YOUR WATER BY EDWIN W. BURRITT STATE ENGINEER Cheyenne,Wyo. Wyoming Reclamation As~ociat:ion, Casper,Wyoming April 2- 3, 1936 ELWOOD MEAD BORN JANUARY 16, 1858 DIED JANUARY 26, 1936 HE WAS INTERESTED IN WYOMING'S WATERS DURING TENURE OF OFFICE AS STATE ENGINEER OF WYOMING, 1666-1699 . TI-lE REASON FOR St;MINOI; I .-;..·'' • -·. , PATHFINDER ······. .·· ·. SPILLS! - • .. .; --· w . ,_ :... .~.., . 'C • -= ,- ·- . ·---- -~-p. .. The C( ·.!l;)il.A.ti on of this r::::_p~~rt has ~·;f ;Gn uade possi ~~l l( , du .. ;; t ...'l t.hc, cuc,pGrat,lon a:nd assi :3t::tnc~.:: c·f c1tany pe· ~, pl:..: ~nd I r.:·ish tc ~~x11r8SS ..a::t ap1;-recL1tion tu the f,Jl­ J.or.ring: Hun . Leslie A. ,idller - Gcver11(1r ~1f Wyo.J.ing . Wil.l U. 1vk:tz - q'J PA A.duinistratur fnr V~y o.u ing. Senior Hydraulic ~~ngJ.neer, U.SeG.E1. Fult"Jn D. 3ell:L·ry - AusistJ.nt. State Engine(:n·, \Vy C; ,.1Jng • .l!.:ar.l Lloyd - Clvil &.ginec.:r, Che;:ro.n:ne, Wy(;.i;ling. Charlt::s B. Sta.ff:)rd - Dopt. C~>.i1 . ;1erc e & Industry, Wy Cl.:,ing. J~)lm E. Dunkin - DraftscoH:in, Chcy.::nna, Nyo.:dng. (Th0 {{a tar Conaervat1on ProJ act su11ervised by Lae). Edwin w. · Burritt State Eri~ineer Cht::yennc:, Wy ..1 ••d.ng ,11hrch 50, 19:56 ---~---- ....., __ Paee Yo ur ~:r at e r , by Edwin W. Bur ritt , Sta t e Engi neer • •. • . • l - 9 SUliPLET 7SFT I r rigation - 2epr int ed from "WyoE1 in.::; St a tisti cs '.' . 1- 6 Irriga ted Land by D ra i na~e Dasi ns- 1?30 Census .. 7 Pr incipal Construct ed R~se rv o ir s •.... ~t. •. .•. •.. ~. 8 Prin cipal F rp pose~,.t lleser voirs .. .. ._, .,. • • s ~Jat e r Flowi nc out of '.Iym:~ i n~ • . .• • . ·. • •. • •. 1 0 .... 11 Off-seasor;al Fl ovJS l eaving 1.~ym:·_in e; . • . • •. • ~. 1 2 Inter st ate s·tre(iiJ S •... • •.••• ' .. ... • . • • • • • •. • • .•••.. • 1 3 Dev eloprrent under U. S . I ndian Service ..... •••••.•. • ..• 1 ~1 Dev elop!L.ent under U. S . 1:~u r ea u of Tieclarcc" t i on . ·• . , ~ .. 15 U. s . Bureau of rt•3c l m~• ation Pro j er.ts . • , .... • .••.. Casp er Alco~a Pr oject •.. • . \\ ····· .•.. 1 6-18 Heart ~ountuin r r o j ect • • ••.•• . • • .. .. ... ... 1 9- 22 Riverton Project .. ... ...... ... ' ... ... • ~ ••• • ,lo ••••• 23- 24 Bull L~~ e ?r6ject. ......... .. ~ .•. ~ ..... 25 Sh oshone ?ro j 8ct ..•••••.•• ~ ~ ..•. , • • . • .. , • • ~ •.•.•. • ..••• 25- 28 J ackson I..a L;::.e J..)ro j ec t~ •• • -_ . .. • • .. • ·, . .... • •.••. 29 - ~0 I nter st a-te tanc:tl , ' .. ....... ...•..••. ·. •••....• 3 1 Fort I.arami c:: Cana1 . ................ ....•....... 32 Pa t hfinder Reser voir ..••..•.••... .• . .• . .... 33 G11Ei r r1sey ·Reservoir .......... .. .. ..... , ••.•• ~ •••••••••• 33 P a th f i nde r-~ar r en A~ t Contracts •.•••••.•••• o •• o • ••.••••. 34 Index of Str· e::.:1.~ >: Flovv Recor ds on I nte!:'stat e Streams • ~ 0 ••• • 35- 36 Letter- Ccmce rnin~ Value of £:Cec l a:::1ation 2roject s o. 0 ••••• 0 •• • 38- 39 1 by Ra l f Ro Ioo1 ey ,- Seni or :::ngineer, · U. S . G, ~~ ...... o. o •• Early I'r iori ties on Wyor"in3 St rear"ls .••..•••••.•.. o •••• • • •••• 37 Discussi on of IJaw Conce:rEinp: '-"la t er Cor_servat i on Boar d I.~ o·n t a.n.c.t • •••••••••••••• ~ •••••••••••• • ' •• 40 - 43 Gener a l Plan for C~onstruct i or.;_ of Res e:r·-t.;ro:L rs with Pu1)lic FuJ'ld. .. s ... , .... .. .. .•.......•................... 44- 6? ) . ~- . ... ! ·' . 1 ·~· •• ,.,; . ... j .. • .BY .. t- - -: ,', .': . ED'NIN vv. BURRI rrT ........ S.T.. -..TZ .. ENGI~TEER . t . .~ . ··c·HE·'·· ·"' ·~;·1\Tl\T.:.-, T ";o· -n,r· ·1'rA : ·. ·. f·.i!.J+'W< ~ .l . Vii Y l\~ . , \l \:.T . ' ~ .·• . .... AT .. ·,· THE. ~~:vior· .J:rN6·. nB~ciArur:;:ii.aN·Lsso'cri~ .. ·TioN·.:. J.l11 ~·.dASJ~~R· , . __ :JfO~EING_ ~ A~<ai;r.~ ·; 2:. , 1~ ,36. ." ... : (Ace . orl~!C).' ~ied -~ry .·. G·, : B-~pi)lemel'tt ;· pr .e.se~t .in:p: · variou~ . facts , concerning irri :~ at io.n . arid :J .i·riG·a tj~ on .. ]~ro b1 e_m.s . in Vvyoming. ) . ' ' " ... : . ~ ·.. - . ' . .: - . ~ -~· ·... ,/A?ER·, ac:c o-rdi.n[; to · -~ le bster·' s· Unabridged~ · is "the fluid~ v·rhich descends .from· tl~; e clouds in rain and which forms . rivers, . lak.es, seas tt. • 'debs·ter. s.ays · it .is tB:ste- .. less, .odorless. trans,arent and · a liquid, and he .quali- fies this .by saying lt i-s the most im:)ortant r'f all solvents and also states that it is essential to the life of animals and plants. We have all heard about the young philosopher who propounded the query, "Which ex:i. sted first, the chicken .or the egg?". vVhere Mr. ~rVebster gained the idea that water first descends---· from- the clouds instead of first rising fro_f£ the earth, I d.o .not know. In rrhermopolis ' the VJELter o·f the springs may not truthfully be called tasteless ~or odorless , and the water in our muddy streams cannot be called transparent; furthermore, I have, . when sorely pressed for Jaoi sture, drnnk or rather chewed a mixture, passing for water but more nearly solid, occur:i.ng in the stock water holes of .. Wyoming's badlands~ · Tt is the life of animals and plants; -1- they absorb it, use it and throw it avva.y again. And ali in all, during this endless process• the World's total supply of water varies not at all, and there remains, metaphorically speaking, the exact number of drops of water as existed wh@n this planet became a solid mass. Water is a creato~ and a d~stroy~r. The oasic princip~ or ~eolamation, as we know the wora, is using water as a creative agency and less~ning its menace as a destroyine: agent. Our :reservoirs, con- ·structed to control tloo~ fl~ws, place a valuable com­ modity in ·Storage for beneficial use ana. benefit the stream ~nd vall$y by destroying the flood menace. Reclamation must a~hieve more. It must try to make water a tasteless, odorless, transparent liquid and p·rovide ways and means to reduce alkaline, silt and sewage e~ntents- It m~st a~so provide drainage so that water may not ruin goo-d farming land and in its capacity ~s a sol~e~t be~me poisoned and worthless for re-use. In the year 1889, the Wyoming Constitutional Con- venti~,.. after sev~ral weelfs of serious debate, dacided that this fluid, descending from the heavens, called "Wa"lf~r" was the. property of the State, and prescribed that ,...~Vater being essential to industrial prosperity, of limited amount, and easy of diversion from its natural channels, its control must be in the State, which, in p~oviding for its use, shall equally.guard -2- ..________..___ ___________~~ I all of the various interests involvod." (Constitution of ~~oming , Art. 1, Bee. 31.) ~nothJr section provided that "Priority of appropriation for beneficial uses shall give the better right," and that "No c.ppropric.tion shall be denied except when sue~ denial is demanded by the public interests." (Art. 8, Soc. 3.) To further tho state control of wsters and to protect the public interest therein, the convention provided for tho creetion of four water divisions in the State, and crested tho office of division superintendent to preside over each division,2nd the office of State Encincc:r. On NovGmb ,:; r 5th, 1889, the pooplo of the territory c..dopted this constitution, and on July 10, 1890, sftor its ratificotion by the Congress of the United States, the Stc=.te of Wyoming came into being, and thst combine tion of two cases , kno-vvn chemics.lly as H2o, bocame YOUR ·.vi-:~.TER . From this beginning, you have continuod, by your legislature, t'") provide a set of rule~, called laws, to govern this important :public property. These rules ore bused upon the principles set forth in your con­ stitution; your courts have interpreted them, and, in rare instances, tho Suprome Court of the Land has boon callod upon to dAcide questions of great importance in tho use nnd abuse of YOUR \ffiTER. ·with the progression of timG, while you claim the water 2$ ~roperty of your stete , your sister states, by their constitutions, make similar claims to the -3- waters of interstate streams. Therefore, it has become necessery 'to rimicebly divide certuin streLms bet~e8n the ·vcrious stafes' or at . lc&st to 8 ttern.:pt such eli visions. From an effort along this line, we obtained the Colorado Rive:r• C'tJmpc.ct s.nd made possible thu development of th(3 Colorado River Be.sin. -,/i thout success, ,dyoming has " . negotiated for comity with Coloradr and Nebr&ska, ond becuase of this fa:i.luro to agree, Wyoming today is brought into court and finds herself defendant in a lew suit over the waters of the North Platte River. On her western front, h0r water users are having seri~us troubles with the 2ppropriators of Utah and Idaho. In the C:tssertion of these claims, the effort is being made to injoct the;: word PRIORITY, or the ox:)ression FIRST IN TTME, }..,IRST IN RIGHT , into nll decisions, concerning tho usEJ of vtct •,J r, nnd to ennihilnte the words BENE~ICI1LL USE from your constitution ~nd the general lew of interstate wntors . The history of western irricLtion davolo_,1mont shows thnt ditchos wore first constructed in thg lcwer reaches of the strt:) c:ms, c.nd , if priority end _2nly priority is to govern the diversion of w~ter nnd these lower ditches must in c.ll inst.:~nces be first considered, tti s means that ~~~romin{? , sitting on top of tho Big Divide, must merely continue to sit and , gazing out towe.rds the east, north and west, see her neighbors plsnt, grow and ht:trvGst their crops while she -Jbte.ins what solace possible from her sitting occupation! But "Beneficial Use" is our Suvivr.