Irrigation Resources of California and Their Utilization

Excerpts from p. 588 of Vol. XXIX, 1913, of the Experiment Station Record: This report is a summary of reports prepared in cooperation with the Conservation Commission of the State of California and other state agencies as follows: Irrigation Resources of Northern, Central, and Southern California, by Frank Adams, S. T. Harding, R. D. Robertson, and C. E. Tait, respectively; and the use of water in 1912 for irrigation in Shasta Valley, by N. M. Stover; from Feather River, by R. V. Meikle; from east side tributaries of San Joaquin River, by J. T. Kingdon; from San Joaquin River, by Harry Barnes; in Santa Clara Valley, by R. L Egenhof; from Santa Clara River, by J. N. Irving; and in the Valley of Santa Ana River, by A. J. Salisbury, Jr. A summary of reports on the irrigation resources of California shows that the total area of irrigable agricultural land found in the zones of irrigation water supplies is 21,865,200 acres, of which 3,192,646 acres are already irrigated and 9,699,600 acres are estimated as the area to be ultimately irrigated. Northern California contains about 28.5 per cent of the total irrigable area, about 15 per cent of the total irrigated area, and about 35.5 per cent of the area it is estimated may ultimately be irrigated; the corresponding figures for central California being 44, 61, and 44.5 per cent, and for southern California 27.5, 24, and 20 per cent. The detailed studies of the use of water in 1912 in the typical sections show approximately the general duties now obtained in California with irrigation water.