IRRIGATION PROBLEMS IN SALINAS VALLEY. 199 



R. R. Co. i: Dufour, 95 Gal., 615; Vineland Irr. Dis. >: Azusa Irr. Co., 126 Cal., 

 486.) There exists, therefore, to-day no legal protection for a man who has developed 

 a subsurface supply. 



DUTY OF WATER. 



If, as intimated above, an attempt is made to legalize subsurface filings, and 

 even for existing surface filings, it will be nece.ssary to determine what is "reason- 

 able use." In other words, the duty of water, i. e., the number of acres which 1 

 cubic foot per second flowing constantly for three hundred and sixty-five days in 

 the year can irrigate, must be determined. One cubic foot per second is equal to 

 31.536,000 cubic feet per 3'ear. If we cover 1 acre, or 43,560 square feet; with 

 1 foot of water, the above quantitj' is sufficient to cover 724 acres, or the duty of 1 cubic 

 foot per second would be said to be 724 acres. If we put 2 feet of water on the land, 

 the duty of 1 cubic foot per second will be onl\- 362 acres. It will at once be seen 

 that this "duty of 1 cubic foot per second" must be a varying quantit}-, depending 

 on the character of the soil, on climatic conditions, on kind of crop raised, on greater 

 or less skill of the irrigator, on length of time water has been applied for irrigation in 

 the vicinity, on subsurface drainage conditions, and many luore factors. Neverthe- 

 less it will be possible in any given section of the State to determine within practical 

 limits what may be considered the duty of 1 cubic foot per second of water in that 

 section. Investigations in the Salinas Valley during the past summer, reported below, 

 show that this duty runs all the way from 270 acres to 1,448 acres. Such a wide 

 range is not found in the southern part of the State, where necessity has compelled 

 an economical use of water. In Sweetwater Valley, Pomona, and Ontario the duty 

 of 1 cubic foot per second is about 500 acres, while for all of California it may average 

 not over 200 acres. A careful study of the factors mentioned above must be made to 

 determine for the Salinas Vallej' what constitutes for its irrigators a "reasonable 

 use" of water or "dutj'," which two terms ought to be synonymous from the 

 irrigator's standpoint. 



METHODS OF DISTKIBUTION. 



As irrigation on a large scale in the Salinas Valley is comparatively recent, 

 methods of distribution are still crude. No special care is taken in providing the 

 consumer with exactly the quantitj- of water his contract calls for. As yet the water 

 companies are extremeh' liberal in furnishing the "thorough" irrigation specified in 

 the ordinance fixing rates. The following ordinances and water contract show the 

 terms on which water is distributed in the Salinas Valley: 



ORDINAXCE NO. 294. 



AN ORDINANCE to regulate and establish rates to be charged for the use of water in the county of Monterey, State of 

 California, sold by the Soledad Land and Water Company, a corporation. 



The board of supervisors of Monterey County do ordain as follows: 



Section 1. The Soledad Land and Water Company, organized under the laws of the State of 

 California, is hereby authorized and permitted to charge and receive for the use of water pro\-ided by 

 and which may be sold by it in Monterey County, State of California, when not sold within the limits 

 of any incorporated city or town in said county, the following tariff rates and amounts: 



FOR IREIGATIOX. 



For each acre-inch of water measured at a weir in main ditch in canal nearest and above the land 

 to be irrigated, 161 cents; the land so irrigated to be first placed in a proper condition for irrigation 

 by the landowner under such reasonable rules therefor as may be adopted by said corporation. 



