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Show Engineer Explains New Water Law i i T. H. Humpherys, Utah state engineer, under whose department falls the administration of the recently re-cently enacted underground water legislation, addressed a large gathering of farmers of the Milford Mil-ford pumping district at a meeting in the Community club house last Saturday afternoon. While the law is new and necessarily experimental, experi-mental, Mr. Humpherys gave it as his opinion that it is an important step in the right direction and means much to those who have pioneered the use of underground wafer for irrigation. The meeting meet-ing was thrown open to discussion and the asking of questions and resulfed in a rather comprehensive explanation of the new law. One of the principal phases of the new law is the establishing of prior rights to underground water the same as heretofore applying to surface waters of the state and protects the owners of wells that are already drilled, making it necessary to file application for the drilling of new wells with the state engineer, who will administer the new law. Persons who have established prior right to underground waters by the development of wells will be protected to the extent of the proved original flow of the well. Applications for new wells will be investigated to determine the probable effects on old wells before be-fore the permit to drill is granted. When applications are made for permits to drill, other well-owners who feel that they may be adversely ad-versely affected, will have the privilege of protesting against the granting of the drilling permit While it is not necessary for owners of wells drilled before the bill went into effect, March 22, 1935, to make filings with the engineer, as a matter of future protection it is advisable to do so, according to Mr. Humpherys. |