330 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



uplifted range which projects like a great wing dam across the south side of the San 

 Fernando Valley, almost effecting a junction with the Verdugo Range on the east. 

 The reinaining gap, about 1 mile in width, is the only apparent outlet for the 

 drainage of the entire watershed of 500 square miles. The greatly contracted width 

 of the valle}' at the outlet naturally results in the rise of a considerable part of the 

 ground water, and the flow thus brought to the surface forms Los Angeles River. 



The San Fernando Plain extends some 12 miles north and south by 25 miles east 

 and west, covering an area of about 185 sc[uare miles. It rises gently from eleva- 

 tions of 500 to 700 feet along its southern edge to heights of 1,100 or 1,200 feet 

 along its northern border. Generally si)eak'ing, the soil of the valley is of excellent 

 quality, but here and there are seen the scars left by occasional torrents from the 

 surrounding mountains. Below the surface soil the bed of the valley is composed of 

 debris and detritus washed down from the surrounding mountains. The thickness 

 of this deposit is undetermined, but there is every reason to believe that it is of 

 enormous extent. Many wells have penetrated to depths of several hundred feet 

 without striking bed rock, one of them reaching to about 60 feet below sea level. 

 The sands and gravels filling this vast basin perform the office of a great storage 

 reservoir, conserving the otherwise wasted water of rainy seasons and equalizing 

 the flow not only throughout the year but from year to year. 



CLAIMS TO WATER ON LOS ANGELES RIVER. 



In California all documents relating to titles to water rights, like those affecting 

 real estate, are entered of record in the office of the county recorder of the county in 

 which the property is situated. An attempt to ascertain the status of water rights 

 along Los Angeles River disclosed some interesting but unsatisfactory conditions of 

 the public records in this count3^ Prior to August, 188S, water rights were embraced 

 in miscellaneous records, which term seems to have included almost everything except 

 deeds. It is found that there are 79 volumes of these miscellaneous records, whose 

 contents are indexed alphabetically by names of persons in 5 indexes. Detailed 

 search of the indexes discloses the fact that entries of water rights were made in 

 only 10 of the 79 volumes. These 10 volumes contain 1,1-17 water notices, which 

 are intermingled with all sorts of miscellaneous records. 



Since August, 1888, separate books have been devoted exclusively to records of 

 water claims. Of these there are to this date 5 volumes and 1 index, covering 1,420 

 pages, containing 2,727 entries. 



The magnitude of the task of examining the rights existing on any one stream 

 will be appreciated when it is known that in keeping water records in this State no 

 effort has been made to segregate them according to the different streams in the 

 county, to classify the claims according to the intended use of the water, or to 

 distinguish between the different classes of documents which may relate to the one 

 subject of water. Anything in writing offered for recoi'd is foi'thwith copied into 

 the already voluminous records of the county in chronological order of filing. The 

 only classification is the alphabetical index of names signed thereto. Notices of 

 appropriation are naturally the most numerous, and these are simply placed of record 

 without regard to locality or the use for which the water is claimed. No question 

 as to the existence of prior rights to the same water, the good faith of the claimant, 



