(#166289) Land, water and power a history of the Turlock Irrigation District 1887-1987 by Alan M. Paterson. ALAN M. PATERSON.

Land, water and power a history of the Turlock Irrigation District 1887-1987 by Alan M. Paterson. Glendale, California: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1987. 23.5x15.2 cm, pp. [1-9] 10-12 [13-15] 16-420 [421-424: blank], 43 illustrations, 12 maps and charts, original brown cloth, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition. Issued as "Western Lands and Waters [Series] XIV." A detailed history of the Turlock Irrigation District, established in 1887 under the terms of the Wright Act, "rewritten in 1897 with the secure knowledge that its constitutionality was affirmed ... The first two districts created under the act [were] the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts ... Only nine of the fifty-two districts formed in California after 1887 were still around in 1915" (Cooper, p. 45). In the early twentieth century San Francisco, determined to break the monopoly of the Spring Valley Water Company, selected the Tuolumne River as a feasible source of water for the city. The principal reservoir site was to be Hetch Hetchy Valley, inside the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. A protracted battle ensued between San Francisco and the defenders of the valley and wilderness values. Among the contestants to the city's plan were the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts, partners (since 9 August 1890) in the development of the Tuolumne River, and the only irrigation districts with water rights on the river. "A great deal has been written about the Hetch Hetchy controversy, although little of it deals with the role of irrigation districts ... Essential to any understanding of the events leading up to the Raker Act is John R. Freeman, On the Proposed Use of a Portion of the Hetch Hetchy, Eleanor and Cherry Valleys ... for the Water Supply of San Francisco (San Francisco, 1912). The irrigation districts replied with the Report of H. S. Crowe, Engineer of Modesto Irrigation District and Burton Smith Engineer of Turlock Irrigation District in answer to reports on behalf of San Francisco ... , volume 1 (Turlock 1912)" (Paterson, 406). For a summary of the Hetch Hetchy controversy, see chapter 7, pp. [169]-192. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. Prospectus laid in. (#166288).

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