The Arizona sentinel., 1895-09-21
GIGANTIC ENTERPRISE.

to Yuma is the monster canal now being surveyed by Chief Engineer G. w. Norton, and his corps. MT. Norton is a civil engineer of acknowledged great ability and distinguished reputation, and is now busily engaged in making care ful surveys and estimates for this gigantic undertaking, which, if com pleted as designed, will bring more than one million acres under irri- gation and cultivation.
 The Colorado and GiIa rivers have their confluence at Yuma. The course of the Colorad river, looking up stream from this point, is northeasterly for some twenty five miles, and then turns to the north; while that of the Gila is all most due east. Some eighteen miles above Yuma commences a range of hilly country, fattening out at it's sides into table-lands; and this range separates the two valleys until they finally diverge at right angles. Between this point and Yuma, both valleys join and merge into one, cut, from east to west, by the channel of the Gila river.
 The Colorado canal will head at point about twenty-eight miles above the town of Yuma, and will be carried around the hilly country above alluded to, across the Gila river, through pipes or fumes. It will irrigate the land lying between the Colorado and Gila rivers, and also the land embraced by the table lands on the south and the Gila river on the north, making fully 25,000 acres above Yuma subject to redemption. Below Yuma, all the land between the line of table lands and the Colorado river, as far as the Mexican boundary line, will be reclaimed, some 10000 | acres, and when carried onto the table-lands will redeem 8O,GO0 acres more,-a grand total, in Ari zona, ot 175,000 acres of as fine land as there is on the continent.
 If this canal can be carried on into Sonora, by concession from the Mexican government, it will make productive what is estimated at 100000 acres of land.
 The cost of this canal system, from its source to the boundary line. will roughly approximate $2,000,O0O. The width of the canal will be fifty feet on the bottom.
 The Colorado canal heads op- posite Stevenson's Island, a rocky protuberance which rears it's head above the surface of the waters in mid-channel of the Colorado river. This is the only point on this river, for great many miles, from which an irrigating canal can be taken, owing to the fact that there is such a slight fall to the river it neces- sitates many miles of expensive work before the water can be brought to the surface of the land. Stevenson's Island, above alluded to, acts as a dam to the waters, raising their surface several feet, from the level of which the river rushes with tremendous force and rapidity. In 8 distance of less than six hundred feet, there is fall of fully four feet. From this point, the taking out the proposed canal is not only practicable, but comparatively simple and inex- pensive matter.
 At Stevenson's Island, it is pro- posed to erect @ dam and lock, which will not in any way impede or interfere with the navigation of the river, but will be of sufficient capacity to allow the largest steam boats and bargeS to pass through. This lock will be so constructed as to raise the water twelve feet above ]. low-water mark. One of the objects i in thus raising the water IS to enable the canal to cover much more of the table or mesa land than it otherwise would; but the principal advantage to be gained Is that, since the water of the Colo rado at times holds a very con siderable amount of mud or sedi- nent, sometimes as much as ten