The Arizona sentinel., 1902-12-31
Permanent Heading of Imperial
 Canal System.

ed m rock and cement nlll, about one mile north of the in ternational boundary line, on the Colorado river. The construc- tion of head gates at this point was known to be an expensive work, to say nothing of it's being a slow process of getting sup ply of water. As a water supply was the one great thing needed at Imperial, it was considred best to construct a temporary head ing on the Colorado river only short distance above the bOun dary line, as this work could be easily done in few weeks at a comparatively small expense, and thus months of time could be saved to settlers who were anxious to get water as soon as possible.
 Now that water supply for all demands has been furnished, the California Development com pany has turned it's attention to the construction of the perma nent headgates. The opening for these gates will be in the rock hill, as originally intended. The abutments on either side of the gates will be of cement and the bottom will rest in solid rock. The opening will be wide enough to have a capacity for taking enough water from the Colorado river to irrigate 800,- GOO acres of land.
 A canal of sufficient capacity to carry water for 000,000 acres will be constructed from this heading down to the settling basin quarter of a mile below, and this settling basin is already connected with the canal as al-. ready constructed to furnish water to the Imperial settle mentS.
 Two or three parallel canals will yet be made to supplement the one now in operation to con- meet the settling basin with the channel of the Alamo river, which will be used as the main canal of the system to carry water from the Colorado river to the lands to be irrigated.
 Work on the permanent head gates is now in progress, and when completed the waters of the Colorado river will be absO- futely under control, so that as much or as little water from that river can be turned into the I'm perial system as may be needed, and all flood waters from the Colorado river through the Ala mo river channel will be most effectually cut off.
 The water from the Colorado river, with all it's sediment, will flow into the settling basin through the headgates and then the silt will settle-at least the coarser portion of lt-and the great hydraulic dredge will pump it back into the river again below the headgates, while the comparatively clear water will flow down through the canal sys- tenn to the lands to be irrigated, where it will deposit the finer particles carried in the water to fertilize the land as it is irrigat- dd. Every acre-foot of water carried by the Colorado river contains commercial fertilizers to the value of S3.4O, and the bulk of this fertilizing material remains in the water after the heavier portions are deposited in the settling basin. This is why the lands will always remain fer tile in the Imperial settlements. In this respect this Colorado delta land is like the valley of the Nile. The lands in that val ley have been cultivated for 4000 years and are just as fertile to- day as they were forty centuries ago. It is believed that the con ditionS here are so similar to those of the Nile valley that the lands under the Imperial Canal system will always remain fertile simply by means of irrigation alone, and at the same time the heavier sediments of the water