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IKRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 

 BECENT WATER MEASUBEMENTS. 



Of exact data bearing on the question of water supply nothing is available except 

 a few measurements made on Willow Creek and Susan Kiver in the spring and summer 

 of 1899 and the summer of 1900. These are as follows: 



Stream gagings in Honey JUike Basin. 



Having considered the physical resources of the country, with special attention 

 to the water supply, we are now prepared to sketch what has been accomplished in 

 the way of their utilization and to observe how existing laws and customs have influ- 

 enced, for good or evil, the development of the irrigation industry in this tj'pical 

 vallej^ of the arid region. This involves the consideration of the institutions of Cali- 

 forn'a in so far as they relate to irrigation, since the Honey Lake Basin is governed 

 by the statutes of the State to which it belongs. 



APPROPRIATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 



The great fabric of the California irrigation industry rests upon a slender foun- 

 dation of organic law. This is supported by a considerable body of judicial decisions 

 which have grown up during the past half century and which, though often vague 

 ai]d conflicting, have; contri})uted much that is vital to this side of the economic life 

 of the people. In .sutjsequont pages we shall see the sources of these laws and of 



