homesteads were granted in the arid lands on condition that the
settlers should irrigate the land. In 1894 the Carey Act was
passed by Congress under which the national government may give to
a state as much as a million acres of arid public land within its
borders, on condition that the state provides for its irrigation.
The work is done by private stock companies, with whom the state
makes a contract for the purpose. The most extensive irrigation
project undertaken by private enterprise is that of the Imperial
Valley in California, which derives its water from the Colorado
River. Under the laws of California the Imperial Valley region has
been organized as an "irrigation district," with power to levy
taxes for the development and support of the irrigation work. Each
state in which irrigation is practiced has its own laws regulating
the use of water by farmers and other consumers.

The theory is that the state regulates the appropriation of the
water, exercising this power and holding the land in trust for the
public ... It is the duty of every state to which the Reclamation
Act is applicable to assist with every resource under its
control.[Footnote: Water Supply Paper, 234, U.S. Geological
Survey, Department of the Interior, p. 66.]

Reference has been made in Chapter XIV to the proposed plan for
the reclamation and settlement of new areas of arid land by
returning soldiers.

SWAMP LANDS

There are probably 80,000,000 acres of swamp lands in the United
States which could be made productive by drainage. Farmers