WATER APPROPRIATION FROM KINGS RIVER. 289 



obstruction, forcible measures, or temporarA- damage by floods or other accidents, but 

 that it shall use and employ all due diligence at all times in restoring and protecting 

 the flow of water in its canals. 



The structures on the canal do not deserve extended notice. They are all made 

 of timber. The original regulator ha.s been replaced by a second one, constructed 

 about 1884. It consists of a substantial framework of heavy timbers, spaces between 

 vertical posts being closed by vertical sliding gates. From the headgate an embank- 

 ment of cobblestones, gravel, and sand extends northward across Centerville Bottoms 

 to a connection with high land, and prevents destruction of the upper section of the 

 canal during freshets. The diversion of water into the head of the canal is effected 

 by means of a brush and cobblestone dam, the maintenance of which in the past has 

 not been expensive. Along the line of the canal, wherever necessary to prevent 

 excessive erosion or where required to turn water into a branch ditch, light timber 

 weirs are in use. Most of these consist of two side or bulkhead walls and a floor, 

 usually placed a little below the gi"ade of the canal, and a line of vertical posts sup- 

 ported by braces from below. Spaces between posts are closed to the desired height 

 either by fixed horizontal boarding or by movable drop timbers or boards. The 

 impression which the whole work gives is that of haphazard management, the result 

 of which is not, however, entireh' unsatisfactory. 



The control of the canal long ago passed out of the hands of Mr. Church, who 

 effected a profitable sale of the property. It is now managed by parties who also 

 own controlling interests in Kings River and Fresno Canal Companj', and who have 

 acquired the property known as the Laguna de Tache Rancho. 



Since the construction of the canal its capacity to divert and distribute water 

 has gradually been increased. It was probably not in excess of 500 cubic feet per 

 second in 1879, at which time approximate gagings were made by the Stat« engineer's 

 department, and the present capacity is about 1,000 cubic feet per second. A test of 

 the canal capacity under the most favorable conditions of flow, but at a time when 

 the branches of the canal were reported to be unprepared to receive the full volume 

 of water, was made in June of this year. The amount of flow was approximated at 

 1,100 cubic feet per second. During this test the water surface at the gaging station 

 rose 1 inch, showing that the canal had not reached a condition of permanent flow 

 and that the canal and its branches below the station had not been entirely filled 

 with water at the time the gaging commenced. The amount determined by this test 

 must, therefore, be assumed to be in excess of actual capacity. The area now cov- 

 ered by the so-called water rights, issued by the canal company, is about 160,000 

 acres. The area actually irrigated or benefited by the canal water could not be 

 ascei-tained with precision, but is thought to be about 70,000 acres. 



CENTERVILiLE DITCH. 



This is at present a branch of the Fresno Canal. It was constructed in 1868 and 

 1869 by settlers near Centerville (now Kings River). They organized a company 

 known as the Centerville Canal and Irrigation Company, which was incorporated in 

 August, 1868. This company seems to have been the successor in interest to all 

 rights acquired by some of the settlers, whose first steps to secure water wei'e taken in 



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