WATER APPKOPEIATION FROM KINGS RIVER. 311 



feet wide several miles below and 50 wide feet in its lower sections. The narrow 

 section was cut to the full width in 1892. It was planned to carry water 3 feet deep. 

 The canal is owned by a company incorporated in September, 1885, whose capital 

 was fixed at $75,000, in 150 shares, of which 29.5 were issued. The cost of the original 

 canal works is reported to have been $33,120. The canal construction was for the 

 benefit of its stockholders and for the irrigation of their lands, and not for the sale 

 of water. In 1899 the canal was extended upstream about 2 miles to effect a better 

 control of the water at its head. This extension is reported to have cost $5,600. 

 Each share of stock entitles its holder to water for the irrigation of 320 acres. 

 After all stockholders have been supplied with water the surplus is sold at the rate 

 of 75 cents per acre per irrigation. About 9,400 acres are reported to be under 

 irrigation. Individual stockholders are allowed to dispose of the water to which they 

 are entitled. The rental price of water obtained from stockholders is generally from 

 $100 to $200 per share of stock per season. Canal expenses are met by levying 

 assessments upon the stock. The estimated cost of delivering water is 25 to 40 cents 

 per acre irrigated. The owners of the canal have been and are involved in litiga- 

 tion with the owners of the Stimson and the James canals and of the Laguna de Tache 

 Kancho. In litigation with the owners of the Stimson Canal the Crescent Canal was 

 awarded 213 cubic feet of water per second. It is reported that this awarding is 

 acknowledged in all agreements between the Crescent Canal owners and the owners of 

 the Laguna de Tache Rancho. The original regulator or canal headgate had a width 

 of 50 feet. It was a light, simple structure, weighted on top with a filling of earth. 

 The new headgate is well made of light timber. It is 40 feet wide, divided into 10 

 openings by vertical posts, openings between posts being closed with loose flash- 

 boards. The estimated capacity of the canal is about 406 cubic feet per second. 



STIMSON CANAL. : 



The Stimson Canal is owned by the Stimson Canal and Irrigation Company, 

 which was incorporated in February, 1891. The canal was constructed in 1889, at a 

 cost of about $23,000. This canal irrigates some of the reclaimed lands of Fresno 

 Swamp. It diverts water from one of the high-water channels flowing in a southerly 

 direction through this swamp, being the same channel — Bogg Slough— which supplies 

 water to Crescent Canal. (Fig. 16 C.) An agreement has been reached between the 

 two canal companies under which a partition of waters is effected at the head of the 

 Crescent Canal. Under this agreement the Crescent Canal receives 213 cubic feet per 

 second and the Stimson Canal 165 cubic feet per second. In an agreement with the 

 owners of the Laguna de Tache Rancho the right of the Stimson Canal to 185 cubic feet 

 per second is recognized. The area irrigated by the canal has been reported at 14,000 

 acres. Its capacity is about 120 cubic feet per second. The cost of canal mainte- 

 nance is reported to be about $650 per year. Water is apportioned to stockholders 

 or to persons who have rented stock in proportion to the number of shares held. 

 Surplus waters have at times been rented at the i-ate of 50 cents per acre per irriga- 

 tion. The estimated cost per acre of effecting a deliverj'^ of water to the land to be 

 irrigated is 25 to 40 cents. The structure in Bogg Slough at the head of Crescent 

 Canal serving to control the partition waters was built at the expense of the 

 Stimson Canal Company. It serves as a weir in the slough. Its width is 48 feet, and 



