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<br />conservation, recharge, ground water storage and ground water manage- <br />ment would appear to be a step in the right direction. Such a ground <br />water district could be given such general powers or specific powers as <br />the legislature may determine. Nebraska passed an act enabling the <br />creation of ground water conservation districts, legislative bill 554 of <br />the 1959 Legislature. Powers granted by the act include gathering <br />information, assistance in ground water conservation, providing technical <br />information concerning ground water conservation, instituting corrective <br />measures for proper conservation and the levy of a tax for district pur- <br />poses. 4 <br /> <br />Both Kansas and California have laws which enable landowners <br />to create ground water districts for the solution of their problems. <br /> <br />Still another specific problem is that of determining what water <br />is tributary to the stream. Legislation must recognize scientific data <br />and physical facts disclosed by research and investigation. Ground <br />water is a part of the hydrological cycle. But if all water is tributary <br />to the stream ground water development may be severely limited. The <br />Colorado General Assembly in several sessions has debated the rule <br />that all water is presumed tributary to the stream. Proposed pro- <br />visions that water was not to be presumed tributary have failed. A <br />provision abolishing any presumption has failed. r', provision <br />that all water is presumed to be a part of the stream failed. <br /> <br />Concerning this problem, W. E.Code of Colorado State Uni- <br />versity has stated: <br /> <br />"In my opinion the term 'tributary' as a description <br />of ground-water movement should be dropped in legalistic <br />considerations. It has been used as a mechanism by the <br />Supreme Court to fix a rule of law, thus tying up ground- <br />water with considerable rigidity to prior appropriations <br />of surface waters. One rule of law is deemed applicable <br />to 'tributary' ground-water and another to 'non-tributary' <br />ground-water. The 'tributary' idea may well lead to ab- <br />surdities and prevent full conservative use of such water. <br />The 'tributary' idea helped the courts in applying the rules <br />governing surface streams to ground-water where rules <br />were lacking. I think we need new rules which would <br />recognize our modern conceptions of ground-water hydrology, " <br /> <br />-,6 - <br />