310 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



river on the south and the Zalda Canal on the north marks the very flat summit 

 between Tulare Lake and Fresno Swamp. In the trough of the valley, near and to 

 the south of Summit Lake, the general elevation of the ground's surface on this sum- 

 mit, the lowest point on the border of Tulare Lake, is about 214 feet above mean sea 

 level. During the last high stage of the lake, in 1868, the depth of water over the 

 general surface of the country at this point was about 6 feet. 



The lands of the Laguna de Tache Rancho have always been so well watered that 

 the irrigation works which have been constructed may be regarded as serving pri- 

 marily to establish a convenient control of the water rather than as works intended 

 to increase the supply. To prevent excessive natural inundation it has been found 

 necessary to erect embankments along the river; also to construct numerous drain 

 ditches from low tracts into natural channels to facilitate drainage. The main irri- 

 gation canal supplies water to a large number of distributaries, frequently natural 

 channels, and these in turn to small irrigating ditches, usually 200 to 450 yards apart. 

 As the entire irrigation system lies within the limits of the rancho, there has been 

 less study of methods of controlling and distributing water than would have been the 

 case if a large number of consumers had to be supplied, and water measurement has 

 been entirely out of the question. 



The Laguna de Tache Rancho has within the last few j^ears become the property 

 of the same parties who control the Fresno Canal. The future of 'both properties 

 was kept in mind when the owners of the Grant sold Kings River water to the Sunset 

 Irrigation District, to be diverted, by way of Cole Slough into the enlarged Grant 

 Canal, thence across the Zalda Canal (North Fork) to a proposed reservoir near 

 Summit Lake. According to the terms of this agreement the district is given a right 

 of way and a reservoir site, and water is sold to it to the extent of 3,500 cubic feet 

 per second, subject to the prior rights of the owners of the rancho and of t^ie Fresno 

 Canal, to the extent of 8,000 cubic feet per second, and subject also to the proviso 

 that, for use on the ranch, 500 cubic feet per second may be taken out of the main 

 canal of the district. The price paid by the irrigation district was $250,000 in district 

 bonds, and the aggregate amount of land in reservoir sites and right of way for the 

 canal was not to exceed 2,200 acres. As Sunset Irrigation District has been declared 

 illegally organized, this agreement has lost its force and the bonds delivered have 

 lost their value. The owners of the Laguna de Tache Rancho have always strenu- 

 ously objected to the diversion of water from Kings River so long as their own needs 

 were not fully met. The many lawsuits instituted have led to agreements with the 

 various canal companies, particularly with those receiving their water supplies from 

 Murphy Slough. The agreement entered into with these canal owners led to the 

 formation of the Murphy Slough Association, which has already been referred to. 



CRESCENT CANAL. 



This canal was constructed in 1885 and 1886, and came into use in 1887 for the 

 irrigation of lands on the western edge of the extreme southern portion of Fresno 

 Swamp. The head of the canal is on the south side of North Fork, about a mile to 

 the north of Summit Lake. The canal, which is about 8 miles long, has a westerly 

 course for about 1.5 miles, thence northwesterly, following a grade line with a fall 

 of 6 inches to the mile. It was originally made 60 feet wide near its head; it was 2t 



