| OCR Text |
Show 158 WATER RIGHTS SYSTEMS PERTAINING TO WATERCOURSES those who are later in time than himself. In the absence of constitutional or statutory modifications, the principle of "first in time, first in right" is still valid. However, certain States have authorized preferences and imposed restrictions upon appropriations made under prescribed statutory procedures, the effects of which under some circumstances is at variance from the right of the first applicant to be accorded the first priority. The appropriative right relates to a specific quantity of water, and is good as long as the right continues to be properly exercised. The right may be acquired for any use of water that is beneficial and reasonable. The riparian doctrine, where given full recognition in the West, accords to the owner of land contiguous to a watercourse a right to the use of water on such land for various beneficial purposes. Generally, the use of water for domestic purposes is the highest use, and subject thereto, use of the water for irrigation and industrial purposes must be reasonable in relation to the reasonable requirements of all other owners of lands riparian to the same source of supply. The riparian right is a part of the land; it is not based upon use, and in the absence of prescription it is not lost by disuse. No riparian owner acquires priority over other riparian owners by reason of the time of beginning use of the water. The riparian right is proportionate, not exclusive. It is not measured by a specific quantity of water except when apportioned by a court decree adjudicating the rights of the riparian owners among themselves, or except in an adjudication of rights as against appropriators. IRRIGATION AGRICULTURE To say that irrigation is essential to agriculture in the arid portions of the Western States is axiomatic. The quantity of water available in this vast region is far short of the quantity that would be required for the farming of all agricultural lands. The degree of the necessity for irrigating varies widely, the chief consideration in a given area being the deficiency of precipitation during the growing season with regard to the quantity of water required for crop growth. In some portions of the West, then, irrigation is seldom required; in other areas, it contributes to a wider range of crop production and to greater production than would be possible with the use solely of precipitation on the cropped land; and in still others, it is necessary to practically every form of dependable agricultural development. The sources of water are snow and rain on the mountain ranges and other higher lands, which in seeking lower levels flow over and under the surface in streams and in diffused flows. As water is much less abundant than good land in the West, the problem is to distribute these water supplies where they can be most beneficially and economically utilized. The physical, economic, and legal problems involved go far beyond those concerned with the simple operation of diverting a little water from a stream for domestic use and incidental irrigation in an area in which the rainfall in most seasons is adequate for farming purposes. |
