The herald., 1896-04-12
IRRIGATION IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
BY r. r. MINER


|
Southern California has irrigation
| systems unsurpassed BY any in the
4 world. Irrigation has made possible
many beautiful cities and towns, acres
of Oranges, lemons, and other fruits,
and flower gardens filled with ever
blooming plants, for which Southern
California is noted. Many erroneous
! opinions are held in regard to the bene-
| fits and application of irrigation.
Some people think that everything
must be irrigated here; others that il
cultivated sufficiently, no irrigation is
necessary, and still others believe that
if plentifully irrigated no cultivation
is needed. Thousands OF acres OF grain
are raised here each year without irri-
cation, and on the low moist lands
alfalfa, vegetables and other products
may be raised without it. Although
irrigation is necessary for orchards of
citrus fruits, constant cultivation saves
the necessity for the use of much wa
ter, and is much more beneficial to the
trees. Deciduous trees need no irriga-
tion if properly cultivated. In many
orchards the cultivator never rests,
and not a weed is seen anywhere. The
rancher who has sufficient water sup
ply to irrigate his ranch cares not il
the rainfall be light or heavy, for he is
independent of it. He plows and plants
with the certainty of harvest, and
the great element of chance is elm
mated from his operations. The
orchard may be irrigated when the
trees most need the water and at q
time that it will be of the most benefit
to them. And so it is that irrigation is
one of the greatest boons ever given to
the tiller Of the soil.
The standard gauge for irrigation in
California is the miners inch, this be-
ing the quantity of water that will flow
through an opening an inch square
with pressure of four inches of water
above it. This is q sufficient supply to
irrigate ten acres in most places. but
varying in others because Of differ
encs in soil and rainfall. Sandy soils
require a much better supply than
soil of adobe or clay. There are several
methods now in use. That of foo ling
the ground is only possible where the
land lies nearly level and large head
of water may be used. This method
was in use by the Mexicans and early
Oalifornians, who never cultivated the
ground after irrigating it, as is now
done. This mode of irrigation is sell
dom used now. as it is wasteful where
water is 80 valuable, and other meth
DDS are more economical and as effect
i've. One of the best ways is by fur
rows plowed between the trees foot
or 80 apart, the water being allowed to
run slowly down them, thoroughly
saturating the ground. When the
water supply is not large enough for
this method basins are dug around
the trees and filled several times
with water. This has been
found, however, to be in
furious to the trees if the water
is allowed to reach the tree trunks.
An excellent system, and one which
economies the water, but which is the
most expensive of all, Is that of sub
irrigation. Pipes are laid a few feet
underground all over the orchard and
by means of valves the water is let out
and thoroughly soaks the ground with
out raising above the surface.
Water for irrigation is obtained in
various ways, but principally from the
rivers and creeks, the water being taken
out often miles from the spot where it
is used and conveyed in bitches, fumes
and pipes. This is one reason why the
streams of Southern California are dry
a greater part of the year. To increase
this supply tunnels are dug into the
sides of hills and mountains, where wa
ter ia seen trickling out, and often
many hundred inches are thus OBJ
tanned.
Probably the most independent wa
ter supply is that obtained from arte-
sian wells. In artesian belts, as they
are called, flowing water is obtained at
from twenty-five to several hundred
feet, the flow varying greatly, some
wells flowing several thousand gallons
per hour, while others near by some-
times flow little or none at all. Cali
fornia has more artesisn wells than any
other state. According to the census
report of 1890 there were 32l0 artesian
wells in California, irrigating 1886
acres of land, and new wells are being
bored continually.
Immense storage reservoirs are built
to catch the winter rains and hold them
for use when the land is dry and there
are no rains. The Bear valley irriga-
ton system, with its great dams and
reservoirs, catches enoGgh water to ir-
rigate 250,000 acres, and has over 100
miles of canals and pipe lines. In the
San Jacinto mountains is the great
Hemet dam, 100 feet high, the reservoir
holding eleven billion gallons. The
Sweetwater dam in San Diego county
is so feet high, 70 feet long at the base
and 1856 feet at the top, 40 feet
thick at the base and II feet at
the top. The reservoir covers 700 acres
and has a storage capacity of 5000, ,000,-
900 gallons. The San Diego Flume
company has great reservoir Fifty
miles from the city of San Diego,
which covers 900 acres. and is 4500 feet
above sea level. The dam is 720 feet
long and 35 feet high. The water flows
through gorge twelve miles long to
diverting dam 5000 feet below, passing
over 1926 trestles, the longest being
1864 feet and 70 feet high, and through
over mile Of tunnel, the longest 1400
feet. They are now building another
reservoir, to hold about 3,O00,0O0,000
gallons, near the city. The greater
part of the water supply Of Pasadena
comes from tunnels dug into tho bank
of the Arroyo Seco near the Devils
Gate, the water passing through great
pipe up the bank of the arroyo go feet
above, and then into storage reservoirs.
The system of the Riverside Water
company is very extensive. They de-
rive their supply from the Santa Ana
river, Warm creek and numerous arte-
sian wells, the water being carried
through 33 miles of main canals and
IN ,,,;Ioc ~ lo<o,ol no-ole Tho