PTTRMmsim.T: ittnic VTtov cirAKtJF^; 81 



mental pumpinp, which partially nccouiits for the tromcntlous iiuTcase 

 ill puinpinjr (luring the past six years. 



What liata are availahle indicati* a relatively low duty of water in 

 the Kawoah River Delta Most of the soils are sandy loams and tine 

 siuidy loams. Diversion records and pumping records indicate a net 

 iluty often in excess of fciur acre feet per acre on areas mostly in alfalfa, 

 deciduous fruits and vines. 



The lowerinp of the water table also has had a noticeable effect upon 

 seepajre from the ditches and natural channels used for the distribution 

 of irravity water. In some of the creeks that formerly acted as drniiiiifje 

 ihannels for the delta, the seepage los.ses at present arc so j^reat that 

 t;ravity water .seldom reaches tlie u.sers on the lower end. This is par- 

 ticularly true of Outside Creek, one of the natural channels used to 

 «li- ' •• water from the ('onNolidat<'d Peoples Ditch. Althoti^rh a con- 



sii; amount of water was turned in at the head, practically no water 



was received by the users in the Klk Hayou area, either in 1M2S or 1929. 



Another important factor in the cost of water is the type of service 

 rendered. With the exception of the Ponsolidatcd Peoples Ditcli. the 

 companies included in this study deliver water to the head of small 

 private ditches, usually to individual farms. In most ca.scs the water 

 is delivered on a rotation basis, the lenpth of run to each person 

 ilependinp ujion number of shares of stock owned. The stock is not 

 appurtenant to th»> land. and. because of a larpe number of exchanges 

 of stock Ix'twcen individuals, the ratios between number of .sliares 

 owned and the area irrigated by different individuals varies widely, 

 and at present, on most of the ditches, it is very diflicidt to «letcrmine 

 the usual number f)f acres per share. Since supplem«'ntal pumjiing has 

 become general, some of the original stockholders have s(»ld all tlu'ir 

 stock in the ditch companies and d«'pend entirely upon pumping 

 plant.s. This was sometimes formerly done where a general high water 

 table existed and no surface applications were made. 



The ('on.v>lidated Pe<»ples Ditch delivers water only to the liead of 

 independent laterals. Some of these laterals are small and practically 

 the entire cost to the irriirator is represented by the assevsments and 

 interest on the value of the sto<"k of the Consolidated Peoples Ditch 

 Company. In other cases it al.so is neccKsary for the irrigator to own 

 stock and pay additional a.ssi>*iHmenls in )>oth main lateral and sub- 

 lateral ditch companies before he can obtain water. Tlu' c«)sls on the 

 lower end of the system an-. theref«>re, generally higher tlian on the 

 upper end. T!u'>.' difTereiices for some of the more important, or 

 organize*!, laterals distributing water under the Con.Holidated P«H>ples 

 Ditch are shown in Table 53. Lati-ral ditch compani«'s diverting from 

 Outside Creek were not includcil becnu.He of the uncertainty of their 

 water supply. 



An item reprej«»nting a considcralde portion of the co«t of water to 

 all of the companii*^ considcreil ih li* Sinci- 1916. mont of 



tl > diverting fr ■ '•' ' ' • ' -n engaged in 



lr._.. the Lindsay ' t. 



A .summary of data p'ganlinir onranization, value of capital stock, 

 principal crops grown, a.s^ per acre, interest on capital 



stock, and ate aNci. -.f water per acre, is f^iven in 



Table?* .'>2. ..:. - 1. 



