West

I dissent. The main contention of appellant is that his land has 'been assessed while it lias received no benefits. This contention is based upon the following general facts: District No. 108 is one of the largest reclamation districts in the state, and includes about seventy thousand acres of land. It is bounded on the east by the Sac ramento river, and on the west by the slope of the plains np toward a range of hills which skirt that side of the Sacramento valley. It runs north and south from Knight’s Landing, in Yolo county, on the south to the Sycamore slough in Colusa county. The district was organized more than twenty-five years before the commencement of this action. The main and most pressing source of overflow was, undoubtedly, the Sacramento river; and the main work to be done was the leveeing of the west bank of the river and the filling up along the bank of certain sloughs which flowed out from it. All the actual work which had been done before the commencement of this suit was on and along the said west bank of the river, and in establishing pumping plants. Great difficulty had been experienced in maintaining this levee so as to prevent any flow of water from the…

This action was brought to compel the defendant to pay assessment No. 16, levied on his land in 1896, for reclamation purposes. Plaintiff had judgment declaring the amount of the assessment to he a lien on said land and direct ing that the same be sold to satisfy said lien and costs. From this judgment and from an order denying him a new trial the defendant appeals.

The reclamation district, plaintiff, was formed in 1870, and embraces some seventy thousand acres of land lying to the west of the Sacramento river in Yolo and Colusa counties, and extending from Knight’s Landing up said river about eighteen miles in length, and of an average width of about six miles. The lands of the district lie in the form of a basin, and about all of them are subject to overflow, in the season of high water, from the Sacramento river on the east. The lower half of the district is generally subject to inundation during the cropping season from streams having their sources in the mountains to the west and northwest. The reclamation works of the plaintiff, as originally planned and constructed, consist of a levee on or near the eastern boundary of the district, and bulkheads in the sloughs where they…