People v. City of Reedley

This action was brought in the name of the state of California by the district attorney of Kings County to abate an alleged public nuisance. The nuisance complained of consisted of the discharge, by the city of Reedley, of sewage effluent into Kings River at a point about nine miles from where Kings River crosses the county line between the county of Kings and the county of Fresno. The action was begun in the superior court of the county of Kings and thereafter transferred to the superior court of the county of Tulare for trial.

The complaint sets forth that Kings River is a large natural stream of water having its source in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and flowing in a general westerly direction through the counties of Fresno and Kings in the state of California. That a large portion of the waters of said river are diverted from the river into the numerous canals and irrigation ditches radiating from the river in different directions ; and that in cases of extreme flood the excess waters of said river empty into Tulare Lake; that the city of Reedley has a population of over two thousand people and is situated on the southeasterly bank of Kings River, about ten miles up the stream…