File:Pacific Gas and Electric magazine (1912) (14597464177).jpg

Identifier: pacificgaselectr41913paci (find matches)
Title: Pacific Gas and Electric magazine
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Subjects: Pacific Gas and Electric Company Electric utilities Public utilities
Publisher: (San Francisco, Calif.) : Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Contributing Library: San Francisco Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: San Francisco Public Library

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000 acres additional. This enlargementof the Bear River canal is made possiblethrough the increased water storage now inprocess of development at Lake Spaulding,and, connected with it, the Drum power-house development lower down stream. Itis proposed to pick up the waters as theyflow from the power-house and which, underordinary circumstances, would go to waste. An expenditure of some $600,000 is in-volved and the work of construction hasbeen going on since November. It is to bea quick job, for it must be completed bynext spring in time for the commencementof the irrigation season. So there are con-struction camps strung along the length ofthe canal, and the equipment includes some2300 men and four steam shovels, all work-ing at record speed. It might be well at this point to acquaintthe reader with something of the early his-tory of this canal system, which dates backto the pioneer days when California firstbegan to be settled by the miners. As every- 267 Pacific Service Magazine 1£
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Starting work on the big undertaking body knows, the first requirement after aplacer mining claim has been staked out iswater. The miners of the early days hada very insufficient supply of this, so that itwas possible to wash the gold-bearing soilonly during the period in which the naturalrun-off or surface water was available.There was a dry period of several monthswhen little or nothing could be done. So,in the winter of 1850-51 the hardy miner inhis search for gold conceived the idea ofbringing water from the snow-capped peaksof the Sierras to the gold deposits to befound in the gentle slopes and foothills be-low. That marked the beginning of what,when completed, will be one of the mostwonderful irrigation schemes in existence. The original Bear River canal began ata point opposite the town of Colfax andended west of the town of Auburn. Its con-struction was started in 1851, and waterwas delivered to Auburn and vicinity thefollowing year. The canal was built en-tirely by hand labor

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