| OCR Text |
Show CALIFORNIA DEFENDANTS Exhibit No. 25 Admitted: August 13, 1956 Consumptive Use of Irrigation Water in Old Established Irrigated Areas under Natural or Artificial Drainage. R. I. Meeker, Irrigation Engineer, Denver, August 12, 1924. "In the history of irrigation in this country, there has been evident a gradual but very definite evolution in the ideas of what constitutes proper use of water. While the use of water for irrigation was at first a relatively unimportant one, its importance now overshadows all other uses, save that of domestic supply. "In the course of this evolution, the doctrine of beneficial use has become established, but in future development this doctrine must in many cases merge into, or be supplanted by that of economic use. " 'The doctrine of beneficial use looks to individual interest; that of economic use to the general welfare of society as a whole. So far as possible, water charges, systems of distribution, and regulations should be so adjusted as to make the interest of the individual water user coincide with this public interest.' " (From Irrigation Management, p. 51, by F. H. Newell.) |
