Show proposed irrigation article Ar ticla to the be irrigator irrigators a of utah tiie the following is the proposed article of the alie constitution on irrigation section 1 the water of all natural streams springs lakes and collect ions of still water within tile bound ries of the state are hereby declarer declared to he be the property of the state stale see sec 2 there shall be constituted a board of control to he be composed of the stale engineer and sup superintendents prin ten dents of the water divisions divi ions not more than half of which board shall be of one political party whenever it a member of the board becomes candidate for political preferment lie shall at once be disqualified to bold his hia office in the bo board ard of control this board shall under such regulations as may be by law have the supervision of the hie waters of the state and of ther appropriation distribution trib ution all and diversion and of the various officers connected therewith its decisions to be subject to review by the courts of tile hie state slate sec 3 priority of appropriation for beneficial uses shall give the letter better right NO ko appropriation shall be denied except when such denial is demanded by public interest the right of eminent domain shall extend to land and water rights rig lils see sec 4 the legis legislature attire shall by law divide divid tile hie state stale int othree 3 wa ter ler divisions and provide fur for tile llie at appointment neut of superintendents thereof S sec c C 5 there shall be a state engineer who shall be appointed by the governor of the state slate and confirmed by the senate he shall hold his office for the term of four 4 years or until his hia successor shall have been appointed and shall have qualified he shall be president of the board of control and shall have general sup arvison of the waters of the state and of the officers connected with their distribution no person shall be appointed to this position who has not such theoretical knowledge and practical experience and skill as shall fit him for the poA portion tion tile the salary ot 0 the state engineer shall be fixed by law it is my opinion that this article is objectionable from several points of view and taken in its broadest sense is revolutionary section 1 Is a confiscation without reservation of all acquired water rights or in other words a confiscation of private property without just compensation or due process of law and must therefore conflict with that part of the fifth amendment to the constitution of the united states which reads nor be deprived of life liberty or property without due process of law nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation section 2 contains matter belongs to legislation and not to the constitution the first two statements of section 3 are ambiguous 12 and appear to be in direct opposition to section 1 at best it seems to me that it if section 3 were adopted the water right question would be in a worse condition than han at present tiie last statement of section 3 is very good all matter of section 4 and section 5 should be brought about by legislation and not by constitution in regard to section 2 if it were decided to add some one else to this hoard board it would woul dibe be absurd to 0 o bave to set get all the heavy machinery necessary to amending t the constitution in motion to do s so 0 the same may bp said in regard to sections 4 anti and 5 it if for instance it were decided that the water divisions system would he best then it were found that four or five divisions would be better than three it appears to me a folly to have to amend tile cr constitution institution to make inake a change cfall lias has got along 10 0 far without a state stale engineer if one is now needed the legislature 4 hould li provide for the appointment of lucli an officer then again 1 should it be found that this board should elect its own president thin think of the work of amending the conati listion that the board may do so were there an engineer as provided for it may be necessary to redefine liis his powers slid and duties shall we do this by amending the constitution I 1 say no let tile the legislature do this work it appears to me that the llie constitution should simply provide for appropriation to the state stale of all waters not now how beld by justly acquired lir lights I 1 lits further to define tile the acquired rights the definition to be based on oil the diversion und and economical use of the water nater priority of if right camink firest in any case all uither details be iral to lu the ile legislature legisla luru I 1 firmly believe that it 21 state irrigation engineer gincer en is needed sis is alo ako a board of cont control con liol iol whose ads inay lie review bj the bagher conila 1 Il licie lete is no DO doubt that tile water rig 0 lila vel question needs a thorough goin ff ver anti and in many cases a let every irrigator irrig alor answer this question are arc you willing ilal tile llie state slite should stale your water right send your answer at a once to your county delegate dc de in the constitutional convention A A mills agricultural colle college ge experiment station |