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Show NORTH PLATTE RIVER LITIGATION 735 As respects priority, the canals (listed later in this opinion) fall into thirteen groups, seven in Wyoming and six in Nebraska. The earliest in priority are some canals in Wyoming, then some in Ne- braska, then others in Wyoming and so on. The exceptional features of this section of the river were summar- ized by the Special Master as follows: " (1) the great concentration of demand in a short compact section, (2) the presence of water, both natural flow and storage, to which Nebraska users are entitled under Wyoming appropriations, (3) the total dependence of Nebraska State Line Canals and the North Platte project canals upon water originating in Wyoming and Colorado, (4) the joint use of canals to serve both Wyoming and Nebraska lands, (5) the location in Wyoming of the head gates and w^orks which divert great volumes of water for Nebraska, (6) the distinctly inter- state scope and character of the water distribution without any real interstate administration." The Special Master made a detailed study of the requirements of each canal in this section and the diversions of each during the 1931- 1940 period. We need not recapitulate it. The nine Wyoming canals and the Tri-State canal fared well. A comparison of the average sea- sonal diversions with the seasonal requirements shows that they had an excess supply for the ten year period-122 per cent and 111 per cent respectively-the former having a deficiency in only one of the ten years, the latter a deficiency in three. For the rest of these canals it appears that the average seasonal diversions supplied from 78 per cent to 98 per cent of their seasonal requirements. The Ft. Laramie was short in eight of the ten years, Gering, Kamshorn and Northport in seven each. Tri-State Dam to Bridgeport, Neb. Nebraska originally claimed that any equitable distribution which was made should extend to all irrigated lands as far east as Grand Island, Neb. It is now conceded that the lands east of Bridgeport, Neb., which is some sixty miles from the Wyoming-Nebraska state line, can be reasonably satisfied out of local supplies. Hence we are not concerned in this case with that section. In the section west of Bridgeport, there are twelve canals exclusive of the Ramshorn relevant to the present problem. Their requirements are 132,420 acre-feet; their demand on the main river is 102,810 acre- feet, the balance being obtained from interceptions of drains, return flows, and tributary streams. The Special Master concluded that local supplies even during the drought period were adequate to take care of the needs of these canals without calling upon up-river water. Some shortages occurred, caused for example by excessive use by some canals at the expense of others or by the withdrawal of water from the section to supply senior canals below. It would seem that the construc- tion and operation of the Kingsley and Sutherland Reservoirs would largely eliminate the latter condition. And water passing Tri-State Dam and usable in the Tri-State to Bridgeport section is substan- tial-the mean divertible flow for the irrigation season in the 1931- 1940 period being 81,700 acre-feet. Over half of this occurred in May and June; very little in August and September. |