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Show ! PEOPLE'S FORUM ! Editor Milford News. Dear Sir: Your last issue contained a letter from Mr. A. E. McGarry opposing the proposed law regulating the use and appropriation of ground water in Utah and making some untrue and misleading statements regarding our ground water supply. This law has been drafted by Director Wm. Peterson Peter-son and his associates on the state water commission, which was appointed appoint-ed by the governor, to investigate this subject. It is similar to the ground water laws of Oregon, Nevada and New Mexico. These states have found such laws necessary and beneficial. bene-ficial. Our proposed law for Utah has been written by men well informed inform-ed and unprejudiced who have the wi lfaie (if Utah at heart. In tin: short time liiiice my fin. I, ail iili- appeared, by far the gii-nton part of the actual fanner:; in tho Milford piimpini dh.trirt have deflated de-flated in favor of it. .Some l-;u;:i e ,L minor chance:;, Iml the majority, who: have realized for i.ome time tl.nL i something must be done, were ipiick to sec the wuy out when Director Peterson tliowed them the way. I am well qualified to write on the engineering, geology, tho well sinking sink-ing and operation, and the farming sides of tills question without being inaccurate or unscientific or being an urinecesiiury ularmist an Mr. McGarry charges. My developments here have been among the first und the most extensive. exten-sive. I have planted more than 200 acres for alfalfa seed production ami expect to plant nearly SO acres more. If the real estate men do not sell our water too many times we will have a good tiling. It is the overdoing over-doing of a good thing where the danger lies. I have made my home here and have invested about all I have. I win or lose with the valley. I am hot holding for speculation, and if we get protection, I don't1 want to sell. If we do not get protection pro-tection we will most all want to sell. am tho only farmer member of the Milford Lion's club and always try to do my part for the public good. I would do nothing that would injure the country. It is for the public ood and to avoid ruined homes that I take the stand I do. Let this valley develop normally and all will be well. We are no exception and all similar sections, where land has been plentiful plenti-ful and conditions encourage development, develop-ment, have become overdeveloped and greatly injured unless regulation is put in force. Mr. McGarry writes of his great interests at Milford and Beryl. How much land has McGarry planted? Getting Legislation It takes time to get legislation passed. Laws such as this always find some interests which cause them to oppose them. Our people have to have time to investigate and find out what they need. After the law is passed it is likely that applications will be accepted subject to being allowed al-lowed if there is found to be water enough for more development. It is better to delay development than to go too far and injure many. It is essential that we keep after this law, make such changes as seem best, but' get it passed as soon as possible, before serious injury is done. Those who have prepared to plant : hould yi) on and do :: as it J:; quite lil. i !y there v.ill he sufficient v.ntei for early developer;;. Our Ciaily ( anal SyMtem The gravity water irrigation canal which exteiid:: along the eastern aio : of our valley would have been a goo-' tiling had they not over appropriated the water. Lhw of Prior Night The law of prior right to watei protects each appropriator In the amount of water he has put to useful use-ful purposes in the order of time in which that water was first taken. It tlio water is not used after a periou of G years the right is lost. The law of prior right has been applied to grazing rights on our public domain and a man who has located a mine is allowed to file on his claim. Would stockmen who have been using the public range for years or the mine owner who has developed his mine want a flood of others to come in and assert their "vested rights," which McGarry refers to, and take part of their grazing and mineral from them? What became of the "vested rights" to water of land along the streams when the filiate, thru the law of prior right, declared that, right to the stream water was based on use? The law of prior rights applied to the streams contradicted the law of raparian rights which last law has not been repealed in some states. lias the law of prior rights ever been declared unconstitutional? It has not. The proposed ground water law, which has been drafted by Director Peterson and his associates on the water commission, is the extension ex-tension of law of prior rights to ground water as well as stream water. If thb proposed law can be declared unconstitutional, the same law applied ap-plied to s'.rcams is unconstitutional. Such chaotic conditions would result if this were done, that it is not conceivable. con-ceivable. Water acts very much the same underground as on the surface. In fact ground water frequently becomes be-comes surface water, and vice versa. All moving water above or below the service belongs to the state. Water which does not move is salty. Would a man who claims to own water flowing flow-ing under his land claim to own a stream flowing over that land, if others were using the water below? Would he claim the air flowing over his land? It is just as right and as necessary that the early appropria-tors appropria-tors of water from an underground supply be protected as the early ap-propriators ap-propriators from streams have been. C. G. Haskell. |
