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<br />-17- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />resource by the control of inapplicable, ancient legal doctrines. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The first recognition by our lawmakers of the fact that. in order to <br />make the highest beneficial use of this essential resource, we must de- <br />part from or modify the common law, occurred in the first session of our <br />territorial legislature, late in the year 1861. At that session, and <br />under date of November 5 of that year, an act was passed by the <br />legislature in substance providing that the owner or.occupant of land <br />in the vicinity of, but not adjacent to, a flowing stream, had the right <br />to construct a ditch over the lands lying between his land and the <br />stream, for the purpose of diverting and using the waters thereof for <br />irrigation. The act further provided that if the construction and ! <br />operation of the ditch inflicted damage upon the owner of the lands, <br />which it traversed, the claimant would have the right to condemn a right <br />of way over these lands, with the amount of damage to be assessed bJ a <br />commission appointed by a Justice of the Peace. <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />At succeeding sessions of the Territorial Legislature, between.the <br />years 1861 and 1866, various special acts were passed, grantingcha~ters <br />to companies engaged in the construction and operation of irrigating <br />ditches. On February 5, 1866, an act was passed, in the nature of <br />special legislation, applicable only to this region. 'It is a quite' <br />unique and interesting law. It provides, in substance, that in the <br />Counties of Costilla and Conejos the citizens thereof engaged in agri- <br />cuI tural pur sui ts are authorized and empowered to hold an election on <br />the first Monday of March in each year, for the purpose of electing <br />superintendents of acequias, to-wit, a superintendent for each and every <br />Acequia Madre in the aforesaid counties. Only those persons in the <br />occupation of lands adjoining the Acequia for farming purposes, were <br />entitled to vote at these elections. ! The duties of the superintendent <br />so elected are prescribed, which consist of keeping the ditch under his <br />supervision in repair, and to that end he is empowered to call upon each <br />person using water from the ditch to contribute his share of the work <br />necessary to keep the ditch in operation. It also provides for a fine <br />of not less than $1.00 or more than $5.00, for any person failing to <br />obey the call of the superintendent. <br /> <br />An interesting provision of this law is that the superintendent shall <br />provide an ample supply of water at all times for the benefit of the <br />users of the ditch; and if he shall fail or neglect to do so, he shall be <br />liable to a fine of not less than $5.00 nor more than $50.00; also if <br />he shall wilfully neglect his duty in such manner that damage is done, <br />he shall be liable for such damage, and in addition, to a fine of $25.00. <br /> <br />It might be observed that said statute has never been directly <br />repealed, and unless it is repealed by implication, as to which there is <br />some doubt, it is still the law of the land. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The provision making the superintendent liable to furnish to each <br />user of water an ample supply at all times suggests an intriguing <br />situation. The enforcement of this statute under present-day conditions <br />would be interesting. I would suggest that water users under every ditch <br />in these two counties proceed to elect a superintendent thereof, and then <br />