Where any canal, ditch, flume or aqueduct which is the property of any individual, company, or corporation, and is used for the purpose of irrigating lands, has been located or constructed on or over any tract of land with the knowledge or consent of the owner of such lands, or upon or over any tract of land owned by the United States, and prior to the occupation of the same by any settler for the purpose of entry under any act of congress, such location and construction shall be prima facie evidence that the same was rightful; and such canal, ditch, flume or aqueduct shall be deemed and held to come within the provisions and protection of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 42-122: Provided, however, That such canal, ditch, flume or aqueduct shall have been constructed for a period of at least two years prior to the first day of January, A.D. eighteen hundred and eighty-six.