Page 25

Zeutschel OS7000, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 14,004,628 bytesSmithville five miles long, reclaims 3,000 acres, cost $4,000.Nevada, three miles long, reclaims 500 acres. McMurrin, four miles long, reclaims 600 acres. These ditches are on the south side of the Gila. On the north side of the river there are six, aggregating twenty-three miles in length and reclaiming about 3,000 acres. Their total cost was near $12,000.This shows the total length of irrigating ditches in the Pueblo Viejo to be sixty-six miles. Cost of Same..$43,000, Land Reclaimed..19,600 acres Of this area, not more than 12,000 acres are now under cultivation. The capacity of several canals was not given. The total acreage of arrable land in the valley is nearly 40,000; so that less than half of it is enclosed. The largest body of arrable land in Yavapai County was found in the Verde Valley. There are, besides, a number of small valleysin the different parts of the country, where irrigation is practiced, but the area under cultivation is small, owing to the limited water supply. Hon. John Davis, an old resident of the Verde, sends the following about irrigation in that locality: Nine canals have been constructed, aggregating about 30 miles in length, and costing about $20,000. These canals supply water to 2,500 acres - their united capacity being about 1,500 miner's inches. No data in regard to the condition of irrigation in Pinal, Apache, Pima, or Yuma Counties, has been received. There are number of canals in the Valley of Gila near Florence, and fully 10,000 acres are under cultivation in that neighborhood. On the Little Colorado and its tributaries, in Apache County, it is estimated there are close on to 18,000 acres reclaimed, most of which is under cultivation. In Pima County there is said to be 4,000 acres under the plow, and in the valley of the San Pedro, Cochise County, about the same number. In Yuma County there is said to be 2,000 acres cultivated. Estimating the cost per acre for reclamation in those counties at $4, which is a low figure, the outlay for canals is each would be as follows: Pinal, $40,000; Apache, $72,000; Pima, $16,000; Cochise, $16,000; Yuma, $8,000. This would make the total cost of the irrigating works already constructed in Arizona, over $1,000,000. The total length of all these waterways cannot be much less than 400 miles. "DUTY" OF WATER The "duty" of water in Arizona may be considered an unknown quantity. There is but little data relating to the question worthy of any consideration. The loose and unreliable system of measurements which prevail, make any definite calculation almost impossible. The practice, which very generally exists, of taking water at pleasure in such quantity may be desired, makes the irrigator altogether indifferent to the matter of measuring it. While all the larger canals employ a zanjero, whose duty is to make an equitable distribution according to the "right" of each cultivator, yet, so loosely is the business conducted, that very often one man receives much more than he is entitled to, while other another receives much less. Throughout the irrigated valleys of Territory, water is measured by the miner's inch, generally with a four-inch pressure. It has been shown how inaccurate is this standard, and how variable are the results from it.Taking the Salt River Valley as an example of the system of artificial cultivation which prevails in the Territory, we find that all the principal canals are owned and managed by incorporated companies. With the exception of the Arizona Canals, all those ditches were constructed by the co-operative efforts of the owners of the land, which has been reclaimed by their waters. Some furnished teams and tools, other gave their labor, while a few contributed a money consideration. Stock was issued to each, according to the amount of money or labor he gave to the construction. This was the origin of the system of "water rights" which prevails throughout the Territory. The first cost of each "right" or share