pears from the record that the district as originally organized contained about one hundred and eight thousand acres of land, including the city of Modesta, a town covering about two thousand acres, and having about three thousand inhabitants and about six hundred dwelling houses, besides shops, stores, etc. "One proposition of the appellants seems to be that the mere fact of the corporate existence of a town or city, though situate in the midst of a district susceptible of irrigation by one system, necessarily deprives the Board of Supervisors of the county of the power to include any of the lands within the corporate limits of such city or town in an irrigation district. We say this seems to be a proposition of the appellant, because, although it is not expressly stated in terms, it appears to be necessary to sustain his contention, for if it lies within the discretion of the board to include in an irrigation district any part of the lands of a town or city upon the ground that in their judgment such part will be benefited by irrigation under the system proposed, and if the judgment of the board upon the question of benefits is conclusive of the fact-as we shall show that it is-there is no ground upon which a Court can say that an order including all the lands of a city or town in such district is void. The idea of a city or town is of course associated with the existence of streets to a greater or less extent lined with shops and stores, as well as of dwelling houses, but it is also a notorious fact that in many of the towns and cities of California there are gardens and orchards inside the corporate boundaries requiring irrigation. It is equally notorious that in many districts lying outside the corporate limits of any city or town there are not only roads and highways, but dwelling houses, outhouses, warehouses and shops. With respect to those things which determine the usefulness of irrigation, there is only a difference of degree between town and country. The advantages of irrigation to a town like Riverside, in San Bernardino county, for instance, no one could deny, and the differences between such a town and those places where irrigation would be as manifestly out of place are not marked by any hard and fast lines which would enable a Court to lay down a rule of discrimination. The question whether in any particular case a town will as a whole be benefited directly by the application of water for irrigation is in its nature, and under existing conditions must remain, a question of fact to be decided by that tribunal to whose discretion it has been committed by the legislature. It is very certain that the legislature intended that cities and towns should in proper cases be included in irrigation districts, for the Act expressly provides for the assessment and taxation according to their value, not only of city and town lots, but also the improvements thereon. And this feature of the law was made an argument against its constitutionality in the case of Turlock Irrigation District vs. Williams, 76 Cal. 360, in which its constitutionality was affirmed. Such having been the intention of the legislature as is clearly apparent, and it being equally clear and notorious as a matter of fact that there are cities and towns which not only may be benefited by irrigation, but actually have in profitable use extensive systems for irrigating land within their corporate limits." § 396. Dissolution of Irrigation Districts.-Although the legislature has recently passed an Act providing for the mode of procedure for the abandonment of operations by irrigating districts and for their disorganization, it is held that the Courts have no power by judicial decree to dissolve a public corporation of this kind, as formed under the Act of 1877, because of non-user. And action cannot be maintained to dissolve such a corporation, since in the absence of law specially conferring it Courts are without power to dissolve a public corporation on such grounds. In the very recent case of the people vs. Selma Irrigation District," the Court said upon this subject: "The law under which the defendant was created makes no provision for a judicial sentence dissolving a corporation formed thereunder because of misuse of its franchise or for a failure to accomplish the purpose of its organization, 1 Stat. 1887, p. 37, Secs. 18 et seq. 2 See Stat. 1893, p. 520; Ante Section 388. 398 Cal. 206; 32 Pac. Rep. 1047, 1048. nor has our attention been called to any statute authorizing such a decree; and as, in the absence of a law specially conferring it, the Courts are without power to dissolve a public corporation for a misuser or non-user of corporate power this action cannot be maintained." CHAPTER XIII. Nevada. 1. SUBJECT TREATED IN GENERAL. Section. 397. Particular features of State. 398. Irrigation in the State. II. GENERAL STATUTORY ENACT MENTS. 399. Legislative Act of March 3, 1866. 400. Rights of way.-Condemnation proceedings.— Ditches already constructed. 401. Act of March 9, 1889.-Reclamation districts. 402. Same.-Board of Reclamation Commissioners. State divided into districts.-Duty of Surveyor General. 403. Same.-Duties and powers of the Board. Section 404. Same.-Rent of water. -Bonds to be issued. 405. An Act regulating the use of water for irrigation and other purposes. 406. Jurisdiction of District Court. Statement to be filed with County Recorder. 407. Waters of State to be de- 408. Judicial proceedings to deter- III. IRRIGATION DISTRICT LAWS. 410. District Law of 1891. 412. Common law in State.-Ripar- I. Subject Treated in General. § 397. Particular Features of State.-The State of Nevada lies almost wholly within the "Great Basin" region, which also extends on the east beyond Nevada, and includes nearly one-half of the Territory of Utah, as well as small portions of Idaho and Wyoming. The Great Basin, as the name implies, comprises a vast area, characterized by the fact that within its rim are no streams contributing water to the ocean. All of the precipitation falling within the irregular lines bounding it must at some time be evaporated and again returned to the atmosphere. However, the drop of rain which has fallen within the Basin may join other drops, becoming a rivulet and later form part of a creek or large river, and then carried into some large lake; from this lake it can escape to join the ocean only by taking the form of aqueous vapor and floating away with the wind. An almost innumerable array of smaller mountain ranges, trending north and south, fill the Great Basin, and diversify its surface by their bare and rugged peaks. Streams issue from some of these, but after a short course down the mountain side and through the long and narrow valley empty into saline lakes, or sink in the broader valleys between the ranges. Over hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles of lower mountains and desert plains there may not be a drop of water found during the greater part of the year. And on some of these vast plains for years the rain does not fall. Owing to the large area of the State of Nevada and its small and scattered water supply derived largely from springs, the ranches or farms are at considerable distance from each other, except on the western border. Wherever a spring appears in the broad barren valleys of the State some ranchman has bought or has taken up a small tract of land, sufficient to cover the source of the water, and owning this he can practically control thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of acres of grazing lands. The three rivers, the Truckee, Carson and Walker, together with the Humbolt, which flows from the center of the Basin towards the western edge, comprise practically the water supply of the State. There are other small streams and many springs, but none of them of great importance. The development of the agricultural resources of the State, therefore, depends upon the careful conservation and storage of the waters of these rivers and their utilization to the greatest possible extent. § 398. Irrigation in the State. It is evident from an inspection of the statistics of the rainfall that there is no such thing as farming without irrigation in Nevada. The only |