Defense of his grant of water at Santo Cristoforo
A memorandum rebutting objections to a concession of twelve once of water
A prose memorandum, written on blue paper, in which Leonardo argues point by point against objections to a grant of water made to him at Santo Cristoforo. He answers the claim that the King loses 72 ducats of income by insisting that nothing is taken from the King but from those who had stolen water by widening the mouths of the channel; that reclaiming it merely returns to thieves what they must restore; that the magistrate already recovers more than 500 once while only 12 once are assigned to him; and that at 7 ducats the oncia the water is worth about 70 a year. He ends by denying that it impedes navigation, since the irrigation mouths lie above the navigable level.
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The water is reclaimed from thieves, not the King
Against the charge that the King loses 72 ducats of income, Leonardo answers that His Majesty knows what he gives is taken from himself, but here nothing is taken from the King; rather it is taken from those who stole it by widening the mouths of the channel, so that reclaiming it merely returns to thieves what they owe.
Only twelve once assigned against the magistrate's five hundred
He notes that the magistrate continually recovers water without any fault of his, gaining more than 500 once, while only 12 once are settled on him; and that at the low level of the channel the oncia rents for only 7 ducats of 4 lire each per year, which comes to about 70.
The irrigation mouths do not impede navigation
To the objection that his water impedes navigation he replies that this is untrue, because the mouths (bocche) that serve the irrigation lie above the level of the navigation. The argument turns on the arrangement of channel mouths regulating the flow.