at the point or place where such holder takes the water used by him into his ditch or works: Provided, also, that the construction and use of such dam or breakwater or improvements shall not injure the source from which such water is taken, or the property of any person, by backing water, flooding, or otherwise: Provided, also, that all disputes arising upon any matter or thing in this clause contained, shall be decided in a summary manner before the Commissioner, or Gold Commissioner, who shall have power to render such decision as shall seem to him just and equitable.

Sec. 148. In all cases where the validity of any water record made before the sixth day of April, 1886, may be called in question, and the Court or Judge before whom the case is pending shall be of opinion that such record was bona fide made, the same shall be held to be good and valid so far as the making and entry thereof is concerned, and effect shall be given thereto according to the intent thereof.

Sec. 149. Every by-law, resolution, or minute of any power company under this Act fixing, and every other schedule or proceeding which fixes or determines the tolls, fares, rates, rents or charges to be made, levied and collected by such power company, shall, within thirty days after the passing or making thereof, be submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council for approval, who may approve or disapprove of the same, in whole or in part, and may adjust, increase or decrease such tolls, rates or charges as he may deem expedient in the public interest.

(a.) Every schedule or scale as approved pursuant to this section shall be published in form and manner directed in any rules and regulations for the time being in force under this Act, or as may from time to time be directed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and in any action brought against any person in respect of non-payment of any charge thereunder, such person may plead as an answer to such action that such publication has not been made as aforesaid.

Sec. 150. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, from time to time, appoint any person to act as Water Commissioner under this Act, and such person for the purposes of such appointment, shall have all such powers under this Act vested in the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and in a Commissioner or Gold Commissioner, as may be conferred upon

such person by Order in Council, or by any rules and regulations for the time being in force under this Act.

Sec. 151. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, from time to time, by Order in Council, establish a scale of fees payable on any proceeding taken under this Act, and provide regulations for the payment and collection thereof. Every such scale of fees shall be published for one month in the British Columbia Gazette.

Sec. 152. In case of companies incorporated under provisions of this Act, and in case of companies incorporated at the present or any future Session whose Act of Incorporation shall be subject to the "Water Clauses Consolidation Act, 1897," or any part thereof, the same shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, subject to the "Alien Labor Act, 1897." Sec. 153. This Act shall come into force on the first day of June, 1897.

REPEAL.

Sec. 154. The following Acts and parts of Acts are hereby repealed:

(a.) Secions 59 to 79, both inclusive, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133 and 134, of the "Mineral Act, 1896."

(b.) Section 54 and sections 56 to 78, both inclusive, of the "Placer Mining Act, 1891."

(c.) Section 2 of the "Placer Mining Amendment Act, 1894."

(d.) Sections 39 to 52, both inclusive, of the "Land Act." (e.) Section 9 of the "Land Act Amendment Act, 1891." (f.) "An Act providing for the election and defining the duties of Water Viewers," being chapter one hundred and seventeen of the "Consolidated Acts, 1888."

(g.) The "Water Privileges Act, 1892."

2. Provided that such repeal shall not affect any rights acquired or any liabilities or penalties incurred, or any act or thing done under any of the said Acts or parts of Acts.

(As amended by 58-59 Vic., chap. 33, assented to 22nd July, 1895.)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:This Act may be cited as the Northwest Irrigation

Sec. I.

Act.

Sec. 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires(a.) The expression "minister" means the Minister of the Interior.

(b.) The expression "agent" means the agent of Dominion lands for the district in which the land or water is situated. (58-59 V., c. 33, s. 1, part.)

(c.) The expression "Dominion land surveyor" means a surveyor duly authorized, under the provisions of The Dominion Lands Act, to survey Dominion lands.

(d.) The expression "company" means any incorporated company, the objects and powers of which extend to or include the construction or operation of irrigation or other works under this Act, or the carrying on thereunder of the business

NOTES.

(1.) The number of each section of the Amending Act, 58-59 Vic., chap. 33, is noted at the end of each of such sections, respectively, as they are inserted in this consolidation.

(2.) Section 8 of the Amending Act has not been inserted in this consolidation. It is as follows:

Sec. 8. The provisions of sections thirty-five, forty-two and forty-three of the said Act shall not apply to any irrigation district incorporated under an Ordinance of the Northwest Territories.

T. G. R.

(543)

of the supply or the sale of water for irrigation or other purposes, and includes any person who has been authorized or has applied for authority to construct or operate such works or carry on such business, or who has obtained a license under section eleven of this Act, and also includes any irrigation district incorporated under an Ordinance of the Northwest Territories. (58-59 V., c. 33, s. 1, part.)

(e.) The expression "works" means and includes any dykes, dams, weirs, flood-gates, breakwaters, drains, ditches, basins, reservoirs, canals, tunnels, bridges, culverts, cribs, embankments, headworks, flumes, aqueducts, pipes, pumps, and any contrivance for carrying or conducting water or other works which are authorized to be constructed under the provisions of this Act.

(f.) The expression "duty of water" means the area of land that a unit of water will irrigate, which unit is the discharge of one cubic foot of water per second.

Sec. 3. This Act shall apply to and be in force throughout the Northwest Territories.

Sec. 4. The property in and the right to the use of all the water at any time in any river, stream, watercourse, lake, creek, ravine, canon, lagoon, swamp, marsh or other body of water shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be vested in the Crown, unless and until and except only so far as some right therein, or the use thereof, inconsistent with the right of the Crown, and which is not a public right or a right common to the public, is established; and, save in the exercise of any legal right existing at the time of such diversion or use, no person shall divert or use any water from any river, stream, watercourse, lake, creek, ravine, canon, lagoon, swamp, marsh or other body of water, otherwise than under the provisions of this Act.

2. The said Act shall be read and construed as if the section hereby substituted had originally formed a part thereof instead of the section hereby repealed. (58-59 V., c. 33, s. 2.)

Sec. 5. Except in pursuance of some agreement or undertaking existing at the time of the passing of this Act, no grant shall be hereafter made by the Crown of lands or of any estate, in such terms as to vest in the grantee any exclusive or other property or interest in or any exclusive right or privilege with respect to any lake, river, stream or other body of water, or in or with respect to the water contained or flowing therein, or the land forming the bed or shore thereof.

Sec. 6. After the passing of this Act, no right to the permanent diversion or to the exclusive use of the water in any river, stream, watercourse, lake, creek, ravine, canon, lagoon, swamp, marsh or other body of water, shall be acquired by any riparian owner or any other person by length of use or otherwise than as it may be acquired or conferred under the provisions of this Act, unless it is acquired by a grant made in pursuance of some agreement or undertaking existing at the time of the passing of this Act.

Sec. 7. Except for domestic purposes, as hereinafter described, every person who holds water rights of a class similar to those which may be acquired under this Act, or who, with or without authority, has constructed or is operating works for the utilization of water, shall obtain a license or authorization under this Act before the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six. (58-59 V. c. 33, s. 3.)

2. If such license or authorization is obtained within the time limited, the exercise of such rights may thereafter be continued, and such works may be carried on under the provisions of this Act, otherwise such rights or works, and all the interest of such person therein, shall without any demand or proceeding be absolutely forfeited to Her Majesty and may be disposed of or dealt with as the Governor in Council sees fit.

3. The application for such license or authorization shall be made in the same manner as for other licenses or authorization under this Act, and the like proceedings shall be had thereon and the like information furnished in connection therewith.

Sec. 8. Any water the property in which is vested in the Crown may be acquired, for domestic, irrigation, or other purposes, upon application therefor as hereinafter provided; and all applications made in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall have precedence, except applications under section seven, according to the date of filing them with the agent, if for the same purpose, but not otherwise.

2. The purposes for which the right to water may be acquired are of three classes, namely: First, domestic purposes, which shall be taken to mean household and sanitary purposes and the watering of stock, and all purposes connected with the working of railways or factories by steam, but shall not include the sale or barter of water for such purposes; second, irrigation purposes; and third, other purposes.