250 IKKIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



CANALS ON CHOWCHIIiLA CBEEK. 

 THE SIEEKA VISTA VINEYARD COMPANY. 



This company makes use of the bed of Chowchilla Creek, in the vicinity of 

 JVIinturn, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, as a storage reservoir, by means of 

 a dam built across the stream from bank to bank, and draws water from above it 

 into the canals on either side of the creek. These irrigate orchards, vineyards, and 

 alfalfa lands belonging to the company. 



BLISS CANAL. 



In a similar manner, lower down on the Chowchilla, George D. Bliss and George 

 D. Bliss, jr., use two dams in the bed of that stream to fill small canals and irrigate 

 several thousand acres of their ranch in that vicinit}-. They are engaged in litigation 

 with the California Pastoral and Agricultural Company over riparian rights on 

 Chowchilla Creek. This case is discussed under the head of litigation. 



DISTRIBUTION OF WATER AMONG CANALS. 



The waters of San Joaquin River are divided among the several canals, not by 

 mutual agreement among the owners or by direction and control of any board having 

 authorit}' or any State official, but simply bj' being taken under the law prescribing 

 the manner and method of appropriating waters for irrigation or other useful 

 pui-poses. 



No report of the progress of the proposed works nor of their completion is made 

 or recjuired subsequent to the time of recording the appropriation, nor of use of the 

 water claimed at any time. The facts in the case must be ascertained, if at all, by 

 private investigation. The difiiculty of obtaining such information can not be 

 appreciated except by one having made the attempt. This data is readilj^ obtained 

 from canal companies in actual operation, in so far as possessed by them, but is out 

 of sight and out of reach in the many cases where records of appropriation have been 

 made but the water not used. 



The law places no limit upon the quantity of water which may be claimed in this 

 manner. The statutes prescribing the method of appropriation lead to the condition 

 of " first come, first served," but this is tempered by the necessity of actual use for 

 some >)eneficial purpose and also by the vested rights of riparian owners. 



The Chowchilla Canal, owned by the California Pastoral and Agricultural 

 Company, has made no filing, but claims its rights by virtue of use since 1872. The 

 maximum intake of the Chowchilla Canal is 120 cubic feet per second. With this 

 exception all the canals and companies previously described base their claims for 

 water from the streams enumeratefl upon claims filed, and, in some instances, upon 

 riparian rights also. 



No record of appropriation of water for the Aliso Canal has been discovered by 

 the writer, and its claim is probably based upon the riparian rights of its owners. 

 Miller & Lux. 



The Blyth Canal has claimed for its use 1,(X)0 cubic feet (per second?) under 

 a 4-inch pressure. Its maximum intake is 400 cubic feet per second. 



The East Side Canal Company claims 345,000 miner's inches under a 4-inch press- 



