52 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



melting thread the valleys to the ocean. Thus Cali- 

 fornia, speaking generally, receives water from no 

 other state nor gives water to any other. It is true 

 that in the extreme north of California the Klamath 

 River rises in Oregon, but makes only a short run 

 therein ; that the Truckee River escapes into Nevada, 

 but the latter owns half the lake of which it is the 

 outlet; and that the great Imperial Valley of south- 

 east California is irrigated from the Colorado River 

 which is the boundary of the State in that quarter. 

 With these exceptions California catches her own 

 water and keeps it, excluding that which cannot be 

 withheld from the ocean. Less will be lost in that di- 

 rection as more is stored for various uses in the de- 

 velopment of the State, and as the requirements of 

 power, irrigation, domestic use and navigation are 

 finally adjusted. It is of incalculable advantage that 

 California owns her own catchment areas, and that 

 her streams live their whole lives within her own 

 geography. The condition that makes this advan- 

 tage realizable lies in the forested areas which catch 

 the snow and hold the water for prolonged outflow 

 during the dry season. The maintenance of the for- 

 ests and the prosecution of engineering works to sup- 

 plement their beneficence by regulated distribution 

 to the valley streams and irrigation systems will se- 

 cure the California of coming centuries a density of 

 population and an aggregate of production which 

 will insure prosperity. The present generation is 

 awake to its duty in this direction and all sessions of 

 the legislature consider ways for discharging it. 



