The San Francisco call., 1898-07-24
Drought in Fair Berkeley Makes Of the Town a Barren
 Waste.
No Prospect of Relief Unless the Water
 Company Connects With One of the Oakland Mains.

BERKELEY, July 23.-Parched and Nfeiess are the beautiful flower gardens of Berkeley. so attractive to visitors; clouds of dust swirl through the streets. covering the buildings with thick coating of dull gray, sitting through doors and windows, to the sore distress of housewives and the great discomfort of everybody. Every resi- dent is in state of constant fear lest fire should break out and sweep un- hindered from one end of the town to the other while pestilence threatens to break out at any time.
 For the drought from which Berkeley has suffered for years is growing more serious each day.
 The condition in brief is this: The Alameda Water Company, which sup plies Berkeley, is only able to furnish but half enough water to its consum- CTS It has 1900 customers, who con- sume daily at this season of the year bout 500 900 gallons, whereas the com pany is now furnishing about 400,O0 gallons. This deficiency is due in a great measure to the lack of rain dur ing the past winter, the precipitation having been only one-third that of ordinary years. But the general opinion is that the company is in de fault for not Having provided suffi- cient wells to meet such an emergency. All the water which is now being dis tributed by the company is developed taken from underground sources. The company has five flowing wells, several springs and tunnels and two reservoirs 70. ..E j5,000, GOO gallons It has sunk twelve wells and got water from but five, one of which that has just been sunk on ShattuCk avenue is giving daily flow of 10000 gallons.
 The ground of the valley or plains of Berkeley seems a better water bearer than much of that in the hills, where the probing is generally done. Some time ago the Board of Regents of the University sold to the Alameda Company a quantity of land among the hills, reserving to itself the right to the water it contained, there being a small spring on the property. Litigation en- sued to determine the right of the pur- chaser to this water, resulting in a victory for the purchaser, and the re- gents have been forced to develop water upon other of their lands to SUD- ply the university. They have spent S20. poo in sinking wells and boring tun- naIs. with but practically no favorable results The Alameda Company says it has boring gangs at work all the time putting down wells in the endea- vor to increase its supply.
 Meanwhile there have come over lures from divers directions for fur nishing the city with all the water re- Quired, and the company has not es- caped censure for not availing itself of some one of these proffers. The Con- tra Costa Water Company of Oakland has proposed to furnish water sufficient to meet all requirements, it having main connecting with that of the Ala meda company. It is not believed, how ever. that the Contra Costa Company has any water to spare, as its reser- vOirs are nearly as dry as those of the Alameda Company It is thought likely that if relief is to come from the Con- tra. Costa Company there would have to be a supplementary system of dis tribution to that which 1t uses to fur nish Oakland, and that it would have to. enter Berkeley upon higher level than that where it's pipe now joins. Besides this Town Clerk HanscOm states that the Contra Costa Company Is now supplying some parts of South Berkeley. and that the people there find more fault with their supply of water than do the customers in other parts
 
 pany
 A second proposition has come from W. J. Dingee of the Oakland Water Company He proposes to supply whatever water is needed. But there is a space of from a mile to a mile and a half between the main of Dingee's company and the receiver of the Ala meda Company, along which the water would have to be piped. The water would also have to be pumped, which would require the erection of a pump ing plant at the joining of the mains Dingee, however, has water, and, it is believed, were the mains laid to make the connection the water problem in Berkeley would be solved. The indi- cations are that some arrangement with him will be made.
 The Board of Trustees of Berkeley has been active in the endeavor to solve the water problem. It has appointed a committee to investigate the question