Los Banos Rotary Club History
Tells Of Panoche Canal Project

Atty. L. M. Linneman, of Dos Palos, Tuesday noon told members of the Los Banos Rotary Club something of the size and scope of the new Panoche Canal project, that will bring irrigation water from the Outside Canal to irrigate some 35,000 acres of rich agricultural land trying above the regular service district. The land, all under intense cultivation, is now irrigated by wells, of which some are now carrying so much mineral that it is injurious to the land.
Total estimated cost of the project will be in excess of $650,000, which includes construction of about 30 miles of main canals and 27 miles of subordinate canals, plus necessary pumps, weirs, etc.

As yet the land owners financing the project have no definite assurance from the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation that they will be granted a permanent contract for water, though they feel that in the ultimate development of the Central Valley Project and construction of the Delta-Mendota Canal there will be sufficient water to handle their needs.

For the present they are applying to the Bureau for a temporary contract which would provide for their needs from such surplus water as may be stored at Friant dam beyond the needs of irrigationists within the canal companies’ service area. To this end they are financing the cost of enlarging the Outside Canal from the Mendota pool to the intake of the Panoche canal system. With enlargement of this canal, the canal company will be able to transport such water as may be granted by the Bureau to the Panoche interests without interfering or threatening the flow of users within the regular service area.
The Panoche project has a capacity of 160 second-feet, and the water will be pushed upward for 180 feet through a series of seven lifts. Total annual requirement will be 90,000 acre-feet.

The speaker was introduced by program chairman D. Oliver Germino. Prior to introducing the speaker, Germino announced his program plan for the year and announced the three co-members of his committee as Mack Wheat, Frank Buck and J. L. Toscano. Each of the four will have charge of the programs for a month, alternating quarterly. Next Tuesday, Germino announced, Senator George J. Hatfield will be the speaker, bringing a resume of the last session of the state legislature and commenting particularly on the new Burns-Collier road bill and its benefits to this county.

Police Officer Allen Miller spoke briefly at the luncheon relative to the new Los Banos Athletic Club that is being organized here. He said the project is designed particularly to furnish healthful and beneficial recreation to the young men and boys of the community, and that it would be operated on a non-profit basis, with officers to be chosen from the membership. Miller himself will serve voluntarily in an advisory capacity. To be successful the project will entail the purchase of considerable equipment, Miller said, and the support and cooperation of all local service organizations and individuals is being solicited.

July 8, 1947

 

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