292 • IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



Switch Canal. Its course is westerly for nearly half a mile, directly toward the north- 

 western margin of Centerville Bottoms. Its second half mile has a southwesterly 

 direction, along the slope from the higher plains to the bottoms; thence on the higher 

 level it holds a course southwesterly and southerly for about 8 miles, practically par- 

 allel with the bluff 20 to 30 feet high, which drops from the valley plain to Center- 

 ville Bottoms. This portion of the canal is frequently within a few rods of the edge 

 of the bluff, and is rarely more than half a mile distant therefrom. 



About 9 miles below its head the canal is separated into a number of branches 

 which radiate throughout the district westward from Kings River below the Narrows, 

 extending southeastward to lands east and south of Sanders, southward to the vicinity 

 of Kingsburg, and southwestward beyond Selma and well into the Wildflower country. 



The main canal has irregular dimensions, its bed width being generally about 30 

 to 3.5 feet. It has been allowed to cut deep into the friable surface soils in the upper 

 sections of its course, where but little attempt has been made to reduce its gradient 

 below that of the natural surface of the ground. The length of the main canal is 

 about 18 miles. The length of its three principal branches is reported at about 26 

 miles. 



The diversion from the river is effected by means of a brush and cobblestone 

 dam, in which a small gate serves as wasteway and sand sluice. (Fig. 13 B.) The 

 canal regulator is close to the river and is of a type very common on Kings River 

 canals. Three rows of posts rising from a plank floor extend across the canal from 

 one bulkhead wall to the other. They support a platform loaded with cobbles and 

 gravel to give stability to the structure. The spaces between the upper posts are 

 closed by means of vertically sliding gates, each of which has a stem extending above 

 the platform, to which power is applied when the gate is to be opened or closed. 

 The cost of the regulator was about $1,000. The first cost of the canal was about 

 $35,000. 



This canal was constructed in 1877 and 1878. It was built by a company organ- 

 ized by fanners who owned lands near Kingsburg and Selma. The capital stock of 

 the corporation which they fonned was originally fixed at $12,500, but was subse- 

 quently increased to $35,000, being divided into 50 shares. The upper 2 miles of 

 the canal was constructed by day labor. The rest of the main canal was divided 

 into .sections, each of which represented one share of stock, and was assigned to some 

 stockholder, who was required to complete it. A few unlimited, imassessable rights 

 to water from the canal have been granted to settlers near Centerville in considera- 

 tion of rights of way. Each stockholder is entitled to the delivery of a proportional 

 part of the water remaining available for distribution; but each stockholder, or the 

 coiporation when in possession of any shares of stock, ma}^ lease the shares. The 

 price of a share per month in 1882 was $6. Shares were at that time valued at about 

 $1,500. Each share of stock is supposed to represent "3 feet of water;" an expres- 

 sion of quantit}' which seems as vague as the amount named in the franchise of the 

 company, "150 cubic feet of water under a 4-inch pressure." In fact, however, 

 each share of stock entitled its holder to a proportional part of the water, varjnng 

 somewhat according to the number of shares in actual use, but not in excess of three 

 times the amount which would flow 4 inches deep over a clear overfall 12 inches 

 long. Water is apportioned on the judgment of a canal superintendent. When 



