204 VALUATION, DEPRECIATION AND THE RATE-BASE
In the case of a storage reservoir from which water may be
required for an immediate high use, such as a municipal supply,
and where the most profitable other use to which the reservoir
land can be put is grazing, there may be a wide difference be-
tween values if determined for these two purposes. And yet in
such a case the fact that this particular property will sooner or
later be used for water development purposes may have given
it a market value that cannot be ignored when the right of
eminent domain is exercised. If the public has correctly deter-
mined this market value, it will lie somewhere between the value
of the land for grazing and the amount which a person can afford
to pay who wishes to use it for the storage of water. This does
not mean that the original owner is to share the increment of
special value equally with the party who is going to put the
land to a special use but merely that he should share, to some
extent, in the same.
When the value of land for a special purpose is but little in
excess of the value of the land for ordinary uses, the division of
the excess might, perhaps, equitably be on the basis of an equal
division between the original owner and the person who desires
to acquire the land. When, however, this excess is relatively
large, then it may be proper and fair to assume that the larger
portion of the excess value created by the enterprise should go
to the person who is ready to take the risk of a successful carry-
ing out of the enterprise and this fact should not be lost sight
of in estimating market value.
When lands are to be taken for fortification and other similar
purposes where consideration of the value expressed in money
for the special purpose is not admissible, consideration should
be given to the fact that the owner is forced to part with property
for the good of the public and is entitled to receive for it some-
what more than the price which would obtain between a willing
seller and a buyer, and also to the fact that whenever
the adaptability of a piece of property for a special use is gen-
erally recognized, such property must have acquired greater
value than other similar property not available for such use.
