118 IRKIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



The headwaters of the South Fork lie upon a broad granite surface, into which 

 the streams have not cut deeply until the rpain stream reaches a point 16 miles from 

 the summit, where it drops rapidly into a deeply eroded canyon. The eastern or 

 upper edge of the drainage area has a mean elevation of about the same as the other 

 forks, but the 5,000 feet contour is about 20 miles to the westward. This broad sur- 

 face has been denuded by glacial action, and the harder nature of the granite has not 

 permitted a deep soil to form. The area, therefore, is less heavily timbered than the 

 drainage areas of the other two forks, and its accessibility has caused it to suffer 

 more severe!}' from the ax of the lumberman. 



This topography gives a broader and more gently sloping surface than character- 

 izes the headwaters of other Sierra streams. This surface is marked by nearly one 

 hundred glacial lakelets and vallej'S, affording many excellent reservoirs which have 

 been or are being utilized. This elevated watershed receives a mean annual precipi- 

 tation of 60 inches, most of which is in the form of snow, the slow melting of which 

 maintains the discharge of tributaries until June or July. This feature and the 

 development of storage make the South Fork of the Yuba River a highly valuable and 

 reliable source of water supply. 



NATURE, ORIGIN, AND ACaUISITION OF WATER RIGHTS IN THE BASIN OF 



YUBA RIVER. 



AVater being a necessitj^ in all forms of mining operations, the right to take and 

 use it was recognized in the earliest stages of mining operations in 1849. 



At that time all lands, except those held under the Spanish and Mexican grants, 

 were part of the public domain, and riparian rights were bounded by the summits of 

 the ridges which divided and subdivided the various watersheds. The grants had 

 been made under the laws of Mexico and Spain, which laws did not contain nor rec- 

 ognize the riparian rights of English common law. The United States in the treaty 

 of Guadalupe- Hidalgo undertook to guarantee and to protect the owners of these 

 lands in the rights which they had acquired and enjoyed, but it did not endow these 

 lands with rights they did not have. The riparian rights attachable to the public 

 domain (if such rights were attachable) had the limits above set forth. 



Upon the discovery of gold in 1848 great numbers of miners settled upon the 



public domain, and finding no laws by which they could acquire either the mines or 



the water with which to operate them, proceeded to establish equitable regulations to 



supply the deficiency. In September, 1850, the State of California was admitted into 



the Union, and its legislature found in existence and application the customs, usages, 



and regulations of the miners, and these customs, usages, and regulations established 



in the various camps were the beginnings in the United States of the right to divert 



and use water. This right was first recognized by legislative action in April, 1851, 



as follows: 



Proof respecting mining claims. 



In a(;tions respecting mining claims, proof shall be admitted of the customs, usages, or regulations 

 established and in force at the bar or diggings, embracing such claims; and such customs, usages, or 

 regulations, when not in conflict with the constitution and laws of this State, shall govern the decision 

 of the action. (Stats. Cal., 18.51, p. 149.) 



These customs, u.sages, and regulations were in various forms, but one essential 

 and fundamental principle was embodied in all, namel}', the right to appropriate, 



