Cost of Irrigation Water in California

Excerpts from the Introduction: In 1923 a field study of the cost of water to irrigators under various types of irrigation enterprises in California was made by the Division of Agricultural Engineering, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station, and the State of California Department of Public Works. The principal irrigation enterprises of the State were visited for the purpose of obtaining cost data. The information thus obtained was compiled and issued as Bulletin No. 8, "Cost of Water to Irrigators in California.” In 1930 a more intensive survey was made and the results were published as Bulletin No. 36, “Cost of Irrigation Water in California.” It is the object of this report to present the essential data given in these bulletins, since they are now out of print. In California the following types of enterprises furnish irrigation water: public utilities, contract companies, irrigation districts, mutual water companies, individuals, partnerships, associations, private companies, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, U. S. Indian Service, water works districts, municipal improvement districts, and reclamation districts. However, for the purpose of this report, most of the data collected may be grouped in four classes: Public utilities, mutual water companies, irrigation districts, and farm pumping plants.