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Show 10 corresponding idea of the responsibility of the community to cooperate and work as a unit to provide a physical system of distribution and a method of administration for that system that allowed the individual water users to put the water to use. 27 Nevertheless, community water rights came to be recognized in order of priority by the county courts and the territorial legislature. Those communities that were senior in settlement had superior rights. These town's councils and church leaders controlled the area's water resources. As soon as it became apparent that local water resources were utilized as fully as was practical with the limited economic and technical means available, new colonies were established in other areas. Community rights led to a standard of beneficial use that in its attention to the public interest was akin to the earlier common law practices. Individual water users within the community were expected to use the water resources allotted to them in a manner that contributed to the betterment of the community. This emphasis was later reflected in the functioning of the county courts under the direction of the territorial legislature. Mixing Local Authority With Centralized Coordination and Decision Making Central church leaders used their authority to coordinate the pattern of water development. Settlement of any kind was not possible without water. Through colonization, Mormon leaders established control of water resources throughout Utah and the surrounding areas. 28 However, once the group of settlers arrived, local institutions assumed primary responsibility for the construction of a water system. Just as important was the fact that local institutions implemented a system of water distribution once a facility was constructed. As mentioned above, the institution of community ownership and the water turn were utilized at the local level in the delivery of water. Each new colony went through similar experiences with regard to water distribution. Local church leaders used their influence to ensure that water would be utilized for the community benefit. They also directed the process which chose the type of water projects to be built. They then used their ecclesiastical influence to mobilize work forces, sustain momentum in the face of floods, droughts, and other reverses, and to distribute water to the overall benefit of the community. These collective pioneering experiences influenced perceptions of what the proper role of the community and community leaders should be. These experiences later influenced the role of the territory and state in water resource development and administration. 29 " For excellent discussions of the development of water law and the forces which shaped it see Robert G. Dunbar, Forging New Rights in Western Waters ( Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983), p 82. Also Donald J. Pisani, " Enterprize and Equity," pp 28- 29 is helpful. " Milton R. Hunter, Brig ham Young: The Colonizer, p 72. The fact that Governor Young established San Bernardino, California, in 1851; Las Vegas, Nevada ( Territory of New Mexico), in 1855; and Lemhi on the Salmon River in Idaho ( Oregon Territory), in 1855 - all founded outside Utah after Congress had reduced the size of the " State of Deseret" - is evidence that he intended not to be thwarted in his plans to control by colonization as expansive a country as possible in the Great West. But this control he intended to achieve through a legitimate, peaceable method of land settlement. " Leonard J. Arlington, Great Basin Kingdom, p 53. Speaking of early Mormon water organzing practices Arlington says: When a group of families found themselves in need of water ( or additional water) to irrigate their farms and gardens, the bishop organized the men into a construction crew . . . Upon completion of the project the water would be distributed by a ward water master . .. The labor necessary to keep the canal in good repair was handled the same way, in accordance with assignments made in regular Sunday services or priesthood meetings. |