Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-06-02

49, nays storm: but By midday Il.
sno" is confined to The bIpbag. the
The rainfall Of California j prdhs.
distributed, and seeps into tha o,.''"y
Much of IL Is held in The thicL .nnu'
brush until summer. the re.t
sands ~ channels. finds fts tya,. n
the mountain size ana conv4rgae in.n
one y the many great arteries w ' II.
range These cannns ara va,.;,.,,
rivers Of verdure ana wen ,.a,1,",
gulches cut down By the r1ins ", N --n
sands Of years into the verv hl.,.. III.
the mountains. These CANINE Y
ways. IN the future. III many ineta7l
Viii br damned. ana the water ,,h,'
now ~ great extent flows on W III
sea VIII he stored to be used ~ /,
serve supply. This water in its agca,.-
flows for some distance on the sr,t,I
ana then for miles the river or gtraa.'
will be represented by a olca,,,Ia'
waste Of rock or sand. giving rise :,
the saying that the rivers Of Caltfor,,'
iun bottom side up; but the fac, -
mat the water is seeping rapidIv Mo-.
to enter the low lands near the oao
where it enriches the peat lands can
Verts dry soil into alfalfa land or rico.
To the surface in the form of art.si...
wells. irrigating a large area Of cam,
try. JUL
10 save as much as possible of ,h;.
water is the aim Of the water co,,
panles. Sometimes they tap the can'n
hlsh at its source. tunnel the sides >,
advantageous points leading the watar
'lf INTO pipes. or taking it from sprin..
Wherever il appears. 50 that there II
not spring or water sign in all Sontb
ern California that has not the rasnon
sibility of town. settlement N, ra,al
house depending On Ii.
FIRST in Importance II Tia yy,,ar IA,
irrigation the first experiments II,
which were made by TN Aissioa
Fathers in 1770. while the original II
habitants NJ Arizona, had rlabuarc n.
rigatinS bitches. which ARE HI WY. !,
Day i WAS. perhaps. thu examDIa I,
L"mbardy which encourages can.
lorna. d+ half the rainfall II us4J f,r
IflEatl"g purposes. distributed
thr ugh 400 miles nf bitches. r4acbira
l4oh."o0 acres. In Fresno county aIaua
the Increase in land value due 10
complete system Of irrigation b9g haan
so .000 400
Nearly All Of the beautiful towns n
Southern California Pasadena Ped.
lands, Pomona. Ontario ana Riverside
with their wealth Of citrus fruit are
The direct result Of irrigation and
water storage is we'll represented bv
the Bear valley reservoir. which is an
tn" head waters Of Santa Ana river
5000 feet above the sea. \ dam was
built at the lower end Of the valley
where the walls e me together The
radius of this fine arch is 333 feet and
the thickness at the base ~. taparins
[" thre" feet at the top. The lax.
formed by this enormous dam covers
an area OF 2.Sl2 acres. In san Diego
county is the famous SweatWatpr dam
which is intended "a store IN water FOR
the ranches Of that region. ana is ona
uf the remarkable engineering feats IN
California.
I'm Mercri county another method ~
storing mountain water Is seen known
as tn" Croker Hoffman canal system.
a natural depression was selected ana
damned with 4 bank 900 feet lone.
AZ itS base Id IL 27.5 feet thick. 20 f4et
At thh tor. rising tn a height III IA
feet, forming lake of 5.500. 900 gallons.
Pipes lead from this int, canals. which
distribute water over hundreds Of
acres. making barren land extremely
valuable.