WATER APPROPRIATION FROM KINGS RIVER. 



269 



Based on the gagings of the U. S. Geological Survey, the estimated monthly 

 discharge of the river at Red Mountain, 1896 to October, 1900, has been as follows: 



Estimated monthly fow of Kings Biver at Red Mountain, 1896 to October, 1900. 



Month. 



January . . 

 February . 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August . . . 

 September 

 October. . . 

 November 

 December 



Ca. 

 per 



11 



1, 

 7 



4, 

 22, 

 18, 



St. 

 sec. 



,020 



140 



020 



,600 



100 



1,920 



i.6S0 



,212 



590 



510 



,076 



550 



1897. 



Cu.ft. 

 per sec. 



624 



6,344 



4,408 



9,380 



22,732 



10,580. 



4,040 



1,100 



480 



570 



2,520 



8,348 



1898. 



Cu.fl. 

 per tec. 



624 



1,170 



1,170 



7,820 



6,520 



3,280 



1,310 



400 



780 



728 



285 



1,450 



1899. 



Cu.ft. 

 per sec. 



513 



660 



2,165 



4,512 



3,568 



6,477 



1,411 



411 



215 



384 



Cu.ft. 

 per sec. 



1,706 



742 



1,802 



2,098 



5,844 



5,131 



1,229 



415 



301 



Mean. 

 1896-1900. 



Cu.fl. 

 per tec. 



2,897 



2,011 



3,313 



5,682 



12,513 



8,998 



2,934 



708 



473 



As the rating of a stream is more or less affected by changes in the configuration 

 of the river bottom, and no record of these changes is obtainable between gagings, 

 due allowance should be made for this element of uncertainty' in using figures from 

 the above tables. They are least reliable for the low-water period. 



Inspection of these figures and the great variations from year to year point in 

 the first place to the value of continuous records of this character. These records 

 show an abundant supply of water in ordinary years during the very period when 

 water is most needed by the irrigatoi* — April, May, and June. In these months the 

 ordinary flow is from 5,000 to 10,000 cubic feet per second. 



WATER STORAGE. 



Water has flowed so abundantly in Kings River that but little inquiry has been 

 made in reference to storage facilities in the rivers watershed; and there are no 

 storage reservoirs of note now in service, or under construction, on the river or any 

 of its tributaries. It is not within the proposed scope of this paper to deal with the 

 possibilities for storage which undoubtedly exists at various points in its watershed. 



CLAIMS TO WATER. 



There seems to be no question that under the statute of appropriation beneficial 

 use is to become the measure of the right acquired to use the water appropriated, 

 and that prioritj' of such beneficial use is to be duly recognized. 



Under the statute above mentioned, claims to water are posted at the points 

 where diversions from natural streams are to be made. The notice as recorded is 

 i-arely accompanied by any affidavit that it has actually been posted. The notice is 

 recorded in a book kept for the purpose at the county seat. If work commences 

 within sixty days after the posting of the notice and is diligenth' prosecuted to the 

 completion of the work, the date of posting the notice fixes the date of the taking of 

 the water. No facts, other than the intent of some person to take a certain 



