Editing Log flume (section)

== Flume heads ==
Log flumes need a steady supply of water. Often, a [[log pond]] or artificial reservoir serves this purpose.<ref name="Johnston 1968">{{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=Hank |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/239958 |title=Thunder in the Mountains: The Life and Times of Madera Sugar Pine |publisher=Stauffer Publishing |year=1968 |isbn=0-87046-017-X |edition=Second Edition (Revised) |location=Costa Mesa, Calif. |oclc=239958}}</ref>{{rp|16}} The [[Head (hydrology)|head]] directs the flow of water into the top of the flume. Flume boxes are built tight with lumber free of knots to prevent leaks. Feeder troughs resupply water on long routes.<ref name="Logging Principles" />{{rp|410}}

<gallery mode=packed heights=120px>
Sugar Pine Mill Log Pond Full Deck.jpg|The log pond at [[Madera Sugar Pine Company|Sugar Pine]] provided the water supply for the flume head.
Flume Head Madera Sugar Pine.jpg|Workers load bundles of lumber for the trip down the flume.
Flume Head Frog Madera Sugar Pine.jpg|A "flume frog" joins multiple branches into one trunk as it leaves the sawmill's loading deck.
Sugar Pine Mill Flume Complex.jpg|Multiple flume branches leaving the sawmill at [[Madera Sugar Pine Company|Sugar Pine]].
</gallery>

Logging flumes were only needed in [[100th meridian west|semi-arid regions]] without rivers or navigable streams. As a result, [[water right]]s were often difficult to secure. Often, flumes moved water from one [[drainage basin]] to another, with rights settled in court.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=October 26, 1901 |title=Decision Goes Against Hite. Loses the Big Suit Over the Water Rights of Big Creek. Judge Corcoran of Mariposa Renders Judgment for Defendants |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19011026.2.61&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-madera+merced+flume+law-------1 |work=San Francisco Call |location=San Francisco, California |access-date=November 17, 2022}}</ref>