Pacific service magazine . development at that time,were very unsatisfactory. The installationof a steam plant was very expensive; fueloil had not come into general use and thesteaming was done with coal which hadto be shipped and reshipped to get it toits destination; all of which made it verydifficult and expensive to maintain satis-factory pumping facilities sufficient for thenecessities of the reclamations. The advent of electricity revolutionizedthe drainage system of the entire reclaimedterritory. In 1906 the first electric pump-ing plant was installed at Middle river onthe Old Jones tra
Pacific service magazine . development at that time,were very unsatisfactory. The installationof a steam plant was very expensive; fueloil had not come into general use and thesteaming was done with coal which hadto be shipped and reshipped to get it toits destination; all of which made it verydifficult and expensive to maintain satis-factory pumping facilities sufficient for thenecessities of the reclamations. The advent of electricity revolutionizedthe drainage system of the entire reclaimedterritory. In 1906 the first electric pump-ing plant was installed at Middle river onthe Old Jones tract, areclamation of 6300 acresbelonging to the RindgeLand and NavigationCompany. Power wasfurnished by the PacificGas and Electric Com-pany. Mr. Lee A. Phil-lips, who at that time wasmanager for the RindgeLand and NavigationCompany, keenly appreci-ated the need of betterpumping facilities in orderto get best results fromthe land, and the firstsystem of complete drain-Pescadero Reclamation District age on any reclamation in. Pacific Service Magazine 187 this territory, both in theway of ditches, canals andpumping machinery, wasinaugurated by him onthe Jones tract. This wasthe beginning, too, of thereal successes in the recla-mation of the lower levees were beingconstructed everywhere,and when it was foundthat electricity would in-sure efficient and amplepumping facilities thework of reclamation de-veloped very that time, practi-cally no other power hasbeen used for reclama-tion purposes anywherein the Delta region. To the south of the delta lands, thesituation was quite different. The lack ofwater had created a vast area of desertwaste; so, the pioneer here faced the prob-lem of applyingwater to theland. As grav-ity flow wasavailable only inrather limitedareas, pumpingplants electri-cally operatedwere locatedupon the banksof the riversand, under con-trol of irriga-tion districts, water was made avail-able to thousands of acres of land servedfrom a gold
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