IRRIGATION FROM SAN JOAQUIN RIVER. 249 



of the main canal 11 miles below its head and about 4 miles below Firebaugh. It 

 follows the line of the main canal on the east side for a distance of 27. 5 miles. It is 

 35 feet wide on the bottom, 4 feet deep, and has the same grade as the main canal — 

 1 foot per mile. Dos Palos Colony Canal, built in 1878, takes water from the main 

 canal on the east side 2 miles below the head of Parallel Canal. It is 11.04 miles 

 long, has a bottom width of 40 feet, depth 5 feet, and runs on a grade of 1 foot per 

 mile. It carries 790 cubic feet per second. Its water is distributed through four 

 branches, 20, 16, 16, and 10 feet wide on the bottom, respectiveh', and each having a 

 depth of 4 feet. The cost of the canal and its branches was $26,o<X>. The canals of 

 the San Joaquin and Kings River Canal and Irrigation Compau}- are used for the 

 irrigation of grain, alfalfa, and wild grasses. The cost of the entire system of canals 

 and branches was $1,167,805. The compan}' owns no lands other than its right of 

 way, and sells its water to the fanners along the valley, and principalh' to Miller & 

 Lux, who own the controlling interest in the company. 



In direct connection with the sj'stera Miller & Lux use Poso Slough, Temple 

 Slough, and Santa Rita Canal as means to take water from San Joaquin River to 

 irrigate their own ranches and pasture lands in the "delta district" below the old 

 canal, some 15 miles below its head. 



This compan3' and Miller & Lux have had, during the past few years, consid- 

 erable litigation over water rights on San Joaquin River and over riparian rights as 

 against rights bj- appropriation. 



This completes the list of canals inspected by the writer which take water from 

 the San Joaquin. 



Recently Fresno and other cities of the upper valley have advocated the con- 

 struction of a ship canal to follow in a general way the line of the river, Fresno 

 Slough, and the lowest line of the valley, past Fresno, toward Bakersfield. It is 

 said that the large canal companies have offered to cooperate in foi-warding this 

 scheme. Of course the United States Government would have a controlling voice 

 in this matter as far as any interference with the navigability of the San Joaquin is 

 concerned or affected. Nothing definite has as yet resulted from this proposition. 



CANALS ON FRESNO RIVEB. 



There is but one system of canals deriving its water from Fresno River, namely, 

 that owned bj- the Madera Canal and Irrigation Company. On this line, running 

 through hilh' and rocky country for a portion of its length, there are numerous rock 

 cuttings and many flumes. The canal is usually "in cut" or excavation, and its 

 structures are of the ordinary tj^pe. The company- makes use of the bed of the river 

 for a considerable distance as its main channel. The company irrigates the Adobe 

 Ranch, about 10 miles easterlj^ from the town of Madera, and some 10,000 or 15,000 

 acres of land in and near the Howard & Wilson Colony, southerly from the same 

 town. The canal was built in 1873-74. at a cost which has been capitalized at $400,000. 

 (See PI. XXIII.) 



This company is in litigation over water rights with the San Joaquin and Kings 

 River Canal and Irrigation Companj- and Miller & Lux, a coi-poration, and also with 

 John H. Hite, of Mariposa County. These cases are discussed under the head of 

 litigation. 



