IRRIGATION FROM SAN JOAQUIN EIVEE. 247 



THE ALISO CANAL. 



This canal belongs to Miller & Lux. Its water is used exclusively for the 

 iriigation of wild grasses on lands belonging to that corporation. It has no dam or 

 headgate; the bottom of the canal at its head was made lower than the bed of the 

 San Joaquin, so that no dam or weir is necessary. Construction was begun in 1899, 

 and the canal is not j^et finished. It diverts water from the right bank of the river, 

 in sec. 17, T. 13 S., R. 16 E., from which point it has been completed for a distance 

 of 6 miles. It serves about 3,000 acres. 



THE CHOWCHIIXA CANAL. 



This canal is the property of the California Pastoral and Agricultural Company 

 and Miller & Lux, and irrigates their lands, principally for the production of alfalfa, 

 cereals, and wild grasses, and for the pasturage of cattle. It heads below Aliso Canal, 

 in sec. 30, T. 13 S., K. 16 E., and uses Lone Willow Slough for the first 3 miles from 

 the river. The length of the main canal is about 24 miles, with 14 miles of branches. 

 The maximum capacity of the main canal is 120 cubic feet per second, and it serves 

 on an average 8,380 acres each year. The canal was built in 1872, at a cost of 

 ^120,000. No water is sold from this canal. It is in use throughout the year, 

 excepting sometimes in August and September, when water is not available. This 

 companj' made no formal appropriation of water, but holds its right by constant use 

 since 1872. It is now in litigation with George D. Bliss and George D. Bliss, jr. 

 (See PI. XXIII.) 



THE BLYTH CANAL. 



This canal is still farther down the river, on the same bank. It is a new 

 construction, made in 1897. It has no dam or weir for diversion, and takes water 

 from the river onh- in its highest stages. . It is used exclusively to irrigate wild grass 

 lands on Chowchilla Ranch, and is the property of the California Pastoral and 

 Agricultural Company. It carries 400 cubic feet of water per second for 0.75 of a 

 mile, and discharges it into the dry trough of the Fresno, where, bj' means of a series 

 of six strong check levees, 4 to 6 feet high and 1 mile apart, the water is spread over 

 the adjacent plains. About 9,000 acres of wild grass lands thus irrigated furnish 

 pasturage for large herds of cattle. The cost of the canal was $2,400, and that of 

 the checks and levees in Fresno River was $25,000. 



THE EAST SIDE CANAL. 



This canal is sometimes called the Stevenson & Mitchell Canal. It diverts water 

 from San Joaquin River in sec. 16, T. 9, R. 12 E., about 14 miles southwest of the 

 town of Merced. Water is diverted by means of a temporary brush and sand-bag 

 dam. Its length is about 20 miles. It has a capacitA" of 2(X) cubic feet per second, 

 and irrigates a maximum area of 2,500 acres, mosth' in wild grasses, alfalfa, and 

 grains. It has six weirs along its length to govern the flow of the water, and also 36 

 waste gates to provide for the passage of drainage water that comes down the gulches 

 running across the line of the canal. The canal was built in 1887-88, at a cost of 

 $80,000. A suit over water rights between this company and the San Joaquin and 



