STUDIES OF CALIFORNIA GROUND 



WATERS 



BY 

 W. C. MENDENHALL 



Geologist, U. S. Geological Survey 



"THE U. S. Geological Survey has 

 been engaged for nearly two 

 years in a study of the underground 

 water situation in Southern California. 

 The work began in the region known 

 as the Valley of Southern California. 

 This is the irregular lowland south of 

 the San Gabriel and San Bernardino 

 mountains, in which the cities of Los 

 Angeles, Pasadena, Pomona, Ontario, 

 Redlands, Riverside, and Santa Ana 

 are situated. Throughout this delight- 

 ful area, water is worth more than in 

 any other agricultural district in the 

 Western Hemisphere, because of its 

 limited quantity and the high values 

 of the lands to which it can be applied. 

 Two thousand dollars per min- 

 er's inch, a flow equivalent to 

 about 13,000 gallons per day, is 

 not regarded as an excessive valuation 

 in parts of this area, and some of the 

 citrus lands are bearing water charges 

 at rates of from $10 to $30 per acre 

 per year. Such taxes are possible only 

 where the returns from the crops 

 raised reach high figures, as they do in 

 the best of the California citrus" lands. 

 Irrigating waters are pumped to 

 heights of 250 feet in a few cases in 

 Southern California, and are in suc- 

 cessful use despite this great lift. At 

 one point in the San Joaquin Valley 

 water is pumped to an elevation of 600 

 feet above its source and used in citrus 

 irrigation. This is probably the high- 

 est lift in the United States of waters 

 for agricultural uses. The fact that it 

 is found to be feasible from the finan- 

 cial standpoint to install and operate 

 tlic r.\|K>nsive machinery required for 

 this purpose, is a sufficient commen- 

 tary ,,n the productiveness of the lands 

 and the value of the crops which they 

 yield. 



In communities where such prac- 

 tices prevail it is needless to say that 

 the value of water is fully appreciated 

 and that the citizens are heartily in- 

 terested in all studies which tend to 

 throw definite light on the quantity 

 and availability of the supplies. The 

 best engineering talent has been busy 

 for two decades, devising means 

 whereby waste of water may be pre- 

 vented, new sources utilized or old 

 sources conserved. Reservoirs are be- 

 ing covered, unlined ditches cemented, 

 open ditches converted into pipe lines, 

 irrigation practice improved so that 

 evaporation from the soil surface may 

 be minimized, and temporary flood 

 water dams built, to aid in recharging 

 the subterranean basins. The influ- 

 ence of forests is realized and local 

 chambers of commerce are making 

 appropriations to aid in reforesting 

 denuded slopes in the important drain- 

 age areas. At the same time the courts 

 are restudying with great care all the 

 principles upon which water rights 

 are based. As a result, epoch-making 

 decisions have been rendered whose 

 object is to preserve and protect vested 

 rights in underground waters, rights 

 which seemed in jeopardy under the 

 attempts to apply old riparian prin- 

 ciples under conditions which were 

 not anticipated in the place and at the 

 time when they were enunciated. 



It is in this spirit of care and thor- 

 oughness and exceptional intelligence, 

 that the Southern California com- 

 munities are grappling with their prob- 

 lems of water supply. It is not sur- 

 prising therefore, that they have ac- 

 complished much with the rather 

 limited quantity which is available for 

 their use. 





