DEPARTMENT OF THE INTEKIOK

WATER-SUPPLY

IRRIGATION PAPERS

OF THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

18

IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. GRUNSKY

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1898
IRRIGATION REPORTS.

The following list contains titles and brief descriptions of the principal reports 

relating to water supply and irrigation, prepared by the United States Geological

Survey since 1890:

1890.

First Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1890; octavo, 123 pp.

Printed as Part II, Irrigation, of the Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1888-89. Contains a statement of the origin of the Irrigation Survey, a preliminary report on the organization and prosecution of the survey of the arid lands for 

purposes of irrigation, and report of work done during 1890.

1^91.

Second Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891; octavo, 395 pp.

Published as Part II, Irrigation, of the Eleventh Annual Report of the United States 

Geological Survey, 1889-90. Contains a description of the hydrography of the arid region 

and of the engineering operations carried on by the Irrigation Survey during 1890; aiso 

the statement of the Director of the Survey to the House Committee on Irrigation, and 

other papers, including a bibliography of irrigation literature. Illustrated by29platesand 

4 figures.

Third Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891; octavo, 576 pp.

Printed as Part II of the Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1890-91. Contains " Report upon the location and survey of reservoir sites during the 

fiscal year ended June 30,1891," by A. H. Thompson; ''Hydrography of the arid regions," 

by F. H. Newell; "Irrigation in India," by Herbert M. Wilson. Illustrated by 93 plates 

and 190 figures.

Bulletins of the Eleventh Census of the United States upon irrigation, prepared 

by F. H. Newell; quarto.

No. 35, Irrigation in Arizona; No. 60, Irrigation in New Mexico; No. 85, 

Irrigation in Utah; No. 107, Irrigation in Wyoming: No. 153, Irrigation in 

Montana; No. 157, Irrigation in Idaho; No. 163. Irrigation in Nevada; No. 

178, Irrigation in Oregon; No. 193, Artesian wells for irrigation; No. 198, 

Irrigation in Washington.

1892.

Irrigation of western United States, by F. H. Newell; extra census bulletin No. 

Z6, September 9, 1893; quarto, 22 pp.

Contains tabulations showing the total number, average size, etc., of irrigated holdings, 

the total area and average size of irrigated farms in the subhumid regions, the percentage 

of number of farms irrigated, character of crops, value of irrigated lands, the average cost 

of irrigation, the investment and profits, together with a resume of the water supply and 

a description of irrigation by artesian wells. Illustrated by colored maps showing the 

location and relative extent of the irrigated areas.

1893.

Thirteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1891-93, Part 

III, Irrigation, 1893; octavo, 486 pp.

Consists of three papers: "Water supply for irrigation," by F. H. Newell; "American 

irrigation engineering" and "Engineering results of the Irrigation Survey," by Herbert 

M Wilson; " Construction of topographic maps and selection and survey of reservoir sites," 

by A. H. Thompson. Illustrated by 77 plates and 119 figures.

A geological reconnoissance in central Washington, by Israel Cook Russell, 1893; 

octavo, 108 pp., 15 plates. Bulletin No. 108 of the United States Geological 

Survey; price, 15 cents.

Contains a description of the examination of the geologic structure in and adjacent to 

the drainage basin of Yakima River and the great plains of the Columbia to the east of 

this area, with special reference to the occurrence of artesian waters.

1894.

Report on agriculture by irrigation in the western part of the United States at the 

Eleventh Census, 1890, by F. H. Newell, 1894; quarto, 383 pp.

Consists of a general description of the condition of irrigation in the United States, the 

area irrigated, cost of works, their value and profits; also describes the water supply, the 

value of water, of artesian wells, reservoirs, and other details; then takes up each State 

and Territory in order, giving a general description of the condition of agriculture by irrigation, and discuases the physical conditions and local peculiarities in each county.

Fourteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1892-93, in two 

parts; Part II, Accompanying papers, 1894; octavo, 597 pp.

Contains papers on "Potable waters of the eastern United States," by W J McQee; 

"Natural mineral waters of the United States," by A. C. Peale; "Results of stream 

measurements," by F. H. Newell. Illustrated by maps and diagrams.

(Continued on third page of cover.) 

IEB18
DEPAETMENT OF THE INTEEIOE

WATER-SUPPLY

AKD

IRRIGATION PAPERS

OF THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

IsTo. 18.

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1898
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUBVEY

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR

IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA

BT

CARL G^RTJJSTSKY

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1898
CONTENTS.

Paga

Letter of transmittal ....................................................... 9

Kaweah Elver ............................ ...... ............................ 11

Hydrography........................................................... 11

Canals and ditches ......................................... ............ 14

Wutchumna Canal.................................................. 14

Curtis & Lindsey Ditch. ........................................ 16

Venice Ditch (North Side Eocky Ford Ditch)........................ 16

Elbow Ditch No. 1 .................................................. 16

Matthew Ditch, or Elbow Ditch No. 2............... ................ 16

Curtis Ditch.................................... .................... 17

Weston Ditch ...................................................... 17

Uphill Ditch........................................................ 17

Settlers Ditch ....................................................... 17

Lakeside Ditch ........................................... ......... 18

Jennings Ditch...................................................... 20

Eodgers Ditch............ ..................................... ... 20

Modoc Canal ....................................................... 20

Hicks & Weston Ditch.................. ......:..................... 20

Hayes Upper Ditch (Goshen Ditch).................. ....*............ 20

Hayes Lower Ditch ................................................. 21

Pogues Upper Ditch ........................ ................ ........ 21

Pogues Lower Ditch ........ ........................................ 21

Ogden Ditch........................................................ 21

Hamilton Ditch............... ...................................... 22

Consolidated Peoples Ditch ......................................... 22

Swanson Ditch ..................................................... 25

Lee & Thompson Ditch ............................................. 25

Eice Ditch ............................ ............................. 25

Catron and Teague ditches ......................................... 25

'Bliss & Hyde Ditch................:................................ 25

Davis, Brown, and Pennebaker ditches .......... .......... .......... 25

Extension Ditch .................................................... 25

Kaweah Canal.............................. ........................ 26

Farmers Canal............................................ .......... 27

Tulare Canal ....................................................... 28

Eocky Ford Ditch .................................................. 29

Cameron Creek Company ........................................... 29

Bacon & Crossmore Canal (Packwood Creek Canal) ................. 29

Judd Ditch......................................................... 30

Cutler & Higgins Ditch (Chatten Ditch) ............................ 31

Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company ............................ 31

Oaks Ditch......................................................... 31

Evans Ditch........................................................ 32

Evans & Turner Ditch.............................................. 32

Burch Ditch........................................................ 32
6 CONTENTS.

Kaweah River Continued. * Page. 

Canals and ditches Continued.

Watson Ditch ...................................................... 32

Mill Ditch.......................................... ................ 32

Bahwell and Fulgham ditches....................................... 33

Longs Canal........................................................ 33

Bostwick Cut....................................................... 33

Ketchum Cut......................................... ............. 34

Cro wley & Mehrtens Ditch ......................................... 34

Tulare irrigation district ............................................. 34

Water supply, soils, and methods of irrigation........................... 35

Kings River ................................................................ 39

Hydrography........................................................... 39

Canals and ditches...................................................... 42

Kings River & Fresno Canal........................................ 42

Fresno Canal ....................................................... 43

Centerville Ditch ................................................... 47

Sweem Ditch ....................................................... 48

Fowler Switch Canal. ............................................. 48

Centerville & Kingsburg Canal ..................................... 50

.Selma irrigation district ........ ...... .............................. 52

Altairrigation district (76 Canal)................................... 52

Morrow Ditch ...................................................... 57

Dennis & Jordan Ditch ............................................. 57

Kincaid Ditch ...................................................... 57

Glenn and Barton ditches ........................................... 57

Emigrant Canal .......... ......................................... 57

Liberty Canal .................................. ................... 58

Millrace panal...................................................... " 58

ReedsDitch ...................................... ................. 58

Laguna de Tache Canal (Grant Canal)............................... 58

Crescent Canal...................................................... 62

Peoples Ditch....................................................... 62

Mussel Slough Ditch ................................................ 64

Last Chance Ditch.................................................. 65

Lower Kings River Canal........................................... 67

Rhoads Canal....................................................... 69

Jacobs Canal..... ................................................. 69

Sunset irrigation district.............................................. 69

The Fresno plains....................................................... 71

Description......................................................... 71

The canal system ................................................... 73

Loss of water by evaporation and seepage........................... 74

Effect of irrigation on the water table .............................. 78

Methods of irrigating and duty of water ............................ 79

Wildflower ............................... .............................. 85

Liberty and Millrace settlements........................................ 86

Laguna de Tache Rancho ............................................... 86

Mussel Slough, country..................................... ............ 87

Description......................................................... 87

Canal system ........................................................ 87

Method of irrigation................................................ 88
ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE I. Map showing canals from Kaweali and Tnle rivers................ 11

II. A, Flume over Tulare Canal; B, Main canal of Tulare irrigation

district................................... ..................... 28

III. A, Canal regulator, Tulare irrigation district; B, Lateral, 1 mile

south of Tulare................................................. 34

IV. Map of east side of San Joaquin Valley, from Kings River to Fresno

Eiver .......................................................... 38

V. Kings Eiver at upper end of Centerville Bottoms, looking upstream ................................................ ......... 42

VI. A, Regulator on Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal; B, Fowler Switch

Canal near Sanger, looking upstream ........................... 44

VII. Cobblestone and brush dam of Fresno Canal, Kings Eiver......... 46

VIII. Eegulator of Fresno Canal on Kings Eiver: A, As seen from above;

B, As seen from below.......................................... 48

I.. Eegulator on Fowler Switch Canal: A, As seen from above; B, As

seen from below ................................................ 50

X. Eegulator on 76 Canal: A, As seen from above; B, As seen from

below ........_....;............................................ 52

XI. A, Furrow irrigation for citrus fruits; B, Check weir in Alta irrigation district, in lateral, about 2 miles west of Traver ......... 56

XII. Lower Kings Eiver canal system .................................. 58

XIII. Peoples Ditch: A, Brush dam at time of high water; B, Eegulator,

as seen from above ............................................. 62

XIV. Last Chance Canal regulator: A, As seen from upper side; B, As

seen from below................................................ 66

FIG. 1. Head of Wutchumna Canal......................................... 15

2. Head of Uphill Ditch............................................... 17

3. Head of Lakeside Ditch ........................... ................ 19

4. Head of Consolidated Peoples Ditch ................................ 22

5. Ditch system at head of Kaweah Canal.............................. 26

6. Head of Farmers Canal............................................. 28

7. Head of Bacon & Crossmore Canal.................................. 30

8. Head of Bacon & Crossmore Cut.................................... 30

9. Discharge of Kings Eiver at Eed Mountain, California, 1896 ......... 41

10. Head of Kings River & Fresno Canal ............................... 42

11. Head of Fresno Canal .............................................. 44

12. Head of Fowler Switch Canal.............:... ...................... 49

13. Head of Centerville & Kingsburg Canal ............................ 51

14. Wahtoke Eeservoir, on 76 Canal..................................... 53

15. Head of 76 Canal............................... .................... 54

16. Plan and elevation of regulator for 76 Canal......................... 55

17. Head of Grant Canal................................................ 60

18. Head of Peoples Canal, on Kings Eiver.............................. 63

19. Head of Last Chance Ditch, on Kings Eiver-........................ 66

20. Upper section of Lower Kings Eiver Canal.......................... 68

21. Irrigation by filling subsoils with water, Mussel Slough country..-.. 89

7
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

DIVISION OF HYDROGRAPHY,

Washington, July 6', 1898.

SIR : I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled 

Irrigation near Fresno, California, by Mr. C. E. Grunsky, and to recommend that it be published as one of the series of pamphlets on Water 

Supply and Irrigation. This is the second of three papers relating to 

irrigation in San Joaquin Valley, the other two being Nos. 17 and 19 

of the series. It relates mainly to the irrigation systems deriving their 

water supply from Kaweah and Kings rivers, and covering the agricultural lands on the east side of San Joaquin Valley, between Visalia 

and Fresno.

Very respectfully,

F. H. NEWELL, 

Hydrographer in Charge. 

Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

Director United States Geological Survey.

9
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL.

123456 Miles

CANALS FROM KAWEAH AND TULE RIVERS.
IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.1

By C. E. GRUNSKY.

KAWEAH RIVER.

HYDROGRAPHY.

Kaweah Eiver enters San Joaquin Valley from the east, passing 

between Dillons Point on the north end and Wutchumna Hill on the 

south, about 15 miles east of Visalia. Its drainage basin above that 

point has an area of 619 square miles, mostly low mountain country. 

The river has a perennial flow, but its flow is comparatively small at low 

stages, ordinarily about 30 second-feet. The low-water period usually 

begins in August and continues through January. The river is subject to freshets in the winter months, and is at its highest stages in 

April, May, and June. Medium stages are expected throughout February, March, and July. The monthly mean flow at the river's highest 

stage exceeds 4,000 second-feet.2

Before the freshets of 1861-62, which have become memorable, the 

river annually overflowed large areas in its course across the east-side 

valley plain, and numerous high-water channels carried its waters 

toward Tulare Lake. The portion of its overflowed district to the east 

of or above Visalia is generally referred to as Visalia Swamp. Four of 

the river channels Elbow Creek, Visalia or Mill Creek, Packwood 

Creek, and Deep Creek gave the name of "Four Creek Country" to 

the vicinity of Visalia. The channel at the northern edge of the over-J 

flowed land was known as Canoe Creek above Iron Mountain, and as 

Elbow Creek below that point. The course of Elbow Creek is north 

of west to a junction with Cotton wood Creek, a small water course 

from the northeast, thence southwesterly to a reunion with Kaweah 

Eiver water in Cross Creek, which name is given to the lower portion

1 For an account of irrigation in other parts of San Joaquin Valley, see Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers Nos. 17 and 19. These three papers are based largely upon information collected by the 

State engineering department of California ten years ago, and are intended to supplement the two 

volumes issued by that department, namely: Irrigation Development, History, Customs, Laws, etc., 

in France, Italy, and Spain, by Wm. Ham. Hall, C. E., State Engineer, Sacramento, California, 1886; and 

Irrigation in California (Southern), Part 2 of Eeport of Wm. Ham. Hall, C. E., State Engineer of California, 1888. (See introductory paragraph on page 13 of "Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 17.)

8Physical Data and Statistics, Wm. Ham. Hall, State Engineer of California, pp. 455, 476.

11
12 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

of St. Johns Channel of the river. Deep Creek was the principal 

south marginal stream. It received water from the main channel of 

the river 8 miles east of Visalia and lost its identity about 5 miles 

southeast of. Visalia, where its waters spread and were received into 

other channels of different names. Visalia Creek and Packwood 

Creek were the names given to the two water courses into which the 

main channel of Kaweah Eiver separated 5 miles above Visalia. The 

course of Visalia Creek was westerly through Visalia, that of Packwood Creek southwesterly. To understand the changes made in the 

system of principal channels of the river by the high waters of 1862 

and the effects of these changes, it is necessary to know that, even 

preceding that year, irrigation and drainage work had been done in 

the Kaweah Eiver delta. The Shipp Cut had been made in 1854. It 

was a small drain ditch from the swamp, near where Eocky Ford now 

is, southwesterly to a connection with Canoe Creek. A canal had 

been constructed from Visalia Creek into Visalia to supply power to a 

flour mill. The Lauder Ditch, the Watson Ditch, and a number of 

other small ditches from Visalia and Packwood creeks had also become 

dependent upon the flow of water in the river channels at the south of 

Visalia. The freshets of 1861-62 cut a new channel from a point on 

Kaweah Eiver about 14 miles east of Visalia in a northwesterly direction toward and along the northern border of Kaweah Eiver Swamp. 

Shipp Cut and a section of Canoe Creek were enlarged by the flood 

waters and became a part of this new channel, and finally a connection was established with the Cross Creek chancel below Visalia, and 

thus St. Johns Channel of Kaweah Eiver was permanently established. At the same time a new high-water channel was washed out 

toward the northeast from a point on Kaweah Eiver 6 miles above 

Visalia to a connection with this new channel. This is known as Sand 

Slough, which still remains as a connection between the two river 

channels at a point where they are only about one-half mile apart. 

The same high waters caused so much erosion in Landers Ditch that 

it became a branch of the river, and is generally referred to as Landers 

Slough. Its upper portion was long in use as the channel through 

which the Consolidated Peoples Ditch received its water.

The upper sections of the original main channel of Kaweah Eiver 

were obstructed by the drift and silt deposits of these freshets, and as the 

low-water period of 1862 approached, it was found that water was scarce 

for those depending upon Deep Creek, Packwood Creek, and Visalia 

Creek for their supply, and many projects were proposed for relief. 

During the years immediately following, a number of ditches were constructed from the St. Johns Channel of the river, near Eocky Ford, 

southwesterly to the original main channel. Such were Longs Canal, 

Ketchum Caual, and the Bostwick Cut. All of these were intended 

to increase the flow in the delta streams at and southward of Visalia. 

After much contention between settlers on these several streams as to
GBUNSKY.] HYDROG-RAPHY OP THE KAWEAH BASIK. 13

the apportionment of their scant supply of water, it was agreed, in 1867, 

that a gate should be constructed in the head of Yisalia Creek. This 

gate was not, however, maintained long. The freshets of 1867-68 were 

almost equal to those of 1861-62 and effected further enlargement of 

the St. Johns Channel. They refilled and otherwise destroyed some 

of the ditches that had been opened as connections between the two 

rivers. They washed out the gate in the head of Yisalia Creek, and 

partially closed the heads of Packwood and Deep creeks. They enlarged 

Sand Slough. At the same time the upper portions of the old channel 

of Kaweah River were further obstructed by drift and silt, and a new 

head of St. Johns Channel was eroded about a mile above the former 

point of separation of the two channels.

To overcome the increased difficulties of keeping a good supply of 

water in those channels of the river reaching the vicinity of Yisalia, 

many ineffectual efforts were made and much money was almost uselessly expended until, in 1877, a contract was entered into with Mr. 

Samuel Fowler by the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Company, the Consolidated Peoples Ditch Company being an interested party, to open 

the old channel of the river. The cut then made, practically following 

the old channel, was enlarged and deepened by erosion, until a few 

years thereafter it was again the low-water channel of Kaweah River. 

Another obstructed section of the old channel near the head of the 

Consolidated Peoples Ditch, about 10 miles east of Yisalia, was improved 

about the same time by the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company, 

and has since been known as the Yisalia Cut or Hamilton Cut.

The obstructed head of Packwood Creek was improved by the Rocky 

Ford Canal Company, but was not in service long. This creek now 

receives its principal supply of water through the Bacon & Crossmore 

Cut from Yisalia Creek. It has a southwesterly course, and such of its 

water as is not used for irrigation is delivered into Tulare Lake.

Cross Creek has already been mentioned as receiving the water of St. 

Johns Channel, Elbow Creek, and Cottonwood Creek. After approaching within 4 miles of Traver its course becomes southwesterly to a union 

with some of the old high-water delta channels of Kings River. Its 

course is thence southerly along, the eastern border of this delta to 

Tulare Lake, which receives its water.

Yisalia or Mill Creek separates into two channels soon after passing 

through Yisalia. The course of one of these is a little north of west, 

that of the other southwest. Both unite with Cross Creek before reaching Tulare Lake.

Cameron Creek is one of the lesser delta channels of Kaweah River. 

It receives a portion of the flow of Deep Creek at a point about 6 miles 

due east from Yisalia, and has a southwesterly course to Tulare Lake. 

It passes just to the northward of Tulare. An artificial channel at the 

head of this water way, constructed to improve its connection with Deep 

Creek, was closed by an order of court some years ago.
14 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Deep Creek has already been mentioned. Its waters at the spread or 

sink of the creek were conducted by small artificial channels into Lower 

Deep Creek and Bates Slough. These artificial channels were soon so 

enlarged by erosion that the two lower sloughs have become extensions 

of the Deep Creek channel and conduct its waters onward southwesterly 

toward Tulare Lake.

Outside Creek has a course along the eastern margin of the Kaweah 

delta. The creek can not be traced to a direct connection with the 

present river channels. It may, in fact, be regarded as the extension 

into the river delta of Yokohl Creek, a small stream draining a portion 

of the foothill section intermediate between the Kaweah River and Tule 

Eiver drainage basins; but in times of flood the natural flow of some 

of the river water was into depressions, reaching a point that may be 

regarded as the head of Outside Creek, about 9 miles east of Yisalia. 

The creek now receives an occasional inflow of foothill drainage waters 

from the east and the waste water from some of the branches of the 

Consolidated Peoples Ditch. The water of Outside Creek is distributed 

to a number of channels, the most southerly of which is Elk Bayou, 

which unites southeast of Tulare with the old channel of Tule Eiver, 

and thence has a southwesterly course to a union with the present main 

channel of Tule Eiver.

CANALS AND DITCHES.

Wutchumna Canal. This is the upper north-side diversion of water 

from Kaweah Eiver. The head of the canal is at the base of the slope 

of Dillons Point, a foothill spur rising to the northward. Thence it 

has a westerly course for 4 miles to a flat depression, which its water 

converts into a lake of about 40 acres, known as Bravo Lake. Leaving 

Lake Bravo, the westerly course of the canal is maintained 4 miles 

farther to the northern base of Iron Mountain, and thence 6 miles southwesterly to St. Johns Channel, about 4 miles above Yisalia, where its 

water is carried over the river channel in a flume. The main canal 

then flows westerly near the south bank of the river about 2 miles to 

a junction with Old or Lower Wutchumna Ditch, whose branches 

extend far to the west of Yisalia.

The Wutchumna Water Company was incorporated in 1872 for the 

avowed purpose of effecting a better distribution of water to the several ditches dependent upon Kaweah Eiver for their supply, but various 

difficulties were encountered which prevented the enterprise from meeting with anticipated success, and it was not until 1880 that a connection between the upper diversion work on which is reported to have 

commenced in 1872 and the distributing system of the lower canal 

was finally established. The lower canal was constructed in 1873 or 

1874. Its head is on the south side of the St. Johns Channel of 

Kaweah Eiver, about 3 miles northeast from Yisalia. It established a 

direct southerly connection between St. Johns Eiver and Visalia Creek,
GKt7NSKY.] WUTCHUMNA CANAL. 15

and for three years its water furnished power for the flour mill in 

Visalia. The principal branch of the Lower Wutchumna Canal has a 

westerly course, passing just to the north of Visalia and terminating 

at a point about 4 miles south from Goshen.

The first work at the head of the Wutchumna Canal seems to have 

been done by Stephen Barton, who subsequently appears as one of the 

directors in the Pioneer Canal Company, which was incorporated in 

1877, and which during that season constructed a ditch on the line 

adopted by the Wutchumna Canal as far as Bravo Lake. When the 

Wutchumna Canal Company, as successor of the Pioneer Company, 

assumed control, this upper ditch was extended along the route already 

described.

The canal head gate or regulator has been placed in a rock cut, and, 

as a result of this location of the head of the canal, expenditures of 

maintenance became unusually heavy when, a few years after the 

canal came into use, it became necessary to cut the upper section of 

the canal 4 feet deeper. 

This was done at a cost 

of $6,000. The total 

cost of canal construction has probably exceeded $60,000. The 

head gate width is 20 

feet, and this may be 

regarded as the average bed width of the 

canal throughout its 

principal section. Its 

fall is reported to be 

nearly 7 feet to the mile 

for 4 miles, thence 2£ feet to the mile. The flume across St. Johns Biver is 

14 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and about 150 feet long. It was built in 1880. The 

head gate of the Lower Wutchlimna Canal is a little over 11 feet wide.

For a distance of about 4 miles westward from Lake .Bravo the can,al 

follows the original alignment of the Curtis & Lindsey Ditch. This 

ditch was enlarged, and its owners were granted a right to use that section of the Wutchumna Canal.

The canal is owned by an incorporated company whose shares are all 

in the hands of about thirty persons. All canal expenses are met by 

assessment of the stockholders. Each stockholder is entitled to a proportional part of the water in the canal, and he may dispose of this at 

his pleasure. He may lease this to whom he pleases, bat not in less 

amounts than full shares. The distribution of water is in charge of a 

canal superintendent, who apportions it to the various distributing 

ditches in proportion to the-number of shares represented in each. 

Although the company owns some of the shares of stoqk, these ate not

FIG. 1. Head of Wutchumna Canal.
16 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

for sale, nor will the company lease them or the water which they represent. By retaining these the company increases the proportional part 

of water represented by each of the other shares. The canal company 

bears the expense of the necessary structures at the heads of distributing ditches, but does not keep them in repair or replace them if 

destroyed. This has to be done under direction of the canal superintendent by the parties directly interested in their maintenance.

Curtis & Lindsey Ditch. This ditch has its head on the north side of 

St. Johns Eiver, 4 miles below the head of the Wutchumna Canal. It 

has a northwesterly course for one-half mile to a connection with the 

Wutchumna Canal, into which it drops its water. Four miles below 

this point the water dropped into the Wutchumna Canal is again taken 

out by a ditch 4 miles long having a northwesterly course and terminating on the bottom lands of Cottonwood Creek. The Curtis & Lindsey Ditch was constructed in 1876, and its extension toward Cottonwood Creek was made in the following year. Soon afterwards 4 miles 

of its course were adopted as the alignment for the Wutchumna Canal, 

so that the ditch now appears in two sections, of which the lower one 

may also be considered a branch of the Wutchumna Canal. The ditch 

is also known as the Curtis, Lindsey & Moffitt Ditch. Its width was 

about 10 feet on the bottom, and its fall between 2 and 3 feet to the 

mile, but, so far as known, the extent of irrigation from it has not 

exceeded several hundred acres.

Venice Ditch. This, called also North Side Eocky Ford Ditch, is a 

small north-side ditch which seems to have been first used about 1873. 

It was extended and enlarged somewhat in 1877. Its head is at Eocky 

Ford. It has a westerly course to Iron Mountain, thence skirts the 

eastern and southern base of this mountain, and terminates 2 miles 

farther west. It is'about 6 miles long and 3 to 8 feet wide. Ownership 

in the ditch is represented by shares held by the farmers who use its 

water.

Elbow Ditch No. 1. The flow of Elbow Creek, which leaves St. Johns 

Eiver at a point about 5 miles above Visalia, is controlled, in a measure 

at least, by a regulator or head gate 8 feet wide, and is frequently 

referred to as Elbow Ditch No. 1. The upper part of the creek is an 

enlargement by erosion of a portion of the ditch known as Shipps Cut, 

which was constructed in 1854.

Matthew Ditch, or Elbow Ditch No. 2. This is a small ditch having 

its head on the north side of St. Johns Eiver, about 2 miles below the 

head of Elbow Creek. It was constracted in 1855, but with a somewhat different alignment from the present. The freshets of 1861-62 

so changed the position and character of Kaweah Eiver that the head 

of the ditch had to be carried upstream. It is difficult to determine 

whether the ditch remained in continuous use. The head gate was 

wit into the new ditch in 1875 and was set somewhat lower than

fears later erosion had progressed in
CffitJNSKY.] UPHILL AND SETTLEES DITCHES. 17

the river channel to such extent that a wing dam had to be used to 

divert water into the ditch. The ditch has a northwesterly course, is 

about 6 miles long, 6 feet wide on the bottom, carries water about 1£ 

feet deep, and has a grade of about 6 feet to the mile. It irrigates 

between 200 and 300 acres, of which nearly one-half is alfalfa.

Curtis Ditch. About 1879 there was a small ditch in use occasionally 

for the irrigation of a few acres of alfalfa on the north side of St. Johns 

Eiver about a mile below the head of the Matthew Ditch. It was 

known as the Gurtis Ditch, and has fallen into disuse.

Weston Ditch. Another abandoned.small ditch which was in use 

for a few seasons prior to 1880 on the north side of the river, about a 

mile above the head of the Uphill Ditch, was the Weston Ditch.

Uphill Ditch. This is another north-side ditch. , Its head is half a 

mile above the road leading northward from Visalia. Diversion is 

made from the river without the use of any permanent weir. The 

diverted water is led in a cut 

a few hundred yards northwesterly and is dropped into 

a natural depression or 

high-waterchannel, in which 

it continues on the same 

course half a mile. Thence 

it is taken in the ditch 

proper northerly about 3 

miles to the place of use in 

the vicinity of Elbow Creek. 

The head gate is 8 feet wide. 

It is in the form of a box culvert, and bears a heavy fill 

of sand on top, intended to

give it stability. The sand deposits in the cut to the river above the 

head gate have made it somewhat expensive to keep the head,of the 

ditch open. The ditch was constructed in 1871. It was made 8 ieet 

wide on the bottom, and was intended to carry water 2 feet deep. Its 

fall is 20 inches to the mile.

Settlers Ditch. This is a canal which for many years was of considerable importance as a source of water supply for lands in the eastern 

part of the Kings Eiver delta. The canal receives water through a 

branch of Gross Greek. The canal regulator is on the north side of 

that creek 3 miles south of Traver. The creek channel, there tapped 

by the canal, is really the extension of Oottonwood and Elbow creeks, 

but most of its flow comes through a cut, the real head of Settlers 

Ditch, a quarter of a mile long, leading from the main channel of OrQSS 

Greek to its northern branch, at a point about 4 miles above the Settlers Ganal head gate. Where the canal is finally diverted froua Cross 

Greek a, light timber weir or waste gate has 

IRE, is 2

FIG. 2. Head of Uphill Ditch.
18 . IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

creek channel. The canal regulator is nearly half a mile below the 

point where the canal leaves the natural channel. The head gate is 32 

feet wide. It has eight openings, each 3 feet G inches wide in the clear. 

The gates closing these openings are provided with stems to which 

power is applied by means of levers.

The canal proper has a bed width at and near its head of 32 feet, and 

can carry water 2£ feet deep. It has 9 inches fall to the mile, and a 

capacity of 75 to 80 second-feet. The width of the canal is reduced 

within 3 miles of its head gate to 24 feet on the bottom, and its fall to 

6 inches to the mile. Its course is a little south of west for 5 miles to 

a point where its water is divided, being carried thence southerly in 

two channels, of which the easterly branch is about 4£ miles long, and 

the westerly about 7 miles. The ditch commands a territory of about 

8,000 acres, of which as much as 5,000 acres have been benefited by its 

water in a single season. The canal construction commenced in 1874, 

and considerable land was irrigated in 1876. Water was available only 

during the high stages of Kaweah Elver.

There was but little irrigation with water from this ca,nal at any time 

to the east of the Kings Eiver delta lands, soils being too alkaline to 

encourage cultivation. The extent to which this canal is now in use is 

somewhat problematical, as all the rights to water which it was supposed to have acquired were sold to the Tulare irrigation district, 

which has made a diversion from the St. Johns Eiver about one-half 

mile below Eocky Ford. The canal is still in service, and does not 

appear to have suflered great diminution in its supply of water during 

the high-water-stage of the river. The Settlers Ditch Company, which 

built the Settlers Canal at a first cost of approximately $35,000, was 

incorporated in 1874 with a capital stock of $10,OOQ, in 50 shares of 

1200 each. These were held, at the time of the sale of the canal water 

rights, by about 50 persons.

All expenses of construction, repairs, maintenance, and management 

have been met by assessing the stockholders. Each share of stock 

entitles its holder to a proportional part of the water in the canal. 

Water is apportioned to each branch and to each distributing canal in 

proportion to the number of shares for which each draws water. Eo 

water is sold by the canal company, nor does the company lease any of 

the several shares which have reverted to it. Each stockholder, however, is permitted to lease his water to other persons, and can have it 

delivered to any point of the main canal or its branches which he 

selects. Water is delivered to irrigators through gates of various 

forms, generally under pressure. Its equitable distribution depends 

to a great extent on the judgment of the superintendent. Each share 

of water is supposed to be sufficient to irrigate 160 acres. The cost 

of water to the irrigators has averaged about 70 cents per acre per 

annum.

Lakeside Ditch. This is another important diversion from the lower
GRUNSKY.] LAKESIDE DITCH. 19

portion of Cross Creek. The head of this canal is 4 miles below the 

head gate of the Settlers Canal, and 6 miles west from Goshen. The 

diversion from the natural creek channel is accomplished, as in the 

case of the Settlers Canal, by means of a weir or waste gate placed in 

the creek channel below the head of the canal, and a regulate? or 

head gate in the latter about one-half mile below its head. The weir 

is a light timber structure arranged as a series of gates. It has a total 

width of 41 feet. Its nine openings between vertical posts are each 4 

feet wide in the clear. The canal head gate has a width of 31 feet. 

The space between side walls is divided by vertical posts into six openings, each about 4| feet wide in the clear. These openings or spaces 

between posts are closed with vertically sliding gates, to the stems of 

which power is applied by means of levers. The canal has a southwesterly course from 

its head for about-3 

miles. In this distance it has a bed 

width of 30 feet and a 

fall of 6 inches to the 

mile. It can carry 

water about 3 feet 

deep. Its branches 

extend in southerly 

and southwesterly directions to the vicinity 

of Tulare Lake. The 

main canal and principal branches have 

an aggregate length 

of about 50 miles and 

command about 20,000 

acres of land. The

cultures on at least as much as one-half of this area may be considered 

to have been benefited by irrigation from this canal iit a single season. 

The canal was constructed in 1874 and the years immediately following, 

at a total first cost of about $35,000.

The canal is owned by the Lakeside Ditch Company, which was 

incorporated on August 7, 1874,'with a capital stock of $10,000, 

divided into 10,000 shares of $1 each. On February 20, 1875, the 

capital stock was increased to 30,000 shares of $1 each. These shares 

were owned by ninety-five persons in 1885. Each share of stock 

entitles its holder to a proportional share of water in the canal. The 

canal company does not sell or rent water, not even on the few shares 

of stock held in the company's name. Each stockholder can have his 

water delivered at any point of any branch of the company's caiial 

system. He can, if he desires, rent or sell his water for one or. more

Regulah

FIG. 3. Head of Lakeside Ditch.
20 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

seasons. The company originally intended to deliver to each stockholder the water to which he was entitled at some point on his own 

land, but this system of delivery was found to be inexpedient and was 

abandoned in 1876. The distribution of water is in charge of a canal 

superintendent, who apportions the water to the various branches 

of the canal and has control of its delivery to the irrigator. The 

average annual cost of water from this canal has been about $1.55 

per acre.

Jennings Ditch. This is a small ditch which has its head on the 

south side of St. Johns Eiver a little more than a quarter of a mile 

below the head of the Lower Wutchumna Ditch, and sends its 

branches into the northern portion of Yisalia and adjacent territory. 

The main ditch has a bed width of 10 feet. The diversion of water is 

accomplished by means of a light wing dam of sand and brush, and 

the flow of water in the ditch is controlled by means of a simple regulator in the form of a box, 10 feet wide, which can be closed with loose 

flashboards. Water rights of an old date, preceding the formation of 

St. Johns Eiver, are claimed for this ditch, whose head has been 

shifted back and forth between Mill Creek and St. Johns Kiver.

Eodgers Ditch. This is a small ditch, about 4 feet wide on the bottom, which supplies water to a few acres of land north and west of 

Yisalia. It was constructed about 1875.

Modoc Canal. This canal or ditch was originally intended to be 

made a distributary for the Wutchumna Canal water. It was constructed in 1876. Its head is on the south side of St. Johns Kiver, 

just above the road leading northward from Visalia. Its length is 

about 4 miles, the course being a little south of west. Its bottom 

width is about 10 feet, and its capacity about 36 second-feet. Ownership in the ditch is represented by shares of stock. Water is distributed to stockholders in proportion to their interests. The annual 

expense of maintenance is .about $100, which covers the construction. 

of an inexpensive wing dam at the head of the ditch. The area actually irrigated is about 1,000 acres.

Hicks <& Weston Ditch. This is a very small ditch from the south 

side of St. Johns Eiver, about 200 yards above the Modoc Canal. The 

ditch is 4 to 5 feet wide on the bottom. It was constructed in 1879. 

It receives water from the Wutchumna Canal in addition to its independent supply, and is sometimes called the Hicks Branch of Wutchumna Canal.

Hayes Tipper Ditch (Goshen Ditch). This ditch was constructed in 

1881 or 1882 to supplement an older small ditch which was constructed 

in 1874 for the irrigation of lands near Goshen, theretofore considered 

almost worthless on account of the abundance of alkaline salts in the 

soil. The upper ditch has its head on the south side of St. Johns 

Eiver about 4 miles northwest of Yisalia. It has a westerly course 

and is about 4 miles long. Its dimensions are irregular. The. pro-
GBUNSKY.] POGUES DITCHES. 21

moters of this enterprise constructed a small ditch and gave it an 

inexpensive, poorly protected head gate. The gate was carried off by 

the first freshet and the ditch was rapidly enlarged by erosion, so that 

it became a canal of considerable capacity. The second regulator pat 

into its head was also a very light structure, 18 feet wide. Like many 

of the structures on Kaweah River, it was arranged as a box culvert, 

the entrance to which was divided into nine openings by vertical posts. 

The spaces between posts could be closed with loose flashboards. This 

ditch and the Lower Hayes Ditch both belong to the same owner, who 

has supplied some water to his neighbors at agreed rates per acre.

Hayes Lower Ditch. The head of this ditch is about 1J miles below 

the head of the Hayes Upper Ditch. Its course is a little south of 

west to the same region watered by the Hayes Upper Ditch. The 

ditch is about 4 miles long and 6 feet wide. Its head gate has a width 

of 10 feet. This ditch was constructed in 1874 by settlers near Goshen, 

but soon fell into the hands of the promoters of the Goshen Canal 

enterprise.

Pogues Upper Ditch. This is the uppermost south-side diversion 

from Kaweah River. The head of the ditch is about 4 miles above the 

head of St. Johns River, a mile above the hill known as Limekiln 

Point. The ditch, which has a bed width of about 6 feet, skirts the 

northern and western base of Limekiln Point and commands several 

thousand acres of fine land lying between projecting spurs of the foothills. The ditch was constructed in 1884. Water is carried in a flume 

for some distance from the head of the ditch. This ditch now serves 

the citrus orchards at Lemon Cove, which have been set out within 

the last four or five years and now have an aggregate area of about 

500 acres.

Pogues Lower Ditch. This ditch was constructed in 1875. It diverts 

water from the south side of Kaweah River just below Limekiln 

Point. It has a southwesterly course, a bed width of 6 to 8 feet, and 

passes to the north and west of Wutchumna Hill, following the eastern 

border of the main valley and terminating at present at a point about 

3 miles southeast of Exeter. Its total length is about 15 miles, and 

the capacity claimed for it is 30 second-feet. There was but little irrigation from this ditch at the time the second Pogue Ditch was constructed, but demand for water is rapidly increasing. The water is 

used on the lands set out to citrus fruits at and near Bonnie Brae. 

The area of citrus fruits now set out, all being dependent on this ditch 

for water, is 550 acres. Purchasers of land from the owners of this 

ditch are granted the right to call for water at the rate of 1 miner's 

inch (about one-fiftieth of a second-foot) to 5 acres. The charge of the 

water is 8 cents per inch per twenty-four hours. The lands (including 

the water rights) are sold at $75 per acre.

Ogden Ditch. This ditch has its head on the south side of Kaweah 

River, about three-quarters of a mile below the head of Pogues Lower
22 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Ditch. It has a southwesterly course, closely following the river, and 

terminates near Cottage. It is a very small ditch, about 4£ miles long, 

and supplies water to a few acres of alfalfa. It is said to be one of the 

old ditches, the date of its construction being given as 1862. The head 

of the ditch was not, however, always maintained at the same place, 

this having been impossible on account of the changes in the alignment 

and character of the river.

Hamilton Ditch. This is another small private ditch *on the south 

side of Kaweah River. Its head is about a mile above Cottage. It 

has a southwesterly course, is about 4 miles long, and about 4 feet 

wide. It has been in use since 1854. A south-side branch of the 

Hamilton Ditch is sometimes known as the Dillon Ditch.

Consolidated Peoples Ditch. The difficulties experienced by irrigators

,'saf/a

Fro. 4. Head of .Consolidated Peoples Ditch.

dependent for water upon the flow of Deep Creek?> Packwood Creek, 

and Visalia Creek, after the freshets of 1861-62, led to a combination 

of interests, the direct result of which was the construction of the 

Peoples Ditch. The outlook for a sufficient supply of water was particularly bad after the winter of 1863-64, in which there was an unusual 

deficiency of precipitation, and, as a* result of a conference with the 

owners of a number of small irrigation ditches, about one hundred 

interested persons assembled late in February, 1864, at the point where 

Landers Slough leaves the river and commenced work on the Peoples
GBUNSKYJ CONSOLIDATED PEOPLES DITCH. 23

Ditch, the wa.ter of which was to be apportioned to a number of ditches 

which before made independent diversions. The principal ditches that 

then became dependent upon the Peoples Ditch, for water were the 

Landers, Lee & Thompson, Swanson^Turner, Grubbs, and Bice ditches. 

The expense of the canal construction was apportioned to the participating farmers according to relative interests. Most of them contributed labor, teams, and supplies. The ditch at its head was made 

18 feet wide and 4 feet deep and was to have a fall of about 3£ feet to 

the mile. Work progressed rapidly and the ditch was considered 

finished by June 1,1864. Its estimated cost at that time was $11,000. 

But owing to the obstructed condition of the old channel of Kaweah. 

Eiver below the head of St. Johns Channel, expectations as to flow 

of water were not fully realized, and upon petition the water commissioners of Tulare County granted the ditch company a franchise to 

remove obstructions from the old Kaweah Eiver channel and to enlarge 

it where necessary to a width of 20 feet. Under the franchise work 

was done on the old river channel to a point near the present head of 

St. Johns Eiver, about 4^ miles above the present head of the ditch. 

The river channel was thus kept open until again filled, in places, with 

drift and .silt by the freshets of 1867-68. These freshets washed out 

the canal head gate in Landers Slough and considerably deepened and 

enlarged the upper section of the canal. During the period intervening between that winter and 1877, when the making of the Fowler 

Cut resulted in the practical reestablishment of the old channel of 

Kaweah Eiver, water reached the head of the Peoples Ditch through 

a number of high-water channels leading in a southwesterly direction 

from the upper section of St. Johns Eiver through Visalia Swamp. 

When water became scarce at the head of the canal, men would be 

sent up to St. Johns Eiver to increase the flow toward the south by 

throwing obstructions into that river channel or by ppening a better 

passage through the swamp. There has been a satisfactory supply of 

water to the head of the Peoples Ditch ever since the Fowler Cut was 

made.

This cut was made by Mr. Samuel Fowler under contract with the 

Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Company, which had entered into an 

agreement with the management of the Peoples Ditch concerning the 

apportionment of water. The agreement, which was formally executed 

on December 21,1878, but subsequently set aside by a decision of the 

courts, provided for a joint ownership of the upper portion of the Peoples Ditch and of the water way above the head of that ditch as 

improved by the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Company, and conceded 

to the Peoples Ditch the right at all times to as much water as will flow 

in a ditch 50 feet wide and 2 feet deep on a grade of 6 inches to the 

mile. The water of Kaweah Eiver which passes the head of St« Johns 

Channel separates into two channels, each about a mile lon^ j||pBing 

an island about 11 miles above Visalia. The upper porttoafr-M the
24 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

northernmost of these channels is known as the Hamilton or Visalia 

Cut. The southernmost is Lander Slough, or the enlarged channel 

of the Lander Ditch. It is the upper portion of Lander Slough which 

until 1896 carried water to the point where the flow was brought under 

final control for the Peoples Ditch. But when the canal regulator 

failed Landers Slough was closed near its head and an artificial canal 

was substituted for the Landers Slough section of the Peoples Ditch. 

A box inlet 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep is maintained in the head of 

this new canal section, which structure seems to be intended more as a 

partitioner of the flow of Kaweah Eiver than as a regulating gate in 

the ordinary sense.

The Consolidated Peoples Ditch has a southwesterly course from 

Landers Slough for 3 miles to the point where its water was separated 

from that of the Kaweah Canal, so long as that canal was in service. 

The main canal extends from that point about 1£ miles farther, to a 

point known, as Dillons Mill, where some of its water is in use to supply 

power. The section of the canal next below Landers Slough follows 

the original alignment of the Swanson Ditch for about three-fourths of 

a mile, following and finally crossing the almost obliterated channel 

of Tokohl Creek. The occasional flow of this creek is admitted into 

the canal, and surplus waters are discharged through a waste gate 

into Outside Creek, which was originally a continuation of the Yokohl 

Creek channel. The main canal is of somewhat irregular dimensions, 

much of it having the appearance of a natural channel. Its width 

is generally 30 to 50 feet and its capacity probably exceeds 400 

second-feet.

The consolidation of the interests of the several small ditches and 

individual irrigators, as already explained, led finally to an incorporation of their organization. This was effected in 1874, and the corporation received the name of the Consolidated Peoples Ditch Company. 

Its capital stock was fixed at $9,700, in 97 shares of $100 each. Canalexpenses are assessed upon stockholders. No water is sold by the 

canal company. At the time of constructing the canal it was agreed 

that each person interested in the main canal should contribute toward 

construction down to the point at which his water was to be delivered 

into a branch ditch. All branch ditches are under independent management. Water is distributed to the various branch ditches, under 

the direction of the president of the company, in proportion to the 

number of shares of stock for which water is to be delivered to each. 

The apportionment of water between the main canal and a branch ditch 

is accomplished by constructing a sill or floor at the same elevation in 

each, the effective width of canal and ditch on each sill being made 

proportional to the amount of water to be passed. The cost of constructing and maintaining these structures falls upon the canal company. The area of land actually irrigated in a single season with water 

from the Peoples Ditch has exceeded 5,000 acres. The total 'expend!-
GBUKSKT.] BRANCHES OF THE PEOPLES DITCH. 25

*

ture on the main canal chargeable to the construction account has been 

about $50,000.

'Swanson Ditch. This is a branch of the Peoples Ditch, receiving its 

water about three-quarters of a mile below the point where the latter 

leaves Landers Slough. It has a southwesterly course and is about 4 

miles long. It is reported to have been in use as an independent ditch 

as early as 1855. While the supply of water from the Peoples Ditch 

was somewhat unreliable preceding 1878 irrigators dependent upon 

the Swanson Ditch endeavored to keep the head of Packwood Creek 

open, but with indifferent success. Since that time the ditch is to be 

regarded merely as a branch of the Peoples Ditch.

Lee & Thompson Ditch. This was a second old ditch, almost parallel 

with the Swanson for some distance. Its alignment was adopted for 

the Peoples Ditch for a considerable distance, and only the lower end 

of the original ditch remains in use as a small distributary of the 

Peoples Ditch water.

Rice Ditch. This is another small ditch, now a branch of the Peoples Pitch, which was in, use before the latter was constructed. Its 

course is southerly from a point near the lower end of the main ditch. 

It is about 6 miles long, terminating in a branch of Outside Creek used 

as a distributary of the Peoples Ditch water under the name of the 

Bliss & Hyde Ditch, and it commands a narrow strip of land lying to 

the east of Outside Creek.

Catron and league ditches. These are two small branches of the 

Peoples Ditch, both of which receive water from the south side of 

the latter through a common head about 2 miles below Landers Slough. 

Their course is southerly. The former is about 3 miles long, the latter 

about 4, and both are connected at their lower ends with the Rice 

Ditch, into which surplus water is dropped.

Bliss & Hyde Ditch. This is a branch of the Peoples Ditch, receiving its water a quarter of a mile below the head of the Catron and the 

Teague ditches. At that point a short cut from the south side of the 

Peoples Ditch drops water for this branch into a natural channel 

the eastern branch of Outside Creek which is the same channel used 

above that point as a common head for the Catron and the Teague 

ditches. This channel has a course a little west of south for about 12 

miles, to the point where the water of the branch ditch is used, about 

6 miles east of Tulare, on both sides of Outside Creek, there known in 

part as Elk Bayou. Water is diverted from Outside Creek into two 

irrigation ditches, one upon either side, each of which has a length of 

about 2 miles.

Davis, Brown, and PennebaJcer ditches. These are three short 

branches of the Peoples Ditch, all receiving water from it at or near 

the termination of the main canal, and supplying water to lands near 

Farmersville.

Extension Ditch. After the use of a portion of the water of the
26 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Peoples Ditch for power at Dillons Mill, which is at the termination 

of the main canal, it flows into Outside Creek. The creek channel is 

closed with an overfall dam of brush, which serves as a waste way for 

all water not required for the Extension Ditch. This ditch is one of 

the principal branches of the Peoples Ditch. It has a southwesterly 

course, and, with its branches, commands the region to the west and 

northward of Farmersville. It was built by the farmers whose lands it 

waters. They have formed a corporation known as the Extension 

Ditch Company, whose shares of stock are in the hands of thirty or 

more irrigators. The affairs of this company are managed entirely 

independent of the Peoples Ditch Company, which merely delivers to 

it the water which its stockholders are entitled to receive from the 

Peoples Ditch. 

Kaweah Canal. The enumeration of this canal is merely historical.

FIG. 5. Ditch, system at head of Kaweah Canal.

It is one of the canals whose successful operation was greatly interfered 

with by litigation. The canal was constructed in 1877. At that time 

the Fowler Cut was made for the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Company, and led to the reestablishment of the original channel of Kaweah 

Eiver, or of a new channel very nearly coincident with the original one 

in position. The agreement then made with the Consolidated Peoples 

Ditch Company gave the new company a right to use the upper sections of the Peoples Ditch for several miles, and below that point a 

canal was excavated, about 50 feet wide on the bottom and 3 feet deep, 

which temporarily dropped its water into Deep Creek, in which it 

flowed to within a few miles of Tulare. The main canal was soon afterwards extended across Deep Creek in a general southwesterly direc-
GRUNSKY.] KAWEAH AND FARMEBS CANALS. 27

tion, passing about a mile to the west of Farmersville, until, at a point 

about 6 miles to the northeast of Tulare, it was separated into two 

main branches, of which the southerly one commanded the lands in 

the vicinity of Tulare, including the colony lands toward the west. 

The northerly branch was extended westerly across Oameron Creek to 

a connection with the Tulare Caual, aud has irrigated a few tracts of 

land near Tagus. The total length of the main canal, not including 

the Fowler Cut or the Peoples Ditch, to where it separates into its two 

principal branches is about 10 miles. Irrigation from this canal has 

probably exceeded 4,000 acres; The canal was constructed by a corporation known as the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Company, which 

was organized in 1877 by farmers who were in need of water for their 

lands in the vicinity of Tulare. The capital stock was fixed at $50,000, 

in 500 shares. The expense of canal construction and litigation soon 

exceeded this sum by at least 110,000. The canal always held its 

water for sale, but stockholders were entitled to receive it at slightly 

reduced rates. All expenses in excess of revenue derived from the 

sale of water were apportioned to stockholders. Water was not sold 

by measurement; it was delivered to the irrigators from the several 

canal branches in rotation, and was paid for at fixed rates per acre 

actually irrigated, generally $1 to $2 per acre. The right of the canal 

to receive any surplus waters from the Peoples Ditch was disputed in 

court by farmers who, as riparian owners on Outside Creek, demanded 

that all flow in the Peoples Ditch in excess of that required for that 

ditch should be wasted into channels leading into Outside Creek. 

Their claim having been sustained, the Kaweah Canal for many years 

received water only by sufferance and only during periods when the 

river afforded an abundant supply. Its water was no longer taken 

through the head of the Peoples Ditch, but a cut was made from 

Kaweah Eiver below Deep Creek to the canal, and the upper half mile 

of Deep Creek itself was utilized as a source of supply. After the 

'organization of the Tulare irrigation district the canal was sold to the 

district for $150,000, payment being made in bonds, but with the proviso that the stockholders of the Keweah Canal and Irrigation Company should be preferred takers of one-third of all the water entering 

the upper section of the canal, at the agreed price of $1.25 per acre per 

annum.

Farmers Canal. This canal has its head on the east side of Deep 

Creek, about 2 miles below Farmersville. It has a southwesterly 

course, commanding several thousand acres of land between Elk Bayou 

and Deep Creek channels within 6 miles of the head of the canal. The 

bed width of the canal for several miles below its head is 14 feet. 

The head gate or regulator has a width of 18 feet. The water is turned 

from the creek into the head of the canal by means of a brush dam. 

The canal was constructed in 1875 by an incorporated company, whose 

members are the farmers using canal water. The capital stock was
28 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [HO. 18.

Brush Dam

fixed at $20,000, in shares of $100 each. The head of Deep Creek, 

from which diversion is made for this canal, is about 8 miles, in a 

direct line, above Visalia, on the south side of Kaweah Eiver. No 

water flows into Deep Creek from the river during its low stages. 

Water is generally available from the beginning of March to the end 

of June. During this time a superintendent is employed to apportion 

the water to holders of stock. When the supply of water is limited it 

is used in turn by the irrigators. Each stockholder is permitted to sell 

or lease the water to which he is entitled. The water represented by a 

few shares of stock held in the name of the corporation itself is also subject to sale. The estimated cost of canal construction and expenses 

connected therewith is about $7,000 to $8,000. The annual assessment

per share of stock for canal management and maintenance has been about 

$1. The structures necessary for a delivery of water into branch ditches are 

constructed and maintained at the 

expense of those who receive water 

through each.

Tulare Canal. This canal was constructed for the irrigation of lands in 

the vicinity of Tagus and to the northwest of Tulare. Its head is on the 

south side of Kaweah Eiver, about midway between the head of Deep Creek 

and the head of Packwood Creek. It 

has a southwesterly course, is about 15 

miles long, and has a bed width of 16 feet. The canal passes about 

2£ miles to the south of Visalia and a mile to the south of Tagus, and 

terminates at the main canal of the Rocky Ford Canal Company. The 

canal was constructed in 1873. The farmers interested in the enterprise formed a corporation in the following year, known as the Tulare' 

Irrigating Company, whose capital stock was fixed at $40,000, in 

shares of $100 each. The diversion of water from the river is accomplished by means of a dam or weir of brush, and the inflow into the 

canal is controlled by a regulator or head gate 16 feet wide. It has 

been claimed that the Ketchum Cut, one of the several ditches from 

St. Johns Eiver southwesterly to Kaweah Eiver above the head of 

the Talare Canal, has been utilized by the Tulare Irrigating Company to accomplish the diversion of its water direct from St. Johns 

Eiver, but it has not been possible to verify this claim, or to ascertain whether the canal company has any proprietary interest in the 

Ketchum Cut.

Before 1885 it was customary to apportion the flow of the canal to 

the stockholders in the corporation in proportion to their respective 

interests, but the holders of stock who were not ready to make profitable

!' 'Checkweir

FIG. 6. Head of Farmers Canal.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. II

A. FLUME OVER TULARE CANAL, THE MAIN CANAL OF TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

B. MAIN CANAL OF TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT.
GRDNSKY.] EOCKY FORD DITCH. 29

use of their water demanded a change, and it was at that time decided 

to permit each stockholder to irrigate free of cost as many acres as he 

held shares of stock, and to charge $1 per acre for all additional areas.

Rocky Ford Ditch. This ditch, now a part of the Tulare irrigation 

district canal system, takes its name from Eocky Ford on St. Johns 

Eiver, because half a mile above is the head of the Ketchum Cut, 

which was bought by the Eocky Ford Canal and Irrigation Company, 

and was supposed to deliver water for the canal from St. Johns Eiver 

into the Kaweah, from which it was reclaimed for the Eocky Ford Ditch 

at the head of Packwood Creek. The head of Packwood Creek, which 

had been almost obliterated by the freshets of 1861-62 and 1867-68, 

was reopened by this canal company in 1876. A cut 9 feet wide and 

three-quarters of a mile long, following the channel of Packwood 

Creek, received the canal water from Kaweah Eiver. The water thus 

diverted was carried southwesterly in Packwood Creek, and in its south 

fork about 2£ miles, thence south in a ditch three-quarters of a mile to 

another natural channel, from which, a half mile below, it was dropped 

into Cameron Creek, which it followed, still in a general southwesterly 

direction, to a point about a mile south of Tagus. At that point the 

water was taken into a system of distributing ditches covering 4,000 

to 5,000 acres of land to the southwest of Tagus, between Cameron and 

Packwood creeks. About $20,000 was expended on this work, besides 

$3,000 in litigation, but after a few years the company was deprived of 

the use of the Packwood Creek channel by an order of court, and those 

dependent upon this canal found themselves without water.

Cameron Greek Company. This was an unincorporated organization 

of farmers which may be considered an offspring of the Eocky Ford 

Ditch Company. The purpose of the organization was to secure water 

for the Eocky Ford Canal, the head works of which were thrown out of 

service by orders of the court. There was ordinarily a surplus flow 

of water in the spring months, which reached Cameron Creek by way 

of the Deep Creek channels and the Kaweah and Tulare canals. The 

water thus reaching the Eocky Ford Canal from Cameron, Creek was 

distributed to irrigators under the management and control of the 

Cameron Creek Company. The owners or lessees of stock in the Eocky 

Ford Canal Company were the preferred purchasers of water, but if 

there was sufficient available it was also sold to farmers who held no 

stock. The apportionment of water was by rotation in the use of the 

flow of distributaries. The time of use per share of stock was reduced 

as the supply decreased. The charge for water was at the rate of $1 

per year per acre irrigated. The necessity for operations by this company ceased upon the completion of the canal system of the Talare 

irrigation district.

Bacon & Crossmore Canal (Packwood Greek Canal}. When, in 1875, 

it became necessary to improve the flow of Packwood Creek for the 

supply of water to a large tract of land 6 to 9 miles west from Tulare,
30 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

3001 reef

FIG. 7. Head of Bacon & Crossmore Canal.

a ditch was constructed from St. Johns Kiver, then the principal channel of Kaweah Biver, commencing about a hundred yards above Bocky 

Ford, thence southwesterly about 4 miles, passing to the north and 

westward of a group of low hills known as the Swamp Angels, to a 

connection with the old channel of Kaweah Eiver. Water thus turned

into this channel was 

allowed to flow to a 

point in Visalia Creek 

about 1J miles below 

the head of Packwood Creek and was 

there diverted into a 

canal about 1,000 feet 

long leading southerly into Packwood 

Creek. These two 

ditches, or canals, 

together with the natural channel of Packwood Creek, are 

known as the Bacon & Crossmore Canal. The upper portion of this 

canal has a width of about 16 feet. The width of its head gate or 

regulator at St. Johns Eiver is 40 feet. The cut for Visalia Creek 

into Packwood is about 30 feet wide. Its flow is controlled by a gate 

30 feet in width. The point of discharge of the canal from St. Johns 

Eiver into the Kaweah is just below Goads Dam at the head of the 

Tulare Canal. To enable 

diversion of water from 

YisaliaCreek into the channel of Packwood Creek by 

way of the Bacon & Crossmore Cut, a brush dam is 

maintained in the creek 

about 60 feet below the 

head of the cut. The flow 

of Packwook Creek as thus 

established is first checked 

at a point about 4 miles 

west of Tagus, where distributaries are in use upon 

either side of the creek

channel. Several other diversions are made some miles farther down 

the creek, and it is claimed that several thousand acres of land are 

irrigated by this ditch, system.

Judd Ditch. This ditch was in use but a short time subsequent to 

the freshets of 1867-68. An organization of interested farmers known

TTlG. 8. Head of Baron & Crossmore Cut.
GEUNSKY.] KAWEAH AND MILL CREEK WATER COMPANY. 81

as the Judd Ditch Company at that time endeavored to keep the head 

of Packwood Creek open, but owing to controversies with people living 

near Visalia on Visalia Creek the attempt was soon abandoned.

Cutler & Higgins Ditch (Chatten Ditch}. This is a small ditch between 

St. Johns Eiver and Visalia Creek. Its head is on the north side of 

Kaweah-Eiver just above the point where it divides into the two channels, Visalia Creek and Packwood Creek. It has a westerly course, is 

about 2 miles long, 3 to 6 feet wide on the bottom, and belongs to several 

farmers, who take turns in using its water for the irrigation of a few 

hundred acres of alfalfa. The ditch has been in use since 1857.

Kaweah and Mill Greek Water Company. This corporation was organized in 1877 with a capital stock of $10,000, in 200 shares, for the purpose 

of harmonizing and protecting conflicting interests by maintaining and 

controlling the flow of water in Mill Creek (Visalia Creek) and distributing it to the canals and ditches entitled to receive it. Its shares of stock 

were distributed to the owners of the various canals and ditches according to their relative interests, and the superintendent of this company is 

required to apportion the amount of water available to each ditch and 

canal in proportion to the number of shares of stock for which water is 

to be turned into each. A decision of the courts favoring the riparian 

doctrine has, however, made it difficult for ditch owners along Mill 

Creek below Visalia to reclaim their water, as the decision interferes 

with the construction of dams in the creek channel so long as they are 

objected to by riparian proprietors. To increase the flow of water in 

Visalia Creek it was found necessary to open the head of Lane Slough. 

This had been done before, but later freshets had again obstructed its 

channel near St. Johns Eiver. The Bostwick Cut was the result of the 

work done by the company at that point. This is a canal leading southerly from St. Johns Eiver, about a mile above Eocky Ford, into the main 

channel of Lane Slough. Lane Slough was one of the several natural 

channels having a southwesterly course through Visalia Swamp from 

near its northern margin to the old channel of Kaweah Eiver above the 

head of Visalia Creek. It is claimed that this slough was so obstructed 

with drift and silt by the freshets of 1861-62 that for reclamation purposes it was necessary once before to open it, under direction, of State 

authorities, with moneys from the swamp-land fund. The water company 

in 1878 also caused a section of the old channel of Kaweah Eiver just 

below the head of Landers Slough to be reopened. The work there 

done resulted in the formation of the Hamilton Cut. All expenses of 

management incurred by the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company 

are raised by assessments levied upon the stock. The principal ditches 

dependent upon this organization for their water supply are the Oaks, 

Watson, Burch, Mill, Bahwell, and Fulgham ditches.

Oaks Ditch. The head of the Oaks Ditch is on the south side of 

Visalia Creel2", just above the dam maintained below the head of the 

Bacon & Crossmore Cut. It was in use prior to the organization of
32 IRRIGATION NEAR FiiESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company, from which it now 

receives its water. It is a small ditch, flowing several miles westerly 

between Visalia and Packwood creeks, and supplies water to seven or 

eight small farms. The entire flow of the ditch is usually divided into 

two irrigating heads.

Evans Ditch. This ditch, which has also become dependent on the 

Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company for its supply of water, has 

its head on the south side of Visalia Creek about 2 miles above Visalia. 

Its upper section serves as a common head for three otherwise independent ditches, the other two being the Burch and the Watson ditches. 

The Evans Ditch is entitled to one-half of the water entering its head, 

the Watson to one-third, and the Burch to one-sixth. The ditch has a 

southwesterly course, is about 5 miles long, and supplies water to about 

500 acres just to the south of Visalia. Ownership in the ditch is represented by shares of stock, and the distribution of water is made in 

proportion to the number of shares of stock owned or controlled by 

each irrigator. Water is generally available for ten months each year, 

and is used in turn by the irrigators.

Evans & Turner Ditch. This is a diversion from the west side of 

Packwood Creek about 2 miles below the Bacon & Crossmore Cut. It 

has a westerly course, is about a mile long, and drops its water into 

the Evans Ditch. It is claimed that this ditch was in use as early as 

1858, but if so it was out of service for many years preceding its 

reestablishment, about 1884.

Burch Ditch. This is another small ditch to which water is supplied under control of the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company. 

Although the ditch was in use before the organization of that company, and then received water direct from Visalia Creek, it has of late 

years been supplied with water through the head of the Evans Ditch. 

Its water, together with that for Watson Ditch, is turned out of the 

west side of Evans Ditch one-half mile below its head. It flows westerly three-quarters of a mile in a channel used in common with the 

Watson Ditch, and thence a little south of west to the southwestern 

portion of Visalia. It supplies a number of small farms southeast of 

Visalia. The head of the ditch was originally on the north side of the 

creek and its water was brought to the south side in a flume.

Watson Ditch. This is another of the old irrigation ditches in whose 

interest the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company was organized. 

This ditch was constructed in 1854, before water was used by the mill 

in Visalia. Its head was on the south side of the creek about 3 miles 

east of Visalia, and its water was used near Visalia. It now receives 

water through a common head with the Evans and the Burch ditches, 

and is finally separated from the Burch Ditch water about a mile east 

of Visalia. Ownership in this ditch is represented by shares of stock, 

of which 100 may be issued. Between 60 and 70 are in the hands of 

fifteen to twenty farmers, who use its water mostly on small farms to 

the south and southwest of Visalia. It was originally intended that
WATSON, MILL, AND OTHER DITCHES. 33

each share 'of stock should represent 17.28 miner's inches of water 

(about one-third second-foot), and the original price per share was 

fixed at $5. Stockholders are assessed for all expenses of management 

and repairs. A superintendent is employed only when necessary, not 

when water is abundant, nor when there is none at all. -Shares of 

stock not issued are not entitled to water. Holders of stock may sell 

or lease the water to which they are entitled. When the flow of the 

ditch is small it is given to the irrigators in turn for eight hours per 

share of stock. The annual expense of ditch management is about $5 

per share.

Mitt Ditch. This is not an irrigation ditch, but it has rights to the 

use of water from Kaweah Eiver, which make its enumeration among 

the Kaweah Eiver ditches desirable. Its head is about one-half mile 

above Visalia, on the south side of Visalia Creek. It has a westerly 

course into the town, and drops its water back into the creek at the 

mill. It has been in use since 1854, at which time a brush dam was 

constructed at its head in Visalia Creek. This is another of the 

ditches in whose interest the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company 

was organized. The mill owners are stockholders in this corporation 

and receive the same consideration accorded to irrigators.

Bahwell and Fulgham ditches. These are two small ditches below 

jVisalia, which were included among those for whose benefit the Kaweah 

and Mill Creek Water Company was formed. They and a number of 

other small ditches make use of the freshet flow of Visalia Creek 

reaching the lower sections of Mill Creek, as well as of the water 

which is returned to the creek by the Mill Ditch.

Longs Canal. This exists in name only. It was a canal or reopened 

slough constructed, some years after the freshets of 1861-62, southwesterly through the upper end of Visalia Swamp, from St. Johns 

Kiver to Potter Slough, which discharged into Kaweah, Eiver. The 

first work done there was nominally for reclamation purposes to 

facilitate drainage of the swamp. The canal was closed by the drift 

and silt brought down by the freshets of 1867-68, and was again 

opened at the expense of the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company.

Bostwick Cut. This is a short ditch or canal, southw esterly from St. 

Johns Eiver about three-quarters of a mile above Eocky Ford, to Lane 

Slough, which continues in a southwesterly direction to Kaweah Eiver. 

It was constructed in 1863 or 1864, for drainage purposes, with money 

from the swamp-laud funds. There seems to be no doubt, however, 

that it would not have been constructed had it not been desirable to 

increase the flow in Visalia and Packwood creeks for irrigation purposes. The cut was filled with drift and silt by subsequent freshets, 

and was again- opened in 1876 by the same parties who .the following 

year organized the Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company. It is 

about 18 to 20 feet wide on the bottom and half a mile long. It is provided with a head gate having a width of 22 feet. 

IRE 18 3
34 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Ketelmm Cut. This is a ditch, about 8 feet wide on the bottom, having 

its head on the south side of St. Johns River about a half mile abo've 

Rocky Ford. Its course is thence southwesterly, skirting the eastern 

base of the Swamp Angels to Kaweah River, one-half mile above the 

head of the Tulare Canal. The ditch was constructed, probably about 

1864, with money from the State swamp-land funds, ostensibly for drainage purposes. It was originally carried across Kaweah River. The 

right to use it for irrigation purposes has been claimed by the Rocky 

Ford Canal Company, and, possibly, also by the Tulare Irrigation Company. It seems to have been in use principally, for the irrigation of a 

few small tracts of land on the north side of Kaweah River. Its flow 

is controlled by a head gate.

Crowley & Mehrtens Ditch. To make tbe enumeration of the old irrigation works complete it is necessary to mention the Crowley & Mehrtens Ditch, which was a small ditch in use for some years on the south 

side of Kaweah Kiver, westward from Wutchumna Hill. The heaid of 

the ditch was near the northwestern base of this hill. There is nothing left of it now except an old cut in rotten granite on the south bank 

of the river, just below where St. Johns River leaves the Kaweah.

TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

This district was organized in September, 1889, by landowners in thei 

vicinity of Tulare. Those dependent upon the Rocky Ford Canal and 

Cameron Creek for their irrigation water seem to have been the prime 

movers in the matter of district organization. The lands dependent 

upon Packwood Creek (Bacon & Crossmore Canal) and upon the Kaweah 

Canal were mostly excluded from the district. The district has an area 

of 39.200 acres, including the 2,500 acres in the town site of Tulare. 

After much preliminary work, involving the examination and surveying 

of a number of feasible canal routes and reservoir sites for water storage, it was decided to purchase the water rights of the Settlers Ditch. 

This was done for $100,000, in district bonds, through an agent, who at 

the same time agreed to take an additional block of district bonds 

amounting to $50,000. The money realized from this bond sale was 

expended in constructing a canal, 60 feet wide on the bottom, from a 

point on the north side of St. Johns River about one-half mile below 

Rocky Ford in a southwesterly direction, nearly parallel with the river, 

about 24 miles, to the southern base of Iron Mountain, where the canal 

water is carried across St. Johns River in a flume 9 feet wide and 4£ 

feet deep, which is supported by two bridge spans. The course of the 

canal from St. Johns River is a little west of south to Kaweah River, 

which is crossed in a similar flume. It then has a course due south to, 

a junction with the Kaweah Canal. Before this entire canal section 

was completed the available $45,000 had been expended and the disr 

trict was still without water. The Kaweah and Rocky Ford caual« 

were purchased for $20,000. Contracts were let for the construction of
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. Ill

A. CANAL REGULATOR AT KAWEAH RIVER, TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

B. LATERAL, ONE MILE SOUTH OF TULARE.
GEUNSKT.] TULAKE IRRIGATION DISTRICT. 35

lateral canals and for the enlargement and completion of the main canal, 

work being practically paid for in bonds which, it was understood, 

went to the contractor through a nominal purchaser. Main distributaries were carried through the district from northeast to southwest, and 

smaller ones, generally on laud lines from north to south, completed 

the canal system. The aggregate "length of district canals is said to 

exceed 150 miles, and the main canal capacity is given at 800 secondfeet. It should also be said that the completed system of works 

involves the/construction of a storage reservoir at Iron Mountain, to be 

supplied with water by means of a high line canal with head somewhere, near Dillons Point. The reservoir site has in part been purchased. The total bond issue by the district was $500,000, all of 

which has been disposed of.

The area of land irrigated in the district has been rapidly extended. 

It is said that from 5,500 to 30,000 acres, principally in alfalfa, cereals, 

and orchard, have actually been irrigated, the area varying within 

wide limits, according to amount and duration of the water supply. 

The inflow of water to the canal is controlled by means of three head 

gates or regulators, of which the one on the north side of St. Johns 

River is 60 feet wide, and each of the others 25 feet. They are all of 

the loose flashboard type, the several openings being about 4 feet, and 

the drop boards being supported by inclined timbers. A canal superintendent has general charge of water distribution, and he is assisted 

by ditch tenders. Water is generally available during the four months 

April to June, inclusive. Operating expenses are met by charging for 

water, the charge being fixed at 50 cents to $1 per acre for the first 

irrigation and half price for subsequent wettings. The charge in 1897 

was 50 and 25 cents. The tax to meet interest on bonds and cost of its 

collection has been 1.85 to 1.90 per cent.

WATER SU]ft>LY, SOILS, AND METHODS OF IRRIGATION.

Prior to the great changes in channel alignment effected by the 

freshets of 1861-62, the Kaweah River waters spread at high stages 

over what was known as Visalia Swamp, which commenced at Wutchumna Hill and extended southwesterly about 9 miles, with a width of 

1 to 3 miles. The spreading waters were reunited in various channels, 

as already explained, in and below this swamp. Channel capacity was 

inadequate to pass flood waters, not only in the swamp, but also below it. 

It was inexpensive to divert water from a natural channel, or even 

from a convenient spot in the swamp, into ditches, and the use of water 

fpr irrigation commenced soon after the arrival of the first settlers. .A 

number of ditches were thus in use when the regimen of the river was 

changed by the freshets above mentioned, and entirely new works 

became necessary in some cases to keep the ditches supplied with 

water. It was some time before the magnitude of the changes in the 

river alignment and their ultimate effects were fully realized, and final
36 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

relief to those dependent upon the more southerly channels for water 

did not come until the old channel of Kaweah Eiver was reopened as 

the Fowler Cut in 1877. Meanwhile there had been a continually 

increasing demand upon the several river channels for water, and 

almost every season at the close of the river's high stage there was 

contention and strife concerning the apportionment of the low-water 

flow to the different sections of Kaweah delta. Farmers who had settled on Canoe Creek, Elbow Creek, and Cross Creek had become accustomed to regard St. Johns Channel as the principal arm of the river, 

and dams for its diversion southward into and across Visalia Swamp 

were not tolerated without protest. When the low-water flow was 

finally restored to the old channel numerous attempts were made to 

force it back into St. Johns Eiver, and amicable adjustment seemed 

out of the question. To avoid the possibility of having a permanent 

change made at the head of St. Johns Eiver, land was there acquired 

by the principal south-side ditch companies. A brush dam was then 

tolerated in the Kaweah Eiver channel, which effected a division of 

the flow at comparatively low stages, but the exact basis of water 

apportionment, if any had ever been agreed upon, is not known to the 

writer. After many years of individual effort some of the settlers 

were forced into cooperative measures, as already explained, with some 

degree of success. Had there been greater obstacles to overcome in 

securing control of water in the first instance, the development of irrigation might have been less rapid, but would probably have been ultimately effected with less friction.

The ditches and canals constructed for the reclamation of Visalia 

Swamp, as already referred to, were hardly necessary as drain ways, 

because the increased capacity given the river channels by the freshets 

of 1861-02 had greatly improved drainage, and they have in a measure 

become features of the irrigation system of this river.

The surface of the country watered by the many delta channels of 

Kaweah Eiver has a slope from east to west of about 6 to 7 feet to the 

mile. The portion of it near Visalia and thence southwest to Tulare, 

which is generally known as the Four Creek country, is covered, in 

some places very densely, with a growth of majestic oaks. The soil 

in the upper portion of Visalia delta is a rich alluvial loam, generally 

sandy, sometimes heavy. Near the river the soil is deep, resting on 

sands or gravel. At the base of and between the outlying hills on each 

side of the river the predominating soil variety is a black loam or dry 

bog, containing much clay, sometimes gravel,-and merges into the heavy 

red soil of the upper or eastern border of the valley plain. Under the 

soil of this plain a hardpan layer several feet thick is nearly everywhere found at depths of from 1 to 5 feet. Northward from Kaweah 

Eiver this valley plain extends in a broad belt along the foothill base. 

The soil of this belt is of the usual heavy red variety, containing 

some gravel. Its surface is very generally besprinkled with the low 

mounds usually known in the West as hog-wallows. The ground water
GBIWSKY.J WATER SUPPLY AND SOILS IN KAWEAH DELTA. 37

of this north-side district is from 8 to 30 feet below the surface, depth 

increasing northward from the river and eastward toward the foothills. 

Westward from this high east-side plain, and still northward from the 

river-delta lauds, the soil becomes shallower and alkaline salts abound 

in its surface layers. In the Mill Creek country, 4 or 5 miles westward 

from Visalia, the hardpan of the higher plain disappears, but the alkaline salts remain present in undesirable quantity.

The soils of the entire delta are generally sandy loams, chocolate 

colored, deep and strong, without the sublayers of hardpan that are 

characteristic of the plains. Ground water in the Kaweah (or Visalia) 

delta is usually at & to 12 feet below the surface. Near Tulare and 

westward from that town the soil is darker than in other portions of 

the delta. The surface of the soil throughout the delta is smooth and 

entirely free from the hog-wallows of the adjacent main valley uplands.

Intermediate between the Sierra Nevada foothills and Outside Creek, 

and southward from Kaweah Biver, is another belt of country, 3 to 10 

miles wide, extending far southward toward Tule River and embracing 

many acres of excellent, rather heavy soil.

The light average annual rainfall in the Kaweah delta, only about 9 

inches, the abundance of natural water courses, and the ease with, 

which water can be diverted into ditches and kept under control, are 

circumstances which have combined to stimulate ditch and canal construction in this section of the State, but not for speculative purposes. 

The irrigation works are almost all owned by the farmers who need the 

water. There are but few irrigators who do not own stock in some 

ditch company. All irrigation canals in the delta have been carried in 

the most direct lines from source of water to place of use. They are 

almost invariably located on lines parallel with the main drainage lines 

of the country.

The lands watered by Kaweah Eiver are utilized for diversified 

farming. The natural growth of trees and grasses has always been 

luxuriant to the limit of the overflow from the delta channels, and the 

construction of canals and ditches has greatly increased the wet area. 

Large areas are in use as natural pastures, particularly to the east and 

north of Visalia. Wheat still remains the staple farm product, but 

considerable areas have been planted to alfalfa, while the orchard and 

vineyard and the occasional truck patch give evidence of the rapid 

movement toward a more intense cultivation of the soil.

The aggregate capacity of the canals, ditches, and water courses 

whose flow is under the control of ditch companies will probably exceed 

2,000 second-feet. There are fortunately many years in which for 

months at a time, and just when water is most needed, the flow of the 

river is in excess of this amount. It is difficult to approximate the 

area irrigated or benefited with water from Kaweah Eiver, because in 

many instances water is not actually applied to the surface of the land, 

but reaches the soil indirectly through seepage. There is no way of 

collecting even imperfect statistics, however, except at great labor in
38 IRRIGATION NEAR FKESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

the field, so that when it is stated that about 50,000 acres are actually 

irrigated and an additional 40,000 acres are more or less directly benefited with water from this river, too great reliance should not be 

placed upon the statement.

There are very few structures of any kind in the main canals, and 

but few are required to regulate the grade. Erosion is not undesirable, as the canals are generally long and water is taken from each at 

comparatively few points; hence the increased cost of providing weirs 

at points where water is to be diverted is more than offset by the 

increased capacity resulting from erosion.

All structures for the diversion of water, except dams at the heads 

of canals, are timber structures; none are of brick or stone. Dams 

across natural water courses are generally constructed of brush or 

gravel, and require some annual repairs. No extended observations 

have been made in this tioetion to determine the loss of water from 

canals in transit to the lauds irrigated; and it is to be remembered in 

this connection that not all water sinking into the ground from natural 

or artificial water courses is considered lost, because it is this very loss 

which fixes the elevation of the plane of subsurface or ground water, 

and the position of this ground-water plane often has a direct bearing 

on soil productiveness. Throughout a large part of the Yisalia district ground water is within reach of the roots of trees, alfalfa, and 

other plants, being kept there by the water which sinks from natural 

and artificial channels in transit to.lands irrigated and by the water 

whicli sinks into the ground on irrigated lands.

The method of applying water to the lands to be irrigated is generally by flooding, in small compartments or checks. These are adapted 

to the irregularities of the surface, being made rectangular when the 

surface is sufficiently level and smooth to permit of this arrangement. 

Crops cultivated in rows, such as beans, potatoes, and corn, also' 

orchards and vineyards, are generally irrigated by running water in 

small ditches or furrows between rows. In the case of these products 

the soil is plowed or cultivated as soon after irrigation as practicable.

Here, as elsewhere in San Joaquin Yalley, alfalfa is irrigated after 

each cutting (about every five or six weeks) so long as water is available. Orchards and vineyards receive water frequently during the 

spring months, and also in the summer if water holds out. Corn is 

irrigated once or twice, according to the condition of the ground at the 

time of planting. Grain is rarely irrigated; vegetables, very copiously 

and frequently.

No attention has as yet been paid to soil drainage. The many comparatively deep natural channels in the delta have kept ground water 

so far below the surface that the area in need of drainage is relatively 

small. As irrigation systems are further expanded throughout the 

delta it may be that subsurface soils will receive water more rapidly 

thaii it can pass off from them, and in such case improved drainage 

systems will become a necessity.
0. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. IV

0123456 Wiles

MAP OP EAST SIDE OP SAN JOAQUtN VALLEY, FROM KINGS RIVER TO FRESNO RIVER,
MEASUREMENTS OF PLOW Of KINGS RtVER. 39

KINGS RIVER.

HYDROGRAPHY.

The drainage basin of Kings River above the eastern margin of San 

Joaquiu Valley has an area of 1,742 square miles. The river's watershed extends to the main summit of the Sierra Nevada. Less than 

half of it is to be classed as low mountainous, all the rest being high 

mountainous country. The snowfall of the winter melts but slowly 

during the spring months, consequently the river reaches its ordinary 

high period late in spring or early in summer. The river is generally 

low from September to the end of January; it is.at a medium stage 

during February, March, and August, and is high from the beginning 

of April to the close of July. The month of least, flow during the six 

years 1878-1884 was November, 1 the average mean flow having been 

313 second-feet, and the least flow for a single month 220 second-feet. 

The extreme low-water flow of the river has, no doubt, beeu somewhat 

below the least monthly mean. At medium stages the river carries 

1,000 to 2,000 second-feet of water; during its high stages its monthly 

mean ranges from 4,000 to over 8,000 second-feet. The maximum flow 

of the river during the six years above named occurred in June, 1884, 

the extreme limit having been about 30,000 second-feet.

A gaging station was established on this river September 3,1895, by 

the United States Geological Survey. It is located about 15 miles east 

of Sanger, 3 miles below Jarrett Ranch, and southwest of a hill well 

named Red Mountain. The station is equipped with a steel cable, car, 

and tagged wire.2

The results of these measurements show for the year 1896 a maximum discharge, which occurred in May, of 22,100 second-feet, and a 

minimum discharge, occurring in October, of 310 second-feet. The 

average discharge for that year was 2,582 second-feet. Similar figures 

for 1897 are as follows: Maximum discharge, 22,730 second-feet, occurring in May; minimum discharge, 250 second-feet, in September, with 

an average discharge for the year of 2,933 second-feet.

The Southern Pacific Railway Company has maintained gage-height 

readings at their bridge on the lower Kings River ]/ mile from Kingsburg since 1879. The Geological Survey has taken a number of discharge measurements at this point, but owing to the shifting character 

of the stream it has been found impossible to construct rating tables 

for same.3

1 See Physical Data and Statistics, Wm. Ham. Hall, State Engineer of California, pp. 452,476.

 2 Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey No. 140,1896, p. 286; Eighteenth Ann. Rept., Part IV, 1897, p. 3§0; WaterSupply and Irrigation Paper No. 11,1897, p. 92; Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No.a6,1898,p. 191.

"Twelfth Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, Part 11,1831, p. 320, PL LXXXII; Bulletin No. 131, 1895, 

p. 80, Bulletin No. 140,1896, p. 284; Eighteenth Ann. Eept., Part IV, 1897, p. 393; Water-Supply and 

Irrigation Paper No. 11,1897, p. 920, Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 16,1898, p. 192.
40 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. t«>.ia

Estimated monthly discharge of Kings Steer at Red Mountain, California. 

[Drainage area, 1,742 square miles.]

Month.

1896.

TW^QTTJuly .............

The year. . .. 

1897.

June .............

July.............

October ..........

The year ....

Discharge (in second- feet).

Maximum.

11, 020 

1,140 

7,020 

4, 600 

22,100 

18, 920 

6,680 

1,212 

- 590 

510 

1,076 

550

22. 100

624 

6,344 

4,408 

9,380 

22, 732 

10, 580 

4,040 

1,100 

V 480 

572 

2,520 

8,348

22, 732

Minimum.

390 

728 

820 

820 

1,140 

5,160 

1,212 

590 

390 

310 

390 

470

310

360 

1,100 

1,240 

1,930 

6,344 

2,520 

1,036 

440 

250 

270 

360 

572

250

Mean.

1,474 

. 825 

1,710 

1,938 

5,918 

12, 737 

3,742 

795 

491 

350 

538 

466

2,582

437 

1,631 

1,884 

5,318 

14, 470 

6,145 

2,177 

739 

329 

394 

692 

985

2,933

Total 

(in acre-feet).

90, 682 

47, 47J 

105, 181 

115, 349 

363, 890 

757, 922 

230, 110 

48, 938 

29, 234 

21, 520 

32, 043 

28, 659

1, 871, 005

26, 870 

90, 581 

115, 843 

316, 442 

889, 731 

365, 652 

133, 859 

45, 440 

19, 577 

24, 226 

41, 177 

60, 566

2, 129, 964

Run-off.

Depth 

(in inches).

0.98 

.51 

1.13 

1.24 

3.90 

8.15 

2.48 

.52 

.31 

.23 

.35 

.31

20.11

0.29 

.96 

1.22 

3.33 

9.40 

3.87 

1.41 

.47 

.20 

.25 

.44 

.63

22.47

Second-feet 

per square 

mile.

0.85 

.47 

.98 

1.11 

3.40 

7.31 

2.15 

.45 

.28 

.20 

.31 

.27

1.48

0.25 

.92 

1.06 

2.99 

8.15 

3.45 

1.22 

.42 

.18 

.22 

.39 

.55

1.65

Kings River enters San Joaquin Valley from the east about 20 miles 

east of Fresno. Before reaching Ceuterville Bottoms the river flows 

in a broad bed of cobbles from which the hills rise quite abruptly 

toward the north and toward the south. The hills retreat from the riv^er 

somewhat at the upper end of Centerville Bottoms, forming a wedgeshaped valley that opens into the main San Joaqutn Valley about 4 

miles farther west, at Centerville. The northern portion of this Kings 

Eiver spur of San Joaquin Valley may be regarded as a second or upper
CKUNSKT.] DISCHARGE OP KINGS RIVER. 41

bottom; the southern portion, lying at a lower level, is the upper 

division of Centerville Bottoms. These bottom lands, which have a 

length of about 9 miles, are depressed below the general surface of the 

San Joaquin Yalley plain, being about 10 feet lower than the same at 

their upper limit and about 60 feet below the same at the Narrows, 

where the main valley plain drops in abrupt bluffs to the banks of the 

river as it emerges from these bottoms at their southeastern extremity. 

From this point southward for about 12 miles the surface of the main 

valley has greater fall than the river, gradually approaching its level, 

and near Kingsburg the bluffs upon either side of the river entirely disappear. It is here that the Kings Eiver delta begins. 

Through Genterville Bottoms the river flows in numerous channels,

PIG. 9. Discharge of Kings River at Red Mountain, California, 1896.

the main stream having a length of about 14 miles and a total fall in 

that distance of about 120 feet. The beds of these streams are for the 

most part formed of deposits of cobbles, gravel, and sand. Channel 

banks are rarely high or well denned. Below the Narrows the fall of 

the river is only 2 feet to the mile, which is maintained with reasonable 

uniformity to the outfall of the main channel into Tulare Lake.

From the head of Cole Slough, 2 miles south from Kingsburg, the main 

channel of Kings Eiver has a southwesterly course for a distance of 35 

miles to the trough of San Joaquin Yalley; its course thence is south 

about 11 miles to Tulare Lake.

Cole Slough, the uppermost arm of the river thrown off toward the 

north, has a course nearly parallel with the main channel of the river 

for some miles, then flows northwesterly and, together with other delta
IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [no.

channels, delivers its water into Fresno Swamp, through which it flows 

into San Joaquin Eiver. Kings Eiver has but a single tributary below 

the point where it enters San Joaquin Valley. This is Wahtoke Creek, 

a small foothill stream which reaches the river from the east at the 

Narrows. Owing to scant rainfall, there is but little run-off from the 

lands of the plains, and this is, as a rule, away from the main stream 

and not toward it.

Canals and ditches from this river are to be divided into two principal groups, of which one embraces those which leave the river at the 

upper end of Centerville Bottoms and the other those of the delta. For

FIG. 10. Head of Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal.

convenience these groups may be again subdivided according to location 

of tracts irrigated, aud will be treated under appropriate subheadings.

CANALS AND DITCHES.

Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal. This is the upper north-side canal 

from Kings Eiver. Its head is 5£ miles above Centerville. The canal 

receives water through the head of a natural channel or arm of the 

river which has a position at the base of the low north-side slope that 

rises from the border of the river bottoms. Within a mile of its head 

the canal is carried in a cut northwestward out upon the surface of the 

second bottom, and a half mile beyond its water is dropped into a 

small natural channel known as Burns Slough. After flowing in this 

southwesterly for a mile, the water is carried westward in a cut less 

than one-half mile in length to Kip Slough, from which it is again 

reclaimed 1^ miles below. The course of the canal, now in an artificial 

channel, is thence westerly across Faushaw, Eed Bank, and Frolic 

creeks into the Dry Creek district northeastward from Fresuo.

The cut from Centerville Channel of Kings Kiver to Burns Slough 

has a bed width of about 30 feet. Below that point the canal width is 

quite irregular, ranging from about 15 to 24 feet. The flumes over 

creeks are 16 feet wide, with sides 3 feet high. The longest one is that 

across Eed Bank Creek, which has a length of 96 feet. The fall of the 

main canal is Jar in excess of what might be considered necessary, its 

course being almost in the direction of greatest fall of the ground's
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. V

KINGS RIVER AT UPPER END OF CENTERVILLE BOTTOMS, LOOKING UPSTREAM.
GEUNSKT.] KINGS RIVER & FRESNO CANAL. 43

surface. This results in no injury to bank lands in the upper section 

of the canal, where a firm substratum_sets a limit to erosion, but has 

made the uee of frequent check weirs or drops necessary in its lower 

sections, particularly at points where water is delivered into branches.

The construction of this canal was commenced in 1872. At that 

time a regulator was placed in its head at Centerville Channel of Kings 

Eiiver. The following year the cut to Burns Slough was made and the 

canal was extended westward upon the valley plain. The canal was 

intended primarily to supply water" to landowners who had become 

'stockholders in it, but the sale of water was not restricted to the stockholders. The company's capital stock was fixed at $100,000, in 1,000 

shares. Water is sold at rates annually determined, not exceeding $50 

per second foot for stockholders and $75 per second-foot for other irrigators. The sale of water covers all expenses of management and 

repairs. The first cost of the canal was about $50,000.

As a result of adverse claims to the use of Centerville Channel the 

canal company was in conflict with the Fresno Canal and Irrigation 

Company until, in 1875, it was agreed that the water in the regulator 

of the Kings River & Fresno Canal should be maintained at 1 foot in 

depth during the low-water period of the river until there was less 

than 1 foot in depth in the regulator of the other canal, and that 

thereafter equal depths should be maintained in both regulators.

The distribution of water to ditches of consumers is in charge of a 

canal superintendent. ' No system of measurement is in use. Water 

is delivered to each ditch on the judgment of the superintendent in 

proportion to the number of second-feet to which each ditch is entitled. 

No attempt is made to effect actual delivery of the amount of water 

bargained for. Any number.of irrigators may unite and have the 

aggregate amount to which they are entitled delivered through one 

gate.

The Enterprise Ditch was the result of such combination of interests. 

It was constructed about 1885. It received water for a time from the 

main canal at the point where its waters are dropped into Kip Slough, 

and takes a westerly course along the base of the north-side foothills. 

Bounding the point of these about 2£ miles north of Centerville, its 

course is northerly for 4 miles, thence westerly about 8 miles, generally 3 to 4 miles north of the main canal. This ditch was, a few 

years after construction, sold to the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company in consideration of 40 water rights that were issued to its owners.

Fresno Canal. The head of Fresno Canal is about 1J miles below 

the head of the Kings Biver & Fresuo Canal; also on the north side 

of Centerville Channel. A short artificial channel having a westerly 

course drops the water of the canal into Chambers Slough, which, is a 

depression at the base of the low bluff at the northern margin of the 

bottoms. This has been converted into a section of the canal by the 

construction of a levee'along its south bank to a point a-little over a
44 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

mile from the head of the canal. There the canal enters Long Cut, 

which extends westward in a direct line a little over one-half mile and 

carries the canal water into another natural channel, Burns Slough, 

which connects with Kip Slough a short distance below. Long or Big 

Cut pierces the rimlaud which borders Centerville Bottoms on the 

north. It has a greatest depth of about 10 feet and a width of 65 feet. 

Kip Slough is utilized for the canal for a little over a half mile. It is 

thence carried westerly nearly 2 miles in an irregular natural depression, which was converted into a canal by constructing embankments 

along the south bank of the proposed water way. From this depression an artificial channel only about 500 feet long drops the canal water

FIG. 11. Head of Fresno Canal.

into Mud Creek, down which it flows in a southwesterly direction 3 to 4 

miles to Fancher (Faushaw) Creek, which then becomes the main 

channel of the creek to a point about 3 miles east of Fresno.

Where Fresno Canal leaves Kip or Lone Tree Slough the slough is 

closed by means of an embankment, in which a gate has been placed, 

through which water is delivered into the lower section of the slough, 

which is also known as the Kingsburg branch of Fresno Canal. This 

branch delivers water to the Highland, the Garfield (which also receives 

water from other sources), the McCall, and the Selma ditches.

The main canal may be regarded as terminating in the old sink of 

Fancher Creek, about 3 miles east of Fresno. From that point it 

sends southward its Washington Colony branch and southwestward
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. VI

A. REGULATOR ON KINGS RIVER AND FRESNO CANAL.

B. FOWLER SWITCH CANAL NEAR SANGER, LOOKING UPSTREAM.
GBUNSKT.] FRESNO CANAL. 45

the Central Colony branch, from which there is another branch to 

Fresno Colony. At the Hobler Dam, about 8 miles east of Fresno, a 

branch is taken out toward the south and reaches Fowler and the colonies in its vicinity, and another branch is carried westward from the 

north side of the main canal to portions of the Easterby ranches. 

Two miles above the Hobler Dam the principal north-side diversion is 

made. This is known as the Mill Ditch, which for many years furnished 

power to a flour mill in Fresno, and delivered the water, after use for 

power, to the colonies southwestward from Fresno. The ditch through 

Fresno and this north side branch has become the feeder of the Bank 

Land Canal, which conveys water northwesterly to a large tract of 

laud northwest of Fresno. Another north-side branch of the Fresno 

Canal is the Enterprise Ditch, which has already been referred to in 

describing the Kings River & Fresno Canal (p. 43). This ditch was 

purchased for 40 water rights.

No attempt will here be made to describe or even to enumerate the 

many small branches of this canal, particularly as some of these are 

owned independently and often receive water from other sources as well 

as from the Fresno Canal. It may be sufficient to state that the aggregate area covered by water rights (each nominally 1 second-foot to 160 

acres) exceeds 160,000 acres.

The history of this canal construction is not without interest. Operations on it commenced in 1870 with the posting of a notice of a claim 

to water "to be taken from Kings River at the upper end of Sweem's 

Ditch, 20 feet on the bottom, 30 feet on the top, 4 feet deep." This 

claim was made by Mr. M. J. Church, who a month later acquired a 

two-thirds interest in the Sweem Ditch. The Sweem Ditch was a small 

ditch, the construction of which seems to have been commenced in 1870, 

which was intended to increase the flow of what was then known as 

the Centerville Ditch. Its upper section was enlarged and became the 

head section of Fresno Canal. In 1872 a regulator or head gate was 

constructed in the head of the Fresno Canal, and in the spring of 1874 

a small cut on the line of the present Long Cut was completed front the 

Centerville Ditch to the lower sections of the Fresno Canal, on which 

work had meanwhile been pushed to the limit of the means of the projector of the work, Mr. M. J. Church. This small connecting ditch is 

reported to have had a bed width of only 5 feet on a grade of 5 feet to 

the mile. As the alignment of a part of the older Centerville Ditch 

was in time to become the alignment of a section of the Fresno Canal, 

and because it seemed desirable to secure the water rights acquired by 

the Centerville people, arrangements were made to obtain control of the 

corporation known as the Centerville Canal and Irrigation Company, and 

a transfer of their ditch property was made to the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company. This was in 1874. As soon, however, as the settlers 

near Centerville realized what their officers were doing the demands for 

just treatment at the hands of the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Coin-
46 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. IS.

pauy were made so emphatic that those who were entitled to water in 

the older ditch were granted water rights in the new canal for their 

lands in perpetuity, without limit as to quantity and free from expense 

assessments. About 1,500 to 2,000 acres of land are thus covered. In 

1875 it became necessary to enlarge the cut westward from the Centerville Ditch, and to this end labor was bargained for with farmers who 

wanted water delivered to their lands through Lone Tree Creek. 

Thirty-five water rights were issued to farmers, who completed it in 

June, 1875. Meanwhile other parties besides Mr. Church had become 

financially interested in the enterprise, notably Mr. P. Y. Easterby, and 

later Mr. W. S. Chapman. It was not profitable, however, at the outset, and, as the indirect result of overspeculatio'n in wheat by outside 

parties and failure to increase loans, a transfer of the property in 1876 

to the Bank of Nevada became necessary. The management of the 

property by this bank was expensive and gave no promise of success. 

It was not long, therefore, before the original projector of the enterprise 

was sent for and the property was sold to him, on the execution by him 

of a long-term note, for $28,000. By this time a number of large holdings of land had been subdivided and sold in small tracts and had 

become dependent upon the canal for water. Notable among these 

early colonies are Central Colony, 2,640 acres, and Temperance, Church, 

and Nevada colonies, each 640 acres. These colonies, together with the 

Pioneer vineyard on the F. T. Eisen tract, soon demonstrated the great 

productiveness of the Fresno sand plains, and the development of that 

region was rapid during the next decade. The sale of water rights had 

progressed steadily, so that in 1884 about 400 had be.en issued or bargained for, and their price had increased from $200 to $800 each. 

Later their price was fixed at $1,600 by the canal management.

A water right, as issued by the company, is the right to use onethoiisandth part of the flow of the canal, not in excess of 1 second-foot, 

on a specified tract of 160 acres. The canal company reserves the 

privilege of issuing 1,000 water rights without enlarging the main 

canal. Each purchaser of a water right agrees not to use the water, 

or permit it to be used, on any other land than that for which the right 

is purchased, nor to permit the water to run off upon contiguous land 

or in any other way to run to useless waste, and he agrees to return 

surplus waters back into the main canal or a branch thereof. Each 

water right remains subject to an annual expense assessment, which 

ranges from $80 to $100. Water is delivered without any attempt at 

measurement to each irrigator at any point on the company's ditch 

system that he may select. No transfer of a water right can be made 

except with the land which it covers. Each purchaser of a water right 

grants to the canal company the right of way for ditch and canal 

purposes through any lands lying in the same township as the tract 

for which water is bought, and concedes to the company the right 

to use his private ditch provided the company does jiot use it so as to
U. 5. 6EO1.6GICAL

COBBLESTONE AND BRUSH DAM OF FRESNO CANAL, KINGS RIVER.
OEUXBKT.] FRESNO CANAL. 47

interfere with the delivery of his water. The purchaser of* a water 

right further obligates himself to pay to the canal company annually 

an agreed sum (this has usually been $100), and iti default of payment 

for thirty days to forfeit his water right. The water-right agreement 

further sets forth that the company shall not be responsible for deficiency in water supply caused by drought, insufficiency of water in the 

river, hostile diversion or obstruction, forcible measures or temporary 

damage by floods or other accidents, but that it shall use and employ 

all due diligence at all times in restoring and protecting the flow of 

water in its canals.

The structures on the canal do not deserve extended notice. They are 

all made of timber. The original regulator has been replaced by a 

second one, constructed about 1884, shown in PL VIII, A and B. It 

consists of a substantial framework of heavy timbers, spaces between 

vertical posts being closed by vertical sliding gates. From the head 

gate an embankment of cobblestones, gravel, and sand extends northward across Centerville Bottoms to a connection with high land, and 

prevents destruction of the upper section of the canal during freshets. 

The diversion of water into the head of the canal is effected by means 

of a brush-aud-cobblestone dam, as shown in PL VII, the maintenance of which in the past has not been expensive. Along the line of 

tlie canal, wherever necessary to prevent excessive erosion, or where 

required to turn water into a branch ditch, light timber weirs are in 

use. Most of these consist of two side or bulkhead walls and a floor, 

usually placed a little below the grade of the canal, and a line of vertical posts supported by braces from below. Spaces between posts are 

closed to the desired height either by fixed horizontal boarding or by 

movable drop timbers or boards.

The impression which the whole work gives is that of haphazard 

management, the result of which is not, however, entirely unsatisfactory.

The control of the canal long ago passed out of the hands of Mr. 

Church, who effected a profitable sale of the property. It is now 

managed by parties who also own controlling interests in the Kings 

River and Fresno Canal Company and who have acquired the property 

known as Rancho Laguna de Tache. It remains to be added that 

these parties as owners of the rancho, which is located on lower Kings 

River, have entered into a oontract with the Sunset irrigation district 

under the terms of which, in consideration of a reservoir site, a'right of 

way for a canal, and a waiver of riparian rights, the irrigation district 

has paid to the owners of the rancho $250,000 in bonds and has agreed 

to make no demand for water until 3,500 second-feet of water are available for the Fresno Canal and the canal of the rancho.

Centerville Ditch. This is at present a branch of the Fresno Canal. 

It was constructed in 1868 and 1869 by settlers near Centerville (now 

Kings River). They organized a company known as the Centerville
48 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Canal and Irrigation Company, which was incorporated in August, 

1868. This company seems to have been the successor in interest to 

all rights acquired by some of the settlers whose first pteps to secure 

water were taken in 1865. The canal was constructed southwesterly 

from a point near where the head of the Kings River & Fresno Canal 

now is about 2£ miles to Bums Slough; thence this slough was 

utilized for about a mile to a point a short distance below the Long 

Cut, and thence the ditch was extended southwesterly about 3 miles 

farther to lands at and west of Centerville. The canal property was 

transferred to the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company in 1874, by 

those who had secured control of the stock, and the opposing minority 

interests were finally placated by the issuance of perpetual, unassessable water rights in the newer canal to stockholders who. owned lands 

near Centerville.

Siceem Ditch. This ditch was never completed. Its construction 

was commenced in 1870 from a point near the present head of the 

Fresno Canal, practically on the alignment subsequently adopted for 

that canal. Its purpose was to increase the delivery of water into 

Burns Slough for the Centerville Ditch. It was sold before completion 

to the parties who were at work 011 the Fresuo Canal project, and 

within a few years it was transformed into a large canal, as already 

explained.

Fowler Sicitch Canal. The head of the Fowler Switch Canal is in 

Centerville Bottoms, about 100 yards below the head of the Fresno 

Canal. Its course is southwesterly for 1^ miles in Centerville Bottoms, 

thence westerly for 2 miles across the second bottoms to near the 

channel of Lone Tree Creek, thence southwesterly 10 miles and southerly 5 miles to a point about midway between Fowler and Selina, thence 

southwesterly 5 miles, thence northwesterly into the district southward 

from the Washington Colony. The canal is said to have been built to 

carry 1,500 second-feet. Its bed width is about 45 feet, its depth 

variable. The gradient is very, irregular, being that of the natural 

surface of the ground in its upper sections, where a quite firm hardpan formation is relied upon to check excessive erosion of the canal 

bed. Near the lower end of the canal it was given a fall of 1.92 feet 

to the mile.

It was proposed to use no check weirs to reduce the fall, which for 

short distances was as great as 12 feet to. the mile, and to put lateral 

ditches at a lower elevation than the main canal, so as to reduce the 

necessary structures to a minimum. It was soon found, however, that 

weirs would be necessary at some points to check erosion and at most 

points where water was to be diverted.

Among the branches of the Fowler Switch Canal may be mentioned 

the Cleveland Ditch, about 5 miles long, which delivers water to lands 

midway between Malaga and Fowler; the Western Canal, which supplies water to lands adjacent to and immediately south of the Sierra
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SJRVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. VIII

A. REGULATOR OF FRESNO CANAL ON KINGS RIVER, AS SEEN FROM ABOVE.

B. REGULATOR OF FRESNO CANAL ON KINGS RIVER, AS SEEN FROM BELOW.
GRUNSKY.] FOWLER SWITCH CANAL. 49

Park and Washington Colony; the Grant Ditch, which has a westerly 

course for 4 or 5 miles from near the end of the main canal; and the 

Blkhorn Canal, which has a southwesterly course and delivers water 

to the western portion of the Wildflower region. The entire canal system gave promise of being one of considerable importance to the prosperity of the district it commanded, but hopes have not been fully 

realized. The canal has not been permitted to take river water without protest, and unfavorable court decisions have thrown some doubt 

upon the reliability of this canal as a source of supply.

This canal was constructed in 1883. Farmers in the vicinity of 

Fowler who wanted water for their own lands formed a corporation,

FIG.' 12. Head of Fowler Switch Canal.

the capital stock of which was fixed at $450,000, divided into 1,500 

shares, of which 300 were subscribed for. It was agreed that in payment for each share labor and material might be contributed to the 

extent of $200, the remainder to be paid in coin. It was soon found, 

however, that the first issue of shares would not cover the cost of 

canal construction, and it was followed by a second issue of 300 shares, 

which were taken by the same persons who held the first issue. 

About $110.,000 were expended on canal construction in the first two 

years.

The water in the canal is apportioned to the stockholders, who may 

ask for .the delivery of their water at any point on the main canal. 

This has led to the construction of'a number of branch ditches under 

IBK 18 1
50 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

independent management, which receive their water from the main 

canal. One of the principal branches of this sort is the Elkhorn 

D itch. It is owned by a com pany in which thirty shares are represented. 

Some of the stockholders in the Elkhorn Ditch Company are not holders of Fowler Switch stock. In such cases they are required to buy 

their water from some stockholder. The use of the Elkhorn Ditch is 

restricted to its owners, no water being sold.

The water represented by the stock of the Fowler Switch Canal Company is at the disposal of the individual stockholders to the extent 

that it may be leased or sold and its delivery maybe called for through 

any branch ditch. No system of water measurement or special design 

of gate has been prescribed. All gates in distributing ditches are constructed by the consumers. The delivery of water through these gates 

is in charge of a canal superintendent. The canal company itself does 

not sell any water. All expenses are met by assessing the stockholders.

The structures on the canal do not merit extended notice. They are 

all of very light construction. The check weirs or drops are V-shaped, 

upper and lower faces being permanently sheathed with light boarding. 

There is no diverting dam at the head of the canal, which has been 

located just .above a natural cobblestone-and bowlder riffle.

Centerville & Kingsburg Canal. This is another of the important 

north-side canals from Kings River belonging to the upper group of 

canals. Its head is about 2 miles in a direct line northeast of Centerville, and about the same distance by river below the head of the 

Fowler Switch Canal. Its course is westerly for nearly half a mile, 

directly toward the northwestern margin of Centerville Bottoms. Its 

second half mile has a southwesterly direction, along the slope from 

higher plains to the bottoms; thence on the higher level it holds a course 

southwesterly and southerly for about 8 miles, practically parallel with 

the bluff, 20 to 30 feet high, which drops from the valley plain to 

Centerville Bottoms. This portion of the canal is frequently within a 

few rods of the edge of the bluff, and is rarely more than half a mile 

distant therefrom.

About 9 miles below its head the canal is separated into a number of 

branches, which radiate throughout the district westward from Kings 

River below the Narrows, extending southeastward to lands east and 

south of Sanders, southward to the vicinity of Kingsburg, and southwestward beyond Selma and well into the Wildflower country.

The main canal has irregular dimensions, its bed width being generally about 30 to 35 feet. It has been allowed to cut deep into the friable 

surface soils in the upper sections of its course, where but little attempt 

has been made to reduce its gradient below that of the natural surface 

of the ground. The length of main canal is about 18 miles. The length 

of its three principal branches is reported at about 26 miles.

The diversion from the river is effected by means of a brush-andcobblestone darn, in which a small gate serves as waste way *and sand
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. IX

A. REGULATOR ON FOWLER SWITCH CANAL, AS SEEN FROM ABOVE.

B. REGULATOR ON FOWLER SWITCH CANAL, AS SEEN FROM BELOW.
QEUNSKY.] CENTERVILLE & KINGSBURG CANAL. 51

sluice. The canal regulator is close to the river and is of a type very 

common on Kings River canals. Three rows of posts rising from a 

plank floor extend across the canal from one bulkhead wall to the other. 

They support a platform loaded with cobbles and gravel to give stability to the structure. The spaces between upper posts are closed by 

means of" vertically sliding gates, each of which has a stem extending above the platform, to which power is applied when the gate is to 

be opened or closed. The cost of the regulator was about $1,000. The 

first cost of the canal was about $35,000. , . .

This ca,nal was constructed in 1877 and 1878. It was built by a 

company organized by farmers who owned lands near Kingsburg and 

Selma. The capital stock of the corporation which they formed was 

originally fixed at $12,500, but was subsequently increased to $35,000, 

being divided into fifty shares. The upper 2 miles of the canal were 

constructed by day labor. The rest of the main canatwas divided into

FIG. 13. Head of Ceuterville & Kingsburg Canal.

sections, each of which represented one share of stock, and was assigned 

to some stockholder, who was required to complete it. A few unlimited, 

nnassessable rights to water from the canal have been granted to settlers near Centerville, in consideration of rights of way. Each stockholder is entitled to the delivery of a proportional part of the water 

remaining available for distribution; but each stockholder, or the 

corporation when in possession of any shares of «tock, may lease the 

shares. The price of a share per month in 1882 was $6. Shares were 

at that time valued at about $1,500. Each share of stock is supposed 

to represent "3 feet of water;" an expression of quantity which seems 

as vague as the amount named in the franchise of the company U 150 

cubic feet of water under a 4-incli pressure." In fact, however, each 

share of stock entitles its holder to a proportional part of the water 

varying somewhat according to the number of shares in actual use, but 

not in excess of three times the amount which would flow 4 inches deep
52 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [HO. 18.

over a clear overfall 12 inches long. Water is apportioned on the judgment of a canal superintendent, generally through gates of like construction. When the amount of water per share of stock in the canal 

exceeds three units, each indicated by a clear overfall of 4 inches on a 

length of 12 inches, then all surplus water is held for sale, by the 

directors of the company, at fixed rates per mouth per unit. The cost 

of canal management, maintenance, and repairs is assessed upon the 

stockholders. The annual expense assessment is now about $80 per 

share of stock. The works required to divert water from the main 

canal into private ditches, including weirs in the main canal, are constructed by the consumers of water, subject to approval of the canal 

company.

Satisfactory use of this canal has been interfered with to no little 

extent by litigation, generally involving the right of the canal to receive 

water from the fiver, and, as in the case of other canals from Kings - 

Eiver, its permanent efficiency as a source of supply has been thrown 

somewhat into doubt by adverse decisions of the courts.

Selma irrigation district. This irrigation district is situated on the 

north side of Kings Eiver, in Fresno County, and embraces within its 

limits the lands now watered by the Fowler Switch and the Centerville 

& Kingsburg canals. It was organized in 1890. with an area of 

271,000 acres. For the purchase of existing canals and the construction of new works, it was proposed to issue bonds to the amount of 

$1,000,000; but the bond issue was twice defeated at the polls, and it 

seems to be generally conceded that there is small probability of a 

continuation of operations under the district law.

Alta irrigation district (76 Canal). The canal which supplies water 

to the Alta irrigation district is known as the 76 Canal. It belongs to 

the upper group of Kings Eiver canals. Its head is on the south side 

of the river, about 1£ miles above the head of the Kings Eiver & 

Fresno Canal, if the point at which the uppermost work for the direction of water toward the canal regulator may be termed its head. At 

that point a branch of the river has been enlarged somewhat and otherwise improved, and the water diverted from the main stream through 

this natural channel is carried in a succession of depressions or highwater channels along the southeastern margin of Centerville Bottoms 

about 3 miles, to the point where the canal cuts out upon the higher 

plain lying to the east of Centerville Bottoms. The natural depressions 

of the upper coal section have in large part been converted into a canal 

by building up, along their low western banks, embankments of cobblestones and bowlders, which were taken from their beds for their enlargement. Where the canal turns away from Centerville Bottoms a cut 

9 feet in depth was necessary. From this point the canal has a general 

southeasterly course, following a grade line with 18 inches fall to the 

mile, that skivfs the western foothill base. At 6 miles b.elow the regulator the canal is carried across Wahtoke Creek, and its southeasterly
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY !R NO. 18 PL. X

A. REGULATOR ON SEVENTY-SIX CANAL, AS SEEN FROM ABOVE.

B. REGULATOR ON SEVENTY-SIX CANAL, AS SEEN FROM BELOW.
GRUNSKY.] ALTA IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

course is maintained about 22 miles farther, to near Cottonwood Greet. 

The main canal has been made the eastern boundary of the Alta irrigation district.

The bed width of the canal throughout the first 9£ miles below the 

regulator is 100 feet. Its capacity, with a depth of 5 feet of water, is 

about 1,200 second-feet. From the main canal numerous branches 

extend southwesterly and southerly into the heart of the district. 

The principal of these is the Traver branch, which has been given a 

bed width of 60 feet. It leaves the main canal about 1£ miles below 

Wahtoke Creek, and, as its name indicates, delivers water to lands in 

the vicinity of Traver. Branch canals are for the most part located 

across the valley plain on lines of its greatest slope. They have generally been given positions on high ground intermediate between gentle 

depressions, though in some instances, as in the case of the Traver

/l_p/m\NVfK 'mi" M liuy

X-~_j£*wz*z2. * 

FIG. 14. Wahtoke Reservoir, on 76 C naJ.

branch, natural water courses have been in large part substituted for 

expensive canal work.

The inflow of water from the upper canal section into the second section 

of the main canal is controlled by"means of a regulator or head gate. 

Above the regulator in the west canal bank is a spillway through which 

surplus waters are dropped into Patterson Slough, one of the Kings 

River channels in Centerville Bottoms. The regulator rises from a plank 

floor constructed of two layers of 3-inch planking, the dimensions of 

which are 100 feet in the direction across the canal by 30 feet along its 

axis. The surface of the floor is at grade of the canal bottom. Along 

its upper and lower edges are two lines of sheet piling, not driven, but 

constructed in trenches, which extend to a depth of 5 feet. The bottom 

ends of the sheeting planks are nailed to a horizontal plank 3 by 12 

inches, which adds to the effectiveness of the sheeting. Trenches were
54 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. IS.

refilled with carefully selected material well tamped into place. Three 

rows of posts, with necessary brace timbers, rise from this floor, the 

post rows being 8 feet apart. They support a platform which serves 

as a bridge. Between the upper posts are the gates, twenty in all, 

which slide vertically in grooves formed by spiking additional timbers 

to the upper faces of the posts. Each gate has a stem to which power 

is applied by means of a lever. Every fourth gate is provided with 

two vertical revolving shutters, so connected with it that when closed 

they will not interfere with the free movement of the gate. These 

shutters are intended to be used when the water pressure on the gates 

is so great as to interfere with their being raised. The cost of the 

head gate was $3,000. Lumber at the gate costs $28 per thousand feet, 

board measure. About 60,000 feet of lumber were used in its construcFIG. 15. Head of 76 Canal.

tieri. The check weirs in use on this canal system (there are nine on 

the Traver branch within 7i miles above Traver) are simple but serviceable structures. They are of the flashboard type. Spaces between 

posts 4 feet apart, which rise from a plank floor, are closed by loose 

boards sliding in grooves. The cost of a check weir across a canal 60 

feet wide is reported to have been $275.

Occasionally a firm hardpan layer that would not yield readily to 

blasting or plowing had to be broken up into long, narrow strips with 

gads. A spur of rotten granite was crossed at one point, and the maximum cut through it was 28 feet. Throughout 5 miles below the regulator large cobbles some 1 foot in least diameter had to be removed 

from the material loosened by the plow before scraper work could commence. The ground containing these cobbles was first trenched with 

large road plows drawn by 12 to 16 mules. The plows were steadied 

by means of long saplings extending out on either side.
GBUNSKY.] SEVENTY-SIX CANAL.. 55

Along the base of Campbells Mountain, throughout the 3 or 4 miles 

above Wahtoke Creek, the surface soil into which the canal was cut is 

dry bog a dark-colored, light soil, which contracts, cracks, and crumbles in drying. When wet this soil is soft and sticky. This material 

had to be used in many places for the canal embankment, which often 

crossed depressions, 

and when water 

reached these it rapidly permeated the 

spongy bank and 

often found ve,nts 

that led to the speedy 

destruction of the 

embankment. It cost 

about $6,000 to get 

the water in the canal 

as far as Wahtoke 

Creek.

The canal was constructed .in 1882. 

This was before the 

enactment of the irrigation-district law. 

Its construction was 

undertaken by a private corporation, on 

a plan which was 

very sa tisfactorily 

carried out. As soon 

as the feasibility of 

making the diversion 

of water from the 

river was assured, 

about 40,000 acres of 

land on the plains to 

becoinmandecl by the 

canal were bought 

for the corporation at 

prices less than $10 

per acre. These 

lands were offered for 

sale as soon as the

canal came into service, at prices somewhat in excess of the added cost 

of canal construction. It was proposed to establish each year a schedule of prkes to be adhered to for a year, but demand for land was so 

great at the prices fixed during the first few years that the lands were

*-- 30 

FIG. 16. Plan and elevation of regulator for 76 Canal.
56 IRKIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

repeatedly withdrawn from sale. The expenditure of less than $300,000 

in four years thus created and increased values to an estimated amount 

of over $800,000, not including: increased values of properties in which 

the caual company had no direct interest.

Before the canal was sold to the Alta irrigation district, water 

rights were issued to purchasers of all lauds sold by the canal company and were for sale to others owning land in the district commanded. A water right was defined as 40 miner's inches of water, and 

was located upon some particular 40-acre tract of land, of which it 

became an appurtenance. Each full water right was made liable to an 

assessment of $16 per year to cover expenses of canal management. 

The price of a water right was fixed at $200.

The Alta irrigation district was formed in 1888 and was made to 

include the lands to be irrigated with the 76 Canal. It extends southerly from Kings Biver to and even beyond Oottonwood Creek and 

westerly to within a mile of the eastern border of the Kings River 

delta, and has an area of 130,000 acres. Two years later the district 

purchased the caual and its branches, paying therefor $410,000 in 

bonds of the district. This covered the repayment to holders of water 

rights of the amounts which they had paid for them.

The northern apex of the Alta irrigation district is at the western 

base of Tchoenimue Mountain, where a second river bottom, 10 to 1^0 

feet higher than Centerville Bottoms, lies below the 76 Canal. From 

the second bottom, which is long and narrow, having an area of nearly 

7,000 acres, there is an abrupt rise of 20 to 35 feet to the upland or 

main east-side San Joaquin Valley plain. The surface of this plain 

drops away gently from the base of the hills southwestward toward the 

valley trough. Its slope' is at first about 10 feet to the mile, but this 

becomes gradually less and is only 6 feet to the mile near Traver. The 

only notable break in the -surface of this portion of the valley plain is 

made by Wahtoke Creek, which, in its southwesterly course from the 

foothills of the Sierra Nevada, passes to the east and south of Campbells Mountain and discharges into Kings River at the Narrows. It 

flows in a wide, deep gorge from foothill base to the river.

Southward from Wahtoke Creek are several minor creek channels, 

which carry water only in very wet seasons and sink or spread before 

reaching Cross Creek.

After the purchase of the 76 Canal system, in 1890, more branch 

canals were necessary. These were constructed, under the direction and 

supervision of the district engineer, by private parties, from whom they 

were then bought, payment being made with irrigation-district bonds. 

About^ 150 miles of branch ditches were thus constructed, at a total 

cost in bonds of $133,000. The entire district is now covered with 

branch canals, which are rarely more than, 2 to 3 miles apart.

The area of land to whose surface water is now actually applied is 

estimated by the .district officers at 40,000 acres. The distribution of
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPFR NO. 18 PL. XI

A. FURROW IRRIGATION FOR CITRUS FRUITS.

B. CHECK WEIR IN ALTA IRRIGATION DISTRICT, IN LATERAL ABOUT TWO MILES WEST OF

TRAVER.
GBUNSKY.J SOIL AND METHODS IN THE ALTA DISTRICT. 57

water is in charge of a canal superintendent and seven assistants, 

called "ditch tenders."

The soil of this region is for the most part a sandy loam, with coarse, 

clayey sands near the eastern border of the district, and finer, lighter 

sands toward the west. Much alkali is in the soil to the west and 

southwest of Traver. Hardpan subsoils are common at 2 to 5 feet 

below the surface. Ground water before 1883 was at 20 to CO feet. It 

was nearest the surface in the southern and western portions of this 

district. Irrigation is causing the water table to rise, particularly near 

Traver.

Water is usually available for irrigation from February until the end 

of July. Where used on a small scale, land is occasionally prepared 

for it by subdivision into small rectangular checks. This was the preferred system when water was first introduced into the vicinity of 

Traver. Now the contour-check method of irrigation is finding more 

favor. The reason for this preference seems to be due, not only to 

reduced first cost, but also to the fact that it requires less cutting down 

of surface soils than the level-check method of irrigation. The uncovered subsoils are often found to be relatively barren. Orchards, vineyards, and summer crops are quite generally being irrigated by the 

furrow method. Grain land, if wet at all, is irrigated by spreading 

water over the surface from small ditches or furrows, usually before 

sowing.

Morroic Ditch. This was one of several small private ditches south 

of the maiii channel of the river which were in use for the irrigation 

of small tracts of laud in Centerville Bottoms. It was constructed 

about 1865.

Dennis & Jordan ditch. This is another private ditch, now having 

the appearance of a natural arm of the river. Its course is southwesterly from Patterson Slough, from which it takes water about 1 £ miles 

below the regulator of the 76 Canal.

Kincaid Ditch. This name is applied to an eastern arm of Patterson 

Slough, the head of which is about one-half mile below the head of the 

Dennis & Jordan Ditch. It supplies water to the Dennis Ditch and to 

Finks Branch.

Glenn and Barton ditcJi&s. These are two other small private ditches, 

which seem to have been in use about 1879 on lands of Centerville 

Bottoms, but which have probably been abandoned.

Emigrant Canal. This canal may be'classed as almost out of service. It was the uppermost of the north-side Kings Eiver canals of 

the lower group. It took water from the north side of Cole Slough 

about 2 miles below the head of that arm of Kings Eiver. Its course 

was southwesterly, nearly parallel with Cole Slough, for about 3 miles, 

thence northwesterly to and beyond Wildflpwer. The canal was constructed by an organization of farmers who wanted water for their 

lands, and was to be managed for mutual benefit. They formed a cor-
58 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

poration late in 1875, with a capital stock of $20,000, in shares of 

$1,000 each. All expenses of construction, maintenance, and management were met by assessing stockholders. Each stockholder was entitled to the use of canal water in proportion to amount of stock owned. 

He was allowed to sell or rent his water at pleasure. Each consumer 

of water was required to build his own delivery gate, subject to the 

approval of the directors. The distribution of water was in charge of 

a canal superintendent, which office was annually let to the lowest 

bidder. The canal had a bed width of about 16 feet, and delivered its 

water to a number of branches, which covered about 7,000 acres. The 

canal company became involved in litigation and failed to maintain 

control of its head works, so that finally it received water only during 

high stages of the river, and generally for such short periods of time 

that those dependent upon it soon found it to their advantage to secure 

additional water from the Centerville & Kingsburg or the Fowler Switch 

canals.

Liberty Canal. This is a canal which was constructed about 1882 

from the north side of Murphy Slough, its head being about 5 miles 

above Eiverdale. After experiencing much trouble in obtaining a satisfactory supply of water from Murphy Slough, which is the extension 

of Cole Slough, the original head of the canal was abandoned several 

years ago, and it was extended easterly about 7 miles to a connection 

with a high-water escape way from Cole Slough known as the Sutherland Canal. The inflow into the canal is controlled by a regulator 

placed in the Sutherland Canal about one-eighth mile from Cole 

Slough. The canal is about 15 miles long, has a westerly course for 7 

miles and thence a northwesterly course, is about 20 feet wide, and its 

branches cover about 5,000 acres to the north of Eiverdale.

Millrace Canal. Where Murphy Sloiiglf leaves the grant known as 

the Eancho Laguua de Tache, about 1J miles above Eiverdale, two 

gates or flashboard weirs have been built across the two channels of 

the slough. These force its water through a short canal into another 

natural channel, known as the Old North Channel, from which it is 

reclaimed half a mile below and is carried westward and thence northward in the Millrace Canal. This canal is used for the irrigation of 

lauds near Eiverdale and westward thereof. 'It is essentially a highwater canal. The canal proper is about 6 miles long. It has a bed 

width of about 14 feet.

Reeds Ditch. One of the old ditches on Kings Eiver is the Eeeds 

Ditch, whose head is on the north side of Murphy Slough, about 4 

miles below Eiverdale. It is a small private ditch, having a course a 

little north of west. Its bed width is about 5 feet; its length about 4 

miles. It irrigates a few acres of land near Elkhorn.

Laguna de Tache Canal (Grant Canal). The "Eiver Eanch," which 

includes the'Eancho Laguna de Tache, has an area of about 68,000 

acres, embracing within its boundaries nearly all of the delta lands
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. XII

LOWER KINGS RIVER CANAL SYSTEM.
QKTJNSKY,] LAGUNA DE TACHE CANAL. 59

of Kings Eiver northward from the main stream. A main canal has 

been constructed for the irrigation of the greater part of this raucho, 

and this is known either as the Laguna de Tache Canal or the Grant 

Canal. A large portion of this rancho is annually submerged during 

the high stages of Kings Elyer. The area subject to such flooding 

has, however, been considerably reduced by the construction of a 

north-side river levee along a portion of the ranch frontage. There 

are a number of north-side delta 'channels which break out from the 

main stream within this rancho, most of which have westerly courses 

toward the valley trough. The history of these, as related by local 

residents, is not without interest. The present head of £Jole Slough is 

a water way made by the freshets of 1861-62. It was enlarged and 

deepened by subsequent high waters. Cole Slough is the principal 

north-side delta channel. Its waters are carried westward by the 

several branches of Murphy Slough, and finally reach the upper portion of Fresno Swamp, through which they are carried in a network of 

channels, as frequently found in tule swamps, to Fresno Slough and 

San Joaquin Eiver, many miles northwestward.

Before 1862 Cole Slough received water from the river through a 

channel known as the Arroyo de Hotansas, the head of which was 

about a quarter of a mile below the present head of the slough. This 

channel was about 3 miles long.

Until 1869 Cole Slough occupied a channel which at a point about 

3 miles in a direct line above Kingston was less than a quarter of a 

mile from Kings River, but in that year Mr. St. John, one of the owners 

of the raucho, made a small ditch westward from the north slough 

bank about 6 miles below its head. This ditch was enlarged by the 

next high water; it lost .the appearance of a ditch, and is now called 

St. Johns Channel or New Cole Slough. It reunites 3 miles below its 

head with the original slough channel at a point also known as the 

head of Murphy Slough.

A small ditch, constructed in 1868 by a settler known as Dutch John, 

connecting Kings Eiver with Cole Slough at the point where the two 

channels were nearest together, had meanwhile also been converted 

into a capacious water course and has since been known as the Dutch 

John Cut. In the same winter, 1868-69, the river broke through the 

barrier separating it from Murphy Slough at a point about 3 miles (by 

river) below the Dutch John Cut and formed Reynolds Slough, which 

is about one-half mile long.

The Grant Canal was constructed in 1873. Water, was diverted forit from Murphy Slough, near Reynolds Slough, which latter was 

permanently closed by means of a dam. Two years later, by permission of the owners of the Grant, a new connection between Cole 

Slough, half a mile above the head of Grant Canal, and Murphy 

Slough, nearly the same distance below the canal, was made by settlers who were desirous of increasing the flow of water in the channels
60 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

reaching tne vicinity of Elkhorn. Its projectors subsequently filed a 

claim to water and incorporated under the name of the Yanderbilt 

Canal Company. Settlers in the vicinity of Riverdale and Elkhorn 

claim that the original cut was entirely artificial, while owners of the 

Grant Canal claim that the cut is merely the result of cleaning out the 

head of a natural water course. After the Yanderbilt Cut had become 

one of the channels for Cole Slough water, the Grant Canal was extended 

uj)stream across Murphy Slough to the Yanderbilt Cat, from which it 

has ever since taken its water. The turning of the flow of Cole Slough 

into the Yanderbilt Cut is accomplished by means of a dam of earth 

across the old ^outh channel. From the cutwater is turned into the 

head of the canal by means of a second earth dam, and, flowing in the 

canal, it crosses Murphy Slough between two dams, of which the lower 

or westerly one is an overfall dam of brush work, serving as an escape

-

Fra. 17. Head of Grant CanaL

way for surplus waters and feeding the lower sections of Murphy 

Slough.

The Laguna de Tache Canal has a westerly course along the northern 

bank of the main channel of Kings River, from which it is generally 

Jess than one-half mile distant. At, 5| miles below its head it crosses 

a water course known as the James Canal, on an earthen dam, and its 

direction becomes southerly. It reaches the river bank within a mile 

and closely follows it southerly for about a mile farther on its course, 

crossing and closing the head of another delta channel of Kings 

Biver known as Old North Fork.

The upper section of the main canal for a distance of about 4 miles 

from its head has a bed width of about 30 feet and carries water 2 to 

2£ feet deep. The distributaries from the main canal are for the most 

part natural channels, many of which have long ago ceased to serve as 

delta channels and are mere swales on the tops of low ridges. The 

James Canal is a channel of more recent formation, which has been
GEUNSKT.] LAGUNA DE TACHE CANAL AND EASTCHO. , 61

utilized as a distributing ditch. By permission of the owners of the 

Grant a gate for the control of its flow was put into this channel in

1880. It was washed out by the next freshets and was replaced in

1881. but was again destroyed. Thereupon the owners of the Grant 

permanently closed this channel with the embankment of earth on 

which the canal is carried across.

The head of Old .North Fork, which is another distributary of canal 

water, was closed as early as 1865 by Messrs. Sutherland and Mann. 

One of the most important of the lower-river north-side delta channels 

is the Zalda Canal, which, throughout its lower sections, is generally 

known as the North Fork of Kings Ei ver. It is Claimed that the head 

of this channel is the enlargement by flood waters of a ditch constructed in 1872 by settlers living to the west of the Grant. This 

channel was reported closed for a time by a dam at the river about 

1885. t It was at that time proposed to utilize this channel as one of 

the distributaries of water from the Grant Canal. The course of North 

Fork is westward in a very direct line toward Summit Lake, but before 

the lake is reached its main channel swerves northward into Fresno 

Swamp. The portion of the Kings Eiver delta between the main river 

on the south and the Zalda Canal on the north marks the very flat 

summit between Tulare Lake and Fresno Swamp. In the trough of 

the valley near and to the south of Summit Lake the general elevation 

of the ground's surface on this summit, the lowest point on the border 

of Tulare Lake, is about 211 feet above mean sea level. During the 

last high stage of the lake, in 1868, the depth of water over the 

general surface of the country at this point was about 6 feet.

The lands of the Eancho Laguna de Tache have always been so well 

watered that the irrigation works which have been constructed maybe 

regarded as serving primarily to establish a convenient control of the 

water rather than as works intended to increase the supply. To prevent excessive natural inundation it has been found necessary to erect 

embankments along the river, also to construct numerous drain ditches 

from low tracts into natural channels to facilitate drainage. The main 

irrigation canal supplies water to a large number of distributaries, frequently natural channels, and these in turn to small irrigating ditches, 

usually 200 to 450 yards apart. As the entire irrigation system lies 

within the limits of the rancho there has been less study of methods of 

controlling and distributing water than would have been the case if a 

large number of consumers had to be supplied, and water measurement has been entirely out of the question.

The Eancho Laguna de Tache has within the^ last few years become 

the property of the same parties who control the Fresno Canal. The 

future of both properties was kept in mind when the owners of the Grant 

sold Kings Eiver water to the Sunset irrigation district, to be diverted 

by-way of Cole Slough into the enlarged Grant Canal, thence across the 

Zalda Canal (North Fork) to a proposed reservoir near Summit Lake.
62 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

According to the terms of this agreement the district is given a right 

of way and a reservoir site, and water is sold to it to the extent of 

3,500 second-feet, subject to the prior rights of the owners of the 

rancho and of the Fresuo Canal to the extent of 3,000 second-feet, and 

subject also to the proviso that, for use on the ranch, 500 second-feet 

may be taken out of the main canal of the district. The price paid by 

the irrigation district was $250,000 in district bonds, and the aggregate amount of land in reservoir sites and right of way for the canal 

was not to exceed 2,200 acres.

Crescent Canal. This canal was constructed in 1885 and 1886, and 

came into use in 1887 tfor the irrigation of lands on the western edge of 

the extreme southern portion of Fresno Swamp. The head of the canal 

is on the south side of North Fork, about a mile to the north of Summit 

Lake. The canal, which is about 8 miles long, has a westerly course 

for about 1| miles, thence northwesterly, following a grade line with a 

fall of 6 inches to the mile. It was originally made 50 feet wide near 

its head; it was 25 feet wide several miles below, and 50 feet wide in 

its lower sections. The narrow section was cut to the full width in 

1892. It was planned to carry water 3 feet deep. A regulator is 

maintained in the head of the canal. This is a simple structure. 

Twelve light gates of 1 inch boards close the 4-foot openings betweenvertical posts which rise from a plank floor. The total width of tlie 

regulator between side walls is 50 feet. Its height is about 6 feet. It 

is weighted on top with a tilling of earth. The canal supplies water to 

several thousand acres of land, most of which lies within the limit of 

overflow.

The canal is owned by an incorporated company, whose capital stock 

was fixed at $75,000, in 150 shares. The cost of the canal works has 

been about $5,000. The canal was constructed for the supply of water 

to lands owned by its stockholders and not for the sale of water. Each 

irrigator is required to own one share of stock for each quarter section 

of laud (160 acres) which he wishes to irrigate. All distributing 

ditches are constructed by the irrigators, who take water from the 

main canal at the most convenient points.

Peoples DHali. This is a canal of the lower group whose head is on 

the south side of Kings River, about one-half mile above the head of 

Cole Slough. Kings Eiver at this point flows in a broad, sandy bed to 

which there is a steep descent of about 15 feet from the level of the 

main valley plain on the south. The canal follows the margin of this 

plain for some distance southwesterly as it recedes from the river, and 

is gradually brought out upon the surface of the plain about 3 miles 

below its head. At about 4 miles below its head the distribution of 

its water to its branches commences. The diversion of water from the 

river is effected at low stages by means of a dam of brush and sand, 

which is annually repaired or renewed at considerable expense. Until 

within the last few years the inflow into the canal was controlled by
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATFR-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 18 PL. XIII

A. BRUSH DAM AT TIME OF HIGH WATER, PEOPLES DITCH.

U. REGULATOR IN PEOPLES DITCH, AS SEEN FROM ABOVE
GRTJNSKT.] PEOPLES DITCH. 63

two regulators, one of which was within a quarter of a mile of the 

river bank, the other about 2 miles belqwi These were 24 feet in width 

and were of the ordinary culvert type with vertically sliding gates.

There is a new regulating gate now in service within several hundred 

yards of the head of the canal. This is a massive, well-built structure, 

38 feet wide between side walls, which supports, an earth fill about 2 

feet thick, serving as a roadway over the canal. The space between 

side walls is subdivided by 10-by-10-ineh posts into ten bays or openings, each of which is closed by means of a vertically sliding gate. 

Power is applied to the gate steins by means of a lever, the end of 

which engages between the teeth of a rack.

The canal has a fall of only about one-half foot in the first 2 miles of 

its course. The effective fall is increased somewhat by keeping the 

brush dam at a good height. The canal as originally constructed was 

24 feet wide on the bottom, and was intended to carry 4 feet of water.

FIG. 18. Head of Peoples Canal, on Kings River.

Its estimated capacity was about 220 second-feet. Below the second 

regulating gate the width of the canal increases to 30 feet, and the 

depth of water to be carried is only 3 feet. These dimensions are 

maintained for about 4 miles, still in a southwesterly direction and 

extending well into the northeastern extremity of that portion of the 

Kings Eiver delta usually referred to as the Mussel Slough country. 

The canal has three principal branches: West Fork, which terminates 

near Grangeville; Middle Fork, which passes just to the westward of 

Hanford; and East Fork, which passes through the southern portion 

of Hanford and extends to points 4 miles farther south. The aggregate length of the main canal and its principal branches is about 37 

miles. This canal was constructed by the Peoples Ditch Company in 

1873 and the following years. The first notice of a claim to water was 

posted late in 1872. The company, formed by settlers who wanted 

water for their own lands, was anally incorporated in 1873. Its capital 

stock, originally fixed at $10,000, was soon increased to $35,000, and
64 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

later to $100,000. The first cost of the canal was about $50,000 to 

$60,000. The total cost of-canal construction and annual expense 

account had reached $120,000 in 1881. About $4,000 to $6,000 are 

annually expended on the dam. The total annual expenditure for 

management, maintenance, and repairs is about $10,000.

Of the 100 shares inj:o which the company's capital stock is divided 

about one-third have reverted to the corporation. The remaining 

shares are in the hands of irrigators, to whom water is delivered in 

amounts proportional to their holdings of stock. The stockholders are 

permitted to sell the water to which they are entitled and to ask for its 

delivery through any of the canal branches. Its use is not restricted 

to any particular tract of land. The delivery of water to irrigators is 

usually through gates 1 to 4 feet wide. It is discharged under pressure, the endeavor being to make amounts delivered proportional to 

stock which it represents, without any attempt at actual measurement. 

A canal superintendent, with necessary assistants, has charge of the 

delivery of water. Its equitable distribution depends largely on the 

judgment of the canal superintendent.

During the years 1883 and 1884 the experiment was tried of selling 

water to stockholders at $200 per share of stock per year; to those not 

holding stock an equivalent amount at $300 per yearj but it did not 

prove satisfactory. All stockholders are assessed to meet the annual 

expenses. The area of land actually irrigated or benefited by the 

water of this canal is about 25,000 acres.

Mussel Slough Ditch. This canal, which is now out of service, took 

its name from one of the delta channels of Kings Eiver which has been 

utilized for the distribution of water. The canal, unlike the other 

canals of the Kings Eiver delta, was constructed for speculative purposes. It was proposed to turn a large volume of water from the 

river into the slough and to derive a revenue from its sale to irrigators. 

The head of the canal was on the south side of Kings Eiver, about 7 

miles below the head of the Peoples Ditch. A narrow cut, the original 

bed width of which was about 10 feet, was made from that point southerly into and thence southwesterly along the upper portion of the 

channel of Mussel Slough. The bottom of this cut throughout a little 

more than a mile from its head was made level, being at an elevation a 

little below that of the river bed at the head of the canal. The upper 

portion of this cut, near the river, is over 14 feet in depth. As the 

canal leaves the river it grows wider, and at about 3 miles from its 

head the natural channel of Mussel Slough afforded ample capacity for 

its waters.

Mussel Slough and its principal branches, Sand Slough and Lone 

Oak Slough, have a general southwesterly course through the delta 

lands, passing to the west of Handford and extending to the high water 

line of Tulnre Lake.

To what extent the canal has been in use in the last few years is not
GKUSSKY.] , MUSSEL SLOUGH DITCH. 65

known. It is now out of service, and was not in use for three years 

preceding 1886. Its head was closed with an embankment of earth in 

1884, because at that time the river threatened to destroy the canal 

head gate and cause inundation of the upper and central portions of 

the delta.

The canal head gate or regulator was placed in the deepest portion 

of the cut, near the bank of the river. It was made 24 feet wide, the 

space between its walls being divided into a number of openings by 

vertical posts, between which gates slid vertically. The structure 

had the usual upper platform loaded with earth, making a roadway 20 

feet wide. 'Its floor length was 40 feet. Sheet piling 8 feet deep was 

used on the upper floor line and for 12 feet under each wing; sheet 

piling was also driven 6 feet deep across the canal, on the middle line 

of the floor and at its lower edge.

Throughout the length of the natural channels utilized for the water 

of the Mussel Slough Ditch, check weirs or gates were COD strutted with 

which to hold the water surface at or above the surface of the ground. 

Irrigation was to be accomplished by subirrigation on a large scale. 

The charge for water ranged from 31^ to 62£ cents per acre per year. 

There was little or no restriction as to the amount of water to be used 

by individual takers of water, and the principal duty of the canal 

superintendent seems to have been to prevent those from taking water 

who had no intention of paying for it.

The total cost of the canal works connected therewith was about 

$50,000 to $60,000:

This canal was constructed in 1875. Its promoters formed a corporation with a capital stock fixed at $500,000, divided into 10,000 shares, 

all of which remained in the hands of a few persons. The canal 

capacity was about 200 to 300 second-feet.

Last Chance Ditch. One of the most important of the Kings River 

delta canals is the Last Chance Ditch, whose head is on the south side 

of the river about 2£ miles by river above Kingston. The course of 

the canal and its branches is southerly. It commands a district 3 

to 4 miles wide, extending from near the river southerly to near the 

high-water line of Tulare Lake. Grangeville lies at the eastern border 

of this district and Arniona well within it. Lands along its eastern 

border are commanded jointly by this canal and the Peoples Ditch. A 

natural cut through the south bank of the river, known as Leinberger 

Slough, has been utilized for the head of the canal. This slough is 

really one of the lower delta channels of the river. The canal is cut 

from its south bank about 150 feet from the river. The canal regulator 

is about 800 feet below its head. The water entering the head of the 

slough is divided, a portion flowing down the natural channel, the rest 

entering the head of the Last Chance Ditch. The canal has a bed 

width of 25 feet, and was designed for a 4-foot depth of water. Its 

course is a little west of south for 7 miles to a point half a mile west of 

ERR 18 5
66 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Grangeville, where it is divided into two principal branches. One 

of these has a southwesterly course and at the end of 3 miles drops its 

water into a natural channel which has a southerly course and connects 

with Mussel Slough. The other branch within a mile is again divided, 

forming a middle and an eastern branch, both of which extend far 

toward the south. These main branches were all made 16 feet wide on 

the bottom and were planned to carry water 2£ feet deep. The grad ieut 

of the canal is about 1 foot to the mile.

The original canal regulator, which was in service from 1874 to 1880, 

was made 18 feet wide between side walls and is reported to have 

cost $5,600. It was replaced by a second one, 20 feet wide, at a cost of 

$3,000. The removal of sand from the canals, which had been swept 

in by high waters during the period when there was no gate at the 

head of the canal, is said to have cost $3,000. The regulator is of the

SCALE /ft 

soo

rulexdor

PIG, 19. Head of Last Chance Ditch, on Kings Eiver.

ordinary box type. From a floor 30 feet wide and 36 feet long (in 

the direction of the canal) side walls rise to a height of 14 feet. 

Between them are posts which support a platform or bridge that affords 

convenient access to the gates. The gateposts divide the space between 

side walls into six openings, each of which is closed with planking 

permanently from the top down to about 5 feet from the floor. The 

remaining open space is controlled by sliding gates having a long stem 

or standard to which power is applied by means of a lever engaging in 

the teeth of a rack. The gateposts are braced from below. Long 

wings extend diagonally into the canal banks above and below the 

gate. The upper ones are 14 feet high; the lower ones about 4 feet. 

Tongued and grooved 4-inch sheet piling was driven 10 feet deep along 

the upper edge of the floor and under the upper wings. Along both 

sides of the floor, across the canal at its lower end and well out under
U. S. RFOLOGICAL SURVFY WATFR-SUPP1 V PAP" NO 18 PL, XIV

A. LAST CHANCE CANAL REGULATOR, AS SEEN FROM UPPER SIDE

B. LAST CHANCE CANAL REGULATOR, AS SEEN FROM BELOW
GRTTNSKY,] LAST CHANCE DITCH. 67

the lower wings, 3-inch tongued and grooved sheet piling was driven 8 

feet deep. Piles were driven to a depth of 12 feet under the braces to 

gateposts. Floor sills, piles, and main posts were 8 by 8 inches $ side 

wall posts, 4 by 8 inches. The floor is of 3-inch planking, covered by 

1-inch boards. Side walls are of 2-inch material, also covered with 

1-inch boards. Back filling was selected sand. The bed of the canal 

below the gate was protected by a layer of brush, pinned down with 

stakes 6 to 8 feet long.

The Last Chance Ditch was constructed in 1873 and 1874 by a company known as the Last Chance Water Ditch Company, which was 

organized and incorporated by the farmers to whose lands it was to 

supply water. The original 30 shares into which a capital stock of 

$30,000 was divided were a few years later increased to 60 shares, and 

the capital stock was also doubled. Only about two-thirds of these 

shares are in the hands of stockholders. Until 1886 all operating and 

repair expenses, about $4,000 per year, were assessed upon the stockholders, and water was delivered to these without charge in proportion 

to amount of stock owned or controlled. Since that time water has 

been charged for at rates fixed annually, generally $1.50 per acre, in 

order to make actual users of water bear an increased portion of the 

canal expenses.*

There has been no system of water measurement introduced. Water 

is delivered to irrigators through a great variety of gates; generally, 

however, through openings under pressure. A canal superintendent 

and an assistant have charge of its distribution. During the highwater period an attendant is kept constantly at the head gate. The 

canal ordinarily flows from the beginning of February to the end of 

July. About 20,000 acres of land are dependent upon it for water.

Lower Kings River Canal. This is another south-side canal in the 

Kings Eiver delta. Its head is about 6 miles below Kingston. Its 

course is southerly, and the district it commands lies just westward of 

that of Last Chance Ditch and has Lemoore in its center. The canal 

is cut southerly from the river, and at the end of its first mile reaches 

Leinberger Slough, into which its water is dropped. It is reclaimed 

from this slough less than half a mile below that point, and thence has 

a southerly course to within about 3 miles of Lemoore. Two principal 

branches, each about 16 feet wide on the bottom^ extend toward the 

south from this point. Near the river the main can^l crosses high-water 

sloughs fed by the over-bank flow from Kings Eiver. These natural 

channels have been closed by dams on the lower or west side of the 

canal. Their water, together with other water escaping from Kings 

Eiver above the head of this canal, is received by the canal and carried 

to Leinberger Slough. At the point where the canal leaves this slough 

a waste way 260 feet long is maintained, through which surplus waters 

are discharged. This is a very light timber structure, which is reported 

to have rendered good service. Some years ago it was proposed to
68 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

supplement it with a second waste gate, 200 feet long, nearer the head 

of the canal. The main canal regulator or head gate has been set close 

to the river bank. A secondary regulating gate is just below the Leinberger Slough waste gate. Each gate is about 40 feet wide between 

side walls. The head gate is arranged similarly to that described for 

the Last Chance Ditch. The main canal is about 40 feet wide. It was 

built on a very light grade. The bottom of the canal, commencing at 

the same elevation as the river bottom, was reported level throughout 

the first 5 miles of its course. The effective gradient slope of water 

surface when full is reported at 4 inches to the mile, with a 2^-foot depth

at the forks of the canal. 

Work on this canal commenced in 1870. Twentyseven persons joined in an 

agreement under which the 

canal was to be constructed, 

and which provided that 

each person was to bear a 

proportional part of " all ex-

«<»/< =£^ M/S peiises above" his "further

boundary." .It was at first 

made 18 feet wide on the 

bottom near its head, and 10 

feet wide at 5 miles below 

its head. It was enlarged in 

1873. The first head gate 

was constructed in 1872 and 

is reported to have had a 

width of 18 feet. It was 

washed out the following 

winter and was at once replaced by another, which 

was in use till 1876. After 

this second regulating gate 

was swept away the canal

was operated without an upper gate until 1879, when the third regulator, 40 feet wide, was built, at a cost of about $3,000.

The canal was built and is owned by those to whom it supplies water. 

Its owners, who had organized as a company, formed a corporation in 

1873, with a capital stock fixed at $30,000, in 100 shares.

The water in the canal is supposed to be represented by those shares 

of stock which have been issued, which is a little more than one-half 

of the full number of shares of capital stock. It is sold by directors of 

the company, but only to the extent of the shares which have been 

issued. Each of these represents a proportional part of the flow of the 

canal until such part exceeds 144 miner's inches. Water in excess of

FIG. 20. Upper section of Lower Kings Kiver Canal.
SUNSET IRRIGATION DISTRICT. 69

this amount is at the further disposal of the company. Stockholders 

are preferred purchasers of water to the extent of the shares owned by 

each, and provided the application for water-is made preceding a fixed 

date. Each share of stock is supposed to represent sufficient water for 

320 acres. The annual cost of canal management and repairs is about 

$1,500 to $2,000. The first cost of the canal was about $30,000. For 

a number of years after organization all expenses were assessed upon 

the stockholders, but, this proving unsatisfactory, the plan of selling 

water was introduced, with good result. The extent of irrigation from 

this canal may be noted at about 10,000 acres.

Ehoafo Canal, Lands to the west of Lemoore to the extent of 3,000 

or 4,000 acres are dependent in large measure upon the flow of the 

Ehoads Canal for irrigation water. This canal in its upper section has 

the appearance of a natural high-water channel. From a point on the 

south side of Kings Eiver about 1J miles below the head of the Lower 

Kings Eiver Canal, this channel has a southwesterly course for 2 miles 

to Carother Slough. It is known as Wrights Cut, and is claimed to be 

the enlargement of a small ditch constructed many years ago. The 

Ehoads Canal is carried southward from the termination of this cut at 

Carother Slough about 7 miles. It has a bottom width of about 16 

feet and carries water about 2 feet deep. Water is taken from Carother 

Slough so long as the slough has a sufficient flow; thereafter a little 

work is done at the head of Wrights Cut to turn more water from the 

river into the canal.

The canal is reported to have been in use since 1868. It replaced a 

small ditch, about 5 feet wide, which had been in use some years before. 

The canal belongs to a number of farmers, who by mutual agreement 

apportion its water and expense of maintenance among themselves. 

There is no regulator at the head of the canal. Water is taken by 

each irrigator as he may require it. No water is sold, and all contribu* 

tions toward expenses of maintenance are voluntary, as there are no 

means of enforcing their payment.

There are times when much more water flows in Wrights Cut than 

can be carried by the lower sections of the canal. The surplus reaches 

Green Slough through Carother Slough, thence Esrey Slough and 

other natural channels, and is finally reclaimed for the irrigation of 

lands about 4 miles southwest of Lemoore.

Jacobs Canal. This is a private high-water canal, constructed about 

ten years ago for the benefit of lands along the northern margin of 

Tulare Lake, below the lake's high-water line. Its head is about 6 

miles southwest of Lemoore.

SUNSET IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

As the construction of the works for this district has not commenced, 

a brief reference to the district and its proposed source of supply will 

sufiice. The district covers tbe lowest portion of the west side plain 

of San Joaquin Yalley, extending northward from the southern limit
70 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

of Tulare Lake about 70 miles, to within 3 miles of Las Juntas, the 

point where Fresno Slough unites with San Joaquin Eiver. Its width 

ranges from 1 to 12 miles and its area is about 363,500 acres. The district organization was completed in March, 1891. After estimates of 

the cost of works necessary for its irrigation were made, a bond issue 

of $2,000,000 was voted. Of this bond issue $250,000 were paid for 

water rights, reservoir site, and rights of way.

The plan of irrigation- involves the construction of a large reservoir 

in the vicinity of Summit Lake, which is to be formed by the construction of two embankments of earth, each crossing the valley trough 

from east to west. Water is to be supplied to this reservoir from 

Bangs Eiver by way of Cole Slough, the enlarged Grant Canal (which 

is to be used in common with the owners of the Grant), and a canal 

extension to be carried from near the lower end of the Grant Canal in 

a direction a little south of west across the North Fork of Kings Eiver 

to the reservoir site. From the reservoir there is to be a canal northward and a second one southward, both supplied with water by gravity 

flow from the reservoir. In addition to these two low-level canals 

there are to be eight other canals, four northward and four southward, 

each 11 feet higher than the one next below, and each to be supplied 

with water by means of centrifugal pumps arranged in four pumping 

stations.

The specifications drawn for this work do not indicate how the seventeen pumps that are prescribed are to be apportioned to the several 

pumping stations. The pumps are each to have a capacity of 100 

second-feet raised 11 feet. The district canals are to be of sufficient 

size and length to carry water .to all parts of the district. The requirements concerning canal dimensions are not made specific; they are to 

be suitable to the service required, which, it appears, remains to be 

determined as work progresses. The aggregate length of the proposed 

district canals is estimated at 500 miles. The contract for the construction of the canal system complete, including the necessary pumps, 

engine*fe, and boilers, has been let for $1,500,000, and the same person 

who has taken this contract is also the purchaser of the bonds of the 

district. It is distinctly expressed in the contract that in case the 

bonds are not taken the contract may, at the option of the district 

directors, be set aside. The contract was made several years ago, and 

was conditioned upon a decision by the Supreme Court of the United 

States sustaining the irrigation-district law. This having been rendered, it is understood that the contractor has now declared his readiness to proceed with actual construction work.
GRUNSKY.] KINGS RIVER BASIN. 71

THE FRESNO PLAINS. 

DESCRIPTION.

The main canals which divert water from the north side of Kings 

Biver at or near the upper end of Centerville Bottoms and command 

that portion of the San Joaquin Valley plain in the vicinity of Fresno, 

Selnia, and Kingsburg may be designated the Fresno group of canals. 

These canals are the Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal, the Fresno Canal, 

the Fowler Switch Canal, and the Centerville & Kingsburg Canal, 

all of which have already been described. Their branches extend 

throughout an area of nearly 400 square miles, which before canal 

construction was a treeless, sandy plain. It was almost devoid of 

natural water courses. The few creeks whose periodical flow reached 

the eastern border of the plain to the north of Kings Eiver were soon 

lost, and there was no sign of a channel beyond their "sinks." The 

natural water courses in the eastern portion of the district under consideration, in their order northward from Kings Eiver, were Burns 

Slough, Kip (Lone Tree) Slough, Mud Slough, Mud Creek, Fancher 

(Fanshaw) Creek, Eed Bank Creek, Frolic Creek, and Big Creek. Of 

these, the first three lie to the south of the point of the mountain 

which with gentle slope extends westward on the north side of Kings 

Eiver to a point 2 miles north of Centerville. Burns Slough is a tributary of Kip Slough. The sink of Fancher Creek, now a fine vineyard, 

is about 4 miles east of Fresno. The waters of Eed Bank and Frolic 

creeks, after uniting in one channel, spread and disappear 6 miles 

east of Fresno, near where Temperance Colony has been established. 

The sink of Big Creek is several miles to the northwest of Fresno.

Some of the channels of these creeks have been made part of the 

canal system. Portions of Burn* Slough and Big Creek are utilized 

for water of the Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal. Other portions of 

Burns Slough, Kip Slough, Mud Slough, Mud Creek, and Fancher 

Creek are now the main channel of the Fresno Canal. Lone Tree 

Creek is an important distributary of the water of the Fresuo Canal. 

By the utilization of these natural water courses the canals are made 

the recipients of the drainage water from the foothills, and are, at 

time of considerable rainfall, taxed beyond their capacity, and have 

repeatedly in the last few years inundated parts of Fresno and vicinity. 

A proper drainage system in this locality is now recognized as a necessity, and no doubt will be planned and executed in the near future. 

The general slope of the Fresno irrigated region is from northeast to 

southwest, at the rate of 5 to about 1 feet to the mile. The surface 

of the country for the most part is very smooth, though broad belts 

of hog-wallow or knolly ground are occasionally found. The knolls of 

these hog-wallow belts are generally 1 to 2 feet in height, rarely as high 

as 3 or 4 feet. The knolls are close together, and diameters at the
72 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO", CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

base of from 20 to 40 feet are most common. Where they occur the 

expense of preparing land for irrigation is increased. Except where 

unusually high they do not interfere seriously with ordinary fanning 

operations when land is not irrigated. They often indicate land of 

inferior quality, hardpaii being frequently found beneath a shallow 

layer of surface soil.

Near Oenterville the soil of the upland is a red sandy loam, resting on 

a yellow clay hardpan, which is usually at 4 to 6 feet below the surface. 

Hardpan is not continuous; it disappears frequently at about one-half 

mile from the margin of the upland, where the surface soil becomes 

lighter and more sandy. At depths of 10 feet or more beds of cobble 

and gravel are found, which in proximity to the low river bottoms affqrd 

thorough underdrainage to these lands. The soil is very productive. 

Ground water is at 12 to 15 feet below the surface.

Westward from Oenterville toward Fresuo the soil of the plains is a 

loamy sand. This generally rests on a firm clay hardpan, which is sometimes impregnated with sand. Soil is from 1 to 3 feet deep. At the 

sinks of the several creeks near Fresno the soil is a deep, heavy, red loam, 

baking qn the surface after being wet. Where a hardpan substratum 

is encountered at all it is at 10 to 30 feet below the surface. Westward 

from the immediate vicinity of the sinks of the creeks the soil is a loamy 

sand, several feet deep, resting on a firm clay hardpan. The soil far 

toward the southwest merges into the sandy soils of the alkali belt 

which skirts the edge of Fresno Swamp, and these in turn are succeeded by the rich peaty alluvium of the swamp lauds. To the south 

of Fresno the sandy soil of Fresno and Central California colonies 

changes to the light so-called ash of Washington Colony. The hardpan 

dips farther below the surface toward the south, and there are points 

in the latter colony where it has disappeared altogether. In the southern and southeastern portion of the region commanded by this canal 

system sand predominates. The surface of the country is comparatively 

smooth, though occasionally crossed by low sand ridges. Firm hardpan, partaking of the nature of cemented sand, immediately below the 

surface soil is rarely found. It occurs most frequently where the surface presents the peculiar hog-wallow appearance.

The lainfall in the region commanded by the Fresno Canal system is 

greatest near the base of the foothills. It decreases from there toward 

the west. At Centerville the average fall of rain is about 16 inches, 

while at Fresno and Kiugsburg it is 9 inches. The average fall at 

Firebaugh, 30 miles to the west, in the trough of the valley, is about 

two-thirds of that at Fresno. For the irrigated region near Fresno the 

mean annual fall of rain may be noted at about 9 to 10 inches. When 

this amount of rain falls at the proper time it is sufficient to insure fair 

crops of grain. Throughout a large part of the region rainfall is relied 

upon to produce a crop, and irrigation of grain is resorted to only when 

an unusually dry spring threatens the destruction of a growing crop. 

The products which can not be raised without irrigation are alfalfa,
GKUNSKT.] FRESNO CANAL, SYSTEM. 73

grapes, fruits of all kinds, including citrus fruits, corn, melons, etc. 

Two of the canals irrigating lands near Fresno have a perennial flow; 

the others divert water only during medium and high stages of the 

river, generally from January to August, inclusive. The aggregate 

capacity of the four canals already enumerated is about 1,550 secondfeet. None of them, however, flow for long periods at their maximum 

capacity. The demand for water is, fortunately, greatest at the time 

when the flow of the river is greatest, during spring and the early part 

of summer.

THE CANAL SYSTEM.

All of the canals of the Fresno system take water from Kings Eiver 

above Centerville. "Each of them is out upon the upland before passing 

that village. Such duplication of canal work seems unnecessary.

Each of these canals was constructed for the purpose of supplying 

water to some particular point or place of use; thus, the Fresno Canal 

to irrigate lands in the immediate vicinity of Fresno, the Kings Eiver 

& Fresno Canal to irrigate a strip of land just north of the Fresno 

Canal, the Centerville & Kingsburg Canal to irrigate lands near 

Selma, and the Fowler Switch Canal to supply water to the vicinity of 

Fowler and lands westward from that point. By reason of such special 

requirement in each case, each canal received an alignment as direct 

as possible from the proposed source of water to the point of delivery. 

The main canals were therefore constructed without attempt to hold 

them to any uniform grade. They have alignments in the direction of 

the greatest fall of the country, and generally, when their grade is 

excessive, check weirs are used to prevent erosion. The flow of water 

in the Kings Eiver & Fresno Canal and in the Centerville & Kingsburg Canal is thus regulated. The regulation in the case of the Fresno 

and the Fowler Switch canals is only partial. . The water of the former 

of these canals in Fancher Creek is generally 8 to 15 feet below the 

surface of the ground, its elevation being uncontrolled by structures.

The Fowler Switch Canal was constructed on a very irregular grade 

line. Its grade, when possible, was placed at 1.92 feet to the mile, 

which was established as the minimum gradient. At some points, 

however, the grade was no less than 12 feet to the mile for short distances. The dimensions of the canal were calculated on a basis of a 

fall of 1.92 feet to the mile, and were not modified for heavier grades. 

Consequently, canal dimensions -where this grade was exceeded are 

excessive. The canal was originally constructed without structures, 

either for the regulation of its flow or to facilitate diversion. Eapid 

erosion at once commenced where the canal bed was not in very firm 

material, and after a short experience a limited number of check weirs 

were put into it at the points where most required. The structures in 

this and in the other canals of the district are very light timber affairs, 

but generally well adapted for the purpose which they are to serve.

In view of the fact that the irrigation of this region has in the past
74 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

caused a rise of the ground-water plane, and that it will continue to 

influence its elevation, the question whether water has been or is beiug 

lost by the apparent duplication of canals remains an open one. Certain it is that were all water drawn from the river in one main canal it 

would still be necessary for branch canals to extend to every portion 

of the irrigated region. The ground water would be expected to rise 

equally as rapidly as at present, and the only marked saving of water 

would result from the exposure of a decreased surface area of flowing 

water to evaporation, and, in this special case, from a possible reduction of the flow of water from the main canal through subsoils back 

into Centerville Bottoms.

LOSS OF WATER BY EVAPORATION AND -SEEPAGE.

The loss by evaporation, when expressed in second-feet, is small for 

any of the canals of the Fresno system when compared with their capacity or with the total loss by infiltration into subsoils. The State engineering department made experiments to determine the rate of evaporation in this vicinity. The observations were extended through a 

four-year period at Kingsburg. 1 The greatest total monthly evaporation during the four years 1881 to 1885 occurred in August, 1883. The 

amount of water evaporated in that month from an open sheet of water 

was equivalent to a depth of 0.945 foot. At this extreme rate per mouth 

the loss by evaporation from the surface of the Fresno Canal throughout the 24.5 miles of its length, if the canal be considered 60 feet in 

average width (which allows ample margin for wet banks), would have 

been equivalent to a continuous flow of 2.8 second-feet.

To determine the amount of water which sinks into the subsoils from 

the canals of this region, measurements of their flow were made in the 

summer of 1882 by the writer, then assistant State engineer. The 

results will be found on, pages 76 and 77, in tabular form. For the 

better understanding of the results presented in the tables it is necessary to refer briefly to the character of the several canals and ditches 

whose flow was at that tune measured.

The Kings Kiver & Fresno Canal at its head cuts at once into the 

upland to the north of Centerville Bottoms. For a long distance it is 

nearly parallel and sometimes very close to the Fresno Canal, with a 

water surface at a higher elevation than that of the latter. At many 

points the canal carries its water above the surface of the adjacent plain. 

Ponds and swamps were kept full of water which the canal lost by percolation. The canal, throughout the last few miles of its first 12, lies in 

a good channel with hardpan bed. The loss of water in the upper 12 

miles was at the rate of 3.77 second-feet per mile. In 1882 the section 

of the canal below Bed Bank Creek was poorly maintained. Water 

was allowed to spread out in ponds, and a former channel lying parallel 

to the present canal, and generally very close to it, frequently carried 

part of the canal waters. No lands on this section of the canal were

J See Physical Data and Statistics, Wm. Ham. Hall, State Engineer of California, p. 379.
GKTJNSKY.] EVAPORATION AND SEEPAGE. 75

irrigated close by tie main canal. Ground water was at 20 feet or more. 

An indurated clay hardpan lies below the surface soil along this portion of the canal. Here, throughout 4.76 miles in length of the canal, 

the average loss by percolation was 3.45 second-feet per mile, a trifle 

less than in the 12 miles above. In the next section of the canal copious 

irrigation of lands close by the canal, particularly on its south side, had 

been practiced for several years preceding the experiments. The soil 

is a light sandy loam, with ground water at 7 to 14 feet below the surface. Th,e water surface of the canal was carried at about the elevation 

of the ground. The land is very smooth; no high levees are necessary 

to hold water in its channel. The canal is of uniform dimensions and 

character, and is better maintained than at points above. These circumstances all combined to reduce the loss by percolation, which, for 

3.55 miles, was found to be 1.25 second-feet per mile. Evaporation at 

the maximum rate above noted would have caused a total loss from the 

20 miles of the main Kings River & Fresiio Canal under consideration 

of a little more than 1 second-foot, equivalent to a loss of 0.04 secondfoot per mile in length of the canal.

The water of the Fresno Canal flows in natural channels throughout 

nearly all of the first 19 miles of its course. It lies in Centerville 

Bottoms for a mile, then, after passing through Long Out, is carried 

along sloughs and depressions, frequently with a levee only on one 

bank. Willows, reeds, and grasses grow in the water and on the banks 

of the canal in that locality. In Mud Creek and Fancher Greek the 

canal water flows in the bottom of a narrow, deep channel. At the time 

of making the experiments, in June, 1882, there were 95.51 second-feet 

lost from the canal in the first 1LJ miles of its course below the point 

where it leaves the river bottoms. The loss of water was at the rate 

of 8.49 second-feet per mile.

The ground-water plane was quite close to the surface of the ground 

near the Fresno Canal in its next section, from the Limbaugh dam (the 

head of the Fresno Mill Ditch) to the head of the Washington Colony 

branch, a distance of 7 miles, throughout which the total loss by percolation was only 5.20 second-feet, or 0.74 second-foot per mile. Here 

the depth to ground water ranged only from 4 to 10 feet, and the surface 

soil and the subsoils were kept, saturated by water diverted for irrigation. The canal lies in a natural channel. Its water surface is generally 2 to 4 feet below the surface of the ground. From -the head of 

the Washington Colony branch the main oanal flows for 4-miles in an 

artificial channel of uniform dimensions. Water is carried at about 

the elevation of the surface of the ground. The lands adjacent to this 

part of the Fresno Canal were practically unirrigated in 1882. Ground 

water was not so near the surface as in the preceding canal section. 

The total loss in this section of the main canal was found to be 3.81 

second-feet, or 0.95 second foot per mile.

The Centerville & Kingsburg Canal, for about 8 miles after it is out 

upon the surface of the upland, has a course nearly parallel to the
76 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

edge of the bluflf from upland to the river bottoms, and less than half 

a mile distant from it. For several miles the canal is within several 

hundred yards of the edge of the descent to the bottoms, which lie 20 

to 30 feet below the surface of the upland. This location in porous 

soils and subsoils causes great loss of water by percolation. Nearly 

86 second-feet were lost by the canal in less than 6 miles, and in its 

seventh mile the canal lost 52 second-feet. This last result is based on 

measurements of the flow of water over two weirs 1 mile apart, apparently in good condition. The average loss per mile from the, canal in 

the 5£ miles of the upper section examined was 15.63 second-feet.

Loss of water from the Kings River $ Fresno Canal.

Name of canal or ditch, and locality.

Do .................................

K.E. &F.C. at Hawkins Weir.. ............

K. R. & F. C. in Red Bank Creek Flume ......

K. R. & F. C. at Eggers Weir ................

K. R. & F. C., west line of section 17. ........

Ditch on south side ............_._...... 

Scandinavian Colony Ditch ............. 

K. R. & F. C. at upper Scand. Col. Weir ......

Scandinavian Colony Ditch .............. 

Do .................................

Do .................................

' Do .................................

Do .................................

K. R. & F. C., lower Scand. Col. Weir ........

Big Creek (wastage) ...... .......... ....

Ditch on north side ..................... 

Cooper & Helm Ditch...... ............. 

K. R. & F. C. at Cooper Weir ...... ..........

Distance 

below 

head of 

canal, 

in miles.

0.50 

1.00

A nn

8.00

8.00

9.00

9.00

11.50-

12.00 

13.25

16.00

16. 75

16.75 

17.75 

17.80 

18.25 

18.25 

18.35 

18.50

18.60

18.70

18.80

19.00 

19.25

19.75 

20.25 

20.30

Discharge, in 

second-feet.

Main 

canal.

133.83

1 78. 18

80.40

55.72 

'49.56

1 36. 74

1 25. 51

11.73

Diverted.

0.25 

3.23 

.30 

4.05 

.05

.15 

2.04

.15 

3.36 

4.67

3.08 

3.86

1.46 

2.42 

1.00 

2.39 

14.50

1.50 

.20 

.43 

8.71

Loss between 

stations, in

second- feet.

Total.

43.36 

16. 50

4.44

Per 

mile.

3.77 

3.48

1.25

'Approximate.
GBUKSKT.] EVAPORATION AND SEEPAGE. 

Loss of water from the Fresno Canal.

77

Name of canal or ditch, and locality.

Limbaugh Dam Ditch. ..................

Malters Ditch (north)....... ............ 

Malters Ditch (central) ................. 

Washington Colony Branch ............. 

Fresno Canal at head of Wash. Col. Branch . . 

Fresno Colony Canal.. ...... ...... ...... 

North Central Colony Canal. ............

Distance 

below 

head of 

canal, 

in miles.

1.25 

1 7*>

3.25

5.00

12.50 

12.50 

14.00

14.00

14.00 

17. 25

19.00 

19.00 

19.50 

19.50 

23.50 

23.50 

23.50

Discharge, in 

second-feet.

Main 

canal.

381.00

139.08

107.88

60.40 

28.16

Diverted.

17.80 

69.39 

.50 

58.72

.30 

14.09

5.60 

6.30 

1.69 

45.50

14.15 

13.88

Loss between 

stations, in 

second-feet.

Total.

95.51

5.20

«

3.81

Per

mile.

8.49

.74 

.95

Loss of water from the Centerville $ Kingsburg Canal.

Do .................................

C. & K. Canal at weir, in sec. 23 ........

0.50

5.50

5.75

6.00 

7.00

7.00

QIC no

2F1.00

172.00

5.06

4.00

26.65

p. 94

p. 35

15 63

52. 35

Other examples of the loss of water from smaller ditches by percolation into the subsoil are the following:

On June 21,1882, water was being used for the irrigation of a vineyard in Scandinavian Colony. The water was diverted from the main 

supply canal into a small ditch about 2 feet wide. It was conducted 

past alfalfa fields and vineyard lands a distance of one-half mile to the 

point where it was being used for irrigation. The soil crossed by the 

ditch is a sandy loam, with ground water at 8 feet below the surface. 

Water was measured at the point of diversion and at the point of 

delivery in exactly the same way, over small overfall weirs. The 

amount diverted was 1.70 second-feet, and the loss in transit 0.79 

second-foot.
78 IRRIGATION NEAR PRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

On June 14, 1882, the orchard of the Gould Ranch north of Fresno 

was being irrigated. The water used for this purpose was flowing in a 

ditch having an average width of 3 feet. One mile above the point 

where the water was being used the discharge of the ditch was 2.41 

second-feet. The loss by percolation before reaching the point of delivery was 1.42 second-feet. Shade trees were growing along portions of 

the ditch, and its banks were overgrown with grass. The ditch had 

been in use several years. The soil through which it flows is a saiidy 

loam 5 to 8 feet deep.

On June 26, 1882, a ditch which leaves the Fresno Canal at a point 

about 4 miles east of Fresno was carrying 5.60 second-feet near its 

head. One mile below it was receiving 0.03 second-foot, and at other 

points 0.64 second-foot; its flow 4 miles below its head was only 1.89 

second-feet; it had lost 4.38 second-feet. This ditch has an average 

width of about 8 feet. It carried its water at or a trifle above the level 

of the ground's surface.

EFFECT OF IRRIGATION ON THE WATER TABLE.

5

In no other irrigated region in California is the effect of irrigation on 

the elevation of the water table so plainly apparent as in the vicinity 

of Fresno. Here, notwithstanding the 6 feet per mile slope of the surface of the country, the subsoils have been and are being gradually saturated with water. When irrigation commenced the loss of water from 

canals in transit to lands to be irrigated was very great, and after 

reaching its destination it was found that frequently enough water was 

put upon the surface of individual small tracts of land to have covered 

them to an average depth of 15 to 20 feet in a season. Most of this 

water found its way into subsoils, together with the direct loss of water 

from the canals. When the first wells were dug at Centerville water 

was found at about 20 feet. It is now at 10 to 15 feet below the surface, and will probably not rise much higher on account of ample 

drainage of subsoils and a comparatively free subsurface flow toward 

the low river bottoms.

Along Fancher Creek, where the creek is used as a canal, ground 

water was formerly at 50 to 75 feet below the surface; it is now at 12 

to 20 feet along the upper portion of the creek, and still nearer the 

surface near the former sink of the creek, about 4 miles east of Fresno. 

In the Eisen vineyard, 5 miles east of Fresno, ground water is at 4 to 

6 feet below the surface, and drain ditches have been constructed 

to prevent a further rise. Ground water is found 'at 4 feet below the 

surface in many parts of Temperance Colony, Nevada Colony, and 

Fresno and Central colonies. Throughout a considerable area near 

Fresno its surface is nowhere more than 16 feet below ground, though 

before irrigation commenced depth to water was 60 feet. Cellars which 

were in use until 1884 in Fresno have been condemned because ground 

water made its appearance in them. Near Selma and Kingsburg
GEUNSKY.J METHODS OP IRRIGATING AND DUTY OF WATER. 79

ground water was formerly found at about 30 feet. It is now at about 

15 feet. The so-called " Sand Hollow," which is a depression 100 yards 

to one-fourth of a mile wide, 12 miles long, and about 16 feet deep, 

having a southerly course and passing about midway between Selma 

and Kingsburg, was formerly as dry as the surrounding plain. About 

1880 the soil in its bed was found to require less moisture to produce 

crops than the adjacent plain; in 1885 water appeared at the lowest 

points of the bed, and in June of that year it had risen to the heads 

of ripening grain. Spots of black alkali now mar its bed and sides, 

which before were a light sand, apparently free from any excess of 

alkaline salts.

Near Sanders and at points eastward from there toward Kings 

Eiver ground water was at 50 to 60 feet before irrigation commenced; 

it is now at 20 to 30 feet. Here, as in the case of Centerville, proximity to the river, which lies 60 feet below the surface of the plain, 

may interfere with a much greater rise of the ground-water plane.

In connection with this change in the elevation of the ground-water 

plane, it must be remembered that the effect of irrigation extends far 

beyond the points now under ditch. Owing to the slope of its surface 

and consequent hydrostatic pressure, ground water has a slow but 

certain motion westward through pervious subsoils of the Fresuo 

region, and may therefore ultimately contribute more or less toward 

the flow of Fresno Slough and San Joaquin Eiver.

METHODS OF IRRIGATING AND DUTY OF WATER.

 

At the time irrigation commenced near Fresno the soils and subsoils 

were dry; depth to ground water was 30 to 60 feet. The ground was 

porous, generally sandy, sometimes very hard on the surface. When 

wet it was converted into a bog. Water passed through it readily into 

the lower strata. Thorough wetting compacted the soil, and it was less 

liable to conversion into slush after the first and second wettings than 

before. It settled, as a result of the first wetting, about 8 inches to 1 

foot, on an average. Sometimes the full supply of a ditch would flow 

for hours into a hole formed by the breaking in of the surface. Cavities 20 feet in diameter and 6 to 10 feet deep were occasionally formed 

in this way, and had to be refilled after the first wetting. The stability 

of buildings was in danger when water was first brought near them. 

It is not surprising, under these circumstances, that when irrigation 

commenced in this region sometimes enough water was run on small 

areas at one irrigation to have covered them 5 feet in depth, and that 

enough water was delivered to some of the 20-acre colony lots south of 

Fresno to have covered them to an average depth of 20 feet. After 

irrigation was practiced for a time the soils became more compact, 

absorbed water less rapidly, and a smaller amount of water passed 

into subsoils. At present the ground water near Fresno is so near the 

surface that the roots of alfalfa, vines, and trees readily penetrate to
80 IRRIGATION NEAR PRESNO, CALIFORNTA. [HO. 18.

it and soils are kept moist by the water rising from below. Surface 

wetting has become unnecessary in many sections.

-Where land is held in tracts of 20 to 40 acres, as in the colonies near 

Fresno, the subdivisions of alfalfa, vineyard, orchard, etc., are small. 

The individual irrigator has but a small area of soil to moisten and, 

because many irrigators in his neighborhood necessarily require water 

at the same time, he can probably command but a small flow with which 

to accomplish his irrigation; consequently he devotes more than 

ordinary care to the preparation of his land, and if the duty of water 

is not so high on his lands as it ought to be the good will of the irrigator is not at fault.

The subdivision of land holdings into small tracts and the greedy 

absorption of water at the outset by the dry soil of the Fresno plains 

were the prime factors which have controlled methods of irrigation. 

That which most frequently found favor was flooding in small checks 

whose surface had been made perfectly level, it being extremely desirable to quickly cover the whole surface to be wet with a thin sheet of 

water. Drainage appeared unnecessary, as all surplus water delivered 

into a check rapidly sank into the ground.

The area of these level checks generally ranges from one-quarter of 

an acre to 2 acres. They are nearly always made rectangular. In 

alfalfa fields the levees inclosing them are often made so flat and low 

that farming implements can pass over them. Their position is adapted 

to the configuration of the country, in order to make the work of leveling as small as possible. Irrigation ditches are so arranged that there 

is an inlet from a ditch into each check. No drains are provided. All 

surplus water entering a check is allowed to sink into the soil. The 

cost of preparing land in this way has been variously stated by the 

irrigators at from $15 to $50 per acre.

Water is admitted into the several checks through small gates, or 

occasionally through small sluice boxes, generally constructed of 1-inch 

redwood. Water in the irrigating ditches is controlled by means of 

small gates closed by loose boards moving easily in vertical grooves. 

Sometimes a notched board is set across the ditch, so arranged that the 

notch can be closed by means of a board upon either side of the notch.

The system of flooding in checks formed by contour levees, which has 

found much favor with Kern Eiver irrigators, is in use only for the 

irrigation of large tracts of alfalfa, but where used in the vicinity of 

Fresno the area of the checks is kept small, rarely exceeding in any 

case 3 or 4 acres, whereas in the Kern Eiver country the area of a 

single check frequently exceeds 10 acres. Contour levees are lower 

for checks of smaller area. The expense of ground preparation is 

greater, but irrigation is more economical, as with small checks much 

time and water are saved. The contour levees usually follow closely 

4-to-6-inch contour lines. Soils are so porous that irrigation in each 

check is complete when water has been made to cover its whole area,
GECNSKY.] METHODS OP IRRIGATING AND DUTY OP WATER. 81

otherwise there is no deviation from the ordinary practice of irrigation 

in contour checks.

A third system of flooding is sometimes practiced, though it has not 

found general favor. It is that of flooding the surface with water from 

small ditches which are carried along the tops of ridges, or very nearly 

on contour lines. The water of these is made to overflow one or both 

banks, and as the thin sheet of water flows over the surface it is guided 

and to some extent controlled by attendants. Unless the ground is 

very knolly this system requires but little preparation, except the construction of the irrigating ditches, but the application of water is 

attended with much greater expense than under the preceding systems. 

It has been in use for trees and vines as well as for alfalfa.

The furrow method of irrigation is growing in favor. It is practiced 

in many ways, according to conditions of surface slope and crops to be 

irrigated. When water is to be supplied to the surface of grain land 

in large areas it is generally done by the furrow method. Distributing 

ditches supply water to plow furrows or to small temporary ditches 

which are placed so close together that water can readily pjermeate the 

surface soil, particularly that portion of it which has been loosened by 

the plow. The furrows may be run on or near contour lines; they may 

be run in the direction of the greatest slope of the ground's surface, or 

they may be run in parallel lines between the rows of trees, vines, corn, 

vegetables, etc. Sometimes this system of irrigation is practiced in 

level checks for trees and vines in preference to the plan of flooding the 

whole surface.

When grain land is to be irrigated by the furrow method the furrows 

are drawn 8 to 12 feet apart in the direction of the greatest slope of the 

ground, unless this be so great that water flowing in the furrows would 

cause erosion. Should this be the case they are drawn obliquely to the 

greatest slope. The irrigating ditches are located on the ridges, if 

there be any, or on grade at intervals of one-half to one-quarter mile 

from near the upper edge of the tract to be irrigated, and about parallel 

with it, to near the lower edge of the tract. The irrigation commences 

at the highest point of the field from the upper ditch. Water is 

admitted into a number of furrows, in which it flows until moisture 

reaches the next ditch; it is then turned into other furrows, until all 

the furrows between the first and second ditches have been wet. 

Hereupon the water is turned into the second ditch, another set of 

furrows is wet, and so on until irrigation is complete.

This system of wetting from furrows is practiced for grain land as 

well before seeding as when a growing crop is to be irrigated. In the 

latter case the refilling of small ditches and furrows that would other-' 

wise interfere with harvesting operations adds somewhat to the expense 

of irrigating.

Under the furrow system of irrigating each attendant ordinarily controls about 1£ to 2 second-feet, and water is generally turned off at 

18 6
82 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

night, owing to the difficulty of controlling it in the dark. On the 

sandy soil of the region covered by the Centerville & Kingsburg 

Canal, where this methed of applying water has found more favor than 

elsewhere, irrigation progresses at the rate of about 2 acres per day 

for each second-foot of water. Bach irrigation is there equivalent to 

an average depth of one-half foot of water over all the land irrigated. 

It should be stated, however, that very little wheat land is regularly 

irrigated on the Fresno plains at points where water must be applied 

to the surface soil. Irrigation is rather a last resort to save a growing 

crop which the farmer hoped would mature without irrigation. For 

the regular irrigation of grain land it is customary to rely upon one 

irrigation in the fall of the year before plowing. The moisture then 

absorbed is sufficient to supplement the scant rainfall and make a good 

harvest reasonably certain.

The lack of natural deep-cut drainage lines through the lands of the 

Fresno district has already been alluded to. Their absence has made 

possible the remarkable filling of the subsoils with water and the rising 

of the ground water to within a few feet of the surface. Whenever 

ground water is brought so near the surface that capillary attraction 

and the hygroscopic properties of soil cause water to rise sufficiently 

high to moisten the surface layers of soil, other methods of supplying 

moisture become unnecessary. Crops are irrigated if ground water is 

permanently held at this height, or if it is so frequently raised to this 

height that the soils under cultivation receive all the moisture required 

from below. Where water is thus brought within reach of plant roots 

the system of irrigation is locally often referred to as "irrigation by 

percolation." It becomes a system when, as in the Mussel Slough 

country south of Kings River, the canals at the proper season supply 

the requisite amount of moisture to the cultivated tracts without burdening them with an injurious surplus during the rest of the year.

By the rising of the ground-water plane near Fresno large tracts of 

land have been permanently moistened. Some are very thoroughly 

subirrigated, and in many instances injuriously so. Belief must be 

sought in some localities either by drainage or by proper regulation of 

the supply of water to the district, whereby the elevation of the water 

table may be controlled.

Near the Fresno Canal, about 7 miles northeast of Fresno, lands were 

already too moist in 1882 to permit farming operations. Drain ditches 

4 feet deep were then in use in Temperance Colony to drain the surface soil. In 1885 drain ditches 4 to 6 feet deep were in use in the 

Eisen vineyard, 5 miles east of Fresno, to keep ground water at least 

4 feet below the surface of the ground. Parts of the town of Fresno, 

parts of Fresno and Central colonies, and lands to the north and west 

of Fresno may be cited as other instances of the too close proximity of 

ground water to the surface.

Some reference has already been made to the time of irrigating cer-
GEUNSKY.] METHODS OF IRRIGATING AND DUTY OF WATER. 83

tain kinds of crops and the amount of irrigation accomplished by a 

stated amount of water. Some farther illustration of the time when 

water is required for different products, and of the quantity absorbed 

by soils under the various conditions of irrigation in this vicinity, may 

not be out of place here.

Alfalfa, except when the water table is so near the surface that soil 

is kept moist from below during the entire growing season of this plant, 

is almost invariably irrigated once for each crop of hay cut. The first 

irrigation is early in spring and the first hay is cut in May; the succeeding ones at intervals of about five or six weeks. The number of crops 

cut is generally four; the average yield per acre is 1 to 1| tons per cutting. Irrigations subsequent to the first of the season are given either 

before or just after the cutting of each crop. It is said in favor of 

irrigation before cutting (about one week or ten days) that then the 

ground's surface is shaded, it does not bake so hard in drying, and 

the new growth of alfalfa is better able to withstand the heat of the sun 

than if subjected to an irrigation after the hay is cured. But, whenever 

alfalfa is irrigated before cutting, in checks not perfectly level, water in 

some parts of these stands too long about the plant, too much of the 

plant is submerged, and the quality of the hay is impaired.

Where the ground water is so close to the surface that it supplies sufficient moisture to alfalfa land, occasional floodings are necessary to 

drown gophers.

Trees and vines were, until the last few years, very copiously and very 

frequently irrigated in this region. Trees were generally watered three 

or four times during the spring and summer; vines sometimes every two 

to three weeks. The water during the first years of irrigation near 

Fresno was, almost without exception, applied to the surface, and the 

result was that the roots of trees and vines frequently failed to penetrate into the subsoils, entailing evils which could not easily be corrected and which were particularly apparent in the quality of the 

product. The lesson was not quickly learned, but there has been 

decided improvement. Less moisture is supplied to the surface soils 

and greater care is taken to keep the surface well cultivated. Capillary attraction is thus interrupted at the depth to which the plow has 

penetrated, less moisture is brought into direct contact with- the air, 

evaporation is consequently reduced, and plants are enabled to get the 

greatest possible benefit from the moisture already in the soil. Some 

examples from actual experience may illustrate how water is here used.

On June 16 to 17,1882, 5 acres of alfalfa in small checks thoroughly 

leveled were irrigated in eight hours, from 6 p. m. to 2 a. m., in Central 

California Colony. The head of water used was 0.84 second-foot. The 

amount of water absorbed by the soil was equivalent to a depth of 0.11 

foot over the entire 5 acres.

On the 17th of June, 1882, in Central California Colony, a supply of 

2.26 second-feet was divided into four parts and each admitted into an
84 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

alfalfa check having an area of 1^ acres. The irrigation of the alfalfa 

commenced at 6 a. m., and at 4 p. m. the water had been made to cover 

the entire area of each check. Alfalfa was being irrigated before cutting. 

The checks were level and no water was drawn off. The total amount 

supplied was equivalent to a depth over all of 0.37 foot. The soil was 

sandy loam; hardpan was 6 feet below the surface; ground water at 

about 12 feet. Less water would have been required if the whole 

stream had been admitted in turn to each check.

On June 12,1882, in Central California Colony, two checks of alfalfa, 

290 by 130 and 290 by 200 feet, respectively, were irrigated at the same 

time with 1.2 second-feet. Water was applied, from 9 a. m. to 8 p. m. 

The total amount supplied was equivalent to a depth of 0.49 foot over 

the whole area of the alfalfa. The soil was a sandy loam, with hardpan at 1 to 2 feet. This alfalfa was to receive five such irrigations 

during the season.

On the Gould Eanch, north of Fresno, one attendant in 1882 handled 

about 1 second-foot of water. With this amount of water orchard 

lands were irrigated at the rate of about 4 to 5 acres per day of twentyfour hours. The average depth of the water applied over the whole 

surface of the orchard was 0.40 to 0.50 foot. The orchard received two 

to three irrigations per season. The trees of the orchard are set about 

16 feet apart in rows 24 feet apart. Water was run in small ditches 

along each row, and was made to stand around the body of each tree 

while irrigation was in progress. The surface of the ground was not 

leveled when the orchard was set out. The soil is a heavy, dark loam, 

with hardpan at an average depth of 5 to 7 feet.

About 4 miles northeast of Selma 2 to 3 acres of vines or trees 

could be irrigated in 1882 in one day of twelve hours with 1 secondfoot of water. The soil is a sandy loam, with no hardpan under it. It 

bakes on the surface in drying. Ground water was then some 40 feet 

below the surface. The method of irrigation is that of running water 

in furrows between rows. Several such irrigations per season are given 

to trees and vines.

In the same vicinity in 1882, irrigation of grain with 2 to 3 secondfeet was .progressing at the rate of 3 to 4 acres per day of twenty four 

hours. The method of irrigation was the furrow method. Furrows 

were 10 to 12 feet apart. The soil was thoroughly saturated by percolation. The amount of water absorbed was sufficient to have covered 

the entire surface to a depth of 1.42 feet. One irrigation at any time 

after harvest is sufficient to mature the grain crop of the next season. 

The soil is a sandy loam, which bakes after wetting, unless cultivated 

before drying. Hardpan is not continuous; where it does occur it is 

generally at 8 feet below the surface. Ground water is at 35 to 40 feet.

On June 12,1882, in Central California Colony a small check of. grapevines, one-fourth acre, was irrigated in fifty-five minutes. The check 

was level and all water standing in it at the end of the fifty-five minutes
QEUNSKY.] WILDPLOWER. 85

was allowed to soak into the ground. The soil was still somewhat moist 

at the time this irrigation commenced. The soil is a sandy loam 1 foot 

deep, resting on a firm hardpan, through which holes were cut when 

the vines were set out. The amount of water supplied was 0.8 secondfoot, and the total amount was sufficient to cover the ground 0.25 foot 

deep. The vines appeared thrifty and in splendid bearing. Such irrigation was repeated about every three weeks until the grapes had 

matured.

About a mile east of Selma, where the soil is a sandy loam 10 to 25 

feet deep, with ground water at 24 feet, it was said in 1882 that 2 acres 

of wheat land could be irrigated in one day of twenty-four hours by one 

attendant with 1£ to 2 second-feet of water, equivalent to a depth.of 

water over all of about 1.74 feet.

The foregoing statements must not be accepted as an indication of 

the ultimate duty of water on the Fresno plains. The area irrigated 

per unit of water will continue to increase, at least until irrigation produces no further permanent changes in the elevation of the groundwater plane.

Without attempting to express in detail the acreage irrigated per 

cubic foot per second of canal capacity or actual flow of water, it maybe noted that the total volume of water brought to the vicinity of 

Fresno during the seventeen years 1879 to 1896 would at a very low 

estimate have covered to an average depth of about 0.8 foot per annum 

the entire 260,000 acres of the region through which the canals send 

their branches. It would have covered the 50,000 acres to whose surface water is actually applied to an average depth of 4| feet per annum, 

or to a total depth of 75 feet. Some of this water has of course been consumed in sustaining plant life, more has been evaporated, but the most 

of it still permeates the subsoils of the irrigated region and of the lands 

to the west.

WILDFLOWER.

The Wildflower country is a small portion of the east-side plain of 

San Joaquin Valley just south of the Kings Jiiver delta lands. Its 

limits may be considered coextensive with the area covered by the 

Emigrant Canal and its branches. Sandy soils predominate, the 

heaviest being near Cole Slough in the southeastern portion of this 

region, and the lightest along its northwestern border. The usual strip 

of bad lands,, strongly alkaline, is found at the south, near the overflow limit from Kings Eiver. Hardpan does not appear in a continuous layer under the soil; it is found in spots or belts of small exteut, 

generally 4 to 8 feet below the surface, and usually but a few inches 

thick.

For a number of years all the water used for irrigation near Wildflower was supplied by the Emigrant Canal. As this canal became 

unreliable as a source of supply (due mainly to litigation concerning
86 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

ownership of its head works), water from other canals, the Fowler 

Switch and the Centerville & Kingsburg, was brought into the same 

district.

The irrigating period while the Emigrant Canal was in full service 

continued from March to the end of August. All the water of the 

canal during that period was apportioned to the distributing and irrigating ditches, and was allowed to sink from these into the subsoils, 

The method of irrigation was essentially that of subsurface saturation, 

which will be fully described in the notes on the Mussel Slough country. 

Alfalfa fields are sometimes subdivided into small rectangular checks 

of one-half acre to 2 acres each, and receive an occasional flooding. 

The surface of the country is very smooth, and no leveling or smoothing of the surface was necessary, as at Fresno. All water delivered into 

a check is allowed to sink into the soil, which readily takes it. Orchards 

and vineyards are irrigated, while water is available, by conducting it 

between the rows of trees and vines in small ditches. Summer crops 

are irrigated by the furrow method. Before lands were irrigated 

ground water was here at 10 to 16 feet below the surface; it has risen, 

as the result of irrigation, about 6 feet.

LIBERTY AND MILLRACE SETTLEMENTS.

The region watered by the Liberty and Millrace canals is a continuation of the Wildflower country westward, and the same notes with 

reference to soils apply. Water supply has usually been restricted to 

a few months each year, and the process of subsoil saturation has been 

rather slow. Irrigation is accomplished by flooding in small contour 

checks or by filling small ditches or furrows between rows of trees, 

vines, corn, or vegetables. Water is so freely absorbed by soils that 

no drainage is necessary.

LAGUNA DE TACHE RANCHO.

This grant, which extends southwesterly along the north side of the 

main channel of Kings Biver a distance in a direct line of about 25 

miles, from near Kingsburg to Summit Lake, embraces the major portion of the north-side delta lands. Its hydrographic features have 

already been dwelt upon, and but little more is to be said concerning 

the use of water upon it for irrigation. The surface of the ground is 

smooth; there are no irregularities except such as have been produced 

by Kings Eiver waters. Predominating soils are deep, sandy loams. 

Some of the depressions near present water courses, particularly in the 

northwestern and northern portions of the rancho, have sedimentary 

soil. The upper portion of the rancho, along Cole Slough, is in the 

alkaline belt. The surface slope from east to west is about 4 feet to 

the mile. Near Kings Elver is a fine growth of oaks. Willow thickets 

abound near the river in the southern portion of the rancho.
GEUNSKT.J MUSSEL SLOUGH COUNTRY. 87

The many delta streams have always furnished an abundance of 

water to subsurface strata, so that depth to ground water has never 

been very great 4 to 16 feet, varying somewhat according to locality, 

and no doubt also somewhat with the seasons. The local control of 

fluctuations in the elevation of the water table is one of the features 

of the method of irrigation. The canal supply is ample from February 

to August. Little or no water is put upon the surface of the ground. 

Tracts to be irrigated have ditches generally located on the slight 

ridges built up by former water courses, from which water sinks into 

subsoils. Surplus waters are drained from the flat depressions between 

these ridges by a simple system of drain ditches. Crops irrigated are 

principally natural grasses and cereals.

MUSSEL SLOUGH COUNTRY.

Description. All of the Kings Eiver delta south of the main channel 

of the river and west of Cross Creek is commonly known as the Mussel 

Slough country. Many water courses, locally called sloughs, former 

channels of Kings Eiver, course through this region from north to 

south. The heads of most of these have long been filled with deposits 

from the river. Others have more recently been artificially closed. A 

great many have been made parts of the distributing system of the 

irrigation works of this region.

The surface of the Mussel Slough country slopes from northeast to 

southwest at the average rate of about 4 feet to the mile, which is 

only about one-half the fall of the ground's surface in the vicinity of 

Fresno.

The soil of this region is all sedimentary. Most of it is sandy loam, 

varying somewhat in texture and color in different localities. It is 

sandiest toward the east and northeast; heaviest toward the west and 

south, where it merges into the peaty clays of the swamp-land belt. 

From northeast to southwest, at Grangeville, a strip of land several 

miles wide extends through this region, whose soil is a dark, rich loam, 

generally considered of the best in the delta. All soils are deep, resting 

upon subsurface strata of sands.and soft, sandy clays.

Before the construction of the irrigation canals in the Mussel Slough 

country, depth to ground water was 10 to 18 feet. It was found at 

greatest depth in the eastern and southern portions of the delta. Irrigation very soon brought the water table close to the surface of the 

ground, and throughout the irrigated portion of the south-side delta 

it does not now sink to over 8 feet below the surface. It has an annual 

fluctuation, rising during the spring months when canals are full of 

water, and falling again in the fall of the year. In some localities this 

rise is so pronounced that standing water appears in the depressions, 

forming ponds which do not entirely disappear until the close of the 

irrigating season.

Canal system. The Mussel Slough country is supplied with water
88 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

for irrigation from Kings and Kaweah rivers. The former sends water 

through the Peoples, Last Chance, Lower Kings River, and Ehoads 

canals to the northern, central, and western portions of the south-side 

delta, while Kaweah Eiver supplies water to its eastern portions through 

the Settlers and Lakeside canals. For about six months each year, 

commencing with February, Kings Eiver furnishes an abundance of 

water for the canals leading from it. The canals from Kaweah Eiver 

are not so copiously supplied with water, because that river is subject 

to greater irregularities of flow than Kings Eiver. Their period of 

flow is not so long as that of Kings Eiver canals, and is largely 

dependent on the conditions of the diversion of water at the head of St. 

Johns Eiver, where conflicting interests of different irrigated regions 

have given rise to repeated modifications of natural channels. Ordinarily the flow of Settlers and Lakeside canals commences in January 

and continues to the end of June.

The total amount of water supplied to the Mussel Slough country 

by the canals above enumerated is sufficient to cover the entire area 

under these canals and their branches to an average of several feet 

per annum. It was sufficient in 1885 to cover the land which was then 

in actual cultivation in this part of the Kings Eiver delta to a depth 

of about 4 feet.

Irrigation on a noteworthy scale commenced in 1870 in the Mussel 

Slough country when the Lower Kings Eiver Canal was constructed. 

The construction and extension of the several other canals quickly 

followed. There has been but little extension of the canal system 

since 1880.

Each canal project (with the possible exception of the Mussel Slough 

Canal) had its origin with the settlers who needed water. The sole 

consideration in each case seems to have been the securing of a fairly 

reliable water supply at reasonable cost for use upon the lands of the 

projectors of each enterprise. This circumstance will account for the 

apparent duplication of canals; for, as the irrigated area was extended 

and additional lands were settled, it was but natural for the landowners 

of the new settlements to construct new canals and to control independent canal works. The seven canals that are or have been in use 

in the Mussel Slough country could well be replaced either by one 

main canal from Kings Eiver or, perhaps better, by one such canal and 

one smaller one from Kaweah Eiver.

The canals distribute water throughout the delta in a network of 

branches and natural channels, often so intertwined that large areas 

are benefited by the water of several canals at the same time. It 

happens, too, that lands whose owners have no claim upon water in any 

canal are here and there so favorably located that they are irrigated 

without cost to owners by the canals and ditches of their neighbors.

Method of irrigation. The rainfall in the Kings Eiver delta is only 

9 inches per annum. Irrigation is necessary for the successful cultiva-
GBDNSKT.] MUSSEL SLOUGH COUNTRY. 89

tion of all soil products. Cereals and alfalfa were practically the only 

cultures from 1870 until 1884. More attention is now given to fruit 

raising, to the cultivation of the grape, and to diversified farming.

To prevent wholesale inundation of south-side delta lands a levee is 

maintained along the south bank of the main channel of Kings River.

A

\

IJl'Zsr'^.-r^*£ ?V*"tf _*5

 : ! '!: .'.Swum* Water October to December.-. .' . . ''

. Ground Water before Irrigation Commenced(1870) .

FIG. 21. Irrigation by filling subsoils with water, Mussel Slcragli country.

The inflow of irrigation water into the district is controlled by means 

of regulators in the heads of the principal canals. The flow of water 

in some of the main canals and in most canal branches is sluggish} 

water being generally held at a very light grade, often by use of check 

weirs.
90 IRRIGATION NEAR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. [NO. 18.

Water is rarely spread over the surface of the ground. This is done 

only in seasons when the supply to the canals comes late, or when 

gophers become too numerous in the alfalfa fields. The ordinary 

method of irrigation may be described as a periodical saturation of 

subsoils. From the time that water becomes available in the spring 

the canals and their branches, as well as small irrigating ditches, are 

kept as full of water as the available supply will permit. The water 

which sinks into the porous soils gradually saturates subsurface strata, 

bringing ground water within reach of plant life and sometimes even 

out upon the surface. Irrigation is considered complete when the water 

table has risen to within 3 to 4 feet of the ground's surface, as this will 

insure a thorough moistening of surface soils by capillary attraction.

Throughout the Mussel Slough country the range of water-table 

elevation is clearly defined. It drops from its general position at the 

height of the irrigating season, about 4 feet below ground, to a greatest 

depth of 7 to 10 feet during the fall and winter months. This fluctuation is the direct result of irrigation, and it is more or less rapid in the 

different portions of the district according to the character of the soil, 

the distance between irrigating ditches, and other local conditions.

Locally this method of irrigation is rarely understood. It is referred 

to as irrigation by percolation, and according to the ordinary conception of the method there should be a direct lateral horizontal percolation 

of water through surface soils.

For the irrigation of grain or alfalfa it is customary, if the land be 

at all uneven on the surface, to carry distributing ditches along the 

highest points of the ground. From these the water is drawn into irrigating ditches 3 to 6 feet wide and 1 to. 2 feet deep, which are cut with 

a slight fall out upon each side from the distributing ditches, and are 

from 300 to 600 feet apart. These irrigating ditches are either temporary or permanent. If temporary, they are usually plowed in after each 

irrigation and reopened for the next one. When orchards and vineyards are to be irrigated the ditches are constructed in straight lines 

between the rows of trees or vines, whenever such arrangement is 

possible.

Simple as this method of irrigation may appear, it has its disadvantages, not the least being directly due to the preponderance of the 

upward movement of the moisture in the surface soils. The water, 

before moving upward, often passes for long distances through permeable subsoils. Where ground is wet by irrigation 150 feet from the 

nearest ditch, the water reaching it must have passed at least 150 feet 

through porous strata, besides the distance it may have had to sink 

originally and the height it again rose to reach the surface soil. Water 

thus permeating, at times saturating, soils which are rich in salts ordinarily classed as alkaline, is sure to dissolve more or less of these mineral substances, and it will retain some of them in solution until sooner 

or later it arrives at the surface and there evaporates. Though the
GEUNSKY.} MUSSEL SLOUGH COUNTRY. 91

quantity of these salts in solution may be very small, they will, if 

present at all, ultimately become apparent at the surface, because the 

moisture there evaporating is periodically replaced from below, not 

from above. Careful inquiry establishes the fact that some injury has 

already resulted from this cause; that many fields whose soil a few 

years ago was of excellent quality now have soil too strongly alkaline 

to produce good grain crops, and that even alfalfa fields have been 

injured. There seems to be no limit to the extent of damage which 

may result from this cause unless the method of irrigation be properly 

modified.

The simplest remedy for this evil, suggested by its cause, is to secure 

a preponderance of downward motion of moisture. If this can be done, 

more of the salts leached out of the soils by water will move downward 

away from the surface than upward toward it. The quantity of alkali 

at the surface, where it is most injurious, will necessarily be decreased. 

The remedy will be made still more effective if subdrainage be resorted 

to if the water descending to the subsoils through the surface soil be 

in large part carried off in deep drainage channels.

It is not without interest in this connection to note the effect of rain 

on those spots of the plains where alkali is seen on the surface as an 

efflorescence or has formed a crust. A gentle rain, with no run-off Irom 

the surface, wetting the ground to the depth of a foot or two, may dissolve the efflorescence and all alkaline crusts, carrying the salts downward into the soil. But they return to the surface with the returning 

moisture, all of which is ultimately evaporated. A long-continued rain 

may send water vertically downward to ground water. It may thus 

cause a permanent reduction of alkaline salts at the surface. Sudden 

heavy rainfall, dissolving the salts on the surface, may carry them into 

natural drainage channels and permanently remove them from the soil.

It remains to be said that the accumulation of alkali at the surface 

is retarded by thorough tillage and occasional deep plowing. By tillage the capillary upward movement of moisture is checked; there is 

less evaporation from the surface layer of soil; consequently, the amount 

of alkali accumulating at the surface is minimized. l)eep 'tillage buries 

the surface salts, removing them for a time at least from that layer of 

the soil where they are most injurious.

The cost of preparing land for irrigation in the Mussel Slough country has been relatively small because the surface required no shaping 

and only limited areas have been arranged for flooding in checks. 

The cost of constructing the small irrigating ditches has been variously 

estimated at from $2 to $4 per acre, and the annual expense of irrigating at from 25 cents to $1 per acre.
INDEX.

Page. 

Alfalfa, methods of irrigating........... 83,84,90

Alta irrigation district, work in......... 52-57

Bacon & Crossmore Canal, description of.. 29-30 

Bah well Ditch, description of. .......... 33

Barton Ditch, description of................ 57

Bliss & Hyde Ditch, description of......... 25

Bostwick Cat, description of............... 33

Brown Ditch,description of................ 25

Bnrch Ditch, description of....... ...... 32

Catron Ditch, description of................ 25

Cameron Creek, course of.................. 13

Cameron Creek Company, operations of.... 29

Center ville Ditch, description of........... 47-48

Centerville & Kingsbarg Canal, description 

of.................................. 50-52,75-76

Chatten Ditch, description of.............. 31

Cole Slough, course of...................... 41-42

Consolidated Peoples Ditch, description of. 22-25 

Crescent Canal, description of.............. 62

Cross Creek, course of...................... 13

Crowley & Mehrtens Ditch, description of.. 34 

Curtis Ditch, description of................ 17

Curtis & Lindsey Ditch, description of..... 16

Cutler & Higgins Ditch, description of..... 31

Davis Ditch description of................. 25

Deep Creek course of...................... 12,14

Dennis & Jordan Ditch description of..... 57

Dnty of water, observations on............. 79-85

Elbow Ditch No. 1, description of.. .... 16

Elbow Ditch No. 2, description of........... 16

Emigrant Canal, description of............. 57-58

Enterprise Ditch, description of............ 43

Evans Ditch, description of. ........... 32

Evans & Turner Ditch, description of... 32 

Evaporation and seepage, loss of water by.. 74-78 

Extension Ditch, description of............ 25-26

Farmers Canal, description of........ 27-28

Fowler Switch Canal, description of........ 48-50

Fresno Canal, description of................ 43-47

Fresno Plains, canal system of. ........ 73-74

description of... .... ............. 71-73

effect of irrigation on water table in.... 78-79

loss of water by evaporation and seepage in................................ 74-78

methods of irrigation and dnty of water 

in. ........... ..._.. 79-85

Fulgham Ditch, description of............. 33

Grlenn Ditch, description of................. 57

Gosheu Ditch, description of............... 20-21

Grant Canal, description of.... ........ 58-62

Hall,W H.,cited .......................... 11,39

Hamilton Ditch, description of............. 22

Hayes Lower Ditch, description of ......... 21

Hay es Upper Ditch, description of ......... 20-21

Hicks & Weston Canal, description of..... 20

Irrigation, effect on water table of. ...... 78-79

methods of................. 35-38,79-85,88-91

Jacobs Canal, description of....... ...... 69

Jennings Ditch, description of...... .... 20

Jndd Ditch, description of................. 30-31

Kaweah Canal, description of.............. 26-27

Kaweah River, canals and ditches from.... 14-35

hydrography of....... ............. 11-14

Kaweah and Mill Creek Water Company, 

operations of............................. 31

Ketchom Cut, description of..... ..... 34

KincaidDitch,description of ........... 57

Kings Eiver, canals and ditches from...... 42-69

coarse of...... ..... .......... 40-41

hydrography of........................ 39-42

Kings Eiver and Fresno Canal, description 

of.................................. 42-43,74-75

Lagnna de Tache Canal, description of..... 58

Laguna de Tache Eancho, irrigation on... 58-59,

61,86-87 

Lakside Ditch, description of .............. 18-20

Last Chance Ditch, description of.. 65-67 

Lee & Thompson Ditch, description of..... 25

Liberty Canal, description of. .......... 58

irrigation from......................... 86

Longs Canal, description of................ 33

Lower Kings Kiver Canal, description of.. 67-69 

Matthew Ditch, description of............. 16-17

Mill Creek, course of....,....... .. 13

Mill Ditch, description of.................. 33

Millrace Canal, description of.............. 58

irrigation from......................... 86

Modoc Canal,description of.......... ... 20

Morrow Ditch, description of..... ..... 57

Mussel Slough country, irrigation in....... 87-91

Mussel Slough Ditch, description of....... 64-65

Newell, F. H., letter of transmittal by...... 9

Oaks Ditch, description of.................. 31-32

Ogden Ditch, description of. ............ 21-22

Orchards, methods of irrigating - - .. 83,84,86 

Outside Creek, coarse of.... ........... 14

Packwood Creek,coarse of... ........... 13

Packwood Creek Canal, description of..... 29-30

Pennebaker Ditch, description of. ... 25 

Peoples Ditch, description of......... 62-64

Pognes Lower Ditch, description of. ... 21 

Pogues Upper Ditch, description of. .. 21 

Reeds Ditch, description of ...... ....... 58

Rhoads Canal, description of............... 69

93
94 INDEX.

Page. 

Kice Ditch, description of.................. 25

Kooky Ford Ditch, description of.......... 29

Eodgers Ditch, description of.............. 20

St. Johns Channel, course of................ 12,13

Seepage and evaporation, loss of water by.. 74-78 

Selma irrigation district, situation of...... 52

Settlers Ditch, description of............... 17-18

Seventy-six Canal, description of........... 52-57

Soils,nature of....................... 37,72,85,87

Sunset irrigation district, work in ......... 69-70

Swanson Ditch, description of.............. 25

Sweem Ditch, description of................ 48

Teague Ditch, description of............... 25

Trees and vines, method of irrigating... 83,84,86

Page. 

Tnlare irrigation district, work in ......... 34-35

Tulare Canal, description of ............... 28-29

"Uphill Ditch, description of................ 17

Venice Ditch, description of ............... 16

Vines and trees, methods of irrigating... 83,84,86 

Visalia Creek, course of.................... 12,13

Wahtoke Creek, coarse of.................. 4'J

Wahtoke Reservoir, map of................ 53

Water, dnty of............................. 79-85

"Water table, effectof irrigation on......... 78-79

Watson Ditch, description of............... 32-33

"WestonDitch, description of............... 17

Wildflower, irrigation near................. 85-86

Wutchumna Canal, description of.......... 14-16
1895.

Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1894-95, Part II, 

.Papers of au economic character, 189.>, octavo, 598 pp.

Contains a paper on the public lands and their water supply, by F. H. Newell, illustrated 

by a large map showing the relative extent and location of the vacant public lands; also a 

report on the water resources of a portion of the Great Plains, by Robert Hay.

A geological recoiinoissance of northwestern Wyoming, by George H. Eldridge, 

1894; octavo. 73 pp. Bulletin No. 119 of the United States Geological Survey; 

price, 10 cents.

Contains a description of the geologic structure of portions of the Big Horn Eange and 

Big Horn Basin, especially w_ith reference to th« coal fields, and remarks upon the water 

supply and agricultural possibilities.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar year 1893-94, 

by F. H. Newell, 1895; octavo, 176 pp. Bulletin No. 131 of the United States 

Geological Survey; price. 15 cents.

Contains results of stream measurements at various points, mainly within the arid region, 

and records of wells in a number of counties in western Nebraska, western Kansas, and 

eastern Colorado.

1896.

Seventeenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1895-96, Part 

II, Economic geology and hydrography, 1896: octavo, 864 pp.

Contains papers_ on " The underground water of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado,'' by G. K. Oilbert; " The water resources of Illinois, 11 by Frank Leverett. and "Preliminary report on the artesian waters of a portion of the Dakotas," by N. H. Darton.

Artesian-well prospects in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region, by N. H. Darton, 

1896; octavo, 230 pp., 19 plates. Bulletin No. 138 of the United States Geological Survey; price, 20 cents.

Gives a description of the geologic conditions of the coastal region from Long Island, 

N. Y., to Georgia, and contains data relating to many of the deep wells.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar year 1895, by 

F. H. Newell, hydrographer in charge. 189(5: octavo, 356 pp. Bulletin No. 140 

of the United States Geological Survey; price, 25 cents.

Contains a description of the instruments and methods employed in measuring streams 

and the results of hydrographic investigations in various parts of the United States.

1897.

Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1896-97, Part 

IV, Hydrography, 1897; octavo, 756 pp.

Contains a "Report of progress of stream measurements for the calendar year 1896," by 

Arthur P. Davis; " The water resources of Indiana and Ohio," by Frank Leverett; " New 

developments in well boring and irrigation in South Dakota," by N. H. Darton, and 

"Reservoirs for irrigation," by J. D. Schuyler.

1898.

Nineteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1897-98, Part 

IV, Hydrography.

Contains a "Report of progress of stream measurements for the calendar year 1898," 

by F. H. Newell and others; "The rock waters of Ohio," by Edward Orton, and ''A preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred 

and third meridian," by N. H. Darton.

WATER-SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION PAPERS, 1896-1898.

This series of papers is designed to present in pamphlet form the results of stream measurements and of special investigations. A list of these, with other information, is given 0:1 

the outside (or fourth) page of this cover.

Survey bulletins can be obtained only by prepayment of cost, as noted above. 

Postage stamps, checks, and drafts can not be accepted. Money should be transmitted by postal money order or express order, made payable to the Director of 

the United States Geological Survey. Correspondence relating to the publications 

of the Survey should be addressed to The Director, United States Geological 

Survey, Washington, D. C. 

IRR 18
WATER-SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION PAPERS.

1. Pumping water for irrigation, by Herbert M. Wilson, 1896.

2. Irrigation near Phoenix, Arizona, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

3. Sewage irrigation, by George W. Rafter, 1897.

4. A reconnoissance in southeastern Washington, by Israel C. Russell, 1897.

5. Irrigation practice on the Great Plains, by E. B. Cowgill, 1897.

6. Underground waters of southwestern Kansas, by Erasmus Haworth, 1897.

7. Seepage waters of northern Utah, by Samuel Fortier, 1897.

8. Windmills for irrigation, by E. C. Murphy, 1897.

9. Irrigation near Greeley, Colorado, by David Boyd, 1897.

10. Irrigation in Mesilla Valley, New Mexico, by F. C. Barker, 1898.

11. River heights for 1896, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

12. Water resources of southeastern Nebraska, by Nelson Horatio Darton, 1898.

13. Irrigation systems in Texas, by W. F. Hutson, 1898.

14. New tests of certain pumps and water lifts used in irrigation, by O. P. Hood, 

1898.

15. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part 1,1898.

16. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part II, 1898.

17. Irrigation near Bakersfield, California, by C. E. Grunsky, 1898.

18. Irrigation near Fresno, California, by C. E. Grunsky, 1898. 

In press:

19. Irrigation near Merced, California, by C. E. Grunsky.

20. Experiments with windmills, by Thomas O. Perry.

In addition to the above, there are in various stages of preparation other papers 

relating to the measurement of streams, the storage of water, the amount available 

from underground sources, the efficiency of windmills, the cost of pumping, and 

other details relating to the methods of utilizing the water resources of the country. Provision has been made for printing these by the following clause in the 

sundry civil act making appropriations for the year 1896-97:

Provided, That hereafter the reports of the Geological Survey in relation to the 

gauging of streams and to the methods of utilizing the water resources may be 

printed in octavo form, not to exceed 100 pages in length and 5,000 copies in number; 1,000 copies of which shall be for the official use of the Geological Survey, 

1,500 copies shall be delivered to the Senate, and 2,500 copies shall be delivered to 

the House of Representatives, for distribution. [Approved June 11,1896; Stat. L., 

Tol. 29, p. 453.]

The maximum number of copies available for the use of the Geological Survey 

is 1,000. This quantity falls far short of the demand, so that it is impossible to 

supply all requests. Attempts are made to send these pamphlets to persons who 

have rendered assistance in their preparation through replies to schedules or who 

have furnished data. Requests made for a certain paper and stating a reason for 

asking for it are granted whenever practicable, but it is impossible to comply 

with general demands, such as to have all of the series sent indiscriminately.

Application for these papers should be made either to Members of Congress or to 

THE DIRECTOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

Washington, D. C. 

IRE 18