WATER APPEOPBIATTON FKOM KINGS RIVER. 299 



westward of Hanford; and East Fork, which passes through the southern portion of 

 Hanford, and extends to points 4 miles farther south. The aggregate length of the 

 main canal and its principal branches is about 37 miles. This canal was constructed 

 bj' the Peoples Ditch Compan}- in 1873 and the following years. The first notice of 

 a claim to water was posted late in 1872. The company, formed by settlers who 

 wanted water for their own lands, was finally incorporated in 1873. Its capital stock, 

 originally fixed at $10,000, was soon increased to $35,000, and later to $100,000. The 

 first cost o* the canal was about $50,000 to $60,000. The total cost of canal construc- 

 tion and annual expense accounts had reached $120,000 in 1881. .\bout $4,000 to 

 $6,000 is annuallj- expended on the dam. The total annual expenditure for manage- 

 ment, maintenance, and repairs is about $10,000. 



Of the 100 shares into which the company's capital stock is divided about one- 

 third have reverted to the coi-poration. The remaining shares are in the hands of 

 irrigators, to whom water is delivered in amounts proportional to their holdings of 

 stock. The stockholders are permitted to sell the water to which the}' are entitled, 

 and to ask for its delivery through anj' of the canal branches. Its use is not restricted, 

 except for the season, to any particular tract of land. The delivery of water to 

 irrigators is usually through gates 1 to 4 feet wide. It is discharged under pressure, 

 the endeavor being to make amounts delivered proportional to stock which it repre- 

 sents without an}' attempt at actual measurement. A canal superintendent, with 

 necesssar\- assistants, has charge of the deliver}- of water. Its equitable distribution 

 depends largeh' on the judgment of the canal superintendent. 



During the years 1883 and 1884 the experiment was tried of selling water to 

 stockholders at $200 per share of stock per year; to those not holding stock an 

 equivalent quantitj- at $300 per year, but it did not prove satisfactory. -All stock- 

 holders are assessed to meet the annual expenses. The area of land actually irrigated 

 or benefited by the water of this canal is about 25,000 acres. 



MUSSEL SLOUGH DITCH. 



This canal, which is now out of service, took its name from one of the delta chan- 

 nels of Kings River, which has been utilized for the distribution of water. The canal, 

 unlike the other canals of the Kings River delta, was constructed for speculative pur- 

 poses. It was proposed to turn a large volume of water from the river into the slough 

 and to derive a revenue from its sale to irrigators. The head of the canal was on 

 the south side of Kings River, about 7 miles below the head of the Peoples Ditch. A 

 narrow cut, the original bed width of which was about 10 feet, was made from that 

 point southerly and thence southwesterly along the upper portion of the channel of 

 Mussel Slough. The bottom of this cut throughout a little more than a mile from 

 its head was made level, being at an elevation a little below that of the river bed at 

 the head of the canal. The upper portion of this cut, near the river, is over 14 feet 

 in depth. As the canal leaves the river it grows wider, and at about 3 miles from its 

 head the natural channel of Mussel Slough afforded ample capacity for its waters. 



Mussel Slough and its principal bi-anches. Sand Slough and Lone Oak Slough, have 

 a general southwesterlj- course through the delta lands, passing to the west of Han- 

 ford and extending to the high-water line of Tulare Lake. The canal is now out of 

 service and was hot in use for three years preceding 1896. Its head was closed with 



