex the irrigators and canal builders of the arid West, and which, for the last ten years, have been constantly growing more important. Their comprehensive study is a new feature of national aid to irrigation development in this country. Heretofore the leading object of such aid has been to promote the construction of new canals, to show how much of the land above existing ditches could be reclaimed, and the benefits which would come from such reclamation. It is believed that this investigation will also tend to secure these ends, but its primary purpose is to assist the cultivators under ditches already built, to render the farms now irrigated more profitable, to lessen the controversies over the distribution of water, and to secure its more systematic and economical use. It is the opinion of those best informed that a better understanding of the existing situation must be had before we can wisely plan for future development. Controversies exist over the partial use of streams. These should be ended before an attempt is made to greatly augment such use. The claims to water for existing and prospective ditches on many streams amount in the aggregate to many times the supply. These rights are now vested, and their character must influence what is to be done in the future.