THE IRR1 GA110N A GE. 121 



In the investigation of the Kings River basin a reconnoisance par- 

 ty, under Mr. E. G. Hamilton, topographer for the United States geo- 

 logical survey, reported upon reservoir sites, four of which were then 

 surveyed by a party under Mr. E. H. Green. Of these four sites, Mr. 

 Lippincott thinks that two should be utilized and that storage work 

 should be begun by building the Clarks Valley reservoir with a 35-foot 

 dam, and should be followed by the construction of a 140 foot dam at 

 the Pine Flat site. 



The Pine Flat site, on *the main Kings River, five miles below 

 Trimmer, just above the diversions of all irrigation canals, has an ele- 

 vation of 600 feet, and the dam would cost 11,425,000. This reservoir 

 could be used as a governor for filling the Clarks Valley reservoir, 

 and then for holding the surplus water. Mr. Lippincott's conclusions 

 are; That the observed flow of Kings River for the season of 1897-98 

 may be taken as a minimum; that these minimum years will probably 

 occur about once in ten years; that there will be enough water during 

 November to February inclusive to fiill every year the Pine Flat res- 

 ervoir, with a capacity of 78,197 acre-feet; that in nine out often 

 years there will be enough water to leave the Pine Flat reservoir full 

 for use after July 1; that water that would be stored in the Pine Flat 

 reservoir is water that would otherwise be lost; that the Pine Flat 

 reservoir would irrigate the most valuable lands in Fresno and Tulare 

 counties, now dry and unproductive; that the cost of storage would 

 be 18.23 per acre-foot and the earning power of the reservoir fully 

 double that amount. 



The Clark Valley site is in Fresno county, sixteen miles east of 

 Sanger, and has the stage road to Millwood and the arroyo of Wah- 

 toke Creek through the center of it. The elevation of the base of the 

 dam is 400 feet. It is proposed to fill this reservoir by a diversion ca- 

 nal 53,600 feet in length, with headworks above the mouth of Mill 

 Creek and at the Pine Flat dam site. Two additional dams would be 

 needed to block the valley completely up. The total cost, including 

 supply canal, etc., would be $J, 331, 025; the total storage capacity 

 would be 120,490 acre-feet of water, and the cost per acre-foot of wa- 

 ter would be $11.05. Mr. Lippincott thinks that the Clarks Valley 

 dam should eventually be raised to 105 feet with a storage capacity of 

 217,196 acre feet, and shows by a table that, with this larger dam, 

 there would have been only one yoar out of eleven when both reser- 

 voirs could not have been filled. 



The report then shows that the cheapest water supply in the val- 

 ley can be obtained by pumpiug with electric power generated by the 

 river itself before it reachss points of diversion or storage, provided 

 he pumping plant is operated at least half the time A good location 

 or the power house between the middle and the south forks, at an 



