290 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



1865. The canal was constructed southwesterly from a point near where the head of 

 the Kings River and Fresno Canal now is, about 2.5 miles, to Burns Slough. Thence 

 this slough was utilized for about a mile to a point a short distance below the Long 

 Cut, and thence the ditch was extended southwesterlj^ about 3 miles farther to lands 

 at and west of Centerville. The canal property was transferred to the Fresno Canal 

 and Irrigation Companj', in 1874, bj- those who had secured control of the stock, 

 and the opposing minority interests were finallj' placated by the issuance of per- 

 petual unassessable water rights in the newer canal to stockholders who owned 

 lands near Centerville. 



SWEEM DITCH. 



This ditch was never completed. Its construction was commenced in 1870 from 

 a point near the present head of the Fresno Canal, practicall}- on the alignment sub- 

 sequently adopted for that canal. Its purpose was to increase the delivery of water 

 into Burns Slough for the Centerville Ditch. It was sold before completion to the 

 parties who were at work on the Fresno Canal project, and within a few years it was 

 transformed into a large canal, as already explained. 



FOWI.ER SWITCH CANAL. 



The head of the Fowler Switch Canal is in Centerville Bottoms, about 100 yards 

 below the head of Fresno Canal. (See lig. 13 A.) Its course is southwesterly for 1.5 

 miles in Centerville Bottoms, thence westerly for 2 miles across the second bottoms 

 to near the channel of Lone Tree Creek, thence southwesterly 10 miles and southerly 

 5 miles to a point about midway between Fowler and Selma, thence southwesterly 5 

 miles, thence northwesterly into the district southward from the Washington Colons'. 

 The canal is said to have been built to carrj" 1,600 cubic feet per second. Its bed 

 width is about 45 feet, its depth variable. The gradient is very irregular, being that 

 of the natural surface of the ground in its upper sections, where quite firm hardpan 

 formation is relied upon to check excessive erosion of the canal bed. Near the lower 

 end of the canal it was given a fall of 1.92 feet to the mile. 



It was proposed to use no check weirs to reduce the fall, which for a short dis- 

 tance was as great as 12 feet to the mile, and to put lateral ditches at a lower elevation 

 than the main canal, so as to reduce the necessary structures to a minimum. It was 

 soon found, however, that weirs would be necessary at some points to check erosion 

 and at most points where water was to be diverted. 



Among the branches of the Fowler Switch Canal may be mentioned the Cleveland 

 Ditch, about 5 miles long, which delivers water to lands midway between Malaga and 

 Fowler; the Western Canal, which supplies water to lands adjacent to and immedi- 

 ately south of the Sierra Park and Washington Colony; the Grant Ditch, which has 

 a westerly course for 4 to 5 miles from near the end of the main canal; and the Elk- 

 horn Canal, which has a southwesterly course and delivers water to the western portion, 

 of the Wildflower region. The entire canal system gave promise of being one of 

 considerable importance to the prosperity of the district it commanded, but hopes 

 have not been fully realized. The canal has not been permitted to take river water 

 without protest, and unfavoi-able court decisions have thrown some doubt upon the 

 reliability of this canal as a source of supply. 



