the river navigation will become less important, but under good management the river will always remain navigable between the head works of the larger irrigation systems to be installed in the future.

Under a wise and businesslike control of the entire stream, the interests of irrigation and navigation can be fully protected, and vast tracts of land now desert can be converted into densely settled and prosperous communities of small landowners. If, on the contrary, development proceeds in a haphazard fashion and without plans for the future, the resources of the country will be greatly diminished and the creation of thousands of homes will be prevented. In other words, by neglecting to build storage works at suitable places, or by allowing vested rights to accrue without system or plan, the great resources of this river will be seriously impaired.

LEGAL CONDITIONS.

It is generally recognized that the control and distribution of the water appropriated for irrigation from the upper tributaries of Colorado River is carried on under the operation of State laws. Various systems have been adopted by the States of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah for apportioning and settling disputes as regards the utilization of the waters necessary for the continuous irrigation of arid lands. The lower part of the stream, however, being navigable, is under the control of the United States, and diversions of water for irrigation, although tolerated, have not been expressly sanctioned by law or by Executive action. Various ditches have been constructed to take water from the navigable part of Colorado River, and in one case permission was sought from the Secretary of War. Reply was given that the Secretary of War declined to grant formal permission, but informed the company applying that the War Department would not interfere with its operations, provided they were so conducted as not injuriously to affect the interests of navigation.

While not presuming to discuss the legal conditions, it is necessary to state that the control of diversions from Colorado River to lands in Arizona and California is obviously under the administrative supervision of the United States, and owing to the scarcity and great value of the supply must necessarily remain so if the larger future interests of the people as a whole are to be guarded.

The water which can be stored and regulated in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah can be used in part within their limits, while the remainder can be used only for the development of arid lands in Arizona, California, and the Republic of Mexico, and in maintaining for a number of years at least the navigation interests in the rapidly developing lower country.

IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA.

The resolution calls for an investigation and report on the various questions involved in the irrigation of arid lands in the State of California and Territory of Arizona through the use of the waters of the lower Colorado River. As before stated, irrigation canals and ditches have been taken out on both sides of the lower river, those on the right bank covering areas of agricultural land in California and those on the left bank similar areas in Arizona. Appropriation of the water has been made by the simple process of posting notices and recording these, such notices serving to give information of intention to construct works and to claim various amounts of water. The waters thus filed upon are usually stated in large terms, and, in fact, the aggregate of the paper claims to water filed in California and Arizona exceeds by many times the available flow.

Actual construction of the existing canals and ditches has proceeded to various degrees of completion. The large amount of sediment brought down by the river and the slight fall of the ditches result in rapid clogging of these artificial channels, and as a result each year the amount of land under irrigation is dependent upon the stage of the river and the energy of the settlers in cleaning out or practically reconstructing the irrigation systems.

The total area now actually irrigated is very small and almost insignificant in comparison with possibilities of future development through regulation of the waters of Colorado River by storage and by suitable dams placed across the stream, serving to raise the water and make practicable the maintenance of permanent headworks and the handling of the silt. The large and irregular fluctuations of the river, combined with the enormous amount of earthy material in partial suspension, renders the effective utilization of the stream a matter of great difficulty and expense.

EXTENT OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

The resolution calls for a report with a view to determining the extent to which the waters of Colorado River may be made available for irrigation through works under the national irrigation act and by private enterprise. The act referred to-that of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat., 388)-sets aside the proceeds from the disposal of public lands for the survey, examination, and construction of reclamation works. Under the terms of this act extensive surveys have been made along the river and all the irrigable lands along its lower course have been mapped, showing that under various conditions of cost, great areas can ultimately be reclaimed by the construction of reservoirs on the headwaters and by placing dams across the stream, taking water out upon the adjacent areas by gravity and by pumping. The details of this work are given in the first, second, and third reports of the Reclamation Service.

After a full consideration of all the conditions, recommendations have been made to begin this work of reclamation by constructing a dam across Colorado River at a point a short distance above Yuma. Plans and specifications have been completed and submitted to the department and authority asked for advertising for bids. It is assumed that this work of construction will be pushed at an early date, as it is not directly involved in any of the questions now under consideration.

It is expected that under the terms of the reclamation act above noted it will be practicable to take up and compléte a number of similar projects on portions of the river where it forms a boundary between Arizona and California, and elsewhere, reclaiming many thousands of acres of fertile lands capable of intensive cultivation.

The amount of lands which can be irrigated by the complete conservation of the waters of the river and its tributaries, such as would be possible under the reclammation act by systematic and logical development, is not less than 2,000,000 acres, and the annual discharge of the river indicates that a much greater area will eventually be irrigated.

AVAILABILITY BY PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Up to the present time all development has been by private enterprise, the proposed Yuma project being the first investment of national funds. As a rule private enterprise has been greatly hampered by the magnitude of the construction involved and the great difficulties of effectively controlling the stream. The experience of these enterprises is such as to discourage further investment, especially in view of the fact that under the terms of the reclamation act the Government will probably construct large and permanent works, utilizing all of the available resources. The principal large enterprise is that of the California Development Co., taking water at or below the international boundary on the California side and carrying in through the Republic of Mexico for about 60 miles to points where it is returned, in part, northerly into the United States.

Here in the southern end of San Diego County, Calif., is a great sink, or depression, extending to a depth of nearly 300 feet below sea level.

The waters from Colorado River, conducted through Mexico, are distributed over part of this area through canals owned by the farmers. The lands lie at altitudes from those slightly above sea level, sloping very gently toward the north or west, to the Salton sink. The entire area has been frequently overflowed in recent geologic times, both by the waters of the Gulf of California and by the waters of Colorado River. In fact, the depression is simply the upper end of the Gulf of California, cut off from the salt waters by a broad expanse of fine sands or clays, the sediment brought down by the Colorado River.

This depression, being the bed of a former estuary or brakish lake, contains all of the salts or alkali which was left by the evaporation of the water. This alkaline content ranges from a slight or inappreciable percentage to 3 per cent or more. The reports of the Bureau of Soils of the Department of Agriculture cover this point fully and illustrate the difficulties and dangers encountered by the settlers in this area.

The lands within and around this depression have been filed upon principally under the terms of the desert-land act, and to a less extent under the homestead act. The holdings are usually from 160 to 320 acres or more, and irri

gation has been attempted on many of these, with greater or less success, dependent upon the amount of alkali in the soil and the skill of the farmer in distributing the available supply.

The use of the waters of this river upon lands which are very strongly alkaline, or which for other reasons can not be permanently reclaimed and made to produce remunerative crops, is a waste and not a beneficial use. The waters of the Colorado River have in some cases been applied to lands of this character, and the public interest requires that such use of its waters should be prevented as being wasteful.

LEGISLATION NEEDED.

The object of the resolution appears to be to ascertain what legislation, if any, is necessary to grant or confirm to present and future appropriators and users perpetual rights to the use of the waters of Colorado River for irrigation. As thousands of acres of both public and private lands in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, as well as a large area in Mexico, are dependent upon a comprehensive development and utilization of this stream, it would be manifestly improper to permit further appropriations by individuals or corporations as in the past, because the existence of their improvements will render it more and more difficult to carry out the proper development of the waters of the river, unless Congress takes early action to control and regulate the matter.

It is generally conceded that legislation is necessary, because, the lower part of the river being navigable, its waters are not subject to appropriation, and notices filed in conformity with the customs of Arizona and California are not valid. In this connection attention is called to office letter of March 19, 1904, reporting to you upon Senate bill 4193. It has also been suggested in a letter to you dated March 22, 1904, that the legislation needed is along the line of protecting all of the interests and not conferring a monopoly upon any one corporation or interest.

The following interests are to be guarded:

1. That of the people of the United States who are the owners of much of the irrigable land along the river and of the waters of this navigable stream.

The public in general is deeply concerned to secure the establishment upon these lands of the largest possible number of prosperous homes by the best use of the waters of this river.

2. The settlers upon the arid lands have already put to beneficial use a part of the waters of Colorado River. The appropriations which they have made should be recognized, limited, however, to the extent to which the water has actually been diverted and beneficially used upon lands capable of producing remunerative crops.

3. The corporations or investors who have spent various sums of money in the construction of works, in the hope of making large profits out of the enterprise.

Their interest is solely that of getting the largest return for the least investment, and may or may not be consistent with the public welfare.

The legislation adopted should be along the line of guarding the present navigation interests and gradually modifying them under the supervision of governmental agencies as the country is developed and more water is needed for irrigation.

Such legislation should provide that in granting rights to the use of water to private parties due consideration should be given to the preservation and maintenance of the navigability of the river; and in order that these interests of the settlers upon the public lands may be properly protected, the law should provide that all grants of rights or privileges to divert and use portions of the water of the river shall be upon condition that the plans of all the irrigation and reclamation works for diversion, regulation, or control of the waters shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

The waters already put to beneficial use should be devoted to the lands which have been reclaimed and made appurtenant to them, and the large and irregular supply of the river should be controlled by storage works.

The diversion of water from the lower Colorado River where it is navigable is without authority of law, and in order to protect those parties who are using such waters for beneficial purposes their rights to the use thereof should be confirmed to the extent of their actual beneficial use upon land capable of producing remunerative crops up to the end of the irrigation season just passed,

which may be fixed, for convenience, as October 1, 1904. The quantity of water so applied to beneficial use can readily be ascertained, because the reclamation service has during the past year made a number of careful surveys, and has mapped substantially all of the cultivated areas in the lower courses of the river.

The further appropriation of water from the Colorado River in Nevada, Arizona, and California should be allowed only with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and all appropriations of water heretofore or hereafter allowed for irrigation purposes should be appurtenant to specific tracts of land, and beneficial use should be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right.

Those who have already constructed canal systems would be fully protected by this arrangement, as they will be allowed to carry the water already beneficially used, making reasonable charges therefor as in the past, and would be allowed to extend their systems subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

The report is submitted in duplicate.

Very respectfully,

The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

CHAS. D. WALCOTT, Director.

Mr. BIEN. It was substantially that Congress should establish some means of determining the land that was actually irrigated at the time, and recognize the water rights for those lands.

The CHAIRMAN. As valid?

Mr. BIEN. As valid.

Mr. HAYDEN. In that connection, objection was made yesterdayand it seemed to me with some force-by Mr. Yager, representing the Coachella district, that if such a priority was to be recognized, that it should be limited to the lands now irrigated, inasmuch as the total area included within the boundaries of the Imperial irrigation district is larger than the land actually in cultivation. It seems to me that that fault could be cured by inserting in line 15, after the word "land" the words "now irrigated "; so that it would read: "Shall have a water right secondary to that of lands now irrigated within the present boundaries of the Imperial irrigation district." That would confine the bill to a recognition of a priority acquired by actual application of water to the land.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; and just permit me-and would exclude lands within the district which have not been irrigated.

Mr. HAYDEN. Yes; it would put such dry lands on a parity with the lands outside of the Imperial irrigation district, because that is their actual physical condition now.

Mr. BIEN. That raises a large question for the Imperial irrigation district. It is under obligation to furnish water to all the lands within the district, and have built the works with that in view, and except in occasional years of shortage would have sufficient water to irrigate all the irrigable lands within the district. At least, that is my understanding. I have never seen any thorough study of it, but it is claimed that they would be able to furnish an ample water supply to all the irrigable lands within the district.

Mr. HAYDEN. Your idea is based upon the theory that an appropriation of water may be acquired by commencing construction and pursuing it diligently with a view to finally placing water on the land. Do you think, so far as the Imperial irrigation district is concerned, they have done enough to acquire an appropriation of water for lands not yet irrigated that such lands should be granted a better right to water than lands for which no work has been undertaken up to this time?

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Mr. BIEN. That was the claim, and I think it is well substantiated by the history of the district.

The CHAIRMAN. You would not recommend any amendment at all restricting to the lands that have now already been watered, but would just leave it as it is?

Mr. BIEN. I would not like to say, because I have not studied that phase of it.

The CHAIRMAN. Don't you think it would be very dangerous to do so?

Mr. BIEN. There should be no drastic legislation to cut out lands that are not now being irrigated without thorough study of the conditions.

Mr. TAYLOR. We don't want to cut them out, but the question is whether or not, if there was 150,000 acres in the Imperial district right now that have never had a drop of water on them, why should they be given a prior right to other lands just outside of that line, that have never had any water on, and that will be irrigated by this new construction the same as this land in the Imperial Valley would be irrigated? And the question is whether or not these lands not heretofore irrigated should all stand on the same basis as to priority right, assuming that there would be enough water hereafter for all of them, but if for any unforseen emergency-suppose all the dams wash out some year, the question is then whether or not east mesa should be dried up absolutely in order to furnish water for a lot of other lands that have not yet had water on them, that were brought in at the same time they were brought in?

Mr. BIEN. I understand that much of this land has been paying charges, for the water right, but for one reason or another they have not been using it.

Mr. TAYLOR. I don't think we want to go to settling that in this committee anyhow.

The CHAIRMAN. Would it be your judgment that it would cause most perplexing complications to undertake to restrict it to the lands that have already been irrigated in the district?

Mr. BIEN. I think it would. It is my understanding of the working of this bill that if there is a large area within the irrigation district that is short of water they would have to buy stored water. There is nothing in the bill that would prevent it, but the irrigation district is limited to the natural flow, and if that should ever be insufficient the district would necessarily make arrangements to get stored water, so that the matter would work itself out automatically. Mr. TAYLOR. Let me ask you another question, Mr. Bien, still referring to section 15. My understanding is that the object of putting this section in here is first because this water is diverted on a navigable stream over which Congress has jurisdiction, and Congress has never yet formally or officially given permission, has it, to do that? Mr. BIEN. No.

Mr. TAYLOR. That is the first thing. The second is that it runs around through Mexico, into a foreign country, and comes back into the United States, and that further complicates the matter. Now, they want to change the point or diversion and go up the stream and divert it through a new structure entirely, and by means of a different route through the all-American canal, they now, for those