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Judge Works' Attack on Riverside.
The Riverside Press takes up the
water question as raised by the
Judge Works Bill, in a very forceful
manner as follows:
In the somewhat lengthy, and it
must be admitted, not altogether good
tempered, statement which Judge
Works has made in defense of his ir
rigation bill, lie takes occasion to
single out Riverside and the River
side Water company for a special
attack. If the people of Riverside
needed any argument that the bill
ought to be defeated, the statements
which Judge Works makes in Ins
pamphlet, which he has had printed
and circulated among the members
of the legislature, will certainly con
vince them. A portion of this state
ment was published in the Press of
Saturday and we make the following
brief extract at this time to aei'V'3 as
a text for this editorial:
One inch of water to four acres of
land is a wanton and useless waste
of at least half of the water. The
Riverside Water company has no
right any more than a p'r)«.'<il9 citizen
would have, to waste this large
quantity of water, and thus rob others
of its use.
Now this kind of a charge ought to
arouse every irrigator in Riverside to
an appreciation of the dangers which
threaten this community if this bill
should become a law. Judge Works
VI hW OK THE EASTERN PORTION OK TOWN OF IMI'ERIAL TAKEN FROM THE ROOF OF THfl COMPANY'S HRICK BLOCK.
stated in his talk before the meeting
held in Riverside to protest against
this bill that if we were using too
much water, it ought to be taken
away from us; and in this pamphlet
from which we quote above, he makes
it clear that be believes we are using
too much water ami that we ought
to be deprived of some of it.
How do the orange growers of
Riverside enjoy the prospect of a law
whose author admits that it would set
machinery in operation which might
deprive us of a portion of the water
supply which we have secured by
years of effort and by enormous ex
penditures of money? We have fought
out our right to this supply in the
courts and by years of practical ex
perience lmvo demonstrated the
amount that our groves need. Now
Judge Works comes along and tells
us that we do not know how much
water wo need to use. that we are
wasting a portion of our supply and
that a law ought to bo passed that
will make it possible for somebody
to take this surplus away from us.
That seems to be a fair interpre
tation to put on his statements.
It is evident in the first place that
Judge Works knows nothing about
the system of distribution of water
under the canals of the Riverside
Water company. It is true that the
company is a ''mutual" affair, in a
sense that its stock is owned by the
irrigators, and its management is in
their hands. Hut the water which it
owns is not apportioned out among
the stockholders pro rata, or acto.d
ing to the acreage represented. The
water is sold; and both rates for ir
rigation and for domestic purposes
are fixed by the City Trustees. The
rate for irrigation is 15 cents an inch,
and the irrigator buys the number of
inches he needs for irrigation and
pays down the money for it when
he puts in his order.
Now does it stand to reason that he
is going to pay for water that he does
not need? Would a man buy sugar
or Hour, for instance, that he intends
to throw away? It is true that 15
cents an inch is a low price for irri
gating water, but no man is going to
pay even that for it unless he need i
it and will use it.
We have been growing oranges
here in Riverside for the past 30
years, and by many experiments and
long experience have learned the
amount of water which we need for
the best results in orange growing.
Young groves of course, require less
water than groves in full bearing, and
the character of our soil varies in
different parts of the valley, so that
some orange trees need less water
than others of the same age. But we
think we are entitled to the credit
of knowing how much we do need,
and' as we have to pay for every inch
we do use, it is not likely that we
shall indulge in extensive purchases
of water we do not need. Whenever
an inch to four acres is used, it is
because our experience has demon
strated the necessity of the use of
that much water to produce the best
results, in growing oranges, alfalfa
or anything that we may produce.
And far from having surplus water
that we are wasting, the Riverside
Water company, the Gage Canal com
pany and any other companies which
water lands in Riverside valley, are
constantly developing water to meet
the demands of new orchards and of
orchards already bearing as they be
come older, and to offset the diminu
tion in some sources of supply clue to
drought. Large sums of money are
spent every year for this develop
ment. Is it likely that the stock
holders of these companies would go
down into their pockets to pay for
these costly developments unless tho
water was needed?
Judge Works' attack on Riverside
r/ight to be a note of warning to all
the irrigators of Southern California.
Ho virtually serves notice on water
users of this part of the St - ite that
his bill will make possible not only
expensive and annoying litigation,
but will open the door for specultors
to come in and lay claim to the water
which is now ours, which is as vital
•to us as the land itself, and
which is really the most essential
and important agricultural right
which we possess. Is it strange,
therefore, that a unanimous and in
dignant protest against the bill goes
up from Southern California?
IMPERIAL PRESS
Irrigation Facts.
The acceptance by Congress of the
principle of Federal aid in the con
struction of irrigation works in the
Western States has given a great im
petus to every industry in that £ec
tion. The people of the East aie just
beginning to realize the opportunities
offered in the territory to' be opened
vp 1 . As the proposition develops a
tide of immigration will inevitably sat
in, and this region will become one of
the most populous and prosperous in
the country. With large areas of re
claimable land, California especially
will be benefited by the measure,
writes the special Washington cor
respondent of the San Francisco
Chronicle.
The actual work of surveying, locat
ing and constructing reservoirs and
other irrigation works will be done by
the Geological Survey. In order to
obtain a better understanding of the
present extent of irrigation, the loca
tion of the areas irrigated, and to gain
other information useful in this work,
the Fifty-seventh Congress author
ized the Director of the Census to
bring down to date the irrigation sta
tistics obtained in 1900 by that of
fice. Letters of inquiry and schedules
are now being sent out to secure the
necessary information. All interested
in irrigation should answer as fully
and as promptly as possible any in
quiries they may receive, so that the
merits of the various sections of the
country may become known. Irriga
tors who do not receive blanks within
a reasonable time should notify the
Census Office at Washington and they
will be supplied.
It is interesting to note in this con
nection how much it will mean to the
country at large to have the arid lands
of the West reclaimed. According to
the census of 1!)00 the total improvad
farm area of the United States was
414,800.000 acres. It is consei vatively
estimated that tne reclaimab!e aiea is
rot less than 50.000,000 acres. Its
reclamation, therefore, will add nearly
one-eighth to the actual crop-produc
ing area of the country, and will ex
ceed by a liberal margin the tillable
land of all the States, excepting New
York, on the Atlantic const from
.Maine to Florida. Allowing forty
acres the average size of irrigated
farms, or a little less than ore-fourth
the number in the United States in
1000. The occupants of these farms
will add directly to the population
6,250,000, and indirectly, in accom
panying mercantile, professional,
manufacturing and industrial classes,
at least :i, 125,000 more, or a total In
crease in the population of the United
States of 0,375,000, or nearly 12 j per
cent.
The total value of all the farms in
1000, including all improvements ex
ceot buildings, was $13.1 15,000.000. At
$42.50 per acre, the average value of
irrigated lard, the 50,000,000 acres to
be reclaimed, will add to the value of
firm lard $1,250,000,000. If building'
I are included the value will be in
! creased $775,000,000, while the aug
! merited wealth through railroads,
.cities, mills and factories is beyond
estimation.
The annual value of all the farm
p.oducts in 1900 was $4,.i7U,000,000.
The average value per acre of pioducts
of irrigated lands was $14.81. At this
rate the area to be reclaimed will add
products worth $740,500,000, an addi
tion of nearly one-sixth to the life
sustaining powers of the country.
The number of irrigating ditches?
and canals in operation in the United
States exceeds 20,000 and their com
bined, length is not less than 50,000
miles. If joined end to end they would
reach twice around the world. Formed
into one they would constitute a navi
gable canal such as the Erie, thirty
feet wide and five feet deep, extending
from San Francisco to New York, a
distance of over 3000 miles.
The figures of the last census show
that the works required to irrigate
7,263,273 acres cost $64,289,601, an
average of $8.85 per acre. At th's
rate the expenditure required to re
claim the area proposed would be at
least $450,000,000. After the govern
ment has performed its part there
will be no delay by the farmers in
carrying on the work. While the ini
tial expense is enormous, it is not
comparable with the value of the
crops which will be grown on the
lands reclaimed.
| The total cost of all the irrigation
works in use in the country is only
tin ee-f on rths the value of the crops
produced each year on irrigated lands.
On the Rio Colorado.
Needles, on the Colorado River,
which some people claim is the hot
test place in the United States, is
enjoying something like a miniature
boom. The river town now claims
a population of over 2000, which Is
constantly growing. There are twenty
four houses in course of construction,
the railroad company has put in elec
tric lights, the streets are being oiled,
a new machine shop has been opened,
200 men are working for the govern
ment making an irrigation survey in
the Colorado River. Needles is likely,
in course of time, to become a place
of considerable importance. — Los An
geles Times.
As stated in a bulletin issued by the
United States Geological Survey, the
greatest opportunity for the reclama
tion of arid lands in California, and
perhaps in the entire Southwest, has
been found to lie in the utilization of
the waters of the Colorado river on
its adjacent lands in California and
Southern Arizona. As a result of an
investigation along this river, made
in January, 1902, by the hydrographie
branch of the United States Geologi
cal Survey, the extent of the alluvial
bottom land between Camp Mohave
and Yuina, was found to be 400,000
to 500,000 acres. — Yuma Sun.
