Los Banos Rotary Club History
Appraiser Tells Of Canal Progress

Chet hatch, U.S. government appraiser now stationed in Los Banos while making appraisals of local lands along the route of the Delta-Mendota canal, explained to members of the local Rotary Club Tuesday noon some of the appraisal work and of the governmental provisions and limitations under which property owners may be reimbursed for lands that must be appropriated for the canal site.

Government regulations, Hatch explained, specifically limit land valuations to the present market value, as determined by recent sales and offers on adjoining lands, type of soil, irrigation facilities, and crops grown. To this valuation is added a severance value, or amount of damage that might be sustained by the remaining property after the canal right-of-way is cut through it. No allowance is permissible for possible business loss, inconvenience or speculative value.

Hatch said that before an accurate appraisal can be made it is necessary to visit and study the land under consideration and also to visit similar land and determine their value as a basis of comparison.

When the appraiser completes his survey and establishes a valuation, such valuation is turned over to a government negotiator, who contacts the property owner and seeks to conclude the purchase. In event the property owner is dissatisfied, Hatch said, he may refuse to accept such settlement and may appeal to the U.S. Dept of Justice for hearing in federal court. In the meantime the government condems the land and proceeds with the regular construction. To date, Hatch said, there have been very few instances where property owners along the Delta-Mendota canal route have refused to accept the appraisal figure quoted.

As to progress of the canal, Hatch said he expected the next section, from, Gustine south 18 ½ miles, to be let before the end of the year. He expects the entire project to be in operation by 1952.

Hatch also commented briefly on the government's policy of bridge construction along the canal. He said that bridges will be built along all county and state roadways, and sometimes to serve private owners, provided construction of such a bridge would be less expensive than reimbursing the land owner for damages to severed land. In all road and bridge matter, the speaker concluded, the government works closely with the county road departments to the end that all necessary facilities are provided.

February 4, 1949

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