Los Angeles daily herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1873-1876, 1874-03-15

| CnlfCy miles In Width, mas ceased 10
be covered by water, and has become
parched, heated desert. The yearly
evaporation of the Bay of Bengal, as
shown by the published proceedings
of the "Bombay Geographical Socie-
ty," is more than sixteen feet. This
portion of the gulf, which is surround
ed by high mountains, rejecting the
sun from their tare sides. shut off
from the cool winds of the ocean, its
waters shallow and easily heated,
must have been a steaming caldrOn,
keeping the air-currents above con-
stantly saturated with moisture. This
evaporation, however, estimated at the
rate before given, would be enough, if
all recondensed and precipitated, to
supply twelve inches of rain to sc, 400
square miles, more than double the
area of the State of Ohio. Again. that
evaporation involves the rendering of
o vast amount of active heat latent.
This would lower the temperature of
all the adjacent territory. Fort Yuma,
at the south end of the desert, upon
the Colorado river, has for days at a
time a temperature of 1902. When
the desert was covered by the sea, the
heat must have been lower by num-
Der of degrees. This lowering of tenn
perature alone, apart from any increase
of moisture in the air, would add to
the rainfall by increasing the condens-
alton of vapor already brought by the
rain currents from further south. The
augmented dampness of the atmOs-
phere and the consequent fall of tenn
perature would have another effect.
| Ouch ~ nc bod 70 lla,, ox,or fh oDod nj q
cent country would be less quickly
dried up, by giving a moister soil and
more numerous springs and streams
of water. 1t is not probable that
Western Arizona, the MOhave Desert,
and the mountains surrounding the
Colorado Desert were ever sufficiently
we'll watered for any general system
of agriculture, but it is probable that
there was enough moisture to supply
forests where none now exist, to feed
innumerable streams for irrigation
where now the channels are dry ex-
cept after an occasional storm, and to
support an annual growth of grass for
grazing where now are barren wastes.
Could the Colorado Desert be again
| filled with water? IL is All interesting
question. From the Gulf of Califor-
mia it is probably an impossibility.
The gradual sitting up of the old gulf
bed at the mouth of the river and the
| drift of sand by the wind have inter-
posed barrier too extensive to be
easily removed. BY turning the Col
oradO river into the desert it might be
accomplished. The project has for
years been discussed OF taking enough
water from the river to irrigate a
stretch of fertile land, alluvial deposit,
found Mt the southern end of the desert;
but the idea of going farther than
this, of diverting the river into the
desert and forming large fresh-water
lake, seems never to have been broach-
ed Nature, unassisted, is now at
tempting this. The drift of sand,
through the prevailing western wind,
is from the desert towards the east.
This drift has kept the river walled in
upon the east side of the valley, and
has apparently constantly forced it
further in that direction. The river,
however, with it's immense alluvial
deposit, is INCREASINGLY at work filling
up its bed and rising higher above the
level of the desert, which few miles
away forms an inclined plane with
rapid descent from the river.
Within the past twenty years, the
water owing no doubt to the fact that
the rise in the bed of the river is be-
coming more rapid than the rise of its
western bank, has commenced during
each flood season to escape over the
brim and run back into the desert.
The larger portion of the overflow
leaves the main river it is supposed,
about forty miles above its mouth. At
first it has no definite channel, but af-
ter "a few miles follows well-marked
river bed. In the Summer of 1868 l
crossed this stseam, some sixty miles
from the point where it leaves the
Colorado. 1t was there q stream one
hundred yards wide, with a depth that
would average four feet and strong
| flood current. The stream is said to
be yearly growing larger. If left to
| itself probably large portion of the
| flood of the Colorado would eventually
be diverted from the gulf to the desert.
| The descent is much more rapid than
| down the present course of the river
| to it's mouth. The reason why the di-
version is not more rapid is no doubt
the fact before given that New River,
as the stream is called, has for the first
| few miles ,of it's course after leaving
the main river no definite channel. Ii
a channel were cleared out for that
| short distance the current would soon
enlarge it and make it permanent.
| The difference between high and low
water mark in the lower Colorado is
not more than fifteen feet. The fact
| that this small rise is sufficient to turn
| its water into the desert, shows how
slight would be the difficulty in di-
verting the current permanently. The
difficulty is even less than this would
| indicate, for New river commences to
| run long before and continues long af-
ter the high water mark has been
reached. The evaporation from the
surface of the lake thus made would
be so great that the Colorado would
hardly refill the old balm; yet even
now at the flood season shallow lake
is formed many miles in extent but
quickly dries up.
The climatic effect of thus even
partly filling this portion of the
ancient gulf with water becomes an
interesting problem. The Colorado
Desert is now serious disturbing ele-
ment in the climate of Southern Cali
fornia. 1t is huge furnace from
which whitening blasts make forays
upon more favored territories around.
One personal "reminiscences will show
the intensity of its heat. When ac-
companying troops from Wilmington,
California, to northern Arizona in the
Spring of 1867 l had two men sun
struck the tenth of March in travelling
q distance of only seven miles across
the upper end of the desert. These
occasional hot winds are but the
smallest of the evils to which it gives
birth. Any one who has resided few
years in the Los Angeles and San