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NARRATIVE OF THE LAND
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The West of Fresno presents many challenges that make the area one of the most interesting to research. The rise of agribusiness has extended the gap between people and the source of their food, as well as increased concerns about pollution by the use of pesticides, herbicides to control problems which arise on farms. Contamination problems exist in many different levels. “The Valley is the world’s largest patch of Class 1 soil being this the type of soil that has slight limitations that restrict their use” [Land use and soil classification]. On the west side, where some of the Valley’s issues are easily evident, hundreds of thousands of acres can’t be farmed because of salt buildups and selenium from irrigation drain water.
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Source: Typical Sun-Maid Raisin Vineyard - California’s Sierra Mountains in Background Special Collections, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno
ARCHIVES
The San Joaquin Valley of California is one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions, is a vital link in California’s complex water delivery and transportation systems, and provides important habitat to protect biodiversity. Growth, development patterns, and climate, however, pose ongoing challenges to this unique region. The San Joaquin Valley contains some of the richest agricultural lands in the world. Seven out of the ten most productive agricultural counties in the United States are located in the San Joaquin Valley, including the top three (Fresno, Tulare, and Kern Counties, respectively). This remarkable productivity results from the intersection of superior soils, plentiful sun, limited frost danger, favorable winter cooling patterns, and investments in infrastructure that provide water across an otherwise dry landscape.
Source: Drying peaches near Fresno, California. Special Collections, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno
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Historical changes, West of Fresno
URBAN DEVELOPMENT FISH REARING PONDS FRESNO SLOUGH RIPARIAN VEGETATION HIGHWAYS SECONDARY ROADS UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
Source: 1. Quadrants.Firebaugh, Mendota, Turf Ranch, Gravelly Ford, Biola, Tranquility, Ca. Historical Map GeoPDF 7.5x7.5 Grid [1923]. USGS Store. Map Collection, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno [http:// store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/start/(xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd)/.do] 2. West of Fresno Map [1987]. USGS Store. Map Collection, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno [http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/ start/(xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd)/.do] 93
SOIL SURVEY From top to bottom, far left - Combine harvesting irrigated wheat on Panoche silty clay loam - Panoche silty clay lom prepared and planted to cotton - Lethent silty clay strongly affected by alkali; shrub vegetation is Allenrolfea. Where sufficient water is available and alakali concentration not too strong, the cultivation of rice has proved effective in reclamation of this soil. - Rice on Oxalis silty clay; water is supplied by canal from the San Joaquin River. - Alluvial fan and interfan slopes; Panhill soils in foreground, Kettleman soils on hills in background. Noncultivated areas are used mainly for sheep grazing. - Electrically driven turbine-type deep-well pump supplying water for irrigation of Panoche soils. - Seed onions on Panoche loam - Alfalfa on Temple silty clay near Dos Palos Source: United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conversion Service, In Cooperation with the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station. Soil survey, Mendota area California. Series 1940, No. 18 Map Collections, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno 94
FINE TEXTURED SOILS - PANOCHE SILTY CLAY
FINE TEXTURED SOILS - MERCED CLAY [ADOBE]
MEDIUM TEXTURED SOILS - ROSSI CLAY LOAM
PANOCHE SILTY CLAY LOAM
MERCED CLAY, SHALLOW
PANOCHE SILTY CLAY LOAM,
TEMPLE SILTY CLAY
SHALLOW
TEMPLE SILTY CLAY, SHALLOW
TRAVER FINE SANDY LOAM Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service 95
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UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD AND ITS ECOLOGIES
The Union Pacific is the first transcontinental railroad, the most daring engineering effort the country had yet seen [McCulloch 2008]. The railroad network is the largest in the United States and employs 42,600 people. It is also one of the world’s largest transportation companies [Union pacific Corporation].
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THE ARTERY Kerman - Mendota - Firebaugh Day 1_ Kerman-Mendota_ 25.3 mi Day 2_ Mendota_ 3.79 mi Day 2_ Mendota-Firebaugh_ 10.2 mi Sectional profiles Topographic lines Ecological Reserves Slough San Joaquin River
The site trajectory involved visiting 3 of the towns connected by the Union Pacific Railroad: Kerman, Mendota and Firebaugh. The fieldwork methodology consisted on biking, in company of Kelly Shannon, across towns collecting strategic information related to networks, crops, natural and man-made lansdscapes.
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Previous page Top: Union Pacific Railroad along Kerman, almond crops on both sides. Left: 3 miles waway from Kerman Right: Railroad with raisin crops on the left and almonds on right. On this page Highway 180, aproximately 0.90 mi before Mendota
Source: Photographed by Adriana CarĂas, 2016 101
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Previous page Top: Kerman Ecological Reserve Bottom: warehouses across Kerman Ecological Reserve along Union Pacific Railroad. On this page: Kings Slough at Mendota Wildlife Area Next page: Top: Kerman Ecological Reserve Bottom: Jack’s Resort from Union Pacific Railroad, Kings Slough
Source: Photographed by Adriana CarĂas, 2016 103
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INTERPRETATIVE MAPPING
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Firebaugh
Mendota
Kerman
San Joaquin
PARADOX BETWEEN PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE AND POOR SOILS In contrast of the eastern part of the county, the dense soils found in the central and western parts of the Valley, like the Corcoran Clay, prevent water absorption. The western portions of the Valley are more limited because soils are poorer with varying, but higher, degrees of salinity and clay, resulting in water drainage challenges. Under non-irrigated conditions, the southern and western portions of the valley floor are more limited than the areas on the eastern side of the Valley because less water is naturally available in the soil.
GRADE ONE - EXCELLENT GRADE TWO - GOOD GRADE THREE - FAIR GRADE FIVE - VERY POOR GRADE SIX - NON AGRICULTURAL NOT RATED TOWNS UNION PACIIFIC RAILROAD CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT I-5 FRESNO COUNTY LIMIT 109
Mendota
Kerman
San Joaquin
WATER LANDSCAPES Water is obtained from both the surface and ground, and the region depends heavily on the latter one, especially in dry years. Despite its importance, San Joaquin Valley groundwater is loosely regulated, relative to surface water, and extraction via groundwater pumping is largely unmonitored, facing its biggest increase during the droughts of 1976-77, 1987-92 and 2007-09. As oppose to the current El Niño phenomena, creating above average rainfall. Certainly this would not be enough to end the Valley’s drought, but it sure is busting the environmental conditions of the past couple of years.
WATER RECHARGE 100 YEAR FLOOD [2015] VERNAL POOLS FRESNO SLOUGH KERMAN ECOLOGICAL RESERVE MENDOTA WILDLIFE AREA CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT I-5 FRESNO COUNTY LIMIT
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Firebaugh
Mendota
Kerman
San Joaquin
LINKING DISPERSE SETTLEMENTS In the Mendota Area, most of the soils charateristic of the arid west side of the San Joaquin Valley are represented. More than 75 percent of the soils of the area are well drained. The wide range in texture gives rise to a complex pattern of soil types.
TOWNS UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT I-5 HIGHWAYS PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ROADS
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MENDOTA
Mendota is located 8.5 miles (14 km) southsoutheast of Firebaugh [Durham 1998: 1070]. The City of Mendota has a history tied to the agricultural development of the San Joaquin Valley. This rural, agricultural heritage continues to the present day in Mendota as almost half of the population is employed in agriculture or agricultural industries. However, as agricultural production becomes increasingly mechanized, the City looks towards improving and expanding its economic base so that Mendota is, and remains, a desirable place to live, work and play. The city suffers from chronic unemployment averaging 20%. In 2009 a drought combined with a recession caused unemployment to surge above 40% [McKinley 2009]
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Source: 1. Mendota, Ca. Historical Map GeoPDF 7.5x7.5 Grid [1923]. USGS Store. Map Collection, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno 2. Mendota [1947]. USGS Store. Map Collection, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno
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Growth of a natural landscape Urban development along with natural landscapes grew side by side creating a richer site with potential other than agriculture. The Mendota Wildlife Area is a key habitat managed by the Department of Fish and Game [DFG] in the central San Joaquin Valley. Mendota, 11,825 acres in size, demosntrates how wildlife respond to habitat management changes directed at encouranging nongame wildlife. The 600 acres that make up the Fresno Slough offer a chance to catch crappie, catfish, bluegill, carp and black and striped bass
Source: Mendota [1987]. USGS Store. Map Collection, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno
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Networks
Urban fabric
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UNION PACIFIC AS FORM GIVER RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS SCHOOLS
Beginning in 1891, Mendota thrived as a Southern Pacific Railroad storage and switching facility site. The town was established when the railroad was built. An added impetus was given to this settlement when the Mendota pump lifts were constructed for the San Joaquin and Kings River Canal
FRESNO SLOUGH 180 GHWAY SECONDARY ROAD SECTIONS IN POOR CONDITIONS
As in many other towns in Fresno County, the railway cuts through at a 45° angle, establishing the gridof these urban settlements, opossing to the agricultural Jeffersonian grid on the rest of the county.
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD 119
Source: Photographed by Adriana CarĂas, 2016 120
Source: Photographed by Adriana CarĂas, 2016 Molly Fancler, 2015
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Mendota’s waterways Several water canals, including the Delta-Mendota Canal, border the Mendota area on the north and intersect the San Joaquin River near its confluence with the Fresno Slough. Surrounded by natural and man-made features including agricultural areas; surface water features, such as canals. The normal annual precipitation averages about ten inches, with nearly all of this occurring between November and April. The most common hazards known to occur within Mendota’s Planning Area are associated with flooding, including also geology and seismicity, fire and hazardous materials.
FRESNO SLOUGH CANALS 100 YEAR FLOOD [2015] UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD SECONDARY ROADS TOPOGRAPHIC LINES
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