228 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



Under the assumption which I have made, it is possible to increase, through 

 storage of flood waters, the irrigable lands on the streams mentioned, as follows: 



Of course, in this computation we have taken no account of the loss of water 

 from percolation into the soil, or by evaporation in storage reservoirs; but this would 

 be relatively small in amount. 



APPROPRIATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 



The right to the use of water from streams in California may inhere in the 

 riparian proprietor or may be acquired by complying with the statutes of the State 

 for the appropriation of water. Rights to water acquired under the civil, Spanish, 

 or Mexican laws before California came under the control of the United States are 

 guaranteed and protected to the fullest extent. Appropriations of water must be for 

 a beneficial purpose. 



The method of appropriating water as described in the statutes is as follows: 



Sec. 1415. A person desiring to appropriate water must post a notice, in writing, in a conspicuous 

 place at the point of intended diversion, stating tlierein: 



(1) That he claims the water there flowing to the extent of (giving the number) inches measured 

 under a 4-inch pressure. 



(2) The purpose for which he claims it, and the place of intended use. 



(3) The means by which he intends to divert it, and the size of the flume, ditch, pipe, or aqueduct 

 in which he intends to divert it. 



A copy of the notice must, within ten days after it is posted, be recorded in the office of the 

 recorder of the county in which it is posted. 



In order to determine the amount of water "filed on" and appropriated from 

 San Joaquin River, Fresno River, and Chowchilla Creek, respectively, I studied the 

 records of water claims filed in the offices of the county recorders of Fresno, Madera, 

 and Merced counties, first having ascertained that those were the onh' counties in 

 which water for irrigation was claimed by appropriate rs from these streams; and 

 also made diligent inquiry among irrigators and old residents interested and well 

 informed as to irrigation matters. I found filings on water made as far back aslSoT. 

 These verj' earh* claims were usually for water to be used in mining and milling ores, 

 and were made at points in the mountainous regions around the sources of the San 

 J<)a<iuin. These early records were often verj^ indefinite both as to the location of 

 claims and the amount of water appropriated; but probabh' in the ordinary case the 

 water claimed was, after use, turned back into the stream. It would have been 

 practically impossible, however, at a later date for another person to decide upon 

 either the validity of the claim or the' locality in which it was made, owing to the 

 loosene.ss of the description. 



