I'm not sure if this will apply to other states, but in California, there was a push in the 1920's to adjudicate existing water rights. As a result of the court decisions, there were some violent conflicts regarding the use of those adjudicated water rights. The water master program was initiated as a solution.
During the adjudication process there was some fairly detailed mapping generated, which was intended to depict all existing water uses as they related to agriculture. In my county, in one drainage basin alone, there are 199 map sheets.
The mapping below is dated 1923 and is said to be derived from a plane table survey by the State of California, Department of Public Works, Division of Water Rights.
It is a handy reference to see where fences, canals, ditches, roads, fields, houses were located. It also serves as a snap shot of ownership.
I believe these maps were initially available from the California Department of Water Resources, but were then given to each individual water master district. They may be difficult to track down.
Maps like this are definitely a valuable resource. I've run across several deeds that cite artificial waterways as a boundary. Those ditches often get shifted or replaced with a pipeline or completely abandoned. And then, decades later, I've got to try to reestablish the position of them.
Thanks for sharing this!
