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Show FOREWORD Wells A. Hutchins was nearing completion of this three-volume report on water rights in the 19 Western States at the time of his death on September 19, 1970. This work culminates more than 62 years of public service and of dedication to the subject matter contained herein. These volumes are, therefore, a monument to Wells A. Hutchins. They are also a monument to the role of water in the development and prosperity of the West. One hallmark of economic development, and indeed of civilization itself, may be found in the rules men devise to order their access to resources. When ambitious men began to develop the West, they found English common law deficient in many respects. It failed to provide workable rules among men as they struggled to get, develop, and use water where water was relatively scarce and often vital to life itself. So new laws and new institutions had to be developed. They are still developing. The crucial role of these laws and institutions led Wells A. Hutchins to devote his professional life to their study and articulation. Mr. Hutchins was born February 20, 1888, in Beatrice, Nebraska. He graduated in 1906 from Lawrenceville Academy in New Jersey and in 1909 he received a law degree, with highest honors, from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Mr. Hutchins began his government career in 1908. Although in his long career he served under a number of different bureaus in the Department of Agriculture, his interests and field of work remained steadfastly on water laws. Except for military service as a 1st Lieutenant in the Infantry in World War I, he spent most of his long government career in Berkeley, California. As a leading authority on water rights laws in the Western States, Mr. Hutchins wrote numerous books, reports, articles, and papers on the subject. He also assisted many States in formulating improved water laws. From 1942 to 1946, he served as chairman of a committee of the National Reclamation Association (now the National Water Resources Association) to formulate desirable water law principles for the West. He also lectured on water law and institutions at the University of California at Davis and Berkeley. Mr. Hutchins received the Superior Service Award from the Department of Agriculture, was made a life member of the National Reclamation Association in 1958 for outstanding services to the West, and received a number of other honors for his knowledge and accomplishments. Mr. Hutchins' important and widely used book entitled "Selected Problems in the Law of Water Rights in the West" was published in 1942. In the 1950's, he initiated the research for this voluminous sequel to that book. Since his death, Harold H. Ellis and J. Peter DeBraal of the Economic Research Service have completed this publication. 84-B1089 |