248 IRBIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



Kings River Canal and Irrigation Company and Miller & Lux. a corporation, is now 

 pending in the courts, and is discussed in this report under the head of litigation 

 (page 245). 



THE JAMES CANAL. 



The James Canal Companj- is the successor to the Entei-prise Canal and Irriga- 

 tion Company. Their canal is the upper one on the left or southern bank of San 

 Joaquin River, now in operation, and carries water upon the flat bottom lands of the 

 vallej' in the region between San Joaquin River and Fresno Slough and on the south 

 of the latter stream. It heads in San Joaquin River about 14 miles above its junction 

 with Fresno Slough, and receives water only during high stages of the river. The 

 main canal is 29 miles long and has 11 miles of branches. It carries 200 cubic feet 

 of water per second, and has served a maximum area of 42,650 acres in grain, alfafa, 

 and grasses. Construction began in 1888, and the canal is not yet completed. The 

 cost has been $35,000. (See PI. XXI.) This company is at px-esent involved in 

 litigation over water rights with the San Joaquin and Kings River Canal and Irriga- 

 tion Company and Miller & Lux, a corporation, under the name of the Enterprise 

 Canal and Land Company', and is enjoined by the court from making use of its canal. 

 This litigation has already- been discussed. 



THE IKRIGATION SYSTEM OF THE SAN JOAQUIN AND KINGS RIVEK CANAL AND IRRIGATION 



COMPANY. 



This is the largest irrigation system on the river. (PI. XXII.) It takes its 

 water from that stream and from Fresno Slough, and by means of them supplies water 

 to the other canals of the sj'stem lower down the vallej', namely, the Outside Canal, 

 the Parallel Canal, and the Dos Palos Colony Canal, and their branches. Just below 

 the headgate of the "Old Canal" a fine new weir of the latest type has recently been 

 constructed. On its southerh' end is a gate or falling dam, which can be lowered flat 

 on the bottom of the stream, thus permitting the passage of boats up and down the 

 river. (PI. XXI). Some such arrangement is required, as the stream has been declared 

 by the United States a navigable stream far above this point. The old, or main canal, 

 was originally constructed with the idea of using it for navigation as well as for irri- 

 gation, but this stream was afterwards abandoned on the ground of expense of con- 

 straction and opei^ation. The main canal, built in 1872, heads in San Joaquin River 

 at its junction with Fresno Slough (PI. XXI), and follows down the valley on the west 

 side of the river, for a distance of 76 miles, to a point opposite Westley, in Stanislaus 

 County. The canal has a bottom width of 50 feet, a maximum depth of 6 feet, and 

 a grade of 1 foot per mile. Its estimated capacity is 900 culnc feet per second. 

 China Slough Canal diverts water from Fresno Slough about 1.5 miles above the head 

 of the main canal (PI. XXI), and empties into the main canal near its head. This canal 

 has about the same dimensions as the main canal. It was constructed in 1897-98. 

 Outside Canal takes water from the main canal on the west side about 2.5 miles 

 below its h(>ad, and practically parallels the main canal, at a distance of about 1 mile, 

 for 37 miles down the valley, to Los Banos Creek. It was constructed in 1896-97. 

 Its >)ottom width is 50 feet, its depth 5 feet, and its grade 1 foot to 3 miles. The 

 capacity is 350 cubic feet per second. Parallel Canal is taken out of the east bank 



