Irrigation and Hydro-electric Developments 

 extension of irrigation was accompanied, of course, 

 with the substitution of more permanent structures, 

 and fine examples of good engineering practice can 

 be seen on ahnost any of the rivers. 



Irrigation Districts in California: The right 

 to use the water required for irrigation should go 

 with the ownership of the land. To carry out this 

 idea the law permits the formation of irrigation 

 districts. Many such districts have been formed 

 and some of them are in successful operation. 

 Notable in California are the Alta Irrigation District 

 on the south side of Kings River, Turlock Irrigation 

 District on the south side and Modesto District on 

 the north side of Tuolumne River, and the Oakdale 

 and the South San Joaquin Irrigation districts on 

 the two sides of Stanislaus River. The LaGrange 

 Dam, 127 feet high, with a crest length of 300 feet 

 and containing 30,000 cubic yards of rubble con- 

 crete masonry, on the Tuolumne River about thirty 

 miles above Modesto, is at the head of the irri- 

 gation canals which supply the Modesto and Tur- 

 lock districts. A bold double arch dam, six miles 

 above Knights Ferry on the Stanislaus River, diverts 

 the water of this stream into the canal which sup- 

 plies Oakdale and South San Joaquin districts. 



Hydro-Electric Developments: As in the case 

 of the irrigation works, so in the case of the hydro- 

 electric installations, the notable achievements are 

 too many to be here enumerated. Mention can be 

 made of a few only. Long distance transmission 

 of power over the electric wire was first success- 

 fully demonstrated on this coast, and some of the 

 most notable enterprises in the world are to be 

 found here. 



The Spaulding Dam, Pacific Gas & Electric 

 Company, California. — The Pacific Gas & Electric 

 Company operates through a wide field in central 

 portions of California and the power which is de- 

 veloped at a number of points in the Sierra Nevada 

 is widely distributed and may at times be used 

 hundreds of miles from its point of origination. 

 Among the latest additions to this system is the 

 Spaulding Dam, a massive concrete structure, which 

 closes a gorge in solid granite on the South Fork 

 of Yuba River, about two miles northeasterly from 

 Emigrant Gap on the Central Pacific Railroad, and 

 forms a storage reservoir from which the water 

 will flow through a succession of power houses 

 as it descends from the Spaulding Lake, at an ele- 

 vation of 5050 feet, to the Sacramento Valley, which 

 is but a little above sea level. The dam will ulti- 

 mately have a height of 305 feet. It has been com- 



233 



