Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-01-01
ARTESIAN WELLS.
EXTENT OF THEIR USE FOR IRRI-
CATION PURPOSES.
The Number Now in California
Their Locality and Efficiency
The Source of Supply-Etc.

The Source of Supply-Efc.
Written for the REcoRD-UNIoS by Assistant
State Engineer c. E. Grunsky from personal
reports to the State Engineer.
Supplementary to the water supply
brought down in rivers and creeks from
the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range into
the great valley of California, and available
for irrigation purposes, there is another
source of water OF rapidly increasing impor-
tance, and of which an article of some
length appeared in the RECORD UNION a
year ago, as also at subsequent dates. 1t is
the accumulation or flow of water in SUBJ
terranean sand and gravel strata. which can
be brought to the surface periorating the
everything clay deposits. While sometimes
it happens that the subterranean waters
rise with sufficient pressure to flow above
the surface of the ground, this is not always
the case, but the water found below the
surface frequently stands at an elevation
from which it can be readily pumped for
irrigation and domestic use. The pumping
of water for irrigation is practiced on a
large scale at various points in Yolo and
San Joaquin counties, and elsewhere. 1t
is here referred to because the wells thus
supplying water are frequently, though er-
roneouSly, termed arteSian WellS-arteSlan
wells properly SO called being those which
flow The water issuing from the wells in
the arteSian belts, so-called in San Joaquin
valley comes from the Sierra Nevada, and
perhaps in small quantity from the Coast
Range 1t is not, however, the water which
sinks in the heart Of the mountains that
finds subsurface channels leading to the
pervious strata a few hundred feet below
the surface of the ground in the center of
the valley Water entering fissures in the
mountain formation lies deeper, somewhere
near bedrock of the valley, perhaps miles
below the surface.
THE ARTESIAN WATER
Is confined between clay strata, which ex-
tend in concave layers, alternating with
sands and gravels from the Sierra Nevada
toward the Coast Range. The concavity of
the clay strata increases with their depth
below the surface in the center of the val
ley. Water cannot enter the sands or gray
els from above nor from below. 1t enters
at the eastern and western edges of the clay
strata. When these edges are sufficiently
high-that is, higher than the trough of the
clays is sufficiently abundant, it rises to
the surface when vent is provided. 1t is,
therefore, evident that near the foothills it
is useless to try to find artesian water I'M
less the stratifcation of the bedrock makes
the existence of water-veins below the allu-
vial deposits in the valley probable 1t is
also apparent that the supply of water to the
artesian strata is limited 1t cannot exceed
the amount of water sinking into the
ground near the edge of the foothills The
supply is also variable 1t varies with the
seasons of each year. and also with the
character of the wet seasons. Such varia-
ton is frequently illustrated by the period
ical increase and decrease of the flow of
some of the wells The depth at which
artesian water is found may vary consider
ably at different points of the valley, and
there may be many localities where no
water would be found even though boring
were made to bedrock.
IN KERN COUNTY.
In Kern county the water of artesian
wells has been used for little else besides
| stock purposes. There are fifteen to twenty
wells in the county, located near the trough
of the valley at various points from the
| head of Kern lake to Tulare lake. The
| flow of the wells on Kern Island is reported
to be about 30 cubic feet per second on an
| average. Far in excess of this amount is
| the flow of the wells near the sink of Posa
creek. One of those recently bored is near
the south shore of Lake Tulare. 1t is $40
feet deep, and has flow of about l, 10000
| gallons per twenty-four hours. The cost
| of this well was about $500 to 5000
TULARE COUNTY.
| Tulare county has over one hundred ar.
tesian wells, and more are being bored
The wells of the main group are all located
| west Of a line drawn from northwest tc
southeast through the town of Tulare The
aggregate flow of the wells in the county is
a little more than 30 cubic feet per second
enough water to irrigate G,000 acres. Ir
| 1882 there were only twenty-four wells in
the Tulare county group. OF these that al
the railroad tree ranch, near Upton, anC
| four unimportant ones near Lemoore, haC
| been bored previous to 1881. The water o.
the wells is of excellent quality. The area
being irrigated is rapidly increasing A
| Nisalia 10 artesian water has been found
though a well was bored many years age
to depth of 700 feet. Seven miles north
west of Visalia artesan water in very small
quantity, about 10000 gallons per twenty
four hours. is obtained from depths of S0(
and 700 feet, in well which was sunk 92S
feet. The water of this well is rich in min
eral salts.
FRESNO COUNTY.
| At Kingsburg no artesian water was
| found within 500 feet of the surface. Neal
Lemoore are several wells of very small
flow, which are used only for stock water
and domestic purposes. In the northern
part of the county, between San Joaquin
and Chowchilla rivers, are twenty-three
| flowing wells, of which nineteen are on the
| Chowchilla ranch These wells belong tC
the Merced group. They are generally be
| tween 200 and 300 feet deep, and very little
of their water is used for irrigation. Fresno
| county has no artesian wells between Kings
| river and San Joaquin river.
MERGED COUNTY.
Most of the wells in the Merced group
are in Merced county They are irregularly
distributed from the south to the north
county line on the east side of the San
joaquin river. In the Merced group there
| are over 120 borings. Some of these were
made at the eastern edge of the artesian
belt, where water barely flows The depth
of the wells ranges from 100 to about $50
feet Three miles southwest of Merced is
a well 675 feet deep, supplying $4,000 gal
Ions of water per q hours. The water
bearing stratum was found at 600 feet. Gas
rises with the water, and has been utilized
for Illuminating purposes The water OF
the well at Chester, on the San joaquin
river, has valuable medicinal properties.
The same is true of several other waters in
the same neighborhood, which are so
| strongly impregnated with salts as to be
unfit for irrigation. The aggregate flow of
the wells in the Merced group (which ex-
tends into Fresno county on the south and
StaniSlaus county on the north), is S.35
cubic feet per second.
| Irrigation with water from this group of
wells is still on small scale. 1t has not
| in all cases been successful because some
| of the waters, especially near San joaquin
| river, contain too great portion of mineral
matter. There are at present only about
| 400 acres in all, even including some I'M
systematically-ar arranged wild-grass past
| ures, irrigated from these wells. New land
| in considerable area is being prepared for
irrigation. The artesian well in Hill 5
Ferry supplies that town with water. 1t
| Is delivered from the well into Il tank suf-
| iciently high TO be distributed through the
town in pipes by gravity flow.
sTANsLAUs COUNTY.
The Merced group of wells extends into
StanislauS county from the south near San
| Joaquin river. The flow of the Hills
| Ferry well, just referred to, is about 0 o.2sO
| cubic feet per section or Isl 600 gallons per
| twenty-four hours. Three wells on the
east side of San joaquin river within few
miles OF Merced river, have flows of more