IRRIGATION FROM THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER. 



By Frank Socle, 

 Professor of CM Engineering in the University of California. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is now admitted by practically all intelligent citizens of California who have 

 considered the matter that the subject of irrigation is the most important one ever 

 brought forward for the consideration of all our people. They acknowledge, as a 

 vital fact, that upon the complete development of her agricultural and horticultural 

 capabilities must be founded her greatest and most enduring prosperity. The 

 discoveiy of gold or petroleum may give to a State' a feverish or fitful impetus; but 

 her permanent position must ever be dependent upon the character and quantity of 

 the products of her soil and her facilities for obtaining for them a good market. 

 And when, as in every arid or semiarid region, the character and quantity of the soil 

 products are directly dependent upon the application of water by irrigation, the 

 development and conservation of the supph' of this water is a vital consideration. 

 As the water supply is found in the streams, they must be skillfully husbanded, and 

 the forests, their birthplace, carefullj^ preserved, if the lands cultivated are to attain 

 their possible fertility and productiveness. 



The forests and waters once conserved, both should be administered in the 

 manner contributing in the greatest degree to the benefit of all; which is siniph* 

 sa3'ing in the wisest and most economical manner. In California, as elsewhere, the 

 projector of an irrigation enterprise should be made to feel secure in the possession 

 of his water rights previous to expending his energies and fortune in such system. 

 He should be able to hold as certain title to the use of the water for a beneficial 

 purpose as is held to the land or propert\^ on which the water is used. Any doubt 

 or uncertaintj' on this point affecting either jeopardizes both, for in many cases 

 without water the land is worthless. If a capitalist believes that in embarking upon 

 an irrigation venture he is buying a tedious and expensive lawsuit he is likely to seek 

 other investment for his capital; and if a farmer be sure that every attempt to bring 

 water upon his land will be met by some obscure claim of previous appropriation or 

 ownership he will probabh' purchase a farm in .some other locality. 



In California, unfortunately, bj^ a legal "■ tide-rip" between the riparian 

 principle, brought over with the common law of England, and the right of 

 appropriation of water established bj' our gold seekers and afterwards embodied in 

 the civil code of our State, a stream of litigation, tempestuous and baflBdng to 

 enterprise, was injected into our irrigation sea, bringing to the surface a great 

 mass of verv unpleasant matter. 



215 



