Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-06-18
OUR ARID LANDS.
Exhaustive Discussion of
Possibilities.
AVAILABLE WATER SCHEDULED
Opinions of Men Who Have lnyeS-
tigated the Vital Question of
Irrigation.

Associated Press Dispatches TO the HERALD.
SAN Francisco, June 1.-THE State
Board of Trade committee on Arid Lands
held meeting today, at the Board OF
Trade rooms, Chairman Estee presiding,
Communications from G. P. Huntington
and from E. w. Jones, of Los Angeles,
were read, expressing their regrets at
their inability to attend the meeting.
Chairman Estee announced that he had
commenced work on q schedule giving
the names OF all the rivers and creeks in
the State, together with the area of wa
tershed OF each stream. The object ot
this is to enable the government COM
mission to locate the most desirable
places for reservoirs from which irrigat-
ing bitches may be constructed.
Wm. Thompson, of Reno, New, stated
that nine. tenths of the water Of the
streams of Nevada went to waste. There
are in Nevada 6 900, 900 acres of land that
can he irrieareu. hut only 140, 900 are now
artifcially watered,
G. @. Wright reported that seventeen
irrigated districts have been organized
in this State, embracing two million
acres, and that several more are in pro-
cess of formation, which will aggregate
half million acres more. At the after
noon session Frank Cunningham, OF San
Diego, submitted a report on irrigation
in the southern part of the State. IN
which he stated that about one-tourth OF
San Diego County, or somewhSb over
! 1000 900 acres, lies west OF San Jacinto
and San Diego range OF Mountains. Ol
this tract about ten thousand acres are
irrigated. and n additional ten thousand
acres lie below the present irrigation
works. On this westward slope, from
the mountain range to the ocean, there
are at least half a million acres of land
adapted to irrigation. The contour o1
the country is such as to afford many
reservoir sites, and there are still mum
| ber Of streams whOee waters have no
been utilized, and whose watershed is
about 396, 800 acres. The eight largest
streams have a watershed of over 1000,
! 600 acres. There are about ten large
projects in the county, and four are IL
active operation.
San Bernardino county with an area o.
about 1000 square miles, is, at tbs
present time, he said, almost a desert
waste, but large portion OF it by the ust
OF water can be made very valuable
West of the San BernarGino mountains
however, are about 100000 acres belo.
the present water systems. Los Angelo;
county has an area of 2,125 square miles
much of which is desert or mountainous
TIE streams on the western slope iu
this county have been generally occupied
although very large additions can be
made to the water supply 10y the use o.
artesian wells and tunnels. There arc
about 100000, 900 acres on this western
slope of good land for irrigation, and 6
large percentage is already below the
present irrigation works.
Jesse D. Carr submitted statement
concerning irrigation in Santa Cruz
county. The annual rainfall there being
sufficient, irrigation, he said ,is not resorted
to for the purpose of raising any kind Of
crops, only about 800 acres being irri.
gated in the county. Coast fogs are i'm
poTtant factors in affording supply oi
moisture for lands under cultivation.
The mountain streams are utilized for
the purpose CT supplying water to several
towns and cities in the county.
w. II. Mills, in communication, sug-
gested that the committee give some at
tention to what is lost by reason of the
failure of the crops, owing TO the absence
of irrigation. San Joaquin valley, he
said, succeeds with about two crops in
five. The value of the three crops lost
would place every acre in the valley
under irrigation, or, in other words, the
loss in five years is equal to the cost of
reclamation by irrigation.
w. S. Green, OF Colusa, was added to
the General Com mittee on Arid Lands,
and L. II. Lee, w H. Mills and George
Manuel were appointed committee to
prepare general article on the benefits
OF irrigation in this country. The Com
mittee then adjourned to meet July Sth.