Utah exhibits [of the] State of Arizona, complainant, v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, and County of San Diego, defendants, United States of America and State of Nevada, interveners, State of New Mexico and State of Utah, parties

page 230

230 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN UTAH. January 12, 1899, Thomas Judd and E. V. Hardy claimed 1,500 miner's inches, for irrigation, on La Verkin Bench. January 9, 1890, Washington Field Canal Company claimed 3>60& -inches, for irrigation, to be used through the Washington Field Canal. January 15, 1890, Thomas Judd claimed all the water of Virgin River not claimed by La Verkin Fruit and Nursery Company, for milling and mining. A similar notice by the same parties was filed October 18, 1900. April 24, 1894, Thomas Judd and R. G. McQuarrie claimed all of Sulphur Springs in Virgin River, for bathing purposes. There is nothing in the county record to show that any of the claims enumerated above have ever been made good by actual appropriation and use. By an examination of the stream it was learned that there have been appropriations under the claims filed for La Verkin Bench, the Washington Canal, and for bathing purposes only. Many of the ditches included in the summary on pages 228, 229 were awarded water by the county selectmen. These awards were usually made to the individuals under the ditches rather than to the ditches. The awards were mostly made durifig the first ten years after the law authorizing such awards was passed, yet authority to make awards was considered to be vested in the county commissioners until 1895; when the application of Hurricane Canal Company for a primary right to 4,000 inches from Virgin River was considered and refused on the grounds that the awards already made exhausted the stream in low water. While these awards in no sense established title, they have some value as evidence regarding the time and amount of early appropriations. Therefore the records of the county commissioners' courts were searched for a list of them. The records found were very incomplete. Nine awards to Virgin River were entered. Of these, one dated August 7, 1881, gave D. McMullin a primar}- right for 15 acres and a secondary right for 15 acres; one dated August 7, 1881, gave D. and G. McMullin a primary right for 9 acres and a secondary right for 9 acres; one dated August 7, 1881, gave W. Laney a primary right for 7 acres and a secondary right for 2 acres; two dated March 7, 1882, gave A. J. Workman a primary right for 4£ acres; one dated March 7, 1882, gave W. D. Johnston a primary right for 1 acre; one dated June 2, 1891, gave Bloomington Irrigation Company a primary right to 275 inches; one dated June 2, 1891, gave Price Irrigation Company a primary right to 1,200 inches, and one dated August 8, 1893, gave the Washington Field Canal Company a primary right to 3,500 inches. The records at Kanab show also that rights were given to Levi Savage for 20 acres at Toquer-ville; to the Virgin City Farming Land Ditch for 132.5 acres; to Virgin City Parker Ditch for 10 acres; to Virgin City Lower Ditch for 50 acres; to Graf ton Ditch for 125.5 acres, and to Rockville Ditch for 280 acres. The awards shown by the record are not all that were made, a number of other individuals in the upper settlements holding certificates to small amounts, showing either that all awards were not entered or that some of the records have been lost. The record is, therefore, so incomplete as to have but little value when it comes time to settle the rights on the central division of the river. After the law of 1901 authorizing the county commissioners to appoint water commissioners was passed, that section of the river designated in this report as the central division was constituted water division No. 1, in WTashington County,