14 
SEEPAGE OR RETURN WATERS FROM IRRIGATION. 
expect that the high years of the river will tend to increase the 
amount of water that is applied, and likewise the amount of water 
that returns in the form of seepage. 
TABLE II. 
YEAR. 
Rainfall of 
Previous 
Calendar 
Year. 
Rainfall to 
Time of 
Gaging, 
first of 
Month. 
Rain 
During 
('urrent 
Month. 
Rain Immediately 
Before 
Gaging. 
Rain 
During 
Gaging. 
1884 . 
15.07 
1885. 
15.95 
1889. 
9.79 
10.88 
♦ 3.16 
0.34 
.09 
1890. 
14.48 
12.42 
0.70 
0.70-week before gaging 
• • • > 
1891. 
13.58 
14.43 
0.20 
0.19-3 weeks “ 
0 
1892. March. 
15.69 
1.89 
1.52 
0.83-week 
0 
1892, October. 
15.69 
13.94 
0.93 
None 
0 
1893. 
15.45 
6.28 
0.16 
None 
0 
1894, March. 
7.11 
0.85 
0.67 
None 
0 
1894, August. 
7.11 
9.17 
1.53 
.08 
0 
1894, October. 
... 
11.46 
T. 
None 
0 
1895. 
12.36 
16.60 
1.06 
None 
0 
In the measurement of August, 1894, irrigation was still being 
carried on quite extensively, especially for potatoes, the most of 
which are raised toward the lower end of the valley. At this 
measurement, it is" noticed that the total increase is greater than at 
any previous one, amounting to 118 cubic feet per second. This 
would seem to show either that a considerable portion of the water 
returns in a comparatively short time to the river, or that there is 
some waste which returns directly. During the past few years, 
there has been an active increase in the use of seepage water for 
irrigation by the construction of drainage ditches, which in some 
cases extend back a number of miles. The effect of this is in most 
cases to cause the water to be applied to the ground nearer the 
river than where it is cut, and thus the water is developed and 
hastened in its journey to the river. In some cases the ditches are con¬ 
structed and deliver the water directly to the river, so that the water 
returns sooner than it otherwise would. We should expect in con¬ 
sequence a greater development of the inflow during the period 
immediately succeeding irrigation, and less during the spring fol¬ 
lowing. 
NOTES ON THE MEASUREMENTS. 
§ 15. The first measurement of the river was made by Mr. E. 
S. Nettleton, when State Engineer, in 1885, with the aid of Hon. B. 
S. LaGrange, then Water Commissioner of this district. The 
measurement was made in October, 1885. 
This was at a time when most use of water for irrigation had 
ceased. A special attempt was made to get all ditches to shut their 
lieadgates for the period of the measurement, which had been done 
very generally by the ditches, so that the amount entering them 
was only the leakage that passed the gates. No account was made 
