Calloway Canal is an irrigation canal owned by the North Kern Water Storage District in

Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It originates from the

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfiel ...

, just east of Golden State Highway ( SR 204 freeway) in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. It terminates at reservoirs located south of Whisler Road and east of SR 99 (Golden State Freeway), near

McFarland McFarland may refer to: People *McFarland (surname) Places in the United States *McFarland, California, a city *McFarland, Kansas, a city *McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town *McFarland, Wisconsin, a village Other uses * USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...

. From the diversion, the canal travels west, around industrial development before turning southwest. After crossing Rosedale Highway ( SR 58), the canal makes a 120 degree turn, traveling northwest. It again crosses Rosedale Highway and then crosses the

Friant-Kern Canal The Friant-Kern Canal is a aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central California to convey water to augment irrigation capacity in Fresno County, California, Fresno, Tulare County, California, ...

. The two canals run parallel to each other, traveling northwest. Although the canals run about apart, water flows in opposite directions. While the Calloway Canal is flowing northwest, the Friant-Kern Canal is flowing southeast. At Snow Road, the distance between the canals increases, although the two still run roughly parallel. The Calloway Canal terminates at reservoirs near McFarland. The construction of the Calloway Canal led to the water war between

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

Charles Lux Charles Lux (December 28, 1823 – March 15, 1887) was a businessman-rancher and (with his partner Henry Miller) one of the largest landowners in California. Biography Lux was born to Nicolas Lux and Marie Anne (Linck) in the commune of Hatten, i ...

and James Haggin/Lloyd Tevis (see

Lux_v._Haggin ''Lux v. Haggin'', 69 Cal. 255; 10 P. 674; (1886), is a historic case in the conflict between riparian water rights, riparian and appropriative water rights. Decided by a vote of four to three in the Supreme Court of California, the ruling held tha ...

). The result was the Haggin-Miller Water Agreement of 1888, in which a certain percentage of Kern River water was guaranteed to Miller/Lux.The Kern River Purchase
City of Bakersfield. December 2003. Pages: 4-7. Accessed: 12-07-2011.

References

{{KernCountyCA-geo-stub Canals of Kern County, California