THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY. 



UTILIZING THE UNDERFLOW TO IRRIGATE THE ORCHARDS. 



BY G. F. ALLARDT, C. E. 



A GREAT underground reservoir fed by Coyote 

 creek is about to be tapped to supply water for 

 irrigation in the Santa Clara valley, and also 

 for use in San Jose. Nature has been lavish in her 

 favors in the valley of Santa Clara, California. She 

 lias given it an unsurpassed climate; she has tem- 

 pered the heat of the summer with cooling breezes; 

 the soil is rich. The rainfall is of sufficient yearly 

 volume to insure the bringing to maturity all varie- 

 ties of deciduous trees; but they bear so heavily that 

 while there is an average annual rainfall of fourteen 

 inches this moisture is not enough. 



In corroboration of this statement, I quote from 

 several of the largest fruit-growers in the valley. 

 Porter Bros. & Co. say: 



"Answering an inquiry regarding our opinion of the 

 proposed irrigating proposition for Santa Clara 

 county, water to be supplied from wells located near 

 Coyote station, it is our opinion that the proposition 

 is one of extraordinary merit. That the fruit-growers 

 of that section all need water will admit of no contra- 

 diction. We ourselves are subscribers for the water to 

 cover eighty acres of prune land at $7 per acre." 



Colonel Philo Hersey says: 



"Nearly all of us, if not all of us, engaged in grow- 

 ing fruit and keeping up size and quality, as well as 

 the growth and vigor of our trees, should provide 

 means of winter and spring irrigation and also means 

 for irrigation immediately after the fruit is harvested. 

 I believe this would insure full crops more regularly, 

 larger and better matured fruit, and relieve us of 

 much anxiety as to injury of orchards from dry 

 seasons." 



C. M. Wooster says: 



"I have no hesitancy in recommending the laying 

 of pipe lines throughout the orchard districts of this 

 valley for the purpose of supplying water for winter 

 irrigation. I say winter irrigation simply because I 

 believe that is the best for the orchards and best for 

 the quality of fruit, and not by reason of implying 

 that the water will not be available during all seasons 

 of the year. It is well known that there is a vast 

 quantity of water running under the ground at 

 Coyote, and it is ridiculous for us to let that water 

 run to waste when it is so much needed by our 

 orchardists. Those who have established pumping 

 plants have met with pronounced success." 



J. L. Mosher says: 



"As good roads and a near market are of value to 

 land, available water is even more so. The three 

 fundamental principles of successful fruit-raising are 

 Irrigation, cultivation and fertilization. Irrigation 

 and cultivation is fertilization to a very large extent. 

 My opinion is that the great drawback to fruit-raising 

 in California is the long, dry seasons, causing a large 

 amount of fruit to ripen before it is fully grown and 

 matured by the lack of moisture. This is fully 

 demonstrated by the comparison of orchards that are 

 properly irrigated the large and vigoroxis growth of 

 trees, size and quality of fruit the better price and 

 wealth it has brought its owner. Orchards that are 



irrigated and put on a thrifty and vigorous growth 

 are much less susceptible to insect pests or disease. 

 Am anxious for the success of this water project, as 

 I believe the section that it covers will become the 

 garden spot of the State." 



Various irrigating projects have been made from 

 time to time to cure this one defect. Though it was 

 generally known that some twelve miles south of 

 San Jose there is stored underground a vast quantity 

 of water covering an area of more than 7,000 acres of 

 water-bearing gravel, and lying 250 feet above the 

 level of the sea, no active steps toward its utilization 

 had been taken until recently, when several enter- 

 prising capitalists took hold of the matter. They em- 

 ployed experienced engineers to look into the project 

 and report upon the practicability of furnishing water 

 to the Santa Clara valley. They have been at work 

 for over a year and their researches reveal a con- 

 dition hard to believe, if it were not backed by in- 

 dubitable facts and figures. Based upon the reports 

 of such engineers as Col. Geo. H. Mendell, G. F. 

 Allardt and Aug. J. Bowie, a company has been 

 formed styling itself the " Citizens' Water Company 

 of Santa Clara County," which has purchased about 

 750 acres of land in the Coyote valley, and besides 

 tbis controls the water rights of 3,500 acres additional, 

 and proposes to furnish water at a moderate cost to 

 all who need it. Colonel Mendell says of this under- 

 ground reservoir: 



" Coyote creek, emerging from the mountains, flows 

 for seven or eight miles in a plain of its own creation, 

 underlaid by permeable material, consisting of 

 bowlders, gravel and sand. The bed of the creek 

 forms the eastern line of the gravel-bed and is the 

 highest part of the plain. The slope of the creek is 

 less than the slope of the land. The cross-sections of 

 the gravel-bed indicate the same condiiion of form 

 in the underlying gravel, sloping more rapidly to the 

 west than to the gorge. The voids in this bed of 

 gravel are estimated to provide a storage for water of 

 twenty thousand million gallons, equal to fifty-four 

 million gallons per day, or 83 cubic feet per second, 

 for 365 days. This covered reservoir was full in 

 April last. It is nearly full now (August)." . 



"How is it filled and how and to what extent is it 

 emptied under natural conditions now existing? " was 

 asked. 



" Coyote creek runs for the whole length of this 

 plain, along its longest line, in a permeable bed, 

 which connects with and forms a part of the gravel 

 plain," said the Colonel. "At every point of the 

 creek bed the flow is solicited by steeper slopes and 

 empty voids to leave the creek and to flow to Ihe 

 reservoir space waiting to receive it. The gaugings 

 of the flow of the creek in moderate stages show that 

 more than half the flow disappears between the 

 canyon and Coyote station; and at this time the flow 

 amounting to perhaps ten million gallons per day, 

 entirely disappears within two or three miles after 

 leaving the canyon, the lower creek-bed near Coyote 

 station being entirely dry. Whenever the flow of the 



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