Page 340 - 1915, Springs of CA.

320 SPRINGS OF CALIFORNIA.

60° NE., and the rise of the water maybe determined largely by a
fault along the western face of the ridge. About 200 yards west of
the main springs a flow of perhaps half a gallon a minute has been
developed in a small bank and piped to a watering trough beside the
road.
Considerable agricultural land extends southwestward from the
springs, but the higher land eastward and the slopes to the west are
composed largely of barren knolls and dry washes.

TEXAS SPRINGS (INYO 20).
A large amount of slightly saline water rises in Texas Springs, near
the mouth of Furnace Creek, at the northeast edge of Death Valley.
The water has been used for irrigation on Furnace Creek ranch for
a number of years, and the springs have long formed a camping place
for desert travelers. The water apparently has an alluvial artesian
source, though it may be related to the rock structure along the
eastern side of Death Valley.

BLACKROCK SPUING (INYO 8).
Several large springs that rise along the western side of Owens
Valley are probably supplied by alluvial artesian water, which is
apparently forced to the surface by lava of relatively recent geologic
age that has flowed down into the valley from craters near by. Black-
rock Spring, which is the southernmost and largest, is 10 miles by
road north of Independence. The water rises in a pool 10 or 15 yards
in diameter, at the southern base of a low lava ridge, and flows east-
ward across the flat alluvial valley. The water has been used for
irrigating meadowland, but it is now a portion of the supply for the
Los Angeles aqueduct.1 Its temperature (56°) is said to be the same
as the mean annual temperature that is indicated by records covering
a period of 12 years at Independence. The normal flow of the spring
has been measured as 21 second-feet 2 (9,425 gallons a minute),
but it is said to decrease notably when the water level is raised by an
irrigation head gate. The following three analyses show wide varia-
tions in the apparent proportions of certain constituents but in general
indicate that the water contains little mineral matter in solution:
1 A gravity canal that conveys the water of Owens River 250 miles southward as a municipal supply for
the city of Los Angeles.
2 Second-foot = 1 cubic foot a second. It is the unit that is commonly employed in measuring the dis-
charge of streams.