The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-07-15

valley have been damaged and must
be drained to be made productive.
The tendency in the northern valley
has been to cultivate general crops
and to retain large areas for grazing,
with the result that farming has not
been so profitable as in sections where
special crops are grown and all OF
the land cultivated. A recent investi-
CATION of the agricultural, climatic,
soil, and power possibilities within
and about the borders of this valley
furnishes an important contribution
to our knowledge of this section of
California. This investigation has
been carried on by the division of
NEUROLOGY in the United States re-
clamation service, and extended from
the southern end of the valley north
ward to the southern line of MADEIRA
county, covering approximately 1880
square miles. Within this area it
was found that the amount of under
ground water which lies near the sur
face, and is available for irrigation
purposes, is enormous, and that its
value is but little realized. Thus far
only about $50 second-feet have been
developed for municipal and argicul-
tural purposes, which is a very small
percentage of the total amount avail
able The valley is filled largely with
granite sands and gravel, and there
are large surface deposits of silt and
rich alluvial mold. This filling is sat
urated with the flood waters and the
returning irrigation waters, which thus
constitute an extensive underground
reservoir which, properly developed,
will serve to reclaim thousands of
acres now barren or in stock ranges.
The situation OF this section in re-
lation to adjacent reproductive por-
| lions of the west is such that it will
| inevitably become of increasing i'm
portance from an agricultural point
of view 1t is the conviction of the
board of engineers which considered
the data obtained by this investigation
that the greatest increase in the ag-
ricultural development of this valley
will come from proper utilization OF
this available water power. This was
doubtless impressed upon them in
some measure by the fact that in
southern California underground wa
ters today supply more than half as
many farms as are irrigated by all
the bitches of the San Joaquin river
In order to develop these underground
waters, cheap power is necessary. The
cheapest power available is that which
is developed by the Transformation of
the water power of the Sierras into
electrical energy, and it's distribution
in this form to points where it is
needed. OF the numerous streams
that flow from the Sierras to the val
IL tci4
be developed, the only one that re-
mains available for the reclamation
service is the Toulumne. Upon all of
the others the important reservoir
sites and rights of way are in the
hands of private or corporate inter
ests. In fact, monopoly of power
now exists, fostered and encouraged
by the unwise policy of giving away
without restriction or reservation
these most valuable power sites. The
people of the valley and of the whole
state in general are now awakening
to the fact that they have a direct
interest in the preservation of these
reservoir sites, in order that they may
be available for future use by the
government in irrigation development.
They recognize that these valuable
power sites should no longer be per-
mitted to pass from the government
into the hands of monopolists, who
exact from the people undue profits
from a few which they develop, and
prevent the development of the rest;
that these public utilities should be
so guarded that the benefits arising
from their development shall accrue
to all, and not to the few. These con-
ditions do not alone prevail in Cali
fornia; they exist in every mountain
state. There is a great demand from