148 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Reclamation Notes 



CALIFORNIA. 



Private parties propose to take up the government 

 plan for the reservoir and irrigation project on the Pit 

 river in Shasta and Lassen counties. The Lassen Irri- 

 gation Company will soon have the dam ready to irrigate 

 20,000 acres of land near Susanville. The Yplo Water 

 and Power Company announces that in addition to the 

 $1,500,000 expended for the dam and water rights, they 

 will spend $7,000,000 more for perfecting the system. This 

 project includes two powerhouses, with a combined ca- 

 pacity of 5,000 horsepower. The directors of the irri- 

 gation district in the Imperial valley have finally con- 

 cluded to accept the proposition of the Southern Pacific 

 Company for $2,000,000 for its interests. This includes 

 a right of way through Mexico. 



Claims to water rights amounting to 10,000 miner's 

 inches in Carriso and other canyons near Mountain 

 Springs have been filed by J. D. Sidener, W. H. Johns 

 and R. C. Rutter. Water will be used for irrigation and 

 domestic purposes. A concrete flume will be constructed 

 to carry the water to irrigate the fields in that section. 



The Supreme Court has handed down a decision 

 granting a new trial in the case of the California Pastoral 

 and Agricultural Company (Chowchilla Company) vs. 

 the Madera Canal and Irrigation Company. The action 

 was brought several years ago to determine defendant's 

 right, if any, to divert waters into its canal and to fix 

 the amount thereof and prevent defendant using an excess 

 of same. The lower court held that 250 cubic feet of 

 water flowing continuously per second would be sufficient 

 to irrigate the lands which have been irrigated by the 

 defendant. The Supreme Court held that evidence should 

 be given and a finding made on the question of the pre- 

 cise amount of water flowing continuously that is neces- 

 sary for the beneficial use of the riparian land that may 

 be reasonably appropriated for irrigation under the system 

 of the Madera Canal and Irrigation Company. Upon 

 these grounds a new trial was granted. 



At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the 

 East Riverside Water Company the following directors 

 were elected for the ensuing year: S. H. Herrick, John 

 Meharg, Nelson H. Twogood, J. E. Brown, H. O. Reed 

 and Oscar Ford. The report of the secretary of the com- 

 pany showed that a total of about 3,500 acres of land had 

 been served by the company with irrigating water during 

 1913, 1,000 acres of which were served from the two reser- 

 voirs which the system supplies. The assessment on 

 lands served by the company's zanjeros was $2 per acre, 

 and on the lands under the reservoirs, from which the 

 water was distributed by the owners thereof, $1.25 per 

 acre. 



The irrigationists of the Oakdale district have ex- 

 pressed their opposition to the proposed $300,000 issue 

 of bonds asked for by the directors for the completion 

 of the system. At a recent mass meeting of the citizens, 

 John Kaufman of Orange Blossom colony demanded the 

 resignation of the present board of directors and threat- 

 ened court proceedings for their removal. President John 

 Patterson responded for the board, refusing to resign. 

 The question of the bonds was brought before the meet- 

 ing by a motion that it be the sense of the meeting that 

 no more bonds be voted while the present board of 

 directors remain in charge. Notice was served upon the 

 meeting that a petition would be circulated, asking for 

 an election to vote on the $300,000 bond issue, as asked 

 by the board. It is claimed that the money will be needed 

 to complete laterals, in order to deliver watar to ranchers. 



Alleging that they have been damaged to the extent 

 of $25,000, W. R. Jacobs and C. L. Flack, Los Angeles 

 capitalists, have filed a complaint charging that J. A. 

 Aggeler, Ralph Cole and Ralph P. Lane, who control 

 reclamation district No. 684, have been guilty of gross 



negligence in the management of the district. The plain- 

 tiffs claim that tj^ey purchased and installed at great 

 expense to themselves and other owners in the district, 

 machinery, materials and reclamation equipment, and say 

 that, owing to the slope in El Dorado canal in the dis- 

 trict, water flowed over its banks, and has been doing so 

 for about four years, and that now the lands of the 

 plaintiffs have been submerged and water has seeped 

 through the soil and brought the alkali to the surface. 



Dam "H," the largest of several dams surrounding 

 the new Davis reservoir of the Turlock irrigation sys- 

 tem, has been completed at a cost of $35,753. It has been 

 constructed along the north side of the reservoir, near 

 the outlet gate. The crest length of the dam is 857.8 

 feet; maximum height, 29.5 feet to top of parapet; height 

 to water surface, 25 feet; height above water surface, 

 4.5 feet; height of concrete parapet above dam, 18 inches; 

 yardage in dam, 43,319 cubic yards; concrete face area, 

 61,182.9 square feet. The reservoir will have a storage 

 capacity of 48,740 square feet. The maximum depth of 

 water will be 30 feet and the average depth 14.92 fet. 



Representatives of reclamation district No. 1500, which 

 is known as the Armour project, have submitted the 

 formal plans for the reclamation of the district to the 

 Yuba county supervisors, and have asked the board to 

 appoint three commissioners for the purpose of making 

 an assessment against the lands to be benefited, to defray 

 expenses. The total cost is estimated at $3,331,695, or an 

 average of about $50 per acre. It is estimated that the 

 work will require two years of dredging. 



J. J. and P. H. Mahoney of San Francisco have pur- 

 chased 1,120 acres of land, known as the Siem tract, the 

 consideration being $100,000. The land lies nine miles 

 south of Modesto, in the Turlock irrigation district. The 

 land is partly planted to alfalfa. 



At a meeting of the ranch owners who are interested 

 in the new irrigation project affecting land in the vicinity 

 of Byron, it was reported that owners of 60,000 acres 

 of land in eastern Contra Costa county had signified their 

 willingness to enter into the project, and it is believed 

 that with this as a starter, many land owners will soon 

 fall into line, until the entire farming district in and 

 around Byron will be concerned with the organization 

 of the irrigation system. 



At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the 

 Pereira Farms Corporation the following officers were 

 elected for the ensuing year: E. F. Reichman of Fort 

 Jones, president; E. V. Pereira, Fort Jones, vice-presi- 

 dent; Arthur Simon of Montague, secretary and treas- 

 urer: K. Collier of Ureka and Joseph Pereira, directors. 

 The company was organized a few months ago with a 

 capital of $250,000, of which $15,000 was paid up. Fort 

 Jones is the principal place of business. The purpose 

 of the company is to irrigate large tracts of land in 

 western Siskiyou county and to build ditches and reser- 

 voirs. It is the intention of the company to subdivide and 

 sell land after the irrigation system is constructed. 



COLORADO. 



An experimental pumping plant to water two or three 

 hundred acres on Virginia mesa, near De Beque, is to be 

 installed on the Granf river by the National Motor Cur- 

 rent Company, which has a device claimed to greatly in- 

 crease the capacity of the ordinary water power plant. 

 It is possible that experimental plants will be erected 

 on Hunter mesa and other places in the valley. 



The Farmers' Irrigation Company held its annual 

 meeting at Silt recently, for the election and organiza- 

 tion of the board of directors. The following were 

 elected: Judge H. G. Lunt of Colorado Springs, C. C. 

 Parks of Glenwood Springs, W. E. Tippett of Antlers, 

 S. H. Coulter of Antlers and R. F. Bowles of Silt. 



Farmers on the land surrounding Farmers Spur have 

 succeeded in inducing the Northern Colorado Power 

 Company to install a substation in that town, and work 

 on same will commence at once. The current supplied 



